Can you burry chickens in your garden?

[EggSighted4Life]

@EggSighted4Life

Funny, you must have sensed my interest!

In some communities it is 100% against the law to bury dead animals in your back yard. It's even against the law to process them in some city limits.

As a general rule... if I were renting I wouldn't do it.

Owning... I still wonder how I feel if I dig up something someone else buried here.

But I have recently considered composting carcasses... after the meat has been harvested... and even burying them under trees or bushes I want to plant.

I worried about the possibility of leaving some disease on my property... BUT in my thinking according to the National Poultry Improvement Plan or NPIP certification... burning or burying are the only two acceptable techniques for disposal of the deceased. And then I realize that is ALSO how we dispose of our dead. Up until recently, I sent all mine to the dump legally.

Most recently... I thought OK I will bury some... but I half arssed it and before long they were dug up and heads eaten by presumably raccoon. And one of dogs happily brought a several day old foot in the house!

So I MIGHT check with my local governing agency like code enforcement or animal control to verify being within the law... and then YES, if buried deep enough to not be dug up I think I WOULD be comfortable with garden burial.

 

[SongBaby33]

Funny, you must have sensed my interest!

In some communities it is 100% against the law to bury dead animals in your back yard. It's even against the law to process them in some city limits.

As a general rule... if I were renting I wouldn't do it.

Owning... I still wonder how I feel if I dig up something someone else buried here.

But I have recently considered composting carcasses... after the meat has been harvested... and even burying them under trees or bushes I want to plant.

I worried about the possibility of leaving some disease on my property... BUT in my thinking according to the National Poultry Improvement Plan or NPIP certification... burning or burying are the only two acceptable techniques for disposal of the deceased. And then I realize that is ALSO how we dispose of our dead. Up until recently, I sent all mine to the dump legally.

Most recently... I thought OK I will bury some... but I half arssed it and before long they were dug up and heads eaten by presumably raccoon. And one of dogs happily brought a several day old foot in the house!

So I MIGHT check with my local governing agency like code enforcement or animal control to verify being within the law... and then YES, if buried deep enough to not be dug up I think I WOULD be comfortable with garden burial.

I agree

 

[SongBaby33]

@HuffleClaw

 

[WunnySharbit]

Yes, They definitely have to be buried fairly deep OR use a burial cairn. I usually put a board, chunk of concrete, or shale slab, large upside-down flowerpot, or old rabbit cage/section of fence over the new grave. Then pile rocks/stones over that. I also tend to bury a few rocks with it so I don't dig it up.

 

[WunnySharbit]

I never put them in my compost pile. Even with the best practices, the bones will not decay and the feathers, beaks, and toes take quite a while. My chix have recently dug up my 20 year old rabbit cemetery under the apple trees. All the bones and teeth have needed "rehoming!"

 

[Shadrach]

I have no idea about what the laws say for different countries and areas.
I bury the dead chickens here. What is important is to bury them deep enough so that they can't be dug up. I dig a proper grave approximately three feet deep and back ram the soil.
I haven't had one escape yet.

 

[Kris5902]

Most of the ordinances I have researched have an upper size limit: goldfish, hamsters, cats-OK saint bernard, cow-not so much.

I have read that a different set of organisms process meat and could cause issues if the rotten carcass is dug into, but I've not had that problem: it really doesn't take long for the plants/composters to deal with it.

My grandpa Buried his Newfoundland Dog in his city backyard, planted a Hydrangea over him. That was 40 years ago though.

When we put down a horse here (animals get old, especially when you take in already old rescue or retired horses to start with) there is a place on our property where we put their bodies out of the way, not too far from the border with the Parkland, and the Eagles, Vultures and Ravens clean it up fairly fast. With a large carcass it’s actually cleaner than burying it. They can have a full grown ewe or deer picked completely clean in far less than a week.

I didn’t really know where it was until I went to find a cow that had stopped to calve and didn’t report for breakfast that morning, and I found six skeletons (many were older, we’ve only had 3 die/be put down in the last 10 years!). we also have a disposal pit for the abattoir.

Really, I cannot figure out why we have such a problem with tresspassers and hikers here (don’t bring your dogs onto someone's farm!), except for bordering on federal parkland and having th most beautiful beach on the island at the far end of our property, and our cows making better trails through our property than the “challenging unmarked” hiking path through the park!

 

[EggSighted4Life]

When we put down a horse here (animals get old, especially when you take in already old rescue or retired horses to start with) there is a place on our property where we put their bodies out of the way, not too far from the border with the Parkland, and the Eagles, Vultures and Ravens clean it up fairly fast. With a large carcass it’s actually cleaner than burying it. They can have a full grown ewe or deer picked completely clean in far less than a week.

I considered this as well... as I often just toss the rats I catch to become carrion where my own animals can't get to it. And they disappear quickly.

One rat I caught I left on the trap by my trash can... the ants had a hay day and consumed it completely within 2 weeks except the fur and bones.

Nature is a glorious and interesting machine! Yes Eagles scavenge AND vultures have been seen taking down a BYCer's LIVE chicken. You just never know what you might see.

 

[Tonyg503504]

I wouldnt cairn it but a friend of mine burried a goose in his backyard i told him he should of turned it to ashess first

 

[SongBaby33]

@Butterscotchbitesfinger