Yes, leftover bones and meat can be added to compost pile. They add a variety of micro and macro nutrients to your soil.
Composting is an awesome way to turn waste into resources. Composting may be a popular idea but it is not an easy task.
Bones make your compost nutrient-rich. But bones are quite hard, aren’t they? How do you make sure they get decomposed?
There are ways to do this. In this article, we discuss the ways to compost bones and all things you need to know about bone composting.
Can you compost bones and meat?
Yes, carcasses are a great addition to the compost mixture. Bones and meat take a long time to decompose though as they are built complexly.
One needs to process them to decompose them faster. Try to make a broth or a soup out of these bones. This is an efficient way to process bones.
The boiled bones become tender and thus will decompose much faster than raw bones. You can further process these bones by grinding them.
How long do bones take to compost?
Bones take years if not decades to decompose. We are talking about unprocessed bones here. They will decompose faster if you process them.
Bones of larger carcasses take a long time to decompose. Smaller, thinner bones like Chicken bones decompose much faster.
Chicken bones just take 2 months to decompose. So, if your soil needs a quick feeding, feed it some chicken bone meal.
Can I bury chicken bones in the garden?
You shouldn’t bury bones directly in the garden. They take months to decompose. You need to process those chicken bones before you add them to the soil.
You should never bury bones directly. It is not only inefficient but also attracts critters and pet dogs. If you intend to bury them directly, bury them 12 inches below the surface.
Chicken bones take months to decompose completely, so my advice to you is to process them before burying them if you want to feed the soil quickly.
Are chicken bones good for the soil?
Yes, chicken bones enrich the soil. Chicken bone meal enriches the soil quickly if you boil the bones and make a powder out of them.
Such bone meal is rich in Phosphorous, Potassium, Calcium, and Nitrogen. These are the elements that are required in high amounts by the plants.
Be sure to bury chicken bones at a depth of 12 inches or more. By doing this you can make sure that no critters can reach those bones.
Can I put bones in the compost bin?
Yes, bones are biodegradable so you can put them in the compost bin. Bones are rich in a variety of compounds that will enrich the soil.
But, one needs to process these bones if the person expects results sooner. Bones decompose at a much slower rate than other items in your compost bin.
If you want bones(or even meat) to decompose faster you need to break them down into small pieces.
How to grind bones for compost?
I boil the chicken bones to get rid of any meat. You can feed this meat to your dog. The boiled bones can now be ground.
You can grind these boiled bones using a mortar and pestle. One may also use a wood chipper to break bones into small pieces so you can easily grind them.
Some people burn the bones into charcoal after boiling them. After the bones turn into charcoal, they then grind them. Burnt bones are easier to grind.
You can choose whatever suits your need. But, do remember, grinding bones is a must if you want to compost them, otherwise bones won’t decompose for years if not decades.
Tip: Chicken bones decompose faster though, processed or not.
Can you compost turkey bones?
Yes, you can compost turkey bones. They’d probably decompose in months. You can break the carcass into tiny pieces if you want it to break down quickly.
There’s another advantage of breaking down bones too. You can spread it over a bigger area.
If you want a quicker decomposition, boil those turkey bones. You can make a powder out of such boiled bones or you can burn them to make charcoal out of ’em
After they break down in the fire make a powder out of them. This is quite similar to the bone meal you find in the supermarket.
Organic Bone Meal
There are different types of bone meal that you can add to your soil. You can add any bones to the soil to enrich it.
But you need to make sure those bones are processed prior to adding them to the compost bin. Boiling the bones and then burning them to charcoal works well.
You can then powder it. Let’s see what kinds of bones can be added to the soil.
Can you compost rib bones?
Yes, rib bones decompose in the soil. It may take a long time if you don’t process them prior to adding them to the soil.
Boil them if they aren’t already then break those bones into small pieces using secateurs and a hammer. Now you can add this bone meal to your compost.
Can you compost dog bones?
Yes, dog bones decompose well too. You can add them into your compost bin, but before that do try to process them.
Boil the bones first, then burn them until the bones turn into charcoal. Break these bones into small pieces and powder them.
You can now add this bone meal to your compost bin.
Can you compost pork bones?
Yes, pork bones decompose quite well. Of course, you need to process pork bones before adding them to your compost bin.
Boil those pork bones first and then burn them into charcoal. You can then break these bones into small pieces and powder them.
What to do with fish scraps?
You can add leftover fish bones and meat to the compost pit. You may want to dig a trench that is two-feet or deeper.
Can you compost fish bones?
Yes, of course, fish bones decompose fairly quickly. But fish bones attract a lot of rodents and cat alike. Is the risk worth taking?
You don’t even need to process fish bones, they break-down quickly. But you may wanna bury them two feet deep or even deeper.
Can you compost chicken wing bones?
Yes, you can compost chicken wing bones. They are merely chicken bones and thus help enrich the soil by adding Nitrogen and some trace minerals to it.
You may want to break these bones into small pieces and powder them. Add this powder to the compost bin for best results.
Happy Composting 🙂