Cow dung
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Cow Dung is a term used for the feces of the bovine species. The species includes the cow, buffalo, ox and bullock. Cow dung is basically the digested residue of herbivorous matter which is acted upon by symbiotic bacteria residing within the animal's rumen. The resultant faecal matter is rich in minerals. Colour ranges from greenish to blackish. In due course, the resulting matter turns yellow due to chemical changes caused by sunlight.
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[edit] Uses
In many parts of the developing world, cow dung is used as a fertilizer and fuel. Caked and dried cow dung is used as a fuel to cook food in many parts of Asia and Africa. Especially in India where it is known as gobar, cow dung is also used as manure.
In recent times, the dung is collected and used to produce biogas to generate electricity and heat. The gas is a rich source of methane and is used in rural areas of India to provide a renewable and stable source of electricity.
Cow dung is also used to line the floor and walls of buildings owing to its insect repellent properties. In cold places, cow dung is used to line the walls of rustic houses as a cheap thermal insulator.
It was also used extensively on Indian Railways to seal smokeboxes on steam locomotives.[citation needed]
Cow dung is also an optional ingredient in the manufacture of adobe mud brick housing depending on the availability of materials at hand.[1]
[edit] Variants
A buffalo chip, also called a meadow muffin, is the name for a large, flat, dried piece of dung deposited by the buffalo from the large amount of grass that it eats. Well dried buffalo chips were among the few things that could be collected and burned on the prairie, and so were used by the Plains Indians, settlers and pioneers, and homesteaders, as a source of heat for cooking and warmth.
Buffalo dung is sometimes referred to by the name nik-nik. This word is a borrowing from the Sioux language (which probably originally borrowed it from a northern source). In modern Sioux, nik-nik can refer to the feces of any bovine, including domestic cattle. It has also come to be used, especially in Lakota, to refer to lies or broken promises (especially by the U.S. government). It probably attained this sense by association with the English "BS".
[edit] See also
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- 101 uses of CowDung
- National Park Service - about buffaloes, including information on chips.
