Hi all, I have seen these in the shops for about £30 as anyone used them? are they any good. Is it pssible to mak one, i was thinking of a hole about 2ft down about a foot across, so we can dump the piles of s##t we get every day from our bull mastiffs but any idea if this would be ok and what chemical would we need, bleach, costic soda?
Thanks
Steve
Hi Steve,
I made one for the back garden out of an old plastic waste paper bin. We only use it for the occasional plop, but it's worked fine for 5 years now and we only use water and the liquid stuff you get for chemical toilets to eat all poo up. We followed the makers instructions of the amount to add per litre of water and never had any problems.
The waste bin has holes of 20 mm diameter drilled through at 50 mm down from the top rim, eight in total, to let the water drain out into the surrounding soil. The whole thing is buried into loose stone and gravel giving it somewhere for the water to drain through and not be blocked by the soil plugging up the holes. Any stones that are to big to go through the 20 mm holes seems to do the trick. The lid is made from a couple of pieces of 12 mm thick plywood. One piece is cut to fit just inside the shape of the bin and one piece cut to fit over the top. When the two pieces were glued and screwed together they make a nice tight enough fit to stop it blowing or being kicked off easily. It might have been easier to get a bucket with a lid but I didn't so had to make my own.
I clean it by flushing it out every so often, as I say, it's only used for the occasional poo scoop but, it is great for keeping the lawn clean and stops smells building up. We were going to buy one but when I saw how simple an idea it was, well, I couldn't resist making one for myself and it when it works as well as ours does, it is very pleasing to have saved that lovely £ 20 for something else of more importance.
The guy next door to us puts his doggy poo into his compost pile and says it makes his roses blossom with the best flowers he has ever seen. I have to admit that we've never had any problem with it being smelly or of it being a fly trap, so that's another method you might think of using to clean up the lawn.
Anyway, enough of this S+*t, and good luck with it. :-))
Thanks all i got a bit of poor dead ground behind a garage i have built so i think i will make one there, again thanks for the advice
steve
Woof! Woof! Woof! Woof! Woof! Woof! Woof! Yelp...
Whinnneeeee, yawn, squeek, Hmmmmmmm, ZZZZZzzzzzZZZZzzzzZZZ
(That't what she said I think.....)
We had one for our Airedale (now sadly deceased) and it seemed to work reasonably well. However: (1) You first have to dig a s*ding great soakaway and fill this with hard core and shingle to ensure that the liquids drain away properly (2) The composting action is slow - the instructions on ours stated you would need more than one for a large dog. Our Airedale used to overload it from time to time, so bull mastiffs (plural) would probably fill it inside a week.
One alternative thought - there are various designs for composting toilets for the greener fraternity - could you modify the concept for the dogs?
Try
Cheers Dave R
P.S. the soakaway has made a great difference to the bottom of the garden - we used to have loads of moss on the lawn but it is fine now.
My cat eats grass. But that's a totally different story, man. :-))
The feral cats who have adopted us, also eat grass - and one of them really likes bolognese sauce.
Sheila
Hee Hee !!! I'm sitting here with a plate of bolognese as we speak. I also had a cat by the name of Tim, who loved a buttered bran scone and his slice of unbuttered wholemeal toast. He never took them every day mind, but at least once a week was his norm'. He'd actually come up and ask with a meaow and a paw in your hand when he wanted some.
Are they real "feral" cats with the tufted ears and slotted eyes ? Or are they just stray domestics that have had to fend for themselves ?
Awwwwwww, I want one.
The kittens normally start off looking very normal, but soon transform into the feral character. The mother sounds gorgeous and seems to be looking after her kids very well. She's found you to help feed them after all.
Try to keep them close to you, or always visiting your house because they don't half keep the rodents at bay.
I don't suppose she brings the kittens into the house ? If you're lucky she may give you one. Just look out for her lifting one closer to you all the time.
Anyway, to keep this a DIY thread. When you feed them, do you do it yourself ? :-))
Tried one. Good sandy soil - low water table - good drainage. Two medium sized dogs. It was filled within a week so nothing else could be put into it. It was a pretty unpleasant sight and took forever to digest the contents.
We've found you can't beat flushing it down the loo. I would advise against it especially if you have more than one large dog.
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