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Truckinguy

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Sorry, not sure where to put this so move it if need be. I know this has been discussed before but to those of you who have worm beds under your cages, on purpose or just occurring naturally, do the worms seem to have any problem with the urine? I have a few worm bins going right now, mostly from food scraps and I tried starting a brand new worm bin with just rabbit poop and covering it as usual with wet newspaper. The worms that I put in there all died within a day. I've started quite a few worm bins from scratch quite successfully with the usual kitchen leftovers and coffee grounds so I don't think it's my procedure. I scrape out my poo pans onto a screen and let it sit for a day or two and all the urine drains away quite well, then into empty feed sacks so it's not soaking wet poop that I put in there.
 
Kyah was saying that the urine can be a problem, Truckinguy. She has screening to let the urine drip through while directing the "bunny berries" into a container. Here's what she had to say:

I don't have my bins under the rabbit's cages, because the winters are so severe and cold here, that I'd have to move them all in the fall to a warmer place. What I do is set up some small 1/4 screen under the rabbit cages though. The little rabbit turds roll down the screen and I gather them up everyday for the worms. The screen seperates the manure from the pee, which can be very bad for the worms. I usually alternate the feedings - manure one week, and vegetable scraps the next. Rabbit manure is their favorite though. Within 24 hours of being put into the bin, the worms are all through it.
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Can you find somone how has rabbits and get worms from them? I have never had much luck with captive raised worms. Worms will usually stay away from an area with "wet" with urine. In the summer they will usually stay away from area that just has hay... it is too dry. I think the secret to worm beds (under the cages) is that the worms can go to where they want. One will usually have big globs of them in one area, and none in the dry, or very (urine) wet area's. It may be a lot harder to raise them in bins. The other thing about beds undr the cages (or a compost pile) is that there is probably a lot more aeration available. Ammonia may build up in a bin. I guess you could try putting a small amount of manure at one end of a bin and see if that might work.
 
Thanks, I agree that the bin might be too compact to put a large amount of manure in at one time. I have six other very successful bins going now with kitchen scraps and a small amount of butchering leftovers so I'll try adding some poop slowly.
 
Truckinguy....if you ever want worms...come on up! I have lots! (might want to wait until spring though). ;)

I have two compost bins...and all my garden waste, household waste and unclaimed rabbit waste goes into them. I have a prolific worm population. They showed up on their own. I find that you need to have a fair amount of non-poop material in there as well..hay, straw, peat moss, shavings etc. something to make it a bit less intense unless you get rid of the urine somehow. I also add water...lots and lots of water.

So can you have a straight poop worm bin...yep, but add stuff to it. :)
 
In the spring, if we do build our colony bunny barn (cross fingers, cross toes, cross eyes, rabbits - cross your ears), I'm planning to have raised pens so the rabbits can go out in nice weather. I'd like to have worm beds under the pens. From all I've read, I think this is how I'd do it. Dig under the cage area about two feet and line the bottom with rabbit cage flooring (1/2 inch by 1 inch), line the sides with concrete blocks and big rocks (basically whatever I have hanging around). Fill halfway or so with rabbit manure/hay/straw and let the rabbits fill the rest. Have the pens removable so I can empty the worm beds every now and then.

The rabbit cage wire serves two purposes, it allows the worms to dig down below the frost line once the cold weather comes and it keeps moles and other creatures who like to eat worms out. I'm hoping it will work out.

I have a couple of indoor bins and have been pleased with the results. Right now I have a garden center and two rose growers interested in buying the casing come spring. It's really the easiest money I've ever made.

Marian
 
I have a few worm bins going right now, mostly from food scraps and I tried starting a brand new worm bin with just rabbit poop and covering it as usual with wet newspaper. The worms that I put in there all died within a day.
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Awww... Trucking guy, sorry to hear you lost them. :(
The deaths are likely due to to the urine. In an in-ground bin beneath a rabbit cage, the worms have plenty of room to escape to higher ground if they need to, but in the confines of a plastic tote, there's just no place to escape to. Don't feel bad, I lost 2 of my bigger size bins the first year I raised worms - about 3lbs of worms in each bin too... sigh.

To feed the poop to the worms, it should be rinsed really well, and until you cannot smell even a trace of ammonia. When I have poop that I want to feed to the worms, I take it to the back tap, and soak it in a bucket for about a 1/2 -3/4 of an hour and then drain it into a container with holes in the bottom. If I still smell ammonia, I dump more water on it. If the smell is still there, I leave it outside. Sometimes it's best to just leave it to age for a bit outside. Just make sure the bucket or container has holes in the bottom, so the rain can leach out. Poop in a bucket with water will go anerobic quite fast and stink to the high heavens, lol.

Are you using sawdust or anything in your poop pans?

Kyah<br /><br />__________ Sun Jan 03, 2010 12:06 pm __________<br /><br />Oh wait! I just thought of something else...
When you made up your bin, did you put rabbit manure on top of the bedding or under or mix it through? And was there a lot of hay in the manure? Sometimes that darned hay will heat more that manure itself...

Kyah
 

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