Rabbit Poop

[Christos]

As we have a gardening thread I thought that I might share a recent journey into the unknown world of gardening(unknown for me at least).

I have a friend that has rabbits and some time ago he gave me some Rabbit Poop to use around my Orange, Mandarin and Lemon trees. I was noticing that this had sort of dissipated as time went by. So I ask me friend if he could drop off some more the next time he was around.

This time he came by with three large bags and one box. :oo: "Exactly how many rabbits do you have?" was my question.

I added the whole lot around the trees and mixed them into the soil. After spreading some shavings from a recent turning I watered the trees.

I can be a very lazy gardener and did not want to have the poop sitting in the garage for weeks on end.

[silentC]

A couple of points: You really should compost, or let it rot for a few months before using it, same as with poultry manure. That's mainly because raw manure gives off a lot of nitrogen and ammonia, which can burn roots. Citrus has a lot of small fibrous roots that spread out around the drip line and they are close to the surface and easily damaged.

Rabbit poo is very high in nitrogen which stimulates growth of wood and foliage, which could mean that you will get inferior fruit in lesser amounts. It is good for fruiting plants but you need to use it sparingly. You can kill a tree with too much of a good thing.

[Christos]

Ah something I did not know. I guess I will have to see how they do over the next few months.

[silentC]

The consolation is that fresh wood shavings create a nitrogen debt as they break down, so that might help even things up for you.

With the next batch, I would grab a heap of shavings and mix it together with the rabbit poo then let it decompose for as long as you can stand it lying around. Shavings can raise the Ph temporarily as they break down but in the long run it's all good. Apparently high-nitrogen fertilisers and fresh wood shavings (not sawdust) can actually be better than just standard fertilisation. You just have to watch the amount of manure you put in.

[wheelinround]

I can be a very lazy gardener and did not want to have the poop sitting in the garage for weeks on end.

Why not there's enough crap sitting in there now it wouldn't make any difference.:q



Put the poop in a bucket 1/2 fill it and hen fill with water its like sheep poop it breaks down an then use the fluid to as liquid fertiliser just keep topping it up with water.

By the way how many rabbits and are they angora.............the fur is worth spinning

[HUON]

Just my tuppence worth, as far as I know donkey poo is about the only fertiliser you can use fresh, oh it might pay to keep your poo fertiliser out of the sun if you can. It tends to leach the goodness out of the the poo. That's why sheep s--t that came from under the shearing sheds was fantastic.

[silentC]

I've used horse poo fresh but I put it on like a mulch and keep it away from the base of the plants.

I've got an industrial scale compost set up and all manure that I get hold of goes into the top of that. It comes out the other end ready to go in the garden. You can raise seedlings in it.

[chambezio]

I have/had a small hydroponic set up that I used Rabbit Poo Tea as the nutrient. It did the job well. I think I made 4 litres at a time and added it to the water every couple of days until the wheel barrow full of poo was used up. It then got spread on the garden else where.