What a cute story. I have lots of rabbit fertilizer on my garden, especially this winter and I didn't even have to buy rabbits to get it there. I have the self-applicating kind. LOL

It will make great fertilizer without you having to feed anything special to them. Their pellets are based on ground alfalfa.

It should probably be composted first or kept back from the plants so it doesn't burn them. I can't remember if it is considered a "hot" fertilizer or not.

Lucky you. We raised angora rabbits when I was growing up. The poo is gentle and safe to use on the garden without composting. I used to put it on my veggie garden every spring.
I loved raising bunnies and would love to have the poo for my garden.

I want chickens mainly for this purpose!

Plus they're so funny. They walk around and grumble and peck and scratch.

Fresh eggs are a good thing, too.

I want a ridiculously over-the-top victorian chicken coup complete with cupola and chicken weathervane, surrounded with a picket fence. And I want to play Mexican music for them. I think chickens would like Mexican music.

;-)

Rabbits need lots of fiber in their diets--it keeps their digestive tracts happy, plus it has the added benefit of increasing stool volume. I recommend timothy hay, not alfalfa--always keep hay in the cage. Rabbit pellets, contrary to popular opinion, are not a complete and balanced diet for the average inactive pet rabbit--too high in carbs, and encourage obesity. Rabbit pellets were really designed to put weight on commercial meat rabbits. A high fiber diet also helps protect against diarrhea; the latter can lead to devastating fly strike--death by maggots isn't pretty! Rabbits also enjoy fresh veggies, especially leafy greens, and small amounts of fruit. Wash all produce before feeding it, as if you were eating it yourself. Your local 4H club, if you have one, can be a good source of rabbit husbandry info.I am a veterinarian when I'm not playing in the garden, so I like to see happy critters. Have fun with your bunnies!

Interesting thread, Gurley.

Nicki, I had to giggle at the thought of your cupolaed WAY over-the-top Victorian style chicken coop along, with the Mexican music. I can picture this. You crack me up! LOL :)

It is nice to have a veterinarian on board. Welcome MM.

Becky

Thanks for all of the info. I thought I remembered that the pellets were not a complete diet but I wasn't sure. Sad that they mark the packages as 'complete diet' - you would think that they shouldn't be allowed to do that. I did find a site with a listing of safe foods and another of toxic foods that rabbits can/shouldn't eat.
DH has named them Ozzie and Harriet. Harriet has a completely enclosed box attached to her cage in case we get babies. Both rabbits are in raised cages with plenty of ventilation and it is set up so that the poo can fall through the bottom or easily be scraped to fall through.
Of course, as luck would have it, Harriet has decided that her box is the place for her to poo so I have to go in there every day and clean it out. I will have to find a way to remedy that come summer time or it will stink to high heaven and be full of flies.

I hope you can post pics of your bunnies and their house! Sounds like so much fun!
Jenn

Ok, now I'm going to ask my friend whose dau has a bunny if I can steal its poop! I've been using aged horse manure, allowing it to compost over certain bedding areas throughout winter. So is it true rabbit droppings do NOT need to be composted? Thank you!

I just went to our local rabbit society and picked up rabbit droppings. Unfortunatly it came with the hay, which added to the bulk,but thats ok. I have 2 big piles composting and I put a bunch on top of raised beds. You can also contact local animal shelters to see if they have rabbits, Im sure they would be happy to get rid of the bedding, droppings.

Thought that this site that I recently came across would be interesting to any rabbit owners or would-be rabbit owners--it's an informative little quiz that outlines what the optimum diet for pet rabbits should be.
Unfortunately rabbits continue to be a popular Easter gift and many don't realize the responsiblity that comes along with owning a rabbit--hence the "Make Mine Chocolate" movement.

Here is a link that might be useful: rabbit food pyramid

ausaddict, thanks for the fun site. Sounds like my rabbits can feed the potager and the potager can feed them.

Gurley,
My parents raised them as small livestock for years. I cannot, but have kept them from time to time for the kids and used their manure in my gardens. It is great mulch for tomatoes! The best because it is not hot.

I now have one big, black, lop-earred rabbit, previously an "Easter bunny" that I rescued from certain death. He gets special rabbit food from WalMart, not feed store junk. It is great. Has a variety of veggies & seeds he loves, and some Timothy Hay (we call it "spoiled rabbit food"). He gets fresh bedding hay and enjoys nibbling on dry autumn leaves of his choice (???)- he eats them with much relish. I give him cut up apples, carrots and fresh greens, like dandelion greens, and other wild greens, of greens from my garden, and he loves the yellow dandelion flowers. He likes carrot tops in the summer. (Do not give them greens from the store because it is loaded with insecticide). He likes a little bit of fresh Fenugreek leaves once in awhile and wild clover and wild alfalfa once in awhile. He likes the tips new rose branches, grapes, and willow twig tips in the Spring. He will NOT eat Timothy Hay. I have wasted money on 2 bags of it before I gave up. He likes Prairie Hay, so that is what he gets. He is healthy and happy and loves an occasional romp on the lawn, especially where the clover is growing. Yum. yum! And he produces a LOT of manure and urine that is good too. If you put some black plastic down on the ground under their cage and cover that with layers of newspaper, you can put the urine-soaked paper into you compost for fuel and more easily remove the poop. Wash the plastic tarp with bleach occassionally to prevent fly infestation and maggots in the summer. Clean their cages often. Check for ear mites. A sweet, friendly bunny can turn into a BAD RABBIT if he gets ear mites. They are very painful. Change their water daily, even if the bottle is full. They will not drink it if it is not fresh and cool. Rabbits die very quickly without clean, cool, fresh water. In the summer I have to change his water three or more times a day. Even in the shade their water will heat up quickly and they will not drink it. My poor little bunny's brother died as a result of just that, hence my reason for rescuing him.
Hope this helps.
~ Annie

Rabbit, goat and sheep poop (think pellet) can be put straight into the garden.
Chicken, cow and horse poop needs to be composted or aged because it is too hot and can burn the plants.
I'm getting a load of goat stuff from my neighbor to put under my newest raised bed, hopefully next weekend. The roots reach down to find the yummy stuff!

Wonderful ideas here. I am considering raising rabbits in my back yard and wonder if I can keep the buck and the doe in a space together.

i asked my 3 sons to get Mom a bunny for her garden this March-yes it was the fertlizer I wanted and a sweet soft bunny is just a blessing and a bonus! I named her Hortensia which is latin for "vigorous, amorous gardener"...isn't that just perfect? Horty, as we call her, is happily indulged by all of us and I am looking forward to lots of manure :) May have to get another for the quantity I desire-oh, darn!!

I have two bunnies and want to use their poop as manure for my garden. Do I have to do anything special to it or do I just pick up the droppings and sprinkle it on my gardens?????

I've been sitting her with the wheels in my head turning...my husband and I had a conversation a few months back about "what you do to keep the bunnies warm in the winter". We didn't know if they hibernate or just live in their coops. We really didn't know what their normal lifespan was either. I remember that my grandmother would have bunnies all summer and then we were all invited over for "dinner"...that's not the answer that I'm looking for! lol

What do bunnies do in the winter? My temps are zone 5 in Northeastern PA. Lc Grace

If you give the bunnies plenty of hay, they will cozy in and sleep a large part of the day, but they won't truely hibernate.

Years ago, my sister got a couple of rabbits, and within a year or two, she had over 50! That is plenty of fertilizer for anyone. I guess you could just sprinkle the manure fresh on the garden, but personally, I would compost it along with veggie clippings and overgrown vegetables to make really nice compost.

I never thought of getting rabbits for garden helpers, but I do have a beautiful little chicken coop that needs filling again. My husband even built a little chicken sized porch on it, and the chickens would perch on their little porch rail. There was always one more chicken than there was room on the railing. One would fall off the end, run around to the other end, jump up and knock another one off. We spent more time out there watching their antics. And, they love extra tomatoes, squash, corn cobs etc. We learned not to feed them too many pumpkins though. Talk about a LOT of orange chicken poop!
The funniest thing was they LOVED spaghetti noodles. They liked that even better than real worms. After a rough day, my husband would cook up a pot of spaghetti and go out and start a chicken riot. I really need to get chickens again!

For zone 5 you'll have to have some type of protection or they will freeze (and the water will have to be changed either 2x/day or have a heater so they can drink). We had a hutch (dog house kinda) on one end and lined that with hay and then I wrapped a tarp around the whole thing to cut down the wind and it would keep it 5-10 degrees warmer inside.

Rabbits are fun little critters, my daughter & I used to raise & show holland lops and netherland dwarfs when she was in 4-H. My husband nearly keeled over when he found out a "show" bunny could cost anywhere from $75-250! Heck, the "pets" we could sell for $50-75. Of course, it helped that we were working with the more "unique" colors.

I also just scooped a shovel out from under the cages and just dumped it on top of the plants/beds ... made GREAT black dirt and the worms loved it (didn't have to add any, they just found it on their own).
-Bonnie

PS- for keeping bunnies cool in summer, try a gallon water bottle frozen & put into their cages, they will lean against it .. they cannot pant or sweat to cool down, only thru their ears & paws & can die of heat stroke quickly

I know this is an old post, but I feel the need to comment...rabbits are not simply machines to be used to gain fertilizer for your beloved garden...they do not fare well outside and it causes them to live a horrible, bored, difficult life subject to harsh weather and predators like raccoons, dogs, coyotes and other terrifying creatures. They do not deserve to be confined in a box and used simply to fertilize your garden with their droppings. They should be kept inside and treated as family pets. They are intelligent and can be trained just as a cat or dog can. My rabbit lives free range inside my home and is litter box trained. Hutches are extremely cruel as evidenced by a post saying the rabbit died from lack of fresh cold water. Please treat your rabbit kindly and bring it inside.

I'd love to get some bunnies for their fertilizer, but also for outside entertainment. I plan to keep them outside, because I live in beautiful California and we spend most of our time outside.

Poor things would be neglected if we kept them inside. ;)

Bunnies will eat your garden and burrow under the fence...remember Peter? Betesbirds is absolutely right
...they are HOUSE pets...air conditioning is mandatory if you have hot summers and heat in winter, so unless you want to spend big bucks an a air conditioned-heated barn, bring them indoors. Mine has his own room, as he chews the carpet, and the cat sleeps with him...keep all electrical cords up high.