RABBIT
MANURE
Rabbit Manure is a valuable, but often
wasted byproduct of the rabbitry. Now that baby bunny season
is past , take some time to clean up the rabbitry and consider
some ways to make those fuzzy darlings pay their way in
the "off season".
Rabbit manure is high in nitrogen, but
not a HOT manure. It can be used safely on garden or landscape
plants with confidence. To make the most of this byproduct
consider these ideas:
Raising
Worms - red worms are an ideal partner in the rabbit
yard. When placed in bins below the rabbit cages, they will consume
and compost the droppings, urine and wasted food pellets, converting
them into a fine odorless humus. This process eliminates odor and
fly problems. Your bin should be at least 1 foot deep and a few
inches larger than the cage. It can be made of any material
you like or have handyPlace about 6 inches of peatmoss or well aged
sawdust in the bottom and sprinkle with water. Add some rabbit
manure. Then add worms. You will need approximately 1,000 worms
under each cage. Make sure the bins stay moist... if it is very dry,
sprinkle with water . Every two to three weeks stir things up a bit
with a garden fork to keep things from crusting.
Eventually the bins will get overcrowded with worms. At this point
you should sieve through the dirt and harvest some worms . These
worms can be used to colonize other bins or sold to bait shops (or
from the farm). The sieved dirt (castings) that the worms
have created is the finest organic fertilizer available and
can be sold from the farm. [this information
is from the ARBA and is something I would like to experiment with
-kbh]
Rabbit
Manure Tea - take a black metal barrel (cost about
$10 or less) with a lid that can be taken on and off. Place it on
a stand of wood or cement blocks. Put in a tap at the lower
end with a hose fitting. Next, fill a burlap sack or other netted
bag with rabbit manure .. about 1- 5 gallon bucket full and tie with
a rope. Place the bag of manure in the barrel, leaving the rope
hanging out the top (this is your teabag). Then add water to fill
the barrel. Replace the lid. (for the best fit, cut a notch into the
edge of the lid for the rope to come out) Leave to steep in
the hot sun for about a week. Use the spigot at the bottom to
drain the manure tea using a hose to deliver this wonderful
fertilizer to select plants. Add water as needed to keep the water
level up in the barrel. Change the "teabag" about once a
month.
[I have
done this myself in the vegetable garden and it is great stuff!-
kbh]
Rabbit
Manure fertilizer - dry rabbit manure on a screen or
pegboard trays and pound into dust to make an
odorless powdered fertilizer. [haven't
tried this one myself... I have too much manure to make it practical
- kbh]
Compost
piles - the classic compost pile will take
care of kitchen and garden waste, lawn clippings, and the
occasional dead chicken, etc. A three sided enclosure of some sort
will help to contain the pile. A shady spot is best. Start
with a 6 inch layer of plant material... perhaps the spent vines
from your garden in fall?, add a sprinkling of lime, a layer of
rabbit manure and a thin layer of soil (this will innoculate the
pile with the proper soil organisms). Wet it with
water. Then repeat the layering process... perhaps gardening
waste or lawn clippings, lime, rabbit manure, soil, water.
Check the pile frequently to be sure it
is moist. A depression in the top of the pile will catch
rainwater. In about a month, you can turn the pile to make
sure the top and sides are well composted. Start a new
pile if the original one gets too big to work with easily and use
them in spring in the order in which you created them. If you
start the piles in the summer, it will compost quickly and be ready
to use within a couple weeks. [everybody who
gardens should have a compost pile... and even if you do not garden,
it is a good way to dispose of organic waste -
kbh]