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I've had animals dig it up, even when I buried it pretty deep. Probably the neighbor's dogs. Feathers and what they did not eat was scattered pretty well. That's why I started using the wire and pavers. Different problems solved different ways. If it works for you to put it in the compost pile, more power to you.
Another possible solution, if you have the land, is to take it out into your woods and dump it. Notice I said your woods. Respect your neighbor's land and don't trespass without permission. And don't dump it on public land. That is generally illegal. The forest creatures, animals and bugs, will eat what they can. Bacteria will eventually finish the rest, but the feathers will blow around and make a mess and last a pretty good amount of time. This will attract things that eat chickens so you don't want to do it anywhere near your chickens.
If you bury organic matter, it will rot. Even if you leave it above ground, what is not eaten will rot, but often a lot slower. How fast it rots and becomes plant food depends on a few different things, mainly temperature and moisture. If it is on top of the ground, it can dry out and take a long time, it can stink, and some people get upset looking at the maggots and hearing the flies. But it will eventually go away.
Growing up, I'd bury the leavings from butchering chickens because there was not a lot of it (I did one at a time, the one that was eaten that day) and it was easier to bury it than haul it far enough from the house and dump it. We had an area that was pretty rock-free so it was easy to dig and it generally stayed damp so it rotted pretty quickly. This was where I dug my redworms for fishing. I only remember once forgetting where my last burial was and digging that up too soon. You don't want to do that.
When I butcher chickens now, I leave the others locked in the run and butcher around the corner from the coop. When I finish, I let the chickens out. They quickly come by and clean up any scraps that did not make it in my bucket for burial. I've never seen any dogs immediately drawn to the area from the smell of blood, but what visits at night I can't say.
When I butcher, I use the two nails in a chopping block and a hatchet method. I used to just use an ax and a chopping block, but I find it easier to handle the lighter hatchet these days and stretching out the neck gives a better target. I just let them flop. They bleed out as they will, probably pretty well. I really have not noticed enough blood to worry about. I have not noticed any significant bruising that I could tell came form that flopping, but maybe there is some. If a killing cone or some other method works for you, great, that is the way you should do it. Do what works for you.
Galanie, I understand what you said about rock hard ground. I can usually dig a pretty good hole with just a shovel, but during last summer's drought, I used hand-held post-hole diggers and an iron bar just to loosen the dirt enough to be able to dig it with them. I was over 18" deep before I saw any moisture.
I've had animals dig it up, even when I buried it pretty deep. Probably the neighbor's dogs. Feathers and what they did not eat was scattered pretty well. That's why I started using the wire and pavers. Different problems solved different ways. If it works for you to put it in the compost pile, more power to you.
Another possible solution, if you have the land, is to take it out into your woods and dump it. Notice I said your woods. Respect your neighbor's land and don't trespass without permission. And don't dump it on public land. That is generally illegal. The forest creatures, animals and bugs, will eat what they can. Bacteria will eventually finish the rest, but the feathers will blow around and make a mess and last a pretty good amount of time. This will attract things that eat chickens so you don't want to do it anywhere near your chickens.
If you bury organic matter, it will rot. Even if you leave it above ground, what is not eaten will rot, but often a lot slower. How fast it rots and becomes plant food depends on a few different things, mainly temperature and moisture. If it is on top of the ground, it can dry out and take a long time, it can stink, and some people get upset looking at the maggots and hearing the flies. But it will eventually go away.
Growing up, I'd bury the leavings from butchering chickens because there was not a lot of it (I did one at a time, the one that was eaten that day) and it was easier to bury it than haul it far enough from the house and dump it. We had an area that was pretty rock-free so it was easy to dig and it generally stayed damp so it rotted pretty quickly. This was where I dug my redworms for fishing. I only remember once forgetting where my last burial was and digging that up too soon. You don't want to do that.
When I butcher chickens now, I leave the others locked in the run and butcher around the corner from the coop. When I finish, I let the chickens out. They quickly come by and clean up any scraps that did not make it in my bucket for burial. I've never seen any dogs immediately drawn to the area from the smell of blood, but what visits at night I can't say.
When I butcher, I use the two nails in a chopping block and a hatchet method. I used to just use an ax and a chopping block, but I find it easier to handle the lighter hatchet these days and stretching out the neck gives a better target. I just let them flop. They bleed out as they will, probably pretty well. I really have not noticed enough blood to worry about. I have not noticed any significant bruising that I could tell came form that flopping, but maybe there is some. If a killing cone or some other method works for you, great, that is the way you should do it. Do what works for you.
Galanie, I understand what you said about rock hard ground. I can usually dig a pretty good hole with just a shovel, but during last summer's drought, I used hand-held post-hole diggers and an iron bar just to loosen the dirt enough to be able to dig it with them. I was over 18" deep before I saw any moisture.
