Any issues with wildlife or barn dogs trying to dig up horse as it starts composting?
Not if they’re deep enough. Also, rocks on top, or a big marker helps.
In compost, that’s another matter. Our dogs don’t have access to poop piles for a reason.
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We piled about 6 feet of compost on top of the bodies with the tractor bucket. Nothing - not the neighbor’s free-ranging dogs nor the abundant wildlife (raccoons, foxes, opossums, etc) ever messed with them or tried to dig.
ETA: there was no smell while they were decomposing in the pile. And the euthanasia drugs degrade during the process, as well.
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Our dogs would absolutely dig in the compost if we didn’t fence it off. It was disgusting. Now that they don’t have access, I would feel comfortable burying livestock using compost.
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I read through and couldn’t find anyone mentioning this…does anybody know how long it takes for a horse buried 6+ feet down to decompose?
That would depend on soil type and climate. Good question for your local extension agent.
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We have two buried on the farm out in the woods. As far as I know there are no regs/regulations on burying livestock in our area. I do wish they had some livestock disposal laws. Around here when a cow dies they either leave it where it died or put it on some backside of their property. Either way we get inundated by the smell.
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The old guy that I used to keep horses with, took the old (or crazy) horses into the woods and shot them when he put them down. He just let the wildlife take care of the disposal. The next owners of the property were vegans. It took them a couple years before they moved on the property. You can imagine when vegans found a ravine with a skeleton in it.
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My mom and dad’s farm has 7 horses buried on it. We have a large woods with a wide lane next to it so we bury the horses in an area between the lane and the woods. It is not close at all to any water source. We know a few locals with backhoes who bury the horses for us. My sister and I are taking over the farm so we don’t have to say goodbye to our beloved horses just yet.
We spread some of my parents’ ashes in the front pasture since they absolutely loved their farm.
I have also boarded at a place who composted a horse and who put a horse down on a flatbed trailer and took it to the landfill. My retired horse has been treated with Oncept for the last 10 years at Ohio State, so I get a free necroscopy when the time comes. I think the remains are then cremated. We have a service that covers most of central Ohio to pick up remains and do whatever with them so they will give him a ride to Columbus.
We are fortunate to have options.
ETA: We had a weird happening last week in Dayton. Not sure the suburbanites quite knew what to do with this one.
Poor cow!
Oh my! The attached notice…
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What laws are being referenced by the folks saying a burial of an animal was or was not legal? You have to disclose if a human body is buried on your property, not an animal. USDA recommends a variety of disposal methods for animals. Is that the law being referenced?
Here, Extension discourages old-fashioned, 6-feet down burial and currently recommends shallow burial (basically composting) for safer and faster decomposition. We use the tractor to make more of an envelope or horizontal slot, not a vertically deep hole.
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In my case, we checked county laws. We knew it wasn’t a violation of our HOA, because we only had three covenants. It was easy to remember them.
Rebecca
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A condominium is an individually owned unit in a complex of units. A condo owner owns the space inside their condo and shares ownership interest in the community property, such as the exterior of the unit and the land under and surrounding your unit. The association can ban creating a garden outside your unit, for example. They also can prohibit attaching anything to the exterior, except the American flag.
You need to check your condo documents to determine what you actually own. For example, I owned a townhouse in Massachusetts. I owned the interior of the unit, which was described as everything inside the exterior structure of the buiding. The associaton owns the exterior studs, siding, structure between units, roof, walls between units, foundation, etc. That is maintained by the associaton, such as repairing or replacing the roof, staining the siding, fire alarm system, etc. The HOA fee covers maintenance of the commonly owned property. I owned the sheetrock nailed to the walls that the condo association owns. The HOA owned the walls between my unit and neighbors on both sides. The land is owned in common by the association which incudes all unitowners. Each unit owner owns a share of the total property based on the value of their unit. The association is managed by a commitee or board which has defined powers to establish rules that unitowners must adhere to. If your association is silent on burying animals on the property, you can’t assume that means it is okay to bury anything without consulting the HOA board for consent. That includes house pets such as dogs and cats. If you own a house with an HOA you still need to consult your ownershiip documents to determine what you own. Does it include the exterior walls? Can you stain your house any color you desire?
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Traditionally a condo owner may also have rights to some outdoor space attached to the condo, like a porch or patio.
They can do what they choose inside those, with some visual restrictions, like enclosing a porch to add square footage to the condo, if permitted by contract.
To add outside those external areas, like a paved path or shade tree, they need a permit from the HOA.
I don’t know why you are bringing condominium law into my situation. It didn’t apply to my horse property; it does apply to where I live now, and I am well versed in the law. I’ve managed a commercial real estate brokerage and I’ve been a mortgage broker. I have been buying and selling real esttae since I was 20.
My horse property was in an equine-oriented subdivision that was subdivided in the early 1960s. There was very little regulation via the HOA; as I said, it had three covenants: no home based business that create traffic, native grass had to cover a percentage of the lot, and pigs were forbidden. Pretty easy. County law was much more restrictive, but all our lots were legal for horses, our water rights were legal for livestock, and lots were three to five acres. There was an easement on all the lots on the outside areas of the subdivision, where our subdivision bridal trail was. I was on the inside, so no trail easement for me.
County law allowed burial of large animals if you had a minimum of a certain acreage. We were above the minimum.
Again, condominium law has no bearing on that situation. Before I bought my current condo, I read every document in detail to know what I was buying. I understood it all very well due to my real estate background.
Rebecca
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Here it’s county laws. Where I live the water table is very close to the surface, so burying large animals is not allowed. Best to check you local bylaws.
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