I've raised rabbits for years outdoors over dirt floors. While I'm not in the worm business, I do sell and give away enough worms to almost stock a fishing and compost community...LOL. What I've found is that the red wigglers and larger nightcrawlers will share the same spaces. The nightcrawlers leave very large holes in the soil surface, and you often only find these large worms at night, and often mating. They're very fast to retreat into their holes, so it's tough to collect any real amount of them. Red wigglers are another story. They like the slightly mounded, moist piles which accumulate under the hutches. If you leave piles of manure/hay/grains, the wigglers come by the hundreds. All you need to do is gently turn over and go through the piles to harvest the worms by the handfuls. If you continually scrape the piles down to the soil floor surface, you may not find any wigglers. They like being in moist stuff, if you know what I mean. They also do not fair well in soppy soil conditions, so you would need good drainage but constant moisture for them to populate into herds. My worms live under the soil and are not contained by barriers or containers. They burrow and resurface accordingly to regulate their own survival, especially in winter. I always have enough red wigglers come warm weather if I keep minimun waste under the rabbit hutches. Below is an excellent link about starting worm beds under rabbits hutches. Good luck :) Here is a link that might be useful: How to Make Worm Beds under Rabbit Hutches

Hi Bramble. You have received some great answers so far, but I'll just add my own experience if you're still interested. I had all the same questions as you, and was especially worried about finding an instant, painfree method of slaughter. I love eating meat, but cannot tolerate any form of unnecessary pain to an animal. I chose to use a. 22 caliper rifle. We put each rabbit in a box separately so it could not run away and gave them some special greens to enjoy, so they could relax. We took them away from all other animals so as not to stress them in any way. We walked up behind them and took one shot between but slightle behind the ears (no more than 1/2 inch.) Wde aimed the shot from that point straight down through to the rabbit's chin. This way you get th brainstem and other vital lobes. As soon as the rifle fired, the rabbit dropped, and though there might have been some muscle spasms, they totally unaware that anything had even happened. Very instant and very humane. I'll never do it any other way. By the way the two last ones we did were about 16 weeks old. I roasted them with a fine sprinkling of rosemarry, thyme and sage. I put lots of butter in the pan, and basted several times. When the meat was well cooked, about 2 hrs. at 350ð I uses my baster to suck up the broth, with which I made delicious gravy. During this time I left the lid off my roasting pan and let the pieces brown some. It was delicious and fed a family of 8 big eters!! Hope I've helped a little.

I always have had rabbits as pets and finally I have decided to use the poop as fertilizer. In response to Abe regarding slaughtering crying rabbits. All animals cry when they are slaughtered in a manner that is drawn out made obvious roughly handled like being tied up and almost put into a ritual process that I find is absolutely satanic. The animal should never see or hear another animal being slaughtered even if it is a different species. I have never slaughtered an animal but if anyone plans on slaughtering rabbits please take this into consideration. If the Rabbit is crying scared and fighting at the final moments prior to its life being terminated then the process was a complete failure. I have no proof on this but it is my belief that the meat will not be as good as it could of been because of the rush of negative axiety which releases an adrenaline type hormone chemical through out the rabbits whole body then it is killed before the hormone breaks down or gets flushed out naturally. The best way to kill a Rabbit and its very simple know what your doing, have a solid plan make sure your device or method use is sharp and ready continue to use your superior human intelligence through out the process. The element of surprise tends to work best for small animals like Rabbits. I learned this when I had to give one of my rabbits medicine. Animals tend to be very smart through and we as humans tend to be very stupid. The moment we walk into the room our actions and movements are off and most animals pick up on this immediately. Don't walk into the room with the damn butcher knife like Michael Myers or the other serial horror killer. Next if you cover there eyes or roll them up in a towel. I personally do not believe you have to hold them upside down while you do it. Ok please No crying animals at slaughter. It drives me crazy because its not necessary as we Humans have the highest intelligence and abilities sadly most don't use common sense anymore.; d

While searching this topic, i found the following article. Sounds like my method in bags would be similar to the "white tunnel in the farm" Anaerobic Composting By Compost King 13 Comments Bokashi_Anaerobic CompostingAnaerobic composting or composting without the presence of oxygen has been practiced for centuries. Records indicate that the Chinese are the oldest known civilization to practice this form of composting to fertilize their rice paddies. In more technical terms, anaerobic composting is composting organic materials, using living anaerobic organisms such as bacteria in an environment that has no oxygen present. This is the same process you will find occurring in nature as peat bogs and marshes. Unless you happen to have access to a large field of water you are going to have to find another way to create your anaerobic compost pile. While most composting experts will talk about not letting your compost piles get too wet or they will rot, anaerobic composting requires approximately 70% moisture levels in order for it to work properly. The Standard Compost Pile You can turn your current compost pile into an anaerobic one quite simply and effectively by adding plenty of water. Yes I know we have spent hours telling you how important it is to maintain moderate to low moisture levels, but with this type of composting you need to remove the oxygen from your compost pile. The water will drive out the oxygen and keep it out if you keep the water level high enough. By covering the pile to help keep in the moisture, you will end up with a slimy mess, which indicates that it is working properly. You should however, be prepared for a very odoriferous compost pile. This is really more suitable to households with larger tracts of land where the aforementioned odoriferous pile can be placed away from the house or the neighbors. The Submerged Pile This method of creating anaerobic compost is very similar to that which is has been in use by the Chinese for centuries and involves keeping your compost under water. For this you will need a large tank, plastic pool or tank that is big enough to hold your compost and then be filled with water. As your compost pile decomposes the odors are trapped in the water. While slightly more involved than a standard anaerobic compost pile, your neighbors will certainly appreciate it. anaerobic composting in a fieldThe Big Bag Theory You have probably seen this method in use in the local farmers’ fields, this would be the long white bags that lay in the fields over the winter. This version is a little simpler and a lot smaller. You can use a large heavy duty plastic garbage bag. You first layer the bottom of the bag with soil or cured compost, then add your compost and add enough water to make everything moist. Seal the bag so that no air can get in and roll it to get things started and then leave it alone for 6-8 weeks. No Hole in My Bucket Off all the different forms of anaerobic composting, the bucket method is perhaps the easiest and least offensive. This is a long term project and will take up to a year to create the compost you are looking for. You simple cut the bottom from a five gallon bucket and plant it a few inches into the ground. You then fill it with your scraps and organic waste, place the lid on it and forget it for a year. Do not open until the year has passed or you will let in more oxygen and ruin the process. As you can see a fair amount of patience is required for this method. At the end of the year you will have perfectly usable humus. All of these forms of anaerobic composting work well, some will produce more compost than others, while at the same time creating a rather smelly situation.