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RAISING EARTHWORMS WITH RABBITS

Most of you recognize rabbits as the cute, little furry critters sold in pet stores, however, they serve as a valuable agricultural animal being sold for food and used for other commercial purposes. A large commercial doe such as the New Zealand White or Californian can produce approximately 30 to 40 young each year that is approximately 70 to 95 lbs. of dressed, edible meat. No other animal can be kept in a space 30" x 36" and produce 8 to 10 times her own weight in edible meat in a year. Rabbits produce meat higher in protein and lower in fat and cholesterol than chicken. Also, rabbits also create an excellent source of organic plant food faster than they can create more rabbits. A large doe and her four litters of about 28 to 32 young a year will produce approximately six to seven cubic feet of manure annually.

Unlike other animal manure, rabbit manure is relatively dry and pelleted. It has approximate values of 3.7% nitrogen, 1.3% phosphorus and 3.5% potassium and also contains many trace elements such as calcium, magnesium, boron, zinc, manganese, sulfur, copper and cobalt to name a few. Most types of animal manure contain high nitrogen levels that can burn the roots of plants when applying fresh manure directly to the garden soil. Rabbit manure, however, is considered to be a "COLD" manure which can be freely applied directly to your vegetable and flower gardens, shrubs, trees, potted plants and lawns without danger of burning. Furthermore, rabbits are kept in hutches and fed a well-balanced diet ration without medication. There is no weed-seeds problem and no danger of contamination of consumable crops by using rabbit waste for fertilizing soils.

Although fresh rabbit manure may be considered a commodity when used in the garden, many rabbit growers choose to raise earthworms under the rabbit cages as well. In essence, worms eliminate unsightly manure piles, odor, and fly problems. Also, the rabbit manure along with the wasted rabbit feed from the elevated hutches makes for some of the finest of all earthworm feed. But you must first decide what type of earthworms to raise.

The best kind of earthworm to use under the rabbit cages that I have found is the redworm. The stocking rate is 300 to 500 worms per square foot of surface area. Redworms will recycle the rabbit manure and wasted feed from the hutches into a dark, nutrient rich, finely pulverized, odorless humus. Keeping earthworms under the rabbit cages offers an excellent opportunity for additional income from the sale of the worms as fish bait and worm castings being sold to nurseries, etc. In other words, raising earthworms and rabbits together results in a triple crop that takes up the same space and offers many great benefits.

WORM BEDS UNDER RABBIT CAGES

The rabbit cage can be as long as you like. But the ideal setup for small scale rabbit growers are 12' to 24' long unit cages partitioned every 36", 24" wide and 18" high, with metal feeders and water bottles (or automatic drinking valves) attached to the front of the cages. Suspend (hang) the cages back to back from the bed's center posts or secure them to rafters at an elevation of 3' above ground level. The center posts should be spaced every 6' to 8’.

The worm bed itself should be 4" to 5" wider than the hutch area to catch all the rabbit droppings, urine and wasted feed. The worm beds can be built from treated lumber that is either 1" x 12" or 2" x 12". You should consider having a base layer of sand or gravel for drainage. Placing 5 to 6 inches of bedding material in the bottom of the worm bed is sufficient for starting the worms. Your bedding can be made from rabbit manure mixed with peat moss, shredded leaves, shredded newspaper, hay or aged saw dust at a rate of half and half. Mix the bedding material together and wet it down thoroughly, since dry organic matter will resist absorbing water until its surface softens which can often take several days. Keep in mind that the proper bedding condition is where it is just damp enough to squeeze one or two drops of water out when you squeeze a handful of bedding material. Although rabbit manure is considered a cold manure, under these conditions it will generate heat due to natural decomposition processes, so you must keep mixing the bedding and lightly water it once a day for about 2 to 3 days. On the third day, put your hand into the bed to test it for heat. If the bedding material is hot, keep mixing it once a day until all the heat is out of the bedding material before you begin putting your worms into the beds. If the bedding is cool to the touch, you can release the worms. They will disappear immediately into the moist bedding material.

Soon after starting your beds, the rabbits will supply new food daily and hay that occasionally drops through the cage floors, contributing to the bedding material. Keep in mind that rabbit droppings have to be distributed evenly because a single rabbit in a cage will not produce enough droppings beneath it to support a vigorously growing worm bed. Also, rabbits generally make urine spots located in the center of the worm bed. These spots must be removed with a shovel and the remaining holes are eliminated by simply leveling off the bed. The contents of each bed should be loosened up with a garden fork at least two to three times a month from top to bottom to guard against packing and to discourage fly problems. Best results happen when you turn the bed starting from the center section to outer edge. Sprinkling the beds with water at least two to three times a week helps to keep the bedding moist, but remember to bypass the center section of the worm bed and areas under the automatic drinking valves as they are usually already wet enough. In the summer time and when the south wind blows (also exhaust fans) hard, you may have to water once or twice a day because the top of the worm beds dry too fast.

When your worm bed is full, the old bedding material from the center section of the worm bed can be removed for use on your garden or stored for other uses. Begin by removing the central 1/3 of the length of the worm bed with a garden fork or shovel. Try to remove as much old bedding material from this area as possible. Be careful not to cheat and take it from the outside thirds, as this is the area where you will find most of your worms residing. Once all of the central (oldest) material is removed, you must then mentally divide the two remaining thirds into halves. Consider the inner half (closest to the center) the older material and the outer half the newer material containing "worm centers". Now backfill the trenched area with the inner (older) half of the material first. The outermost edge (approximately 12") of the worm bed should then be covered with a thin layer of new bedding material such as aged sawdust, shredded dry leaves, shredded newspaper, rice hull, hay or other organic material. Do not add bedding material more than one inch at a time because too much bedding will heat up and may kill your worms. Turn in the outer portion then wet it down thoroughly.

Do not harvest the worms for at least a few days after this procedure, but be sure to check the temperature and moisture conditions the following day since dry organic matter will resist absorbing water until its surface softens. If the material is too dry or is heating up, you must water it again for the next few days. The layering method works best from my experience and draws the worms to the top of the outer edge of worm beds where they may be harvested most easily.

If you have plans to sell some of your worm castings for soil conditioners, it is important to make sure that the old bedding material is protected from sun and bad weather. Poor handling, such as storage in areas leached by rainwater, will result in substantial loss of nutrients. Large quantities of worm castings are sold by volume, measured by the cubic yard and usually discounts are given on larger orders. For retail markets, worm castings must be dried first then packaged into plastic bags and sold to organic gardeners, nurseries, feed stores etc.

K & W RABBIT AND WORM FARM
P.O.Box 50691
Fort Myers, FL. 33994
Tel/Fax (941) 543-2620
e-mail: kwfarm@msn.com