need some advice on disposal of remains

[wildwanderer]

We lost one of my bucks yesterday very suddenly best I can figure is it was polio he got the girls grain and his own the night before this happened. however the big question is what so I do with the carcass. We are below freezing for a couple more days however we can't dig a goat sized hole up here we are basically bedrock. I tried the local wildlife preserve they only take cattle. Any ideas? we are in NW Arkansas near the Missouri border. I have considered skinning him out and giving him to the pigs but I am not sure I can do it. He is about 200 pounds and was the sweetest boy in the world . Sorry this is so disjointed I am really thrown by his loss.
Thank you for any suggestions.

[Frosted Mini's]

How big is your property? Can you put him somewhere and let the wildlife take care of it? (FYI, this is technically not legal a lot of places). So sorry for your loss.

[yarrow]

So sorry you lost him... we too live in the Ozarks.. we are on the MO side (about a dozen miles north of the AR/Mo border).. when we have a loss.. we just take the body off to a far corner (we have an area that the guardian dogs can't get to.. other wise they will bring the goat bodies back to the house) Cold weather (like we are having now)..it takes a while for the bodies to *disappear*... however in warmer weather they go pretty fast.. Putting bodies our has never brought in bigger predators.. like coyotes and such.. seems to smaller things and big birds that take care of most of removal..

susie

[mygoat]

You can either put him on the corner of your property where he won't start to cause smell problems with neighbors, or you could make a pile of kindling over him and try to burn him. You may need a burn permit and it may be unsafe if you're having a very dry winter.

[yarrow]

learn from our mistake.. when you decide to burn one.. make sure you thaw it out first (first goat I ever lost, was a doeling I paid an arm and a leg for.. back 11 or so years ago).. she wasn't right from the get go.. lost her within 2 weeks.. I was heartbroken.. hubby was out of town.. told me to put her in the freezer and he would take care of disposal when he got home.. (so it would be easier on me LOL).. well.. he gathered up the wood.. got a fire going.. put her frozen body on the pile.. (let's just say that once we got the grass fire finally put out (it was a dry/windy/summer night he chose to burn her).. ..(my beautiful black & white spotted, champion sire & dam doeling.. I had saved for and wanted so badly)..Not only did I see her dead body again.. this time I saw her without ears.. which was the ONLY thing that burned.. it's kind of funny now.. not so much back then.. (that and the fact that he almost burned down the neighbor's hay barn)... we've learn A LOT about country living in the last decade..

susie

[Frosted Mini's]

You may also be able to have a veterinarian in your area dispose of the body if you wish. You will probably have to pay a small fee for this. But they have a lot of bodies to deal with, so I'm sure they have a way to do it. There are special places at waste disposal sites for animal bodies sometimes. And depending where you live, if there are a lot of big ag farms like feedlots, dairies, etc, you could check with them too. There are some companies that take care of animal disposal.

[TRAILRIDER]

Thank you for posting. I am sorry for your loss. I have always had this same nagging thought. What would I do? I think I would first call my local vet and ask them. Even if taking the animal to them was not an option, they would probably have some ideas. Again, sorry you are having to deal with this loss. hugs.

[Lady89]

If weather and zoning permits burning is the best way to go. But please use good fire safety, do not burn if it is windy or dry. Also you my want to take note that burning a body takes a lot longer then you might think the last time I had to burn a cow it took 3days but a cow is much larger then a goat. There is a trick to do it faster and more effectively. first you need 2 or 3 large branches or logs all facing one way then place more good sized branches crossing them. This should make a checker board like pattern that will let air get under the fire. Now place the dead animal on top of this frame work. Pour lots of lighter fuel, gas, old dirty car oil or what ever you have that will burn long and hot. What ever you use soak the animal's fur well. Now build a teepee of branches and twigs over the body, do not build it to tight you need air flow. Finally place kindling under and around the animal. Light the fire and get back, animals with more then one stomach like cows and goats sometimes explode from built up methane gass (not dangerous but nasty)

[Forcast]

I had a horse pass and called around to find someone with a backhoe they did it for free, that was in texas, here in wva. had a large dog die in February and did the same thing called around and found a backhoe close by, the man dug a large very large hole helped put the dog in covered him but not all the way so I could use the hole for other animals as needed over the years, that was ten years ago and I have added 2 of my own dogs and the neighbors goat and calf that died over the years. That man did charge me either. I did buy him some cases of beer .

[Pony]

I'm so sorry you lost your sweet boy.

If you have a decent compost pile, you could put him in there. We've composted coons, possums, and have actually composted an entire large dog. VERY large dog.

Our compost piles are not very large (each is built from 4 wood shipping pallets), but they do the job. It's a little slower in the Winter, but any carcass put in a good pile now would pretty much be gone by late Spring.

[wildwanderer]

thanks everyone for your advice I am still really torn up it happened really quick. My boy was the sweetest buck so gentle these goats really crawl in your heart.
I will call my vet on Monday they probably have advice. I didn't even think about that. thanks everyone - Thea

[delphinium]

I was going to suggest composting; Pony beat me to it. It works quite well. Mine are built with the cattle panels that have 4" squares and are 4 sided so bigger critters can't get to them. I cover them with straw bedding, sawdust, etc. No odor if covered well. I so sorry for your loss.

[poppypatchFarm]

Find out if you have a rendering/tallow service in your area. The vet might be able to tell you. When we lived in CA we didn't have enough land to bury horses and livestock so they all went to the renderer. They would come out and pick up for a small fee. Since moving to WA we have enough acreage and a backhoe.

[GRGF]

One of our local funeral homes offers cremation for animals. It is pretty reasonable. I don't know if you have any that offer that?

So sorry for your loss. It sure is rough to lose a good animal.

[farmmom]

You can bury him in shavings if you have them available. Every animal I have disposed of this way composted down very quickly to nothing but bones. I would find lots of black fly larvae in the heap which I fed to my chickens. Mix it in with other compost and your garden will love you!

[sisterpine]

Oh dear, what a disaster! I am so sorry your guy died! I do not know the answer to how to dispose of the body but perhaps the local dump would take him?

[Annsni]

This might help. It's how you would deal with a dead horse in Maine and I've heard it works well.

http://www.nickernews.net/composting...x#.VLRx-GTF-mE

[motdaugrnds]

Sorry for your loss!

I have "raised" beds in my garden; and this is where all the remains of any animal butchered for meat (and any animal dying of an illness) is put. I put the carcass in that raised bed and cover the entire carcass with pine chips. You can either place netting over your raised bed or leave it open for your fowl to dig around in. Either way works well. It does not take long for the decaying process to occur; and should it be during winter months, just cover it well with the pine chips and wait for warmer weather to get it done.

[boerboy]

Sorry for your loss.

I too lost my buck this month. He was such a good boy I was heart broken. I think it was coccidiosis. He was scouring but was reading hay. I did treat him with medicine, electrolytes and yogurt. but I myself was very sick and it was very cold I failed to save him.
I couldn't bury him as it was wet and cold.
My friend helped me to dispose the carcass in the wild for nature to take care.

[billinwv]

Our landfill allows dead animal drop offs. Minimal cost.