[GSBN] Suitablity of fresh cowdung supplies from feedlots for natural plasters

[kim thompson]

Hello all,

Our friend, Emma Fitzgerald, recently shared the following  
interesting piece of local knowledge on "dung quality" with Andy and I:

>  I haven't done much work with lime/manure etc. but a book I was  
> recently reading about manure finishing in  Botswanna said that the  
> grass was important for its lipid content, which works as a binding  
> agent. In years when there was drought, and the cows only fed on  
> leaves, the women knew that the dung would not be of the same quality.
>
> They mention fat content in grass as a factor in dung plastering in  
> Chapter 6, Colour and Materials, and quote a 71 year old italian  
> builder who lived in Gabaronne,
> The reference is "Decorated Homes in Botswanna" by Sandy and Elinah  
> Grant, published in 1995, Bay Publishing, Gabaronne.
>
> Best,

kim
>
> Le 19/04/2011 15:12, Andy Horn a écrit :
>
> Hi all
>
> I am busy with 3 large straw bale public building, coating in a  
> thick dipping of earth plaster and well worked in to the bales,  
> which we are protecting with 2 top coats of lime, sand, cow dung  
> and clay water plaster using a recipe I learnt from an old builder  
> Herbert whom was taught it by his grandfather for the plastering of  
> the adobe buildings of his old Moravian mission town.
>
>
> We are having a bit of difficulty getting sufficient supplies of  
> fresh cow dung near our site in Johannesburg, however we have  
> located a nearby feedlot, where the stuff is readily available only  
> thing is that I are wondering if this kind of cow dung would still  
> be suitable ….as I imagine it would have less fibre than cow dung  
> sourced from free ranging cattle. Apparently the cows at the  
> feeding station are fed on about 10% hay/grass and 90% grain.
>
>
> What Herbert our old heritage builder tells us is that it should be  
> fine so long as they are fed some fibre and that indeed he has made  
> use of such cow dung before and one cannot even tell the  
> difference. For him the more important thing is that the cow dung  
> is fresh …i.e. no more than 3 days old.
>
>
> So anyhow I was wondering if any of you lot out there have any with  
> experience in using feed-lot cow dung for their plasters and if you  
> have come up against similar issues in terms of what the cows get  
> to eat affecting the quality of the cow dung before and if you have  
> any opinions/experience with this.
>
>
>
> Incidentally the plaster mix that we get with this receipt is  
> particularly good. It is both very strong and extremely durable as  
> well as being particularly forgiving and really easy to work with  
> as lime plasters typically go.
>
>
> So if any of you are interested I could email you a pdf document  
> directly ( please respond to me separately on  
> andy at ecodesignarchitects.co.za ….do not reply to the whole mailing  
> group) that I have written up on the process…as I am not sure I can  
> mail it to this address direct….unless you want me upload it  
> somewhere. Joyce I would be more than  happy for you to print it up  
> in a forthcoming “Last Straw” magazine too.
>
>
> cheers
>
> Andy
>
>
>  ______________________________________
> GSBN mailing list
>
> GSBN at sustainablesources.com
>
> http://sustainablesources.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/GSBN
>
>

Kim Thompson
Straw Bale Projects
2699 Northwood Terrace
Halifax, Nova Scotia B3K 3S9
tel. 902-453-2429 or 902-845-2750
e mail: shipharbour at ns.sympatico.ca
www.naturalbuilding.ca

"Tradition and modernity are merely two sides of the same coin - and  
must be dealt with simultaneously. Building cannot be a rigid dogma,  
but a living, organic, ecological project. It is about continuity,  
based on memory, common sense and experience and is the foundation of  
invention."   Hasan Uddin Khan



-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.sustainablesources.com/pipermail/gsbn/attachments/20110506/02b00ce3/attachment.htm>