Paper and composting

[Gnome]

Opa,

Peachguy mentioned pet bedding,

Also would cedar or pine shavings that is used for pet bedding work as a brown?

as did you,

Cedar shaving would be great for pet bedding as they are high in lignin and have a low pH would slows their decay and therefore the nitrogenous compounds in your pets fecal matter will not emit negative smells as much due to the fact that they will be tied up by bacteria and fungi that are very slowly decomposing the wood.

sorry if I misinterpreted.

However, purely from my own knowledge; cats, dog, horse, cow and even human and so on all have bacteria in their manure and fungal spores are in abundance in the air. So, what would be interesting to look into would be: why are cat and dog manure (and human) so profaned against as far as disease is concerned?

I have not done extensive reading on this subject but as I understand it the concern is not so much bacteria or fungi, but parasites. Our pets harbor parasites that also can infect us. Check out the link I provided above. The important thing is that we all stay safe.

Norm

[opabinia51]

Ah yes, parasites! These would be members of the Kingdom Animalia. The first parasite that comes to mind would be the tape worm, can you list some other parasites Norm?

However, it's important to take into consideration that all animals can harbour parasites and that it is always a possibility that some sort of pathogen (albeit a parasite or some other detrimental organism) is living in the soil and thefore when eating any vegetable, fruit or what have you, to wash it first.

I have noticed even from a few posts on our site here that some people are becoming quite hysterical about eating food after the Escherichia Coli transmissions that have occurred so, even when buying so called "prewashed lettuce and spinach" it is important to wash it anyway, just to be safe.

With a well balanced population of organisms living in the soil, any pathogens that are emitted from an animal will soon be curtailed in their growth curve so as they would not become a problem.

This is an excellant discussion, and anything that anyone can add would be great!

[peachguy]

Also when I said I wasn't using manure, I mean fresh manure I use composted manure all the time. It is good stuff and since it is composted has less a chance of harboring pathogens.

[Newt]

This is an excellant discussion, and anything that anyone can add would be great!

Something I noticed is that the manure that can be used in the garden is from animals that are herbivores and don't eat meat ie: chicken, horse, cow, sheep, rabbit. I think there is less risk of parasites and disease organisms with these.

Newt

[opabinia51]

Yes, and with respect to composting; when manure is left on it's own (or better with a 50:50 ratio of browns to manure(I like leaves)) it will hot compost therefore killing any animal parasites. However, fungal spores and some bacteria can survive extremely high (in the case of fungal spores) and high temperatures (in the case of thermophillic bacteria).

But, given this statement it is important to realize that the vast majority of fungi and bacteria are non pathogenic and are actually beneficial soil organisms. (Also, it is important to note that we know about less than 1% of the bacteria that live in the soil and the figure is probably similar for fungi) A lot of work for scientists like Dr. Roy Riel at my University to do in the future. But, important work.

[Grey]

Here is an interesting dichotomy that I still need to research further. I have often come across literature (with no backing evidence) that cat and dog feces contains disease organisms and therefor shouldn't be used to fertilize plants.

However, purely from my own knowledge; cats, dog, horse, cow and even human and so on all have bacteria in their manure and fungal spores are in abundance in the air. So, what would be interesting to look into would be: why are cat and dog manure (and human) so profaned against as far as disease is concerned?

The only reason I can conjure up is what is in our diets is... not the healthiest. We have a lot of artifical elements in our diets, I'm not going to go into detail lest I ruffle some feathers. I don't understand what would be wrong with dog or cat manure, since I have read that dog food is good in the compost pile, so what's wrong with it after it has been excreted?

OR, is the danger really just a concern that we would mishandle the dog/cat/human manure and make ourselves sick?

[emiwri]

What about shrimp shells? Is there any reason why you shouldn't toss them in to be composted?

[Newt]

Emiwri, I've used shrimp shells in compost. It actually increases microbe activity. It's best if you can grind or shred them. From this site:
https://www.groworganic.com/library_42.html

For example, onfarm research showed a 90+% reduction in root knot nematodes in 3 weeks when applying only 20 lb/acre of Eco-Poly 21 Micro Shrimp through a drip irrigation system. To achieve similar results, using regular shrimp shell products, requires 1,500-2,000 lb/acre and a minimum of 4-6 months!

Newt