Rabbits raised indoors

Hi all,
New here, I just started a indoor rabbitry. Yeah I know cages. What I do know is that in a short time there is a lot of work involved. Thats fine. Just like any project there is work. When I clean and dump the manure in the garden you can here the earth worms shout "oh Yeah". The oder is small. My rabbits do seem comfortable and content. They have ample room.
I feed pellets and alfalfa hay with some greens. They do eat what they are hungry for at the moment. Also I keep plenty of fresh water for them at all times. Any advice is welcome.

Hi Boys and Girls,
As I continue to work in my small rabbitry I will post what Knew thins of intrest I have learned.
1. The book Rabbit Production by Cheeke and Patton is invaluble source, it is spendy but complete.
2. As a indoor rabbitry in Alaska sanitation is a must. The work is not hard but must be regular.
3. Rabbits must be handled regularly other wise they will go freakazoid.
4. Litter must be cleaned at regular intervals or it will stink.
5. Fresh water must be maintained at all times, they do drink a lot.
6. Three rabbits take about thirty minuites one day and sixty minuites the second day to clean litter.
7. I feed pellets and alfalfa hay,"in a perfect world" I would pasteur my rabbits and Anchorage is far from perfect.
Why am I doing this you ask?
Two basic reasons meat and experience for when I move to the stead we are building.
I will continue to post as experience grows.
And please do feel free to throw in your two cents it is welcome.

Hi again Boys and Girls,
Once again rabbits 101,
In my last installment I mentioned cleaning litter every other day.
Today I mention refresh water check and refill pellets on the off day.
One rabbit to a cage you only need more pellets and water every other day.
If you live in a warm enough zone to fresh greens  pick them and bring them in.
With a small meat rabbitry becareful, you walk a fine line between pet and livestock.
For those of you that read I hope these tidbits of information help.
Anyone who cares to add is welcome a addition.

put worm boxes under those cages, and you won't have to worry about cleaning the litter all the time.

That sounds like an awful lot of time spent cleaning litter for only 3 rabbits. My fiber-producing rabbits use litter boxes and it only takes me a few minutes to clean each one. I change the litter 1-2 times a week, and don't have odor problems.

Abe Connally wrote:put worm boxes under those cages, and you won't have to worry about cleaning the litter all the time.

Awesome idea Abe. We just finished our first large rabbit hutch and are going to build a second as soon as we get back from vacation. I definitely am going to put worm boxes under the hutches. Talk about a naturally automated system. The rabbits feed the worms daily. The worms keep the stink form the rabbit poop down by decomposing them into useful compost for the garden.

Will the rabbit urine hurt the worms at all? I assume it would be a good idea to put other materials like grass clippings and leaves in those worm boxes occasionally?

Ray

The rabbit urine will hurt the worms in a flow down system because it's so concentrated and ammonia rich. I keep rabbit's over deep bedding then when I apply the manure and bedding laced with urine I water down the worm bin thoroughly and collect the leach-ate for the garden. You'd have to lay allot of bedding over the worms to keep them from burning, but they won't go into that bedding as it's so hot. The downside of my way is i clean their deep litter pen's every 3 months at an hour a pen, the upside is I feed the worms in batches and the urine is under control in the deep bedding because I use liquid molasses and whey to break down the funk. Without the whey/molasses the rabbit pen would stink to high heaven on ammonia and the fly's would run a much. You might also want to consider insect's if your running an open top worm bin, it's going to be maggot city.

Would it be better to just shovel the manure off the ground once a week and put it in the compost bin and let it leach for a while in the compost before using the compost?

Ray Cover wrote:
Awesome idea Abe. We just finished our first large rabbit hutch and are going to build a second as soon as we get back from vacation. I definitely am going to put worm boxes under the hutches. Talk about a naturally automated system. The rabbits feed the worms daily. The worms keep the stink form the rabbit poop down by decomposing them into useful compost for the garden.

Will the rabbit urine hurt the worms at all? I assume it would be a good idea to put other materials like grass clippings and leaves in those worm boxes occasionally?

No, the urine won't hurt the worms (lots of people do this), but it is a good idea to put extra materials in there to balance things out. Shredded grass, hay, leaves, etc will work. Just add a layer periodically to keep the moisture and smell levels down.

Ray Cover wrote:Would it be better to just shovel the manure off the ground once a week and put it in the compost bin and let it leach for a while in the compost before using the compost?

You could do that, but that leaching is nutrients leaching out. That's just extra work, IMO.

I'm going to give it a try. When Rachel and I build that second hutch we will also build worm boxes to go under the hutches.