[ChantryOntario]

No, not kidding. I was told by a guy who knows an awful lot about septics and wells in general that the best old school trick is to buy a whole fresh chicken, place it somewhere till its almost liquified rotten, let the flies/maggots get to it, then shovel the whole mess into the tank. He told me the smell will just about kill me but the resulting fauna boost in the septic system is unequaled by any other means. Has anybody tried this? Is it even legal? He does it every summer.. My spider sense tells me he is totally gaming me but I have to ask.

 

[lenaitch]

I've heard this for years but don't know if it actually works. There might be some scientific studies on line. The thing with septic systems is that they work with anaerobic bacteria action (without oxygen). I'm curious of the perceived benefit of letting it mostly rot down before your even 'install' it. The other side of the argument is that the vast majority of septic systems work quite well for years without them.

Of course the obvious answer to "why toss in a dead chicken?" is that live ones put up too much of a fight.

 

[Bondo]

Ayuh,.... I've heard a block of yeast helps,....

Ya used to be able to buy a liquid in a qt jar that was supposed to be active bacteria,...

 

[SeniorSitizen]

I've butchered a lot of chickens here at the ranch but we were hungry for fresh kill and ate every dam one of them first. Non digestibles only went to the septic and the hounds got the guts and bones.:biggrin2: It's been a good life.

 

[joecaption]

I've lived in homes with septic systems for 63 year and own two right now that are over 50 years old.
I've never once added anything to the tanks on any of them and never had an issue.
I get the tanks pumped out every 5 years with just two people living here and the tanks never been full of solids.

 

[AllanJ]

There are people all around the world who are starving and you go and waste a perfectly good chicken?

There are enough bacteria in the normal sewage going into the septic tank to keep the decomposition going.

The bacteria will not reproduce indefinitely because sooner or later they will overpopulate the interior of the septic tank. An equilibrium will be reached.

If the septic tank is far from full of solids and grease when you have it pumped then you can let it go longer before you do the next pumping. THe pumping company should be able to give you a good estimate given the history of past pumpings, your family size, usage patterns, amount of food waste put down, etc.