Southwest Fertilizer, in Houston, is a great place to get organic products in Houston but I just had to make sure that their people knew the difference between excrement and compost.

I sent my wife, who knows little about organic gardening, to the store Monday to get a bag of turkey manure. I did not know if they had it or not but she was going to see if they did. It is only a block or so from where she works.

The person she spoke to convinced her to buy All American Turkey Compost although I had sent a note with her explicately saying DO NOT get any composted version. Well, they convinced her that composted manure was the same thing as "regular" manure so she bought it.

I can still use it but it did, kind of, upset me that a store that sells lots of organic stuff apparently did not know the difference.

The bag does say that it is 100% turkey manure but that it is composted. I really do not see how that can be but maybe All American can be a bit clearer on their product label as there is a difference between manure and composted manure.

Perhaps next time you need to your own shopping, and when you're there you can ask the folks where you need to go to get raw untreated smells-to-high-heavens bird manure. Do you know if a city operation is going to be allowed to stock the raw stuff? Or that there is a product available as bags of raw, untreated turkey manure? It sounds like they offered your wife the next best thing. "Turkey manure" doesn't bring up any hits on their web site.

The website for Southwest Fertilizer is http://www.southwestfertilizer.com/ Their phone number is 713-666-1744.

I hope your wife was at least driving a pickup truck, because she shouldn't have that raw manure in the passenger compartment, and it would substantially stink up the trunk as well. When I hear about people getting loads of raw manure, it is delivered by the truck load, usually by someone with connections with the related agriculture (cows, horses, chickens, etc.)

Just a few thoughts on the topic.

First, I wrote exact instructions on the sheet of paper that I gave her. She did show the paper to the folks at the store so they knew EXACTLY what I meant.

Second, there are places in Houston that have extremely fresh cow manure so I do not see the difference in bird manure and cow manure.

Third, to activate a compost pile it needs to be fresh and not "neutralized" by already having been composted.

Fourth, I have been to Southwest Fertilizer several times so they know who they are dealing with when my wife goes there.

Fifth, getting a good, tight seal on a trash bag, or two, will prevent leaks and/or smells even in a nice car.

Also, although I am a country guy, the yard of the house that I currently live in is only .16 acres so I do not need anywhere near a yard of manure of any type. I just need to get my composted heated up.

These days it is hard to find any sort of domesticated manure, i.e. rabbit, cow, horse, chicken, turkey, etc. that has not been ruined by the animal having had shots, etc. and getting chemicals in their manure.

The difference between uncomposted bird and mammal dung is the types of pathogens each type of animal carries. A chicken, for example, is unaffected by cattle and horse diseases and will dig through the dung to find fly and parasite eggs. Humans can get sick from either bird or mammal dung before it is composted. So in the sense that you can die from either one, then there is not much difference.

I agree that to keep a pile hot you need uncomposted material. Don't you have access to a horse stable nearby?

I truly apologize for getting testy, sorry.

I merely thought that having carried so many organic products the store might have known a little more about them.

And I do agree with everything you say, Dchall...wholeheartedly. I do have access to horse stables and cow pastures for that matter but wouldn't both horses and cows have medicines, etc. in their system as well? I am not a rancher, of any sort, but it seems to me that chemicals might be in their system as well. I am sure you know more about this than me so I will leave it up to you for information on if these chemicals would make it into their excrement as well.

By the way, I have beautiful grass that does not have chemicals used on it in any way. The vast majority of the time I leave it on the lawn after cutting it. But, after the most recent rain it has really taken off so much that I have to cut it about every five days just to be able to keep it in control. So, I used some of it to kick start my compost piles. My 3 compost piles are so hot now that they that they look like they are smoking and about to catch on fire. I know it is steam but to the neighbors, it is very deceiving. It just took some moist greens to get them going good.

Maybe you should call the store and express your frustration with them.