When our goat died a few weeks ago, we faced a problem. It is winter. The ground is frozen. What should we do with the body?

We consulted various people. One of the more natural ways of doing thing would be to take it out and leave it for the wildlife. This isnt strictly sanctioned, per se, but the coyotes tend to make quick work of it. And we considered that. There were two main issues that ultimately made us decide against it: 1) we didn’t want to bait the predators close to the living area/barn, 2) we had no way of transporting the body farther back into the bush.

Being winter, obviously we could not bury IN THE GROUND; but one farmer we spoke to – who lives in timberwolf country with a high water table where burying is rarely possible – suggested burying in wood chips/sawdust. It has been his preferred method for many years. The wolves have never gotten to the dead animal and what is left at the end of the process is only very clean bones.

Our choice, based on available resources and advice, was to utilize the manure pile. We use chips for animal bedding, so the pile is largely chips, although very active in terms of composting organisms. We moved the pile to one side (which took quite a while), placed the goat, used her own stall bedding as the first layer over her, and then replaced the entire pile overtop.

Being as it is a manure pile, the smell of it should deter any and all predators from investigating too much, and we’re perfectly okay with leaving said pile for a couple years to finish doing what it needs to do.

I was concerned, though, that the pile might not reach sufficient temperatures to eradiciate parasites or whatever else might become an issue. I wanted to make sure the composting process is hot and robust.

Today, we finally had the black tarp I had ordered. They’re suprisingly hard to get. Black on top, silver underneath, and quite heavy-duty, it is now entirely covering that pile to aid the heating process. We will, of course, uncover it from time to time to dampen and aerate the pile and keep it happily cooking away. In a couple years, the soil produced should be lovely indeed.

It is one way that the smallholder/homesteader can turn a tragedy into something of use in a safe and effective way.