Cow guts question!

[watchdogps]

I found a local processor who is willing to give me the cow stomachs so I can get the tripe for my dogs. (yes, I know this is a stinky and gross undertaking, I've done it before) The only thing is that since it isnt for human consumption, he cannot do anything to it, which means I have to take the contents and all and dump it myself. That's fine, like I said I have done that before, but I had access to a dumpster before. Now I live way out where we dont have trash p/u. I'm thinking this would be good stuff to throw on my compost pile though. Would that be okay?

 

[carolinagirl58]

Ewwww...lol

but to answer your question, I'd think it would be fine composted. The only possible thing you may need to monitor is the pH since stomachs have acid in them. Counter that with some lime and you should be good to go.

 

[watchdogps]

Quote:
yeah we will probably have to do that anyway since our compost is largely made of coffee grounds right now. Not much spare food, and what there is goes to the chickens!
You know me, I'll be in my glory knee deep in cow guts!

 

[ChickiKat]

yeah, I was gonna comment on the pH as well..... it will be quite acidic.

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

yeah, I was gonna comment on the pH as well..... it will be quite acidic.

A little lime will fix that.

It will make wonderful compost, although if not buried DEEP in plant material, it may attract predators​

 

[watchdogps]

Quote:
A little lime will fix that.

It will make wonderful compost, although if not buried DEEP in plant material, it may attract predators

There wont be any guts, just the contents of the rumen. All actual gut will be fed off to the dogs, if there is any I dont use, it will go to the dump.

 

[ultasol]

I processed two cow's stomachs for green tripe last year. It took me over 6 hours to cut off the MASSIVE amounts of fat that were attached EVERYWHERE to the stomach. I will preface this by saying they were my neighbor's heifers, and he had been feeding them a lot of grain plus his pasture is very rich. The butcher said they had a lot more fat than he had seen in awhile... so my experience might be quite a bit different from yours.

I was concerned about the large amount of fat attached as I have seen several dogs die or nearly die from pancreatitis, which can be caused by eating too much fat/oily foods. Notably was when I had a puppy at the vet for another issue, she was dealing with a dog crashing that had pancreatitis from eating the leftover offal from butchering a cow. She said the cause was likely too much rich food that the dog was not accustomed to.

Anyhow,.. I was lucky in that, since the butcher was going to be disposing of the stomachs anyway, he was glad to have me take them and dumped the contents into his trash for me.

 

[watchdogps]

Quote:
I cut a lot of fat off the first one I did too. Then I talked to a friend who owns a pet food company that sells ground tripe, and she said they dont do that. So, if you have ever fed purchased ground tripe, you have fed all that fat. (well maybe not if the cows were fattier than usual, but it probably wasnt needed to trim it too much)
FYI, its easier to cut if you freeze it and let it thaw just a little bit, and a hand saw works wonders!

 

[bagendhens]

he fat on a normal cows stomach should be fine IF your dogs are already accustomed to eating a veriety of meats, tripe ect...

the problem typically comes in with things like man made oils (vegatable oil) grease ect from FRIED foods, not realy the fat itself off a fresh kill/animal...
remember the dogs digestive system is actually designed to consume everything except the stomach contents, weight bearing bones and skull of larger animals, theyd eat the skin, the fat some of the fur meat bones ect...

so unless you have a dog with a sensitive stomach i wouldnt be too worried about the fat on a normal stomach.

in terms of composting...yup either throw it right on the pile...or put it in the chicken pen...sounds gross i know but theyll pick through it turn it for you ect...once its then dried out a bit scoop anything they havent scattered around thier pen and throw it on the pile...

in a well balanced compost pile i woudlnt be too worried about the acidity...but if its already mostly coffee grounds, youll probably need to amend with lyme so no worries.