# Rabbit manure on the garden



## anniew (Dec 12, 2002)

I've been told that fresh rabbit manure will not burn crops and is acceptable to use on food crops. Although I've seen the results of using it on strawberries in the fall with good results the following spring, is there anyone with experience using it in the same year when the crop is already growing?
My rabbit manure is collected in trays under the rabbit cages, using wood shavings to absorb the moisture. What do you think this would do to 1) a current crop and 2) before a crop is seeded/transplanted and 3) for perennial crops such as berries, fruit trees, asparagus, etc.


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## geo in mi (Nov 14, 2008)

Oh, I would love to get my hands on some rabbit manure for my garden. But the "official" answer to any of your questions would be--composted, composted, composted...... I know, I know, the pop writings and gardener blogs have relied on "it's okay to spread it as is" for years----but:

The NOP Program says, http://articles.extension.org/pages/18628/managing-manure-fertilizers-in-organic-systems


And here's the latest , kinda troubling research.... https://ipmsouth.com/2015/12/09/usi...l-garden-while-minimizing-the-risk-of-e-coli/

It's still manure. Thus, I modify my first comment to include GLOVED hands....

As for collection methods, that's the recommended way. I would go a step further and make a compost pile out of it(mix in some other materials, perhaps) and keep it covered so that the valuable urine will mineralize into NH3, and not volatilize and escape into the air as pure nitrogen--it doesn't do your garden any good up there....And besides, if the manure is heavy with nitrogen, it's best to wait and go through a composting process, because of the concentrated salts in the urine which could burn the plants--plus, it gives the wood fibers a better chance to break down...

geo


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## COSunflower (Dec 4, 2006)

When we had rabbits I always used the manure on my garden but did compost it for one year before for the same reason as George - to let the concentrated salts leach out. The pumpkin seeds that would drop thru the cage floor into the manure and wood shavings sure did grow good in the compost pile!!!!


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## CajunSunshine (Apr 24, 2007)

Maybe I'm a bit of a purist, but if my rabbits (or horses, cows, etc.) ate non-organic commercial feed, or hay that was grown with the taint of pesticides, herbicides, etc, etc. their poop would never make it to my gardens or compost piles...

This article provides excellent information about using different grains and wild or cultivated fresh vegetable matter for organic rabbit food:

http://www.mofga.org/Publications/M...tingOrganicRabbitFeed/tabid/3060/Default.aspx



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## haypoint (Oct 4, 2006)

Wood shavings tend to absorb the nitrogen in the decomposing process. That would help keep you from "burning" crops with fresher rabbit manure. But for safety, compost. Better to have a place to store it that doesn't get rained on. 

I am not a Certified organic hay producer. However, I have produced between 20 and 100 tons of baled hay, annually, spanning 30 years. I have never sprayed my hay fields with a insecticide or herbicide. There are no chemicals on the hay I produce. I know dozens of other hay producers. I have never heard of any of them spraying a hay field so that there would be any chemicals on the hay. Rarely, after harvesting the hay, a producer will apply a selective herbicide to target some invasive weed. But that spray is long gone the following hay cutting season. The only exception would be GMO alfalfa, but there isn't going to be any Roundup in that hay, either. No one grows it around here, so isn't an issue that I think about.

The other products in rabbit feed are likely going to be GMO corn, GMO soybeans in the pellets. But as was mentioned in another discussion, cow manure from a huge commercial factory farm, fed GMO corn, GMO soybeans, GMO cotton seed meal and GMO alfalfa hay can be sold as "for Organic gardens".

There is a far greater danger from plant uptake of salmonella in fresh manure than pesticide residue showing up in the manure. There is a herbicide that persists beyond composting, but that is generally an urban lawn chemical.

If I were using chemicals on my hay crop, I not only wouldn't use the manure on my garden, I wouldn't be feeding the hay to my animals.


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## geo in mi (Nov 14, 2008)

The nice thing about having land is that you can grow your own rations to your own specs, to the degree of "organic" that suits you. The smaller the parcel, it gets to be a matter of choices--do you look for other organic growers and buy grains, hay from them? Do you accept feed store rations? And what is your price cut off? Where, to you, does it stop making economic sense?

For a newcomer, where does one find organic barley, oats, wheat, corn, and alfalfa meal or hay? 

geo


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## CajunSunshine (Apr 24, 2007)

geo in mi said:


> For a newcomer, where does one find organic barley, oats, wheat, corn, and alfalfa meal or hay?
> 
> geo


My small town's feed and seed dealer sells organic farm & garden supplies of every kind, because folks asked for them. 

Just a thought: 

Maybe your local farm supply outlet will consider carrying organics if they were convinced that it would serve them well to serve the organic community?

Not sure if there are many more of our kind in your area? Advertise your inquiry in your local Trading Post/Penny Pincher. You may make friends and maybe even convince your local feed dealer at the same time!




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## Marinea (Apr 15, 2011)

We have been amending our gardens with rabbit manure for years. Some of it gets composted, but the majority goes on fresh.Haven't noticed any issues with veggies or fruit trees, but our roses didn't care for it.

As to strawberries in particular, we grow ours in mounded rows and the manure goes in the troughs between rows all through the year.


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## Marinea (Apr 15, 2011)

We have been amending our gardens with rabbit manure for years. Some of it gets composted, but the majority goes on fresh.Haven't noticed any issues with veggies or fruit trees, but our roses didn't care for it.

As to strawberries in particular, we grow ours in mounded rows and the manure goes in the troughs between rows all through the year.


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## haypoint (Oct 4, 2006)

Marinea said:


> We have been amending our gardens with rabbit manure for years. Some of it gets composted, but the majority goes on fresh.Haven't noticed any issues with veggies or fruit trees, but our roses didn't care for it.
> 
> As to strawberries in particular, we grow ours in mounded rows and the manure goes in the troughs between rows all through the year.


Glad that is working out for you. However, please understand that your fruit and veggies are not organic. Manure must be properly composted, that is brought up to a high temperature through microbial digestion, or it is a violation just as spraying it with a pesticide.


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