meat rabbit pen and worm farm

Hi guys. Here is a pic of my meat rabbit pen, since the pic Ive added quail cages above the 4 30x30 rabbit pens, that let the eggs role out under the food trough, I hung them from the top frame. The wood frame around them can be opened up for air flow and a fan can be hung on either end, I am also thinking about putting a soaker hose/mister over the top durring summer, the wind block tarp in winter can be pulled out like a porch top for extra shade in summer.

Under the pens I put composting worms, I use them to supplement my fish/tilapia food in my aquaponic system, and the soil as seed starter. I rake the poop & spilled feed/hay out evenly once a week, I plan on scooping 1-2 x's a week durring summer to minimize fly's. I will also spray them with an oil based fly repellent (minimally) as well as the surrounding wood since I will only be breeding them in the winter (breeding the quail durring summer) I hose the urine down daily as I briefly clean the cages. I have a screen I have a few wholes in that I place bananna peels or coffe on that the worms crawl through to eat - then I pick up the screen throw the left overs down and hose off the worms, purge them on corn meal for a few hrs and feed them to my fish (this keeps me from digging in the dirt for fish food)

I have 3 questions, Please Help 1- for my worms under the cages is there any advice on making sure I dont get maggots etc durring summer?(Ive never had worms) How well will they keep the poop decomposed, is scooping necessarry.... 2- In the winter while its cold here in Tx and it gets windy the wind gets under my cage, Do I need to add a heat lamp to keep them alive? I know rabbits can live in -20 degree weather with no draft w/o additional heat but not sure if the upper 20's to mid 30's with a draft will kill them? 3 - What plants should I plant around them to help repel fly's and mosuitos? I have moringa trees and duck weed for food as well as my AQ system. Any climbing vines like honey suckles I should plant on the fence behind them??

Bravo! Beautiful! I have some major rabbitry envy.

While some Muscovy ducks will eat some of the worms (the one's near the top) they won't make that big of a dent in profits but they will eat up all the maggots...and then you can eat them!

As for those super cold, windy nights I would just use cardboard boxes. They are cheap and turn into worm food when they are done. Just some kind of wind block is more important than overhead heat. The quail will need artificial light though if you expect them to lay through the winter. Please update us as this goes on.

As for plants, I have heard really good things about Bay Laurels but it's not like you can use that for food for anyone. Lemon Grass and catnip are rumored to help repel flies and mosquitos and can be enjoyed by the rabbits.

Blue Walden

Thanks for the advice I will defiantly add in some cardboard boxes or nesting boxes, surely if the wind from underneath the cages is blocked they will stay draft free. Working on a dirt pen behind the greenhouse for the quail this wknd, dont know if I can feed them on my own but dont want to buy more than 25% feed for my rabbits or tilapia in the AQ system. I need to re-read a thread on here about sprouting the chicken food, Im sure quail would eat it as well.

I have some fat new zelander meat rabbits! Breakfeast of champions lol

your system is pretty awesome. i feed banana peels straight to the rabbits. and other "wastes" and "yard trash."

i'm not sure you will be able to repel mosquitos and other fly-like bugs from your system. my rabbit manure usually doesnt have a problem with that kind of thing. but also i collect it up, put it in my manure tea creator, and put wood chips under the rabbits. the pellets are usually dry and moldy when i move it. i guess that's because it's dry under the rabbits even with the urine.

we do spray our place for fleas and mosquitos. if we didnt, we would probably die from encephalopathy or at least aysphyxiation from choking on the massive amounts of mosquitos. it doesn't help that i'm quite the bromeliad fiend. water sources are a problem for mosquito control. what are you doing with your AP system to keep the mosquitos out?

chrissy bauman wrote:your system is pretty awesome. i feed banana peels straight to the rabbits. and other "wastes" and "yard trash."

i'm not sure you will be able to repel mosquitos and other fly-like bugs from your system. my rabbit manure usually doesnt have a problem with that kind of thing. but also i collect it up, put it in my manure tea creator, and put wood chips under the rabbits. the pellets are usually dry and moldy when i move it. i guess that's because it's dry under the rabbits even with the urine.

we do spray our place for fleas and mosquitos. if we didnt, we would probably die from encephalopathy or at least aysphyxiation from choking on the massive amounts of mosquitos. it doesn't help that i'm quite the bromeliad fiend. water sources are a problem for mosquito control. what are you doing with your AP system to keep the mosquitos out?

The water is always moving so I dont have a problem with mosquito's in my AP system. I suspose if they sat in the fish tank that's just free protein I plan on spraying the wood with mosquito repellent and keeping fans on my meat rabbits durring summer to help mosquito/fly problems, I will use an oil based fly repellent on a limited bases for horses that I use form my dogs when there ears get bloody from flys since Im not breeding them durring summer anyhow. I will try citrinella plants as well. I use Ditamaceous earth allot as well.

Do you have worms under your rabbits? I need them for my fish in my AP system but may use woodchips as well

i was going to get some good redworms for underneath the rabbits, but i can only really find one person selling redworms in my county and they aren't cheap. all the worms at the baitshops near me seem to be black nightcrawlers from canada. so what i've been doing is collecting up the rabbit pellets that fall onto the woodchips and putting them into my homemade manure brewer, add water, remove manure tea. then that goes on the garden. i did put a garden worm into the manure brewer, but if he's still alive i have no idea
your system seems really cool. i think aquaponics and vermicomposting and rabbits, maybe duckweed and black soldier fly are definitely the way to go. next spring i plan on growing some azolla for my rabbits. still haven't been able to locate duckweed locally. have you looked into that? i have read there are many breeds of fish that do very well on it.

chrissy bauman wrote:i was going to get some good redworms for underneath the rabbits, but i can only really find one person selling redworms in my county and they aren't cheap. all the worms at the baitshops near me seem to be black nightcrawlers from canada. so what i've been doing is collecting up the rabbit pellets that fall onto the woodchips and putting them into my homemade manure brewer, add water, remove manure tea. then that goes on the garden. i did put a garden worm into the manure brewer, but if he's still alive i have no idea
your system seems really cool. i think aquaponics and vermicomposting and rabbits, maybe duckweed and black soldier fly are definitely the way to go. next spring i plan on growing some azolla for my rabbits. still haven't been able to locate duckweed locally. have you looked into that? i have read there are many breeds of fish that do very well on it.

Yes, I ordered duckweed on the internet for very cheap and my fish and rabbits love it. Put a aerator and some rabbit poop into a tub, it doubles in size every day, when its full harvest 90 % and dry what you dont use. Im looking into farming minnows in it that will live off the rabbit poop and fertilize the duck weed which provides them shade. Duckweed is awesome. Also look into moringa trees!