Here’s an old trick that might help you: if you sprinkle hydrated lime on top of your compost heap, pets and wildlife won’t dig it up, flies won’t land there, and there will be no smell.<\/p>\n
Not that compost heaps are supposed to smell if you do it right, but our compost heap has broiler-processing waste in it — such as blood, feathers, and offal — which are mighty tempting to your average raccoon. Trowel on some hydrated lime, and voila! Problem solved.<\/p>\n
This came to mind when our dalmatian, Sammi, went for an unauthorized dig in the compost heap. Yuck! Shame on us for forgetting the lime.<\/p>\n
Hydrated lime should be available in any building supply or farm store. Feed stores carry it for some reason — don’t ask me. It’s a slightly caustic, very fine powder, so don’t get it in your eyes when you use it. It doubles as a soil amendment. It’s good for your compost heap.<\/p>\n
I’ve also used it for hen repellent. The hens don’t like it, but it doesn’t seem to cause them any distress. They just avoid areas with a heavy dusting of hydrated lime. I use it to make them stop laying in inappropriate places. (I discovered this by accident; I thought it would be a good thing to add to a dust bath, but they avoided it instead.) <\/p>\n
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