Always Clean Up Dog Waste

When it comes to dog waste, the best management practice is to remove it and trash it.

Dog waste is NOT fertilizer. Traditionally, canines have a diet primarily composed of meat. As digestion breaks down this protein-rich food, phosphorus and nitrogen are released making dog waste highly concentrated with these elements.

Additionally, modern dog food manufacturers remove oxygen and add nitrogen to increase the shelf life of dog kibble. The added nitrogen is also excreted. Lastly, due to the abundance of nitrogen excreted from a canine’s high protein diet, dog stool has a slow decomposition rate of about 9 weeks. As the matter sits on the grass, rain or irrigation water will likely pulverize the pile. As the pile’s size decreases, it becomes easier for the particles to bind to the soil particles and get swept up and washed away into drains, ditches, or canals. These conveyance systems carry the phosphorus and nitrogen-rich material to our waterways, such as the Indian River Lagoon and the St. Johns River. Upon entry into the lagoon, river or other waterway, the phosphorus and nitrogen feed the naturally occurring algae. These nutrients can then launch an algal bloom much like fertilizer can.

Algal blooms are a particularly problematic because algae:

• blocks sunlight from reaching sea grass, which suppresses oxygen production by photosynthesis.
• consumes oxygen from the water as it decays.
• initiates fish kills due to low levels of oxygen from reduced photosynthetic activity, and consumption of oxygen as the algae decays.

Compost Chicken Waste Before Using as Fertilizer

Since a chicken’s diet is seed-based, and its quantity of waste is relative to its size, the make-up and quantity of chicken dung makes it an excellent manure for flower beds and gardens after it has spent some time in a pathogen-killing composter. Once composted, chicken waste from a 4-hen flock is not foul to our waterways. (City Code limits residents to 4 hens.)

Best Management Practices for Horses

Horses are large herbivores that consume about 15-30 pounds of plants a day. The excrement generated from eating all those plants is rich in phosphorus and nitrogen. Therefore, proper management of horse manure is critical for maintaining clean waterways. Spreading manure throughout pastures is acceptable as long as the amount of manure produced does not exceed the nutrient requirement of the pasture. When it does, stock piling or composting is needed. Both should be enclosed and/or covered to protect against runoff. Stock piles should be relocated to the landfill regularly or recycled at an appropriate facility.