Decay Lab Presentation By Jacob Houle
A little info to know about my Decay Lab For my decay lab I did two half chickens both in seperate bins one left outside in a dog kennel and the other left outside but inside my shed. A few things were the same for both exhibits like the clothing for both exhibits did not change both were a cotton tube sock, the injury did not change like it was the same injury caused when I wrote it down in my notes each time. Where each one was left did not change each day as well. So just a recap, the clothing didn’t change, where each one was left didn’t change, and the injury caused or inflicted didn’t change. The only variables that did change was the Temperatures each day and weather conditions, The wind, the barometric pressure, the smell of the chicken, the humidity, and i’m sure the weight for each chicken did go up or down depending on how much it decomposed and bugs eating at it and rotting etc… but if anything they would most likely lose weight, because when things decompose they lose that material and become smaller than they originally were. The weight, clothing, wind etc.. all that is recorded in the next slide. And all that info is just from day one.
Exhibit A ●
This is all info from day 1 notes
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Left outside in dog kennel in a bucket of preen/weed preventer & plant food. Dimensions of the bin. Height: 14.5in, Width: 6.25in, & Length: 10.50in. LxWxH= 951.56in3 Temp: High 42˚F, Avg 38.5˚F, Low 35˚F. Rainy/overcast Injury: Stab/Puncture Clothing: Cotton Tube Sock Weight: 1.01 LBS Wind: 4 MPH North Pressure: 30in HG (in=inches, & HG is the abbreviation for Mercury. So inches of Mercury) Humidity: 95% Smell: 1 (on a scale of 1-10, 1=not that bad. 10=being the worst)
Exhibit B ●
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Left inside my shed in a bucket of preen/weed preventer & plant food. Dimensions of the bin. Height: 14.5in, Width: 6.25in, & Length: 10.50in. LxWxH= 951.56in3 Temp: High 42˚F, Avg 38.5˚F, Low 35˚F. Rainy/overcast Injury: Cut/Slice Clothing: Cotton Tube Sock Weight: 1.39 LBS Wind: 4 MPH North Pressure: 30in HG (in=inches, & HG is the abbreviation for Mercury. So inches of Mercury) Humidity: 95% Smell: 1 (on a scale of 1-10, 1=not that bad. 10=being the worst)
Exhibit A ●
This is info from the last day of decay lab notes (day 40)
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Left outside in dog kennel in a bucket of preen/weed preventer & plant food. Dimensions of the bin. Height: 14.5in, Width: 6.25in, & Length: 10.50in. LxWxH= 951.56in3 Temp: High 24˚F, Avg 18˚F, Low 12˚F. Cloudy Injury: Stab/Puncture Clothing: Cotton Tube Sock Weight: 0.749 LBS Wind: 0 MPH NW Pressure: 30in HG (in=inches, & HG is the abbreviation for Mercury. So inches of Mercury) Humidity: 82% Smell: 7 (on a scale of 1-10, 1=not that bad. 10=being the worst)
Exhibit B ●
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Left inside my shed in a bucket of preen/weed preventer & plant food. Dimensions of the bin. Height: 14.5in, Width: 6.25in, & Length: 10.50in. LxWxH= 951.56in3 Temp: High 24˚F, Avg 18˚F, Low 12˚F. Cloudy Injury: Cut/Slice Clothing: Cotton Tube Sock Weight: 1.146LBS Wind: 0 MPH NW Pressure: 30in HG (in=inches, & HG is the abbreviation for Mercury. So inches of Mercury) Humidity: 82% Smell: 7 (on a scale of 1-10, 1=not that bad. 10=being the worst)
Here is a small sketch of my house, garage, shed and dog kennel (just a rough idea, so you know where my exhibits are, it's just a rough sketch)
Crime Scene/Location of each Exhibit Exhibit A (left inside dog kennel)
Exhibit B (left in Shed)
Walkthrough of Evolution Documenting my exhibit I took down notes about three times a week and put down the temps, wind, barometric pressure, humidity, where they were left, weight, smell, clothing and injury. I also took photos each day I took notes. As far as processing and recovery, I went out and got my exhibits outside and in the shed and brought them into my garage for processing. I took them out of their bins and placed them onto a metal pan that was covered in tin foil. I cut the sock with the exacto knife and then began cutting away pieces of the chicken in the wound to get to the bone structure. I needed to get to that to determine of the injury caused was still detectable. And in the bone structure the injury was not still detectable. Guess the injury I caused wasn't done deep enough. Changes in the clothing were not all that much different. The sock still looked like a sock in the end and did not look decayed or anything. Just a little dirt on the sock was all. And the sock still had an opening in it from where the wound was cut. So not much changes there in the clothing. Changes in my exhibits exterior were both not that much different from start to finish. They showed a few signs of decay, and since it was cold they became more firm and hard so they froze. But that’s about it. And I started seeing the decay around day 14 with exhibit A, it became a little discolored and rotten/decayed. The injuries caused also didn't have much changes. The injuries still just looked like a big whole in my chickens. But that hole was a little decayed, but not by much. Next for the insect activity, there was little to none at all only because it was cold and bugs are usually gone this time of year in the winter. The changes I saw did not happen very fast, they happened over time. About day 14 was when I saw a few changes happening. And pretty much most of the evidence like the sock and and the wound both survived. Neither one showed signs of decay. Or I should say, showed very little decay. Because there was decay just not very much. Not a lot of decay, not as much as I would have liked to have seen. And lastly, most of the evidence survived like hardly any of it was lost.
Step by step of Documentation of Recovery of Exhibit 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.
First I went outside to get the bins my exhibits were in, one out in the dog kennel and one in the shed. Next I took those bins into the garage. After that I set the bins down on the garage floor. Went into my house to gather my needed materials (tin foil, metal pan, exacto knife, tweezers/forceps/chopsticks etc‌) Brought the materials out into the garage. Put tin foil on over the metal pan, to keep it somewhat sanitary and protect it. Then opened the bins by lifting their lids. Then put gloves on and grabbed my chickens from their bins and placed them on the pan with tin foil in it And once they were out of their bins and on the metal pan, I began the dissection process. The dissection/autopsy process begins.
Step by Step of Autopsy And Findings 1. 2. 3.
4. 5.
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First beginning my autopsy at this point I still have gloves on. I took and grabbed my exacto knife and cut away the sock to get to the chicken and its wound. After cutting the sock I removed it from the chicken. I used my exacto knife more and kept cutting away at the wound, I kept cutting out pieces of chicken from the wound little by little, until I got to the other side of the chicken and could see bone. In which case there was now a big whole in the middle of my chickens/exhibits. I did this process to both my exhibits. Once I cut deep enough and got to some bone, I stopped cutting. From the looks of things once gotten to the bone, the wound I caused was not still detectable on any bone. And the sock and the wound (before autopsy) both survived and very little of it or very little evidence was lost. My findings were that the wound, once gotten to the bone, was not still detectable. And my exhibit had some decay but not a lot. And My exhibits became hard/froze and became discolored.
Pics from beginning to end Oct. 23 to Dec. 2nd (about 40 days) Both Exhibits A & B Changing over time Day 1
Day 7
Day 14
Day 21
Day 28
Day 35
Day 40
Day 41
Day of Dissection/Autopsy Exhibit A
Exhibit B
Conclusion -How my exhibits looked in the beginning they both are half chickens that I bought from the meat section at my local grocery store. They both started out as raw (uncooked) chickens that were juicy, soft, kinda rubbery, fresh from the meat department and not decayed obviously. -How they looked at the end, they both looked not that much different from when they started but they ended up with a few signs of decay. In the end they felt hard/firm, and were a little rotten, smelly/stunk, and not so juicy anymore. They also became discolored during the decay process. They had a yellowish color to them. -If I had a preference my exhibits would still be wearing a sock, and same injures, and still placed in the same location but I would like the temps and the environment to be quite a bit more warmer. With more warmth would come more decay and a lot more bug activity. -The environmental factors that played into this lab was that fact that it was cold. So the cold weather made it so there was very little bugs, because bugs go away in the winter they don't like the cold (and neither do I). Bugs eat away at old and decomposing food. Bugs do help play an important role in the decay process. And if it was warmer, and sunny the heat would help my lab decay more as well. So mainly the weather had a lot to do with it. I’m sure it would have looked quite a bit more rotten and decomposed had there have been more bugs and warmer weather.