The Rural Voice, 2019-05, Page 20The recipe calls for 135 gallons of viscera, 30 gallons
of lung and kidneys, 65 gallons of blood, 1.5 yards
of feathers, 1.2 yards of bark mulch and 1.2 yards of
active compost. Dump it into a vertical mixer, lay it out in
a shallow row and let it cook.
That’s the recipe Dale Schefter of Schefter Poultry near
Gorrie has developed for a 20-to-one carbon to nitrogen
ratio to compost the by-products of his processing plant
and avoid incurring disposal fees.
It’s quite a fascinating progression given the base
material Dale has to work with. It works amazingly well
and Dale often shares the process with customers who
come to the facility to have their chickens, turkeys, ducks
and other fowl slaughtered. Wait times to butcher birds
extend well into next year at the licensed processing plant
but composting is a steady process and it was this sideline
that brought Dale to the Huron County Water Protection
Steering Committee’s Nutrient Management Strategy Day
at Holmesville on March 22.
Later, The Rural Voice visited Schefter’s Poultry to see
16 The Rural Voice
Mixing bark mulch and chicken guts
Dale Schefter makes meat cuts for his customers and
uses the left over viscera to create a nitrogen rich compost
In an old bank barn that used to house hogs, Dale Schefter mixes up the “leftovers” from his poultry processing
facility near Gorrie with bark mulch in a tried and true recipe that creates some really good-smelling compost. It’s rich
and safe enough for gardeners to use in their gardens. He recently spoke about the process at a nutrient
management meeting held in Holmesville.
•By Lisa B. Pot •
Composting