How come all the worm sellers are in Canada?!

A pile of leaves? What's that? (Around here, the running joke when we travel east is, "What're them-thar funny-lookin' telephone poles with them-thar funny-lookin' bushes on top? How'd they get them bushes to grow up thar?")

So true...so true. the MIL, who we visit every couple of years, lives in New Mexico. One time we drove back going East thru Texas then up from Louisianna. I never thought I'd get tired of driving, but sweet mother...there's nothing but sand burrs, little round dry bushes, heat, and telephone poles across Texas. Even New Mexico had the occasional tree to look at.

http://www.southernbaitworms.com/ try these guys. Or http://www.topline-2000.com/index.html Alabama and New Mexico, respectively

We breed a LOT of rats, mice and guinea pigs. Can worms handle much in the way of wood shavings? I'm guessing we would need a lot of worms to process all the shavings, but to do some of them, would we have to do anything but soak them to get the urine out of them? Does the type make much different? We use Aspen

i find they can handle it fine.

I've had my worms going for a few months now and they have been doing fine. (eating scraps and living in the cellar. I think it's time to start adding bunny poo! How exciting for them. All I know is I want so good castings for next spring. I'm so looking forward to a new garden spot with lots of veggies for the family and the buns.

Since you are just starting to add bunny berries to the mix, you may want to just put them in one side, so the worms can adjust at their own speed. I'm far from an expert on raising worms, but seems to me I remember someone saying that too much bunny poop at first caused problems. (If I remember wrongly, I hope someone will correct me.)

I think that was me. I had a tote full of fresh bunny poop, drained but it had urine in it. I put a half pound of worms on top hoping they would burrow down in it and they were all dead within a day. I have set up a couple of cages now to catch the poop so it doesn't fall in the urine and I find the worms like that much more. I also find, like everything else, moderation is the key.

I have now harvested four of my nine worm bins and have a few pounds of the most beautiful, moist and fluffy worm castings. The bin I put an entire eight week old rabbit in got a little too moist but it worked and it was the latest bin that I harvested. I have found most of the skeleton pieces but that's all. I might compost a rabbit that big next time, though.

you put an entire rabbit into your worm bin?!?!?! somehow that completely surprises me...(like a who would have thunk?)

Yup, eight weeks old, I had an established worm bin that was working well so I dug a hole in the middle of it, put it in and covered it over. Didn't smell at all. I posted about doing it a few months ago. I just harvested that bin now and found most of the skeleton and bits of fur. As I said above, I probably wouldn't do it again because the bin got wetter than usual. I would likely compost it.

Worms will eat anything. We're constantly told not to put meat and dairy products in the bins but if you completely cover them it won't smell. Also, don't put too much in at a time. The only thing I wouldn't put in the bin would be poop from a carnivor (human, dog, cat, etc.) because of the pathogens required to digest meat. They are better hot composted.

Just my personal opinion....

There is some great information here for "bin" vermi-composting. There are other ways that may work better for those with more room outside and less room inside. One is worm beds right under the rabbits. I used this way for years and it works for for those of you that have a rabbit shed with a dirt floor. I still have a dirt floor, but I have pulled the bed boards out of the rabbitry and now prefer to remove the litter more often. I always keep one side of my garden fallow, I dump the litter (rabbit poop and hay refuse) in wheelbarrow size piles there. The piles keeps the heat up during the winter which allow full composting in the inside and worms on the edges. In the early spring, I spread the piles out some to let the worms have at all the manure, and by garden time it is all composted and ready to turn in. I do not sell worms, but when I had beds under the hutches I often did.

Some people remove the manure from under the pens, and put it in to garden-like beds outside under shade and close to a water source to keep the manure moist during dry periods.
This is probably the best way for those who are raising them to sell.

For the last couple of months now I've been harvesting the bunny berries, soaking them in water for at least an hour and adding them to the worm bins and all I can say is.... WOW! The bins are packed with worms, they are a lot bigger than before and they're all a darker colour now, kind of a purple colour. I still add the usual kitchen scraps, dead kits (haven't had any for a while, gotta get breeding again!) and might start adding leaves and yard waste. I have seven bins going strong at the moment and I'm adding a bin now and then. I would like get up to a dozen bins or more and have as much of the organic waste from my property going through the worms. Yup, it's my mad scientist streak showing itself again....

Hello Rabbit Talk! I saw this thread and thought I'd let you know about me. I hate spam but I need to get the word out on my new business.

I started a business selling worm bins that work and provide lifetime support to make sure it works for you.

This is a good thread and good advice, with one exception and one mild warning.

Starting your worm bin with locally gathered worms is a bad idea. These are most likely not going to be true composting worms. They need to be the right worms, period. Now there is a chance you will get the right ones from a pile of leaves, but probably not. There are thousands of species of earthworms, you know.

I have a ton of information on my website: http://worm-gin.com/worms.html Scroll down to learn about the different species of true composting worms.

The use of wood chips is generally not a great idea, but makes perfect sense when combining with rabbit poo. Usually the wood would take forever to break down because it has very low nutritional value to a worm bin. But the rabbit poo is very rich food so I am not surprised to hear it balances out.

I was also not surprised that a whole rabbit was composted without incident. As said, just bury it very well in the compost. Also make sure flies didn't lay eggs on the body first.

And on that grim note I will sign off.

Nice site. Always good to have another source of info, ideas, and materials.

Good site! I added myself to the map on vermicomposters.com.

Always good to have more sources of information.

Vermicomposting is something I believe in with all my heart, and I think it's wonderful to inform people about it's benefits. Having said that, I have a question...

It is? Maybe if someone is not familiar with what a composting worm looks like perhaps. And maybe if the bin will be indoors, but I have to say that local native worms are the very best for outdoor composting that I have found. I have several outdoor bins where I compost my manure, and they are swarming with native reds. None of which I had to buy, they just come on their own free will and they go if they choose to. They do a wonderful job.

Okay, make that two questions, lol...

I've never heard of this before. (???) Why is the use of wood chips not a good idea? I mean newspaper has low nutritional value too, but it's a great carbon source though. I love using wood chips in my bins for several reasons, but mostly because the worms absolutely love them. They also areate the bedding, and I find I don't have to change the bedding as often. The other reason I deliberately add them to my bins is because of a post I read on The Garden Web by Kelly Slocum. I'll have to go thru my notes and find it, but she said that the very best castings (in regards to plant response) was made with animal manure and hardwood chips.