Cow dung

Cow Dung

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Cow dung

Cow dung is the waste

WASTE

WASTE is a peer-to-peer and friend-to-friend protocol and software application developed by Justin Frankel at Nullsoft in 2003 that features instant messaging, chat rooms and file browsing/sharing capabilities....
of bovine

Bovinae

The biological subfamily bovinae includes a diverse group of 10 genera of medium to large sized ungulates, including domestic cattle, the bison, the Bubalus, the yak, and the four-horned and spiral-horned antelopes....
animal species. These species include domestic cattle

Cattle

Cattle, colloquially referred to as cows, are domestication ungulates, a member of the subfamily Bovinae of the family Bovidae. They are raised as livestock for meat , dairy products , leather and as draft animals ....
("cows"), bison

Bison

Bison is a taxonomic group containing six species of large even-toed ungulates within the subfamily Bovinae. Only two of these species still exist: the American bison and the European bison, or wisent , each with two subspecies....
("buffalo"), yak

Yak

The yak is a long-haired bovine found throughout the Himalayan region of south Central Asia, the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau and as far north as Mongolia....
and water buffalo

Water Buffalo

The Water Buffalo or domestic Asian water buffalo is a large bovine animal, frequently used as livestock in Asia, and also widely in South America, southern Europe, north Africa and elsewhere....
. Cow dung is the undigested residue of herbivorous matter which has passed through the animal's gut. The resultant faecal matter is rich in mineral

Mineral

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Uses

In many parts of the developing world, cow dung is used as a fertilizer

Fertilizer

Fertilizers are chemical compounds given to plants to promote growth; they are usually applied either through the soil, for uptake by plant roots, or by foliar feeding, for uptake through leaves....
and fuel

Fuel

Fuel is any material that is burned or altered in order to obtain energy and to heat or to move an object. Fuel releases its energy either through a chemical reaction means, such as combustion, or nuclear means, such as nuclear fission or nuclear fusion....
. Caked and dried cow dung is used as a fuel to cook food in many parts of Asia and Africa.

In recent times, the dung is collected and used to produce biogas

Biogas

Bio-gas typically refers to a gas produced by the biological breakdown of organic matter in the absence of oxygen. Biogas originates from biogenic material and is a type of biofuel....
to generate electricity

Electricity

Electricity is a general term that encompasses a variety of phenomena resulting from the presence and flow of electric charge. These include many easily recognizable phenomena such as lightning and static electricity, but in addition, less familiar concepts such as the electromagnetic field and electromagnetic induction....
and heat. The gas is a rich source of methane

Methane

Methane is a chemical compound with the molecular formula . It is the simplest alkane, and the principal component of natural gas. Methane's bond angles are 109.5 degrees....
and is used in rural areas of India and elsewhere 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

Insect repellent

An insect repellent is a substance applied to skin, clothing, or other surfaces which discourages insects from landing or climbing on that surface....
properties. In cold places, cow dung is used to line the walls of rustic houses as a cheap thermal insulator

Thermal insulation

The term thermal insulation can refer to materials used to reduce the rate of heat transfer, or the methods and processes used to reduce heat transfer....
.

It was also used extensively on Indian Railways to seal smokebox

Smokebox

A smokebox is one of the major basic parts of a steam locomotive. Smoke and hot gases pass from the Firebox through tubes where they thermodynamics in the boiler....
es on steam locomotive

Locomotive

A locomotive is a Rail transport vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. The word originates from the Latin language loco - "from a place", Ablative case of locus, "place" + Medieval Latin motivus, "causing motion", and is a shortened form of the term locomotive engine,....
s.

Cow dung is also an optional ingredient in the manufacture of adobe

Adobe

Adobe is a natural building material made from sand, clay, and water, with some kind of fibrous or organic material , which is shaped into bricks using frames and dried in the sun....
mud brick housing depending on the availability of materials at hand.

Variants

A buffalo chip, also called a meadow muffin, is the name for a large, flat, dried piece of dung

Feces

Feces, faeces, or f?ces is a waste product from an animal's gastrointestinal tract expelled through the anus during defecation....
deposited by the American Bison

American Bison

The American Bison is a bovinae mammal, also commonly known as the American buffalo. "Buffalo" is somewhat of a misnomer for this animal, as it is only distantly related to either of the two "true buffaloes", the Wild Asian Water Buffalo and the African buffalo....
from the large amount of grass

Grass

Grass is the common word that generally describes monocotyledonous green plants. The family Poaceae are the "true grasses" and include most plants grown as grains, for pasture, and for lawns ....
that it eats. Well dried buffalo chips were among the few things that could be collected and burned on the prairie

Prairie

Prairie refers to temperate grasslands of North America. These are areas of low topographic relief that historically supported grasses and herbs, with few or no trees, having a generally mesic habitat climate....
, and so were used by the Plains Indians

Plains Indians

The Plains Indians are the Indigenous peoples of the Americas who live on the plains and rolling hills of the Great Plains....
, settlers and pioneers

Emigrant Trail

The Emigrant Trail is the name collectively applied to the network of wagon trails throughout the American West during the middle 19th century, used by emigrants from the eastern United States to settle lands west of Rocky Mountains....
, and homesteaders

Homestead Act

Homestead Act was a United States Federal law that gave an applicant freehold title to 160 acres -640 acres of undeveloped land outside of the original 13 colonies....
, as a source of heat for cooking and warmth.

Bison 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

Lakota

The Lakota are a Native Americans in the United States tribe. They are part of a confederation of seven related Sioux tribes and speak Lakota language, one of the three major dialects of the Sioux language....
, to refer to lies or broken promises (especially by the U.S. government). It probably attained this sense by association with the English bull shit.

External links

- about bison, including information on chips.

Cow dung

Uses

Variants

See also

External links