Rabbit Manure

The amount of manure produced in any stud will dependupon a number of factors such as breed, rations fed, amountof bedding used and so on. Obviously a bulky ration willproduce more manure than a concentrated ration. Theweight of rabbit manure varies between about 3o to 40 lb.per cubic foot, and a large breed doe with young would producethroughout the year some 1 2 cubic feet of manure, that is tosay between 3 and 4 cwts. It is necessary that adequatestorage or disposal arrangements should be made.
Rabbit manure, again contrary to widespread belief, is oneof the most valuable manures of all livestock, as can be seenfrom its analysis. On a dry matter basis the manure containsapproximately 2.7% Nitrogen, 1.5% Phosphoric Acid, and1% Potash. The amount of fresh manure required to producetoo lb. of dry manure is however only about 140 lb., comparedwith some 240 lb. of horse manure, and as much as 480 lb.of manure from dairy cows. Thus fresh weight for freshweight, the manure is most valuable.
In some countries the clear manure, that is manure from self cleaning hutches, or separated from the bedding, is dried,ground and sold as a fertiliser. When dry the manure haslittle smell and is easily handled.

Many gardeners like to use a liquid manure, and an excellenttype may be made by soaking rabbit manure in a barrel ofwater. The faecal pellets (about 71b. per barrel) should beenclosed in a coarse sack and suspended in the barrel for a fewdays. An occasional stirring will be of benefit, and thecontents of the sack after this time should be returned to themanure heap, the liquid manure now being ready for use.Fresh manure can be applied immediately to the soil, whenrelatively little loss of the more soluble constituents occurs.If however, the manure contains a good deal of bedding,then it will probably be more beneficial to allow it to rot beforeapplication. A layer of soil some two inches thick over a heapwill efficiently prevent the breeding of flies.

Although rabbit manure should be freely applied to thegarden and to crops for the stock, some breeders, particularlythose with small gardens and in urban areas, may find difficultyin arranging adequate disposal. Under no circumstancesshould manure be burnt, for quite apart from the waste, theresulting smoke will almost certainly be a nuisance to thebreeder and his neighbours. The most suitable solution tosuch a problem is an arrangement with a local nurserygardener or allotment holder, who will usually be extremelypleased to make regular collections.

Its the United States of America a system of using earth-worms under single tier hutches to convert the manure intohumus was established with good results. This system has beendeveloped almost worldwide.

The worms are enclosed in wooden or metal sided binsplaced beneath the hutches over the soil. There most be nofloors to the bins in order to allow the storms to retreat intothe soil when conditions are unfavourable. Normally thesides of the bins are about one foot high.

The normal species of worm used is Eisenia foetida, knowncommonly its this country as the Brandling, although in America, domesticated types are sold in cultures to rabbitbreeders. Provided the bins and the worm population aresufficiently large no odours develop, neither do flits breed inthe manure. The worm transformed manure is removedevery six months or so.

It can be seen that the system is considerably labour saving,but unfortunately to clate has not been widely tried in this country.