I really don’t process anything in the winter. All my important bug friends are mostly absent and the warm weather is gone. You can macerate but it would take a lot longer. My experience, the flesh has always dried out and mummified if left out and not frozen. I still end up macerating come summer time. There may not be AS MUCH flesh as there would’ve been if you’d have just plopped it into a freezer, but I still always macerated.

There are flesh eating beetles, but I can’t give you any tips on them. I know they have an upkeep and smell a bit. But I don’t have any experience with them.

Hey!! So two things to address first and foremost;

Make sure the remains you have are of a species that is NOT PROTECTED by the migratory bird treaty act if you live in the United States or Canada. This protects almost all birds with a few exceptions.

If your remains are not protected, hooray!! Now secondly, do not boil!! I highly advise against boiling as it will cause damage in the long run, especially on something small and fragile like bird bones.

Always macerate (rot with water) if youre able to. Burying is always an option but you run the risk of losing pieces bc of how small they are. Plus wildlife can dig it up, etc…. I would macerate if I were you. You could get an empty jar and put them in water and sit on your porch, balcony, etc… I really don’t see bird remains with a little bit of flesh having a really strong smell.

Macerate, degrease, whiten!

Please message me if you have anymore questions!!

Mmmmm I don’t know how to answer this. Everytime I’ve dispatched an animal hit by a vehicle, it has been for work and with a .22 rifle. Most of my antlered deer I’ve acquired from work. Even knowing that im going to keep the heads of them, I still dispatch in the there because it is just the quickest, most humane way. There is always the heart, but that isn’t the quickest from what I’ve been taught. I don’t know of another way to safely dispatch an animal without a vehicle but all I can think is head, head, head when it comes to actually dispatching them. I really wouldn’t advise any other way.

Anyone with further insight please chime in.

Did you remove all the meat prior to putting it in water? Or was there still flesh on it? Usually this process takes a bit and it doesn’t happen in a day or so (unless you boil it all off, but I always advise on not boiling any bones). If there is still flesh remaining, I would keep it in there for at least a week for right now and check on it every so often. The warm weather will be in your favor and the flesh will begin to fall off. I wouldn’t put any dish soap in the water until you’re at the degreasing part. I feel like the soap would kill important bacteria you need.

All in all it depends on the weather where you live with how long it’ll take for the flesh to come all off.

Please ask me if you have any more questions :)