As spring gets closer, so does the possibility that during birthing season a mother or offspring might not make it, despite our best efforts.  We do not have a backhoe, so would not be able to easily bury a larger animal.  On Homesteading Today, I asked the question; if you don't have a backhoe, what do you do when livestock dies?  I got many answers, ranging from leaving the corpse for scavengers, burning, or finding a neighbor with a backhoe to help.  The most common answer however, which surprised me, was to compost the dead, allowing the body to break down and nourish the soil. 

Sugar Mountain Farm, a lovely farm in the mountains of Vermont, has a great article on how to go about composting a larger animal, which you can read here.  It is the best description of the process that I have found, and I am grateful to him for writing it.

You can read my question, and all the answers, at Homesteadingtoday.com.