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thank you theabsinthefairy; this thread has been full of great ideas :)

Can I ask something - sprinkling the bones around your garden, does that bring in rats? We have a lot of them around here and at the moment they're not to problematic, but I wouldn't like to entice them!

SC x

Hee hee, Starchild.... after reading your last post, I couldn't help but start to giggle.......

We are surrounded by fields where we are & have a little copse at the foot of the garden, where next door's cows often roam. On the top of our wall, I have several seed trays screwed down & this is where most of our 'throw-out' food gets put - for the birds, weasels/stoats, feral cat (aka 'frobisher'!), foxes...... and the rats!!
I've even been known to separate the food into it's categories so that the birds, cat & rats can have their own place to feed! Somewhere I have a piccy - a little blurred - of the cat at one tray & a rat at the next door one - oh, what a sucker I am!

Can ya tell I'm really a townie at heart?
Julie.

here's another vote for feeding it to the cat!

both my moggies have the entire chicken, i used to use one of the hand grinders, certain ones work and others aren't so good (i can advise anyone if necessary)

now i use my mums kenwood (mincer attachment) and do at least 3 birds at a time

I certaintly used to chuck all bones on the woodburner when I had one. I never had any problems with the bones not burning (think cremation).

It doesn't work quite so well on my tiny open log fire now but I still chuck the odd one on.

Zoe

Thomzo wrote:I certaintly used to chuck all bones on the woodburner when I had one. I never had any problems with the bones not burning (think cremation).

It doesn't work quite so well on my tiny open log fire now but I still chuck the odd one on.

Zoe

ive burnt carcass on the open fire you have to make sure its redhot coals and it practically all disappears to ash.

Interesting thread. I've always made stock from the carcass and frozen it for later use (made a good veg stew for lunch today. No weighing, just search for the odds in the frig, chop fine and boil for an hour - parsnip, turnip, celery, onion, garlic, cabbage, celeriac, carrot, stock, water, salt and pepper) Warming.

Rather than burn I think I would prefer to bury. Depends on the season. One spit down and the rats can't get to it. And our cats are too lazy to chew the bones, prefer to nibble. I understand it's more of a problem for dogs who will try to crunch the bones.

Preventer - By the time we get to the bone stage our carcasses have been well and truly used (when it is your own bird it feels like an obligation to get everything you can from it).

Once you are at post stock stage, I have ground the bones, or splintered them, I have also given the carcass to the chickens to fight over the last remains, and left them in trees for the winter birds to get the marrow from the bones. The bones can be burnt on any fire that gets hot enough and leaves no residue, and is perfect with the wood ash for the garden.

starchild - We have never had any trouble with the mice or rats being encouraged into the garden - the geese have been known to kill a rat, and one of the most surreal sights of the summer last year, was one of our grey chickens running around with a mouse in her beak that she had stalked for over an hour, waiting patiently for it to appear out of its hole! That is not to mention the two house cats and the two barn cats who also like to keep a claw in.