Decomposition = warmth!

 The Australian Brush-turkey builds large communal nests on the ground, around 3 to 4.5 feet (1 to 1.5 meters) high and up to 13 feet (4 meters) across. The nests are made of readily available materials from their environment - leaves, other combustible material and earth. By combining organic matter in a large mound, the brush-turkey effectively creates a compost pile in which decomposing matter generates heat. While many birds must sit on their eggs to maintain the right temperature during the incubation period, the brush-turkey buries its eggs in the mound to leverage the constant heat byproduct of the decomposing organic matter to incubate its eggs. The nests are tended only by the males which have adapted a beak that is sensitive to temperature – a male will stick its beak into the mound to determine if the temperature of the mound is in the 91-95°F (33–35°C) incubation temperature range. The males will regulate the temperature by adding or removing material to fuel or slow down the decomposition process. In this way, the Australian Brush-turkey uses locally available materials to generate heat through the decomposition process to incubate its eggs. How cool is that??

So as you sit in your toasty warm house (heated likely by a coal-fired power plant, natural gas furnace, fuel oil or perhaps wind farms located in Iowa) perhaps ponder - Could you make a compost pile big enough to use the excess heat to warm your chicken coop in colder weather? (Check this out!) Or how about putting your compost pile in a greenhouse to keep your greenhouse warm all winter (and provide a shelter for keeping the composting process going through cold weather)? (Read more here!) Does your town have a composting program and can they capture that heat to heat a greenhouse or nearby facility? What would that look like? Are there other energy sources out there we just haven't been creative enough to tap into?