May 27th, 2017
The Worm Man BLOG
https://thewormman.com.au/the-worm-man-blog/
Hi everyone 🙂
Today, in my blog, I am talking about something that is often asked:
“How do I compost dog poo with a worm farm?”
Today I got a question by email from Robert W. (from Queensland, Australia) asking for help composting dog manure with worms.
Robert says, in part:
“I’m wondering if you have any experience or insights into composting dog poo. Essentially I’m trying to reduce the need to toss dog poo into the bin.”
This is a topic that is argued about a lot . . .
Is it safe – or even right – to compost dog manure?
I can take no responsibility for the advice given here . . .
The CONCERNS . . .
One over riding concern is the safety of using the materials from the farm after the worms have done their work.
Dog manure can contain pathogens – and also parasites.
The worms are known to have an ability to reduce pathogens . . .
But some of the parasites are not addressed. One being “Helminth”.
Generally it is accepted that the VC from such a worm farm shouldn’t be used on vegetable gardens.
It should be buried where humans will not even touch it afterwards – so burying it in an ornamental garden is best.
The Process:
As to the process people use:
– people usually set up a large bucket that is buried (preferably) in the ground – or if possible has holes in the bottom and rests on the ground.
– the manure is added and to help the worms, some “bedding” like cardboard or well aged leaves and grass should be added too
You can see on my site how I setup such a worm farm in an ornamental garden. We don’t place dog manure in there – it is just to have a composting worm presence in the garden:
http://thewormman.com.au/compost-worms-in-the-garden/
Worm Farm – Garden Feeding Station Or Pet Waste Composter
( I sell these, local pickup, ready to go with bedding only for $15 – or with 100 grams of worms (about 500 worms), 2 litres of microbial bedding starter & a shaker of conditioner for $45)
Harvesting The Farm And Restarting It:
You’ll have to be careful when harvesting VC out of the bucket:
One idea is to wait until the bucket is full – then shovel out the top half of the material and put it aside (this will hold most, but not all, of the worms.)
The bottom half, being mostly finished material and a few worms, is placed in a hole somewhere. The remaining worms are sacrificed so that you don’t have to hand separate them from the material.
Then to start the farm back off again, you put a few handfuls of new bedding in the bottom of the bucket (again, cardboard is great for that as it holds a lot of air) – then put the top half of the old bucket back in there.
Problems In The Worm Farm?
If the worms are not doing well in the environment it could be that there is too much moisture or not enough air and “structure” within the worm environment.
The remedy for this is to add more dry bedding with the dog manure.
Alternatives To Using Worms?
Another way to compost dog manure which may be more efficient – is to use Black Soldier Flies (“BSF” for short.)
The idea is to use the Black Soldier Fly Larvae – “BSFL” for short.
You will need to be in a climate which is warm enough to encourage them to stay around all year long.
You can then place the BSFL “frass” (their manure) into a hole in the ground – or you can feed the frass to worms for further reduction in volume. Worms LOVE BSFL frass.
But you will still have to be mindful of the pathogen/parasite issue in your use of the VC from that worm farm.
BSFL are known to eat “anything” – even meat, dairy and fresh grass clippings.
If you want to know more about BSFL, you will find 2 books from friends of mine in the left hand sidebar of my site about these amazing creatures.
They are also listed in “The Worm Information Store” on my site:
https://thewormman.com.au/the-worm-information-store/
I want to start a BSFL farm – it’s on my to-do list; but the list is so long, lol.
So anyway – thats the skinny on dog poo composting.
So, this ends my post today – thanks very much for reading my blog – and HAPPY Worm Farming.
Regards,
Brian Donaldson
TheWormMan.com.au
You can subscribe to my blog at:
https://thewormman.com.au/subscribe-to-the-worm-man/
For Further Worm Farming Info:
I have that FREE FAQ Guide – you can download it at:
https://gum.co/Worms-FAQ
Remember – you can also “Ask Brian A Question” on my website at:
https://thewormman.com.au/ask-a-worm-question/
You can also investigate questions that have already been asked and answered at:
https://thewormman.com.au/worm-questions/
If you want to get SERIOUS about Worm Farming . . .
Do you want to produce a LOT of VC – getting more SERIOUS about worm farming?
Maybe you’ve thought about getting into business with worms?
I REALLY advise you to go check out the Worm Farming Alliance.
There you can get all the mentoring, training and information that you need. Check it out here: