Rabbits
Rabbits are the perfect compliment to the suburban farm.
Photo by Robobobo.
There’s literally no manure better for the garden than rabbit poop and they have a distinct advantage over other animal manures. Manures such as horse, pig, cow, and chicken require many months to compost properly until they can be added to the garden bed; rabbit poop is the only manure that can be added directly to the garden without fear of burning your plants. All other animal manures require many months to compost properly until they can be added to the garden bed. Another plus is that red wiggler worms gravitate to rabbit manure immediately, bringing with them their own positive influence on the soil and garden.
Rabbit pellets’ positive effects on the garden bed are extensive. As they break down, they build soil structure, improve soil porosity, soil stability, and hold nutrients for not only plants, but other soil organisms. As far as how the manure is applied, there are two different schools of thought on this:
1. Some gardeners apply the pellets directly to the soil, and swear by this system.
2. Others are more cautious about possible pathogens, and prefer to add it to the compost heap as a precaution as far as adding it to food plants such as tomatoes.
Gardeners everywhere sing the virtues of rabbit manure added to their flowers and vegetables, or compost. They have tagged it, ‘God’s gift to the gardener’ and “magic pellets’, ‘garden gold’, ‘rabbit gold’ other glorifying labels.
Suburban rabbits are easy to keep, don’t need “land” to be kept on, and also double as 4H projects, family pets, and can be used for fiber spinning (in the case of angora rabbits).
Click here to see rabbit posts on A Suburban Farmer.
Pam Says:
Isn’t it amazing that Beatrix Potter’s Peter Rabbit was getting chased out of the garden, but his poop was most beneficial, LOL? What a lesson in symbiosis!
Posted on February 9th, 2010 at 5:03 am
Administrator Says:
LOL, I agree, Pam! In fact, some other gardeners and I were talking (okay, Tweeting) about the wonders of rabbits on the modern homestead today and how well they fit in. We toss them treats from the garden and they give us wonderful stuff to continue growing the garden.
It’s a terrific circle. We’re spreading the bunny-gospel.
Posted on February 9th, 2010 at 5:32 am
Carri Says:
Hi Chris! I think we’re almost ready to venture into Bunnies. What do you think- can we get by with just one or do they need a friend? Anything I should look for when picking out a cage?
Posted on February 11th, 2010 at 11:42 pm
Administrator Says:
Hi Carri! If you give your bunny attention, one is perfectly fine. More recently, people are opting for cages with a solid bottom. This is perfect for an indoor or outdoor bunny. As far as the cages with the wire bottom, those are fine, too as long as the rabbit has sufficient fur on the bottom of its feet. Some breeds really don’t (like English Angoras sometimes)and some breed are so heavy I don’t like them on wire (French Lop). That said, wire works well for many breeds and there are hard plastic mats to place inside the cage if you’d like so they can get off the wire if they’d like.
A small type of rabbit is best for kids, although the smallest breed (Netherland Dwarf) can be very skittish and I wouldn’t recommend it for small children. Holland Lops are perfect. Let me know what you find out there and I’ll try to help!
Posted on February 12th, 2010 at 1:46 am