The availability of rendering services across Kentucky has declined greatly over the last few years and disposing of dead animals has become a major issue for many cattlemen. The availability of dead animal removal services (if available) may vary considerably by county and often change. The county ANR agent or fiscal court should know what is currently available in each county. Cattlemen are encouraged to know what is available in their county before they need the service. Contact information for each county extension office in Kentucky is available at the following website: Counties | Extension.

By Kentucky law, dead animals are to be disposed of within 48 hours of death by several acceptable methods. This law may be viewed at:  statute.aspx (ky.gov). A UK publication explaining these various methods is ID-167: On-Farm Disposal of Animal Mortalities.

Composting of dead animals has become increasingly popular and resources for this procedure are: 

• Kentucky publication concerning of-farm composting of animal mortalities - ID-166: On-Farm Composting of Animal Mortalities.

• Cornell University publication on composting animal mortalities - Composting_Animal_Mortalities.pdf.

• Texas A & M publication on composting large animals - E-422-composting-large-animal-carcasses.pdf.

• North Dakota State University video on composting - How to Compost Dead Livestock.