What do i feed my rabbits for good compost?
I am putting my partner’s sons’ rabbits’ droppings (Phew!) in the compost bin but i am worried that the dried food supplement they are having during the winter will affect the compost. We have been giving the rabbits all home grown green waste leaves and vegetables but need to add to this now the colder months are here and our greens aren’t as prosperous. We have been giving the rabbits dock leaves and dandelion leaves that grow wild but these are now in short supply. Help anyone?
while it’s difficult to give them home grown veggies in the winter you’ll have to buy greens from the shops to keep up their veg intake.
Rabbits will do fine with dried lawn clippings, provided the lawn represents a wild selection of plants like grass, clover, birds-foot-trefoil and most other weeds.
During the spring summer and fall they will get along best with the same, but not dried. Drying the food does nothing to help the rabbit nor the compost, but on the other hand it does not hurt it either.
If the situation does not allow for drying, the lawn clippings can be firmly packed into a barrel, still moist. and stored with a covering like a sheet of plastic to keep out air and mold spores. The firm packing makes this into silage.
The problem with this silage is that when well packed it may emit methane which must not be allowed to collect in a closed space. But at the same time you do not want the food to be frozen solid when you want to feed the rabbits, because of inconvenience. But rabbits will eat and survive with frozen silage.
The produce section of my grocery store usually sells dandelion greens all year round. If they’re not available, my rabbit also enjoys romaine, spinach, kale and collard greens.
Also, I feed him as much timothy hay as he will eat.
Feed em LOADS of greens, and fertilizer and other plant nutrients.