Horse poo - a firelighter's delight

[scrubcutter]

Right, I've put this thread up knowing that this has probably already been discussed and almost certainly written about. So my red-faced apologies up front if this is the case.

As part of my job involves habitat management, i.e., scrub cutting, I always have bonfires to burn the brash off. Occasionally I forget the matches, etc...

I'm then left with starting a fire with the cigarette lighter which comes with the pick-up attached (the one you push in and clicks out when it heated up). Lighting dry paper, dry Tor Grass or Purple Moor Grass from the lighter is a non-goer (it smokes but it doesn't catch) while anything else in the vicinty doesn't catch at all. However, one thing that does get going is dried horse poo. The New Forest ponies have a more natural diet than their stable mates and that's the poo to go for - more fibre, less, erm, squirty stuff. It smoulders well and when left alone will burn for several hours. Indeed, I had a three inch plip-plop smoulder for four days! It smells surprisingly nice as well.

I've never tried it (but will do) but by inference Rabbit poo should do well too. It is similarly high in fibre and has a similar consistency.

Anyway, hope this hasn't been done to death.

Cheers,
Steve.

 

[Matt Weir]

one thing that does get going is dried horse poo.

That's some good sh!t Steve

 

[Mike Ameling]

Dried animal dung has been used for heating/cooking fires for centuries. The cowboys of the old west used to call it "prairie coal" - both from buffalo and from cattle. Many homesteaders on the Great Plains used it in place of firewood, which was very scarce.

Like any fuel for a fire, it takes a bit of experience to learn how to best use it. It works well for cooking things in a pot or pan, but you wouldn't want to grill steaks over it - unless you like that slightly ... off ... taste.

Mikey - yee ol' grumpy blacksmith out in the Hinterlands

 

[myheadsashed]

Yak poo is still dried and used as fuel in Tibet especially above the tree line.

 

[Bernie Garland]

That's some good sh!t Steve

bernie

 

[Ogri the trog]

Thaks for the reminder Steve,
I remember hearing how the Australian Aboriginies use dried kangaroo poo to kindle their fires, and I thought about trying sheep/rabbit etc, but never got around to it - so all I have to do now is find some dried that hasn't been blown away by the gales of the last two days.

ATB

Ogri the trog

 

[scrubcutter]

Thanks all - I thought the subject must have been done to death, so my embarrased apologies once more.

Nonetheless, I thought the fact that I had a dollop burn for four days was interesting. In other words it can be carried around as a fire source, as with some species of dried fungi.

 

[scrubcutter]

...and I've just noticed that this thread should be in the sub-forum 'firecraft' which I didn't see first time around - oops!

 

[Nagual]

I think I am right in saying that in many places throughout the world dung as been a versatile commodity. Used in buildings in walls or floors ( apparently very good at water absorption ), the smoke is used to help keep bugs away, some places have made paper out of it due to the high fibre content of the elephant dung used. I'm suer there must be thousands more..

Cheers, Nag.

 

[Mike Ameling]

But there is one major problem in all these lesser developed areas using dried animal dung for fuel. When they burn it, they can't/don't use it as fertilizer for the soil to help grow their food. You do have a slight amount of value to add back to the soil from the ash, but most of the fertilizer value is lost.

It's pretty similar to what happens so often with growing grain. The grain is harvested, but that leaves the "straw" or stems from the plant. Well, that should be plowed back into the soil to help add it's fiber/mineral value back to the soil. But so many places see it as a waste product of no value and burn it. Plus, it's eaiser to just burn it off instead of composting it back into the soil.

So the eternal struggle goes on around the world and across the centuries - between the needs of the soil vs. the needs of plants vs. the needs of animals vs. the needs of man.

Yes, a dried "road apple" from a horse would smolder for a long time. It is basically shredded plant material that had been wetted, half rotted, and then packed into a ball. It would work similar to catching a spark in the center of a rotted log, and having it smolder away for several days.

It is an ... experience ... making a campfire from dried animal dung. And sometimes good firewood just isn't available. Just don't ... roast ... any food over that fire or coals - unless you have acquired a taste for such things.

Mikey - yee ol' grumpy blacksmith out in the Hinterlands