micro-Habitats - A cow pat
- Foundation Curric. Map
- Primary Curric. Map
- Secondary Curric. Map
- Farm Yard Map
- Crops
- Livestock
- Pests Diseases
- Careers in Agriculture
- Wildlife
- Crops
- Livestock
- Pests Diseases
- Careers in Agriculture
- Wildlife
- Dip Land Based Studies
- Teaching Curriculum Map
Cow pats or poo!.
A micro-habitat - the cow pat!!
A cow pat as a habitat.
Smelly and horrible they may seem but cow pats or any farm animals dung is very important as it is also a fertiliser. To be a fertiliser it must be broken down and recycled so that the nutrients it contains can be released into the soil to be absorbed by plant roots and thus be used for growth by the plant. Remember that although plants make their own food by photosynthesis, this only make sugars and to be healthy plants also need other nutrients such as nitrogen, phosphate and potash which is what cow pats contain.
So how does a cow pat get broken down so these nutrients can become available - well several organisms make cow pats their home, hence it is a habitat. Some of the visible organisms are shown in the video below, there are of course lots of bacteria which also help to breakdown cows pats and recycle the nutrients.
Some cow pat organisms
Farmers have been recycling for years.
Farmers have been recycling animal dung or Farm Yard Manure (FYM) for almost as long as farm animals have been domesticated - see video below...
Farmers recycle manure
Farmers have to constantly clean or 'muck-out' animals kept inside. This muck is stored in heaps in field ready to be spread on the land after the crop has been harvested - I'm sure you have smelt it!!!
Well the process is the ultimate recycling which has been practiced by farmers for 1000's of years.
Why dung is so important - see more on this web site
For a more in depth look at cow dung ecology see this web site
Some of you may do a similar thing at home these days with your compost bins!
How you can recycle at home or in your school.
Home
Contact
About Us 
Help