Rolling rabbits

[nmred]

Sorry, mama24, but I have to respectfully disagree. One of the great things about using rabbit manure is that it does not have to be composted before using it! It can be directly applied to your garden soil with no ill effects. However, it should be scattered on the ground, not put on top of the plants. Many people sell their rabbit poop as a "natural fertilizer" just for this purpose. As PinkFox said, you don't really have to worry about it if it should touch your plants, just wash it good as I'm sure you would anyway. BTW, if you make manure tea with your rabbit manure, it will give your plants (tomatoes) an even bigger boost during the growing season.

 

[mama24]

I have never seen anyone make manure tea out of fresh manure, only composted manure and other compost. I think I'll stick with doing it that way.

 

[terri9630]

I have never seen anyone make manure tea out of fresh manure, only composted manure and other compost. I think I'll stick with doing it that way.

Most manure is composted because fresh it will burn the plants. Fresh rabbit manure won't burn the plants.

 

[mama24]

I have never seen anyone make manure tea out of fresh manure, only composted manure and other compost. I think I'll stick with doing it that way.

Most manure is composted because fresh it will burn the plants. Fresh rabbit manure won't burn the plants.

I didn't know that! Thanks for the info.

 

[terri9630]

I have never seen anyone make manure tea out of fresh manure, only composted manure and other compost. I think I'll stick with doing it that way.

Most manure is composted because fresh it will burn the plants. Fresh rabbit manure won't burn the plants.

I didn't know that! Thanks for the info.

No problem.

 

[Snowfie]

It would be easier to just place large rubber bins under each rabbit's potty spot and then use a shovel to spread it on the garden.
Rabbits do not poo evenly, they pee/poo in one special spot and it really can pile up.
Plus all the plants would be covered in urine and fecal matter....I wouldn't want to eat tomatoes which were peed on, would you?

Not to mention rabbits would probably eat anything you put their "tractor" over.

Better to spread out the pellets. more control that way.

If you get a rabbit cage with a litter tray, use newspapers as litter in their special corners. the newspapers are very absorbant and it's easier to collect the pellets than with wood shavings.

 

[Legacy]

wowza! lawsuits and all huh? sheeeesh. I didn't have a clue this thread would be so controversial. The obvious winner of this thread is StuLowerMichiganAndIDon'tTravelMuch for his placement of the phrase "Rube Goldberg Machine" . Which seems fitting since this thread seemed to become a Rube Goldberg machine itself. LOL

He just had an idea he thought might work and wanted some feed back not a stinking lawsuit. Good grief. The best advice came from Bunnylady who clearly said things I couldn't articulate or think of.

 

[StuUSA]

In all fairness, Bossroo's statement about lawsuits was just mentioned as an example of what can happen in a commercial food production setting. Me moving this lawsuit example to the family garden situation was just my quirky sense of humor coming out. So I plead guilty (lawyer term) for the Rube Goldberg characteristics of this thread.

And yeah, a special thanks to Bunnylady. But I'm learning from all of you.

 

[smiles-n-sunshine]

Rabbit urine is not something I'd want on my plants. The stuff is nasty!

 

[AZ Rabbits]

Or have you not read/ heard about some of the illnesses caused by animal/ human fecal/ urine contamination in commercial food production fields resulting in severe illness/ death and resulting lawsuits ?

Human excrement is different than animal excrement. And carnivore's is different than herbivore's as well. You're not going to find very many instances of human illnesses from rabbit droppings. Those instances are usually from human waste being used as fertilizer in 3rd world countries. I've lived where they do that before and it's pretty nasty. Although, people got sick far less than you'd expect. But I'd shy away from eating stuff that was fertilized with human waste.

People who actually use manure as fertilizer on their gardens COMPOST it first. Throw your rabbit (and chicken, goat, etc) manure onto a compost pile and collect composted matter from the bottom when you want to fertilize your garden! Or plough it into the soil in the fall and spring before/after the growing season. This is the way I was always taught to do it. I have never had to fertilize anything other than tomatoes during the actual growing season. Fertilizer is usually applied before or during planting.

I do both, mainly because of the amount of fertilizer I get. I compost to mix in my boxes, but also throw it directly in my growing garden and tree wells. It breaks down really fast. You do not need to compost rabbit manure first like you would other manures (like chicken manure... although if you do it properly, you don't need to compost chicken manure either). And for some plants, it's like steroids... they grow like crazy! Especially rose gardens.

However, I wouldn't grow plants under a rabbit cage. You don't want them peeing directly on your veges. But my gardens get rabbit droppings added to them all year long.