Editing Cow dung

{{Short description|Waste product from a cow (or cattle in general)}}
{{About|cattle feces|the English slang word|bullshit}}
{{More citations needed|date=March 2009}}
[[File:Cow dung 34.jpg|thumbnail|Cow dung on the ground]]
'''Cow dung''', also known as '''cow pats''', '''cow patties''', '''cow pies''', '''cow poop''' or '''cow manure''', is the [[waste|waste product]] ([[faeces]]) of [[Bovinae|bovine]] animal species. These species include domestic [[cattle]] ("cows"), [[bison]] ("buffalo"), [[yak]], and [[water buffalo]]. Cow dung is the undigested residue of plant matter which has passed through the animal's gut. The resultant [[feces|faecal matter]] is rich in [[mineral]]s. Color ranges from greenish to blackish, often darkening soon after exposure to [[air]].
[[File:Cow next to a road in Eswatini.jpg|thumb|cow]]

==Uses==

=== Fuel ===

[[File:Tibet-5874 - Something smells here! (2212605065).jpg|thumbnail|Drying cow dung for fuel]]

In many parts of the old world, and in the past in mountain regions of Europe, caked and [[dry animal dung fuel|dried cow dung]] is used as [[fuel]]. In India, it is dried into cake like shapes called {{lang|hi|upla}} or {{lang|hi|kanda}}, and used as replacement for firewood for cooking in {{lang|hi|chulah}} (traditional [[kitchen stove]]).

Dung may also be collected and used to produce [[biogas]] to generate [[electricity]] and heat. The gas is rich in [[methane]] and is used in rural areas of [[India]] and [[Pakistan]] and elsewhere to provide a renewable and stable (but unsustainable) source of electricity.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://denmark.dk/en/green-living/sustainable-projects/cow-dung-a-source-of-green-energy/|title=Cow dung – a energy|work=denmark.dk|access-date=14 February 2015|archive-date=22 January 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140122042124/http://denmark.dk/en/green-living/sustainable-projects/cow-dung-a-source-of-green-energy/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

=== Fertilizer ===

Cow dung, which is usually a dark brown color, is often used as [[manure]] (agricultural [[fertilizer]]). If not recycled into the soil by species such as earthworms and [[dung beetle]]s, cow dung can dry out and remain on the pasture, creating an area of grazing land which is unpalatable to livestock.

Cow dung is nowadays used for making flower and plant pots. It is plastic free, biodegradable and eco-friendly. Unlike plastic grow bags which harm nature, cow dung pots dissolves naturally and becomes excellent manure for the plant.{{cn|date=February 2023}} From 20 July 2020, [[Government of Chhattisgarh|State Government]] of [[Chhattisgarh]] India started buying cow dung under the ''Godhan Nyay Yojana'' scheme. Cow dung procured under this scheme will be utilised for the production of [[vermicompost]] fertilizer.<ref>{{Cite web |date=July 20, 2020 |first=Joseph |last=John |title=Godhan Nyay Yojana: First-of-its-kind Godhan Nyay Yojana launched in Chhattisgarh |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/raipur/first-of-its-kind-godhan-nyay-yojana-launched-in-chhattisgarh/articleshow/77063907.cms |access-date=2022-08-17 |website=The Times of India |language=en}}</ref>

=== Religious uses ===

In Hinduism, cow dung is believed to have [[wiktionary:antiseptic|antiseptic]] properties and is used to clean homes as well as being used in rituals.<ref> https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8239506/#:~:text=The%20Hindu%20religious%20system%20places,and%20urine%20are%20purifying%20agents.&text=In%20Hinduism%2C%20the%20cow%20dung,homes%20and%20for%20prayer%20rituals.&text=They%20believe%20that%20it%20has%20therapeutic%20and%20antiseptic%20properties.</ref> Cow dung is used in Hindu [[yajna]] ritual as an important ingredient.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ayurveda-sedona.com/knowledge-center/spirituality/holy-cow/|title=Holy Cow – Importance of Cow in Hinduism and Sacred Ayurvedic Texts – Sattvic Milk and Dairy Products}}</ref>{{unreliable source|date=February 2023}} Cow dung is also used in the making of [[panchagavya|pancha-gavya]], for use in Hindu rituals.<ref>{{cite web|last=Jain |first=Rupam |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/expat/expatnews/7398029/Cow-dung-and-urine-healthy.html |title=Cow dung and urine 'healthy' |publisher=Telegraph |date=2010-03-08 |access-date=2019-11-13}}</ref> Several Hindu texts - including ''[[Yājñavalkya Smṛti]]'' and ''[[Manusmṛti]]'' -  state that the pancha-gavya purifies many sins.<ref name="JL_1989">{{cite book |author=Isobel Julia Leslie |title=The Perfect Wife: The Orthodox Hindu Woman according to the Strīdharmapaddhati of Tryambakayajvan |series=Oxford University South Asian Studies Series |year=1989 |publisher=Oxford University Press |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RDkEAQAAIAAJ |pages=60–62 |isbn=978-0-19-562107-5 }}</ref> The ''[[Mahabharata]]'' narrates a story about how [[Lakshmi]], the goddess of prosperity, came to reside in cow dung. In the legend, Lakshmi asks cows to let her live in their bodies because they are pure and sinless. The cows refuse, describing her as unstable and fickle. Lakshmi begs them to accept her request, saying that others would ridicule her for being rejected by the cows, and agreeing to live in the most despised part of their body. The cows then allow her to live in their dung and urine.<ref name="JL_1989"/>

The Tantric Buddhist ritual manuals ''Jayavatī-nāma-mahāvidyārāja-dhāraṇī'' and ''Mahāvairocanābhisaṃbodhi '' recommend use of cow dung to purify ''mandala'' altars.<ref name="JPD_2023">{{cite book |author=Jacob P. Dalton |chapter=Ritual Manuals and the Spread of the Local |title=Conjuring the Buddha: Ritual Manuals in Early Tantric Buddhism |year=2023 |pages=27–49 |publisher=Columbia University Press |isbn=9780231556187 |doi=10.7312/dalt20582-003 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-GBpEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT34 |location=Dhāraṇī-Based Ritual Methods }}</ref>

=== Floor and wall coating ===

In several cultures, cow dung is traditionally used to coat floors and walls. In parts of Africa, floors of rural huts are smeared with cow dung: this is believed to improve interior hygiene and repel insects.<ref>{{cite book |author=Harold Scheub |author-link=Harold Scheub |title=Storytelling Songs of Zulu Women |year=2006 |publisher=[[Edwin Mellen Press]] |isbn=9780773457416 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cJjfAAAAMAAJ |page=256 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Maia Chenaux-Repond |title=Leading from Behind: Women in Community Development in Rhodesia, 1973-1979 |year=2017 |publisher= Weaver Press |isbn=9781779223180 |doi=10.2307/j.ctvh8qzdg.11 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9-cvDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA159 |page=159 }}</ref> This practice has various names, such as "ukusinda" in [[Xhosa language|Xhosa]],<ref name="MN_2015">{{cite book |author=Monde Ndandani |title=Living in a Hut |chapter=A Pick from a "Hut Vocabulary" and Hut-Visitor's Notables |year=2015 |pages=11–18 |publisher=African Sun Media |isbn=9781920689629 |jstor=j.ctv1nzfxfz.6 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iOq9DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA11 }}</ref> and "gwaya" in [[Ruuli language|Ruruuli-Lunyala]].<ref>{{cite book |editor=Saudah Namyalo |title=A dictionary and grammatical sketch of Ruruuli-Lunyala |volume=5 |year=2021 |publisher=Language Science Press |isbn=9783961103294 |doi=10.5281/zenodo.5548947 |hdl=20.500.12657/52582 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SXhMEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA274 |page=274 |author1=Saudah Namyalo |last2=Witzlack-Makarevich |first2=Alena |last3=Kiriggwajjo |first3=Anatole |last4=Atuhairwe |first4=Amos |last5=Molochieva |first5=Zarina |last6=Mukama |first6=Ruth |last7=Zellers |first7=Margaret }}</ref>

Similarly, in India, floors are traditionally smeared with cow dung to clean and smoothen them.<ref name="JPD_2023"/> [[Purananuru]], generally dated 150 BCE,<ref>{{Cite book|last=Zvelebil|first=Kamil|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=degUAAAAIAAJ&q=info:3mNeiVqlnhoJ:scholar.google.com/&pg=PR9|title=The Smile of Murugan: On Tamil Literature of South India|date=1973|publisher=BRILL|isbn=978-90-04-03591-1|language=en}}{{pn|date=November 2024}}</ref> mentions women of Tamil Nadu smear cow dung on the floors at the 13th day after her husband's death to purify the house.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.poetrynook.com/poem/purananuru-part-249 | title=Poem: Purananuru - Part 249 by George L. III Hart }}</ref> Italian traveler [[Pietro Della Valle]], who visited India in 1624, observed that the locals - including Christians - smeared floor with cow dung to purify it and repel insects.<ref>{{cite book |editor=Edward Grey |title=Travels of Pietro Della Valle in India |volume=1 |year=2010 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=9781108014939 |page=87 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GAewGKxcLp4C }}</ref> [[Tryambaka-yajvan|Tryambaka]]'s ''[[Strī-dharma-paddhati]]'' (18th century), which narrates a modified version of the ''[[Mahabharata]]'' legend about how the goddess [[Lakshmi]] came to reside in cow dung, instructs women to make their homes pure and prosperous by coating them with cow-dung.<ref name="JL_1989"/> Many among modern generations have challenged this practice as unclean.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Susan S. Wadley |title=From Sacred Cow Dung to Cow 'shit' : Globalization and Local Religious Practices in Rural North India |journal=Journal of the Japanese Association for South Asian Studies |volume=12 |year=2000 |pages=1–28 |doi=10.11384/jjasas1989.2000.1 |s2cid=129818093 |url=https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/jjasas1989/2000/12/2000_12_1/_pdf/-char/en |access-date=2023-02-24 }}</ref>

In 2021, the Government of India's [[Khadi and Village Industries Commission]] launched the Khadi Prakritik paint, which has cow dung as its main ingredient, promoting it as an eco-friendly paint with anti-fungal and anti-bacterial properties.<ref>{{cite news |title=India's first 'eco-friendly' cow dung paint launched; know all about it here |date=2021-01-13 |publisher=Indian Express |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/lifestyle/life-style/nitin-gadkari-launches-india-first-eco-friently-cow-dung-paint-7144973/ |access-date=2023-02-24 }}</ref>

=== Other uses ===

In central Africa, [[Maasai people|Maasai]] villages have burned cow dung inside to repel [[mosquito]]s. In cold places, cow dung is used to line the walls of rustic houses as a cheap [[thermal insulation|thermal insulator]]. Villagers in India spray fresh cow dung mixed with water in front of the houses to repel insects.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Why Gobar (Cow Dung) Is Applied On Walls And Floors Of India|url=https://www.speakingtree.in/allslides/why-gobar-cow-dung-is-applied-on-walls-and-floors-of-india |access-date=2022-08-17 |website=www.speakingtree.in}}</ref>

In Rwanda, it is used in an art form called [[imigongo]].

Cow dung is also an optional ingredient in the manufacture of adobe [[mud brick]] housing depending on the availability of materials at hand.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.greenhouse.gov.au/yourhome/technical/fs34d.htm|title=Your Home Technical Manual - 3.4d Construction Systems - Mud Brick (Adobe)<!-- Bot generated title -->|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070706132354/http://www.greenhouse.gov.au/yourhome/technical/fs34d.htm|archive-date=2007-07-06}}</ref>

A deposit of cow dung is referred to in American English as a "cow pie" or less commonly "cow chip" (usually when dried) and in British English as a "cowpat".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cowpat|title=Cowpat - Definition and More from the Free Merriam-Webster Dictionary|work=merriam-webster.com|access-date=14 February 2015}}</ref> When dry, it is used in the practice of "cow chip throwing" popularized in [[Beaver, Oklahoma]] in 1970.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/2188|title=Cow Chip Throwing Capital of the World|work=RoadsideAmerica.com|access-date=14 February 2015}}</ref><ref>[http://www.beaveroklahoma.net/CowChip.html Town of Beaver, Oklahoma] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101228165853/http://www.beaveroklahoma.net/CowChip.html |date=2010-12-28 }}</ref> On April 21, 2001 Robert Deevers of [[Elgin, Oklahoma]], set the record for cow chip throwing with a distance of {{convert|185|ft|5|in}}.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://amarillo.com/stories/042201/usn_oldchip.shtml|title=Old chip-throw record is tossed |website=Amarillo Globe-News|first=Jessica|last=Raynor}}</ref>

==Ecology==
Cow dung provides food for a wide range of animal and fungus species, which break it down and recycle it into the [[food chain]] and into the [[soil]].

In areas where cattle (or other mammals with similar dung) are not native, there are often also no native species which can break down their dung, and this can lead to infestations of pests such as flies and parasitic worms. In [[Australia]], [[dung beetle]]s from elsewhere have been introduced to help recycle the cattle dung back into the soil. (see the [[Australian Dung Beetle Project]] and Dr. [[George Bornemissza]]).<ref name="adbp">Bornemissza, G. F. (1976), The Australian dung beetle project 1965-1975, ''Australian Meat Research Committee Review'' 30:1-30</ref>

Cattle have a natural aversion to feeding around their own dung. This can lead to the formation of taller ungrazed patches of heavily fertilized sward. These habitat patches, termed "islets", can be beneficial for many grassland arthropods, including spiders (Araneae) and bugs (Hemiptera). They have an important function in maintaining biodiversity in heavily utilized pastures.<ref name="adkd">Dittrich, A. D. K. and Helden A. J. 2012. Experimental sward islets: the effect of dung and fertilisation on Hemiptera and Araneae. Insect Conservation and Diversity 5:46-56.</ref>

==Variants==
A ''buffalo chip'', also called a ''meadow muffin'', is the name for a large, flat, dried piece of [[feces|dung]] deposited by the [[American bison]]. Well dried buffalo chips were among the few things that could be collected and burned on the [[prairie]] and were used by the [[Plains Indians]], [[Emigrant Trail|settlers and pioneers]], and [[Homestead Act|homesteaders]] as a source of cooking heat 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 language|Lakota]], to refer to lies or broken promises, analogously to the vulgar English term "[[bullshit]]" as a figure of speech.

==Gallery==
<gallery>
Yuanyang cow pat.jpg|Water buffalo dung drying on the wall of a house in [[Yuanyang County, Yunnan]], China
Cow dung fuel.jpg|Cow dung fuel in [[Bangladesh]]
Storage of cow-dung cakes in Punjab.jpg|Storage of cow-dung cakes in [[Punjab]]
Cow dung cake.jpg|A mound of cow dung in [[Chhattisgarh, India]]
</gallery>

==See also==
{{Portal|Hinduism}}
* [[Biomass briquettes]]
* [[Chicken manure]]
* [[Coprophilous fungi]]
* [[Dry animal dung fuel]]
* [[Imigongo]]
* [[Shit Museum]]
* [[Sigri (stove)]] stove fueled with dried cow dung

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons category|Cattle feces}}

[[Category:Animal physiology]]
[[Category:Cattle products]]
[[Category:Fuels]]
[[Category:Feces]]
[[Category:Hinduism and cattle]]
[[Category:Manure]]