Is rabbit poop good fertilizer?
Rabbit poop makes an excellent fertilizer and is not only free but also organic. Fertilizer can be one of the most expensive items you need for your garden. There are some simple guidelines on how to use it.
The rabbit litter we will discuss here comes from domesticated rabbits raised on a farm or in a hutch on your own property. It is usually made up of sawdust and other barnyard animal droppings that have been put into a big composting bin and then mounded up as it rots down into humus . This stuff has been carefully composted by professionals to make sure harmful bacteria, such as E-coli, don’t make it into the finished product.
What makes this material good as fertilizer? First of all, rabbits are herbivores. That means that their digestive system is very different than that of other animals, such as cows or chickens. When they eat plant material it stays in their stomachs much longer allowing the nutrients to be broken down and absorbed more thoroughly, so what comes out is highly digestible for your plants.
The second reason this stuff makes great fertilizer is because rabbits don’t urinate or defecate right into their feed like chickens do. This gives the droppings time to decompose into something you could actually use on your garden without burning the plants.
Precautions when using rabbit poop as fertilizer
Rabbit manure should not be applied fresh to your lawn or garden because it will burn just like chicken manure does. It needs several months (up to a year) to become composted and safe to use. An advantage of the commercial type is that it keeps for a long time and can be used as you need it, but don’t put it on frozen ground.
Though rabbit manure has all those great qualities, there are still some things to consider before jumping into your car and driving out into the country to pick up several tons of the stuff. First couple times you apply it (say at spring planting) you want to mix it with about 50 percent good garden soil . This will give your plants a good start and will improve their ability to absorb nutrients from the fertilizer. Rabbit manure contains no weed seeds so you don’t have any weeding problems later on. You could also add 5-10-10 fertilizer to get the most out of your garden.
There is no such thing as too much fertilizer so spread liberally after planting and then again whenever you plant something new. The only warning with rabbit manure is that it should not be used on root vegetables such as carrots, parsnips or potatoes because it may contain a strain of E-coli that can cause disease in humans. It’s OK for everything else though and you can even use it on flowers and shrubs if you wish.
