Anyone know anything about rabbit compost. I have 6 rabbit's and want to start composting?

Answer 1

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker

As Kevin said, if you are using hay or wood shavings for bedding you should compost the bedding material.

If you are only asking about rabbit manure it can go straight to the garden without composting. My rabbits don't have bedding material except when they have a litter of babies. That bedding goes into the compost heap or into the worm bed; it is excellent worm food and gets composted by them quite well. The manure is collected in a screen tray and stored in plastic garbage cans until it is needed in the garden. The cans have holes to drain any water that happens to get in so I can just spread it on the garden before I till and side dress the growing plants when needed. My rabbits also eat a lot of the waste from my yard; the grass is dried and used as hay, they eat the banana leaves that I trim from my plants, they eat the sugar cane leaves when I harvest my cane, they eat the cleanings from collards and other cole crops, I have even given them green oak leaves along with their Timothy and Alfalfa hay. It all comes out ready to use as a natural fertilizer.

Good luck and enjoy!

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Asker's Comment:

gosh thanks, my son will be so excited, he in 4H and we were trying to figure how to better use rabbit waste, the screen trays was a great idea, and love the idea of the worm pile just an added BONUS

Answer 2

Seems a bit extreme to kill rabbits to make compost! Ha ha.

Depends if you are using straw or sawdust as bedding?
If straw you will have to compost it for a good year along with all the usual compostable material.
If sawdust then this may take 2 years.
The reason for the length of time is that both straw and sawdust need energy to break down. This energy is gained from nitrogen, found in rabbit droppings and other leaf material.
If you put the compost on the ground before the straw or sawdust breaks down then it will start to lock up the nitrogen that you do have in your soil, thus causing your plants to suffer.