Catching Rabbit Poop

[HTAcres]

@HTAcres I get how you feel this was piling on, but please don't feel unwelcome--I think all that was happening here was that so many people in our "real" lives use facebook as a given and those of us who do not get a lot of flack from it, again, in our real lives. I think what happened here was not intended to be directed at you personally, but at facebook itself, and the sudden realization that "Hey, me too, I found my people!!"

I quit facebook after my darling 96 year old grandma started posting racist memes during the 2016 election. It was a super personal decision, completely unrelated to you, or even social media in general. However you would not believe how many people have mocked me for my decision. It is a relief to find that I am not the only human not on FB. It makes sense though--If we don't like facebook and want to still communicate, we would be likely to find forums, right?

I am sorry it felt like an attack, I really do not think it was meant that way at all.

I appreciate this. I did not stay on Facebook thoughtlessly. I have my own "war stories" which I will leave out as they are way too political. I joined, and was banned, from Twitter. I was kicked out of a knitting forum, knitting?!!, for my politics. I use Amazon though I am not thrilled with the way they do business. I have love/hate relationships with Google and Microsoft and I haven't figured out alternate tools that work to help me accomplish my own goals. I need a new phone right now, only because "big Tech" insists on making apps so big that I run out of GBs - Gigabytes when we sent men to the moon with megabytes.

We have talked about all this at length in our home. What do you do when a tool you have come to rely on is manufactured by "someone" you disagree with emphatically? As a Christian, I became disenchanted with the notion of falling back into Christian ghettos in response to this sort of thing.

My life has been unexpectedly spent moving to different states so online became a social lifeline for me way back in the early '90s. The thing is, it is usually based on some commonality whether or not other bits and pieces of our lives are in sync. I might not think your gramma's memes were racist - if that were true, can we still talk about rabbits? It has ever been hard to keep politics and religion from ruining an otherwise burgeoning relationship. It is simply oh so much harder now more than ever.

Anyway, appreciate the olive branch. I will make decisions on a day I am more hopeful. Many days I wouldn't have even been bothered so I'll wait for one of those and try again.

 

[Rabbits by Accident]

Does anyone else have poop boxes in the hutches? I can't remember if I asked that before LOL ... I have one doe that is huge and poops huge poops. I started using the box because her poop is too big to go through 1/4" wire mesh and I got tired of cleaning it out of the hutch. Now I just take her poop box out and empty it. I added them to all the other hutches because it seemed like a good idea at the time LOL .. . . Now I'm wondering whether it's worth the work. Except for the giant-pooper she will have to retain her box LOL

If you don't know what I'm talking about, I made a frame from 1x3" stock with a 1/8" mesh bottom. The poop doesn't go through, but the pee does. I set it in the most used corner and soon they do all their pooping there. Bonus, I can sell the kits as 'housebroken' LOL

Liz

 

[KelleyBee]

I recently paid my membership here - now I feel unwelcome.

I actually was going to suggest to that group that they think about signing up elsewhere as well like this forum. I always preferred forums in the past. I only joined FB to start with because I was still raising kids and the friends of that era started networking there. Each of us is called to operate differently - I'm trying to help as many people raise rabbits as possible as it is one more step towards independence.

Personally I am now convinced most of our government is evil. I still drive on the roads, however. And I pay my taxes because they can force me to do so. A simple no would have worked. An explanation was fine. The piling on was a bit much.

I wish each of you much success in your rabbit ventures and in all else. I suspect we are all going to need as much help as we can get.

My apologies if I made you feel uncomfortable. That was never my intention.

 

[HTAcres]

My apologies if I made you feel uncomfortable. That was never my intention.

I never thought it was your intention. Thank you.

 

[eco2pia]

I might not think your gramma's memes were racist - if that were true, can we still talk about rabbits? It has ever been hard to keep politics and religion from ruining an otherwise burgeoning relationship. It is simply oh so much harder now more than ever.

Honestly, you might not, and of course we can still talk rabbits!! I am pretty happy to find common ground even if my plolitics or other views are diametrically opposed to the person I have been speaking to. I applaud you for the fortitude not to wall yourself up in an echo chamber, but I just did not want to send myself into repeated futile arguments with a woman I have loved all my life. I can still love her. I cannot change her opinions or attitudes at this point.

It takes more energy than I really have to not respond--look at me sticking my nose in here with my olive branch! I am too easily upset by upset people, lol! Facebook seemed to be a forum for airing constant greivances and that seemed to be exhausting and mentally unhealthy for me. Pulling back to my actual life has helped, but I still like to share stuff with people "like me" and in this aspect--raising my own food--I am not like my very liberal, vegan, ARA filled city. I can find lots of common ground with them in real life though!! We almost all like either coffee or beer.

Does anyone else have poop boxes in the hutches? I can't remember if I asked that before LOL ... I have one doe that is huge and poops huge poops. I started using the box because her poop is too big to go through 1/4" wire mesh and I got tired of cleaning it out of the hutch. Now I just take her poop box out and empty it. I added them to all the other hutches because it seemed like a good idea at the time LOL .. . . Now I'm wondering whether it's worth the work. Except for the giant-pooper she will have to retain her box LOL

If you don't know what I'm talking about, I made a frame from 1x3" stock with a 1/8" mesh bottom. The poop doesn't go through, but the pee does. I set it in the most used corner and soon they do all their pooping there. Bonus, I can sell the kits as 'housebroken' LOL

Liz

I have not tried that. I see the value, but I am fortunate to have everything dropping thru to the ground. The down side is that I lose most of the pee! Mostly, having tried both methods, I am fine with that because I really am lazy/busy and keeping up with daily maintenace is too much.

 

[Zee-Man]

I appreciate this. I did not stay on Facebook thoughtlessly. I have my own "war stories" which I will leave out as they are way too political....

I get this in a very personal way. While adjudge facecrook foully should never be construed as me thinking ill of you. Indeed, there are martyrs that remain in certain venues simply to be a good influence. In religious circles we call them missionaries and afford them great respect. Just be aware that politics are not tolerated here, in the best case scenario one gets forcefully edited, I imagine exile would be the worst. (Oh, that sounded threatening, it was actually my experience when I expressed a mild political emotion).

 

[HTAcres]

I get this in a very personal way. While adjudge facecrook foully should never be construed as me thinking ill of you. Indeed, there are martyrs that remain in certain venues simply to be a good influence. In religious circles we call them missionaries and afford them great respect. Just be aware that politics are not tolerated here, in the best case scenario one gets forcefully edited, I imagine exile would be the worst. (Oh, that sounded threatening, it was actually my experience when I expressed a mild political emotion).

I was having a bad week. The worst part of that particular kind of bad week for me is that things hit me different and I only see it in hind sight. I've been online a long time and usually just let the sh*t flow over me. I am reading your comment now and thinking OF COURSE I knew that nobody meant those comments to be directed "at" me. Sigh. I really appreciate you all acting like grownups.

 

[HTAcres]

I want to officially apologize to @KelleyBee @Zee-Man @eco2pia for being overly sensitive to comments that on a better day, I would know were not directed at me. I am truly sorry and I appreciate your kind forebearance. I promise that I am not typically so prickly.

 

[KelleyBee]

I want to officially apologize to @KelleyBee @Zee-Man @eco2pia for being overly sensitive to comments that on a better day, I would know were not directed at me. I am truly sorry and I appreciate your kind forebearance. I promise that I am not typically so prickly.

It's all good!

 

[CanineWild]

Oof, ya- the amount of times I get shocked or even scolding comments about not using Facebook is crazy. Tried it out close to a decade ago I think it's been now, didn't like it and deleted. It's only gotten worse from what I hear. I used to be on a bunch of forums then, but it's so much less of a thing now. Glad this place is up!

 

[Mama.]

Can someone clarify if you feed your rabbit hay, can you still use/sell the poop for gardening?

 

[Skai]

So very true. The bad feelings that were expressed were toward Facebook, certainly not HTAcres

 

[Zee-Man]

Can someone clarify if you feed your rabbit hay, can you still use/sell the poop for gardening?

Absolutely! Understand pellets are largely compressed hay.

 

[eco2pia]

Can someone clarify if you feed your rabbit hay, can you still use/sell the poop for gardening?

as @Zee-Man says, the poop is still great. However, if you are trying not to start a hayfield, be careful not to mix in the spilled hay unless you compost it first, to avoid seeds from being spread with the poop. Most rabbits poop in one corner and eat in another, so this is really not too terribly hard.

 

[Skai]

My set up, but it's not perfect. First photo right after fresh weekly cleaning.
View attachment 28228
Next photo shows poo sitting on wire mesh after rolling down the corrugated plastic. Urine goes through the mesh into the gutter then into a bucket. View attachment 28229

Next photo shows what I use to pull down waste that doesn't roll down itself. View attachment 28230

I really, really like your setup. In fact, I was thinking about how I would go about doing it last night when I should have been sleeping! One question--what is your method for getting the poop off of the hardware cloth. Do you just brush it forward into a bucket or is it tilted so that it rolls to one end--or what?

 

[KelleyBee]

I really, really like your setup. In fact, I was thinking about how I would go about doing it last night when I should have been sleeping! One question--what is your method for getting the poop off of the hardware cloth. Do you just brush it forward into a bucket or is it tilted so that it rolls to one end--or what?

I gotta tell you, I am now switching from that setup to the traditional “let it all drop to the ground” because I have realized that my initial set up shown earlier in this thread has two very negative attributes: it is labor intensive, needing to be cleaned and flushed several times per week in order to avoid the second negative aspect, which is my rabbits always having to live within inches of their excrement. The photo in the earlier post is my breeder hutch. Since then we have constructed two growout hutches and those are the simple ”everything falls to the ground“ setup. Having lived with and managed both systems, the “to the ground” method is definitely my preferred. As I respond to this posting, we are literally redoing it all to make all of our rabbit housing the “everything drops to the ground” method. This method encourages worm growth, who in turn helps to process (compost) the waste, and the waste is ”feet” instead of mere “inches” from the noses of the rabbit, I can simply use a pitchfork and/or shovel to clean out the accumulated waste, as opposed to having to use gloved hands to clean out the sloped surface and gutters in the system I initially set up. in theory it seemed a good idea. In long term use, it proved to be a bad idea. I really wish there were some way I could get my postings of the system off of rabbit talk because I no longer advocate it. I wonder if an admin can help getting it off.

 

[Skai]

Ah, well. I am disappointed. My hutches are on the side of our house, flies can sometimes be a problem and I thought this would be a great way to separate the poop from the pee so the poop could go directly to the garden and the pee to the compost pile. I may try it any way because I'm not stacked like you are so there is a longer drop to the ground.

 

[KelleyBee]

I NO LONGER ADVOCATE THIS SETUP

Explanation as to why I have changed my mind is below.

My set up, but it's not perfect. First photo right after fresh weekly cleaning.
View attachment 28228
Next photo shows poo sitting on wire mesh after rolling down the corrugated plastic. Urine goes through the mesh into the gutter then into a bucket. View attachment 28229

Next photo shows what I use to pull down waste that doesn't roll down itself. View attachment 28230

I gotta tell you, I am now switching from that setup to the traditional “let it all drop to the ground” because I have realized that my initial set up shown earlier in this thread has two very negative attributes: it is labor intensive, needing to be cleaned and flushed several times per week in order to avoid the second negative aspect, which is my rabbits always having to live within inches of their excrement. The photo in the earlier post is my breeder hutch. Since then we have constructed two growout hutches and those are the simple ”everything falls to the ground“ setup. Having lived with and managed both systems, the “to the ground” method is definitely my preferred. As I respond to this posting, we are literally redoing it all to make all of our rabbit housing the “everything drops to the ground” method. This method encourages worm growth, who in turn helps to process (compost) the waste, and the waste is ”feet” instead of mere “inches” from the noses of the rabbit, I can simply use a pitchfork and/or shovel to clean out the accumulated waste, as opposed to having to use gloved hands to clean out the sloped surface and gutters in the system I initially set up. in theory it seemed a good idea. In long term use, it proved to be a bad idea. I really wish there were some way I could get my postings of the system off of rabbit talk because I no longer advocate it. I wonder if an admin can help getting it off.

 

[Rabbits by Accident]

@KelleyBee Sorry to hear it is not working for you I can feel your frustration

However, for those who are considering trying it - my set up works great for me!

It may be because I am able to clean it out every day. I never have to touch poop or scrape with hands and there's not much odor in the rabbitry.

I have maybe a bit more of a slant? I am able to catch the poop/pee in the gutter. I have a 3' piece of metal bar that I use to pull down the stuff that doesn't roll by itself. I feed a LOT of hay so there's a lot that gets stuck but is easily pulled down to the gutter.

Then, I have a 'spatula' type thing I made from wood that fits into the gutter and I scrape it all into a bucket at the end.

Takes all of about 3 minutes per 8' of cages.

I like the system because all the poop as well as all the water from the mister goes easiliy into buckets and it goes into the garden and nothing is wasted.

I'm old and it's a lot easier for me than shoveling/raking.

I bet the worms are going to love your set up!! It does have it's advantages.

 

[Mannbuns]

I NO LONGER ADVOCATE THIS SETUP


I gotta tell you, I am now switching from that setup to the traditional “let it all drop to the ground” because I have realized that my initial set up shown earlier in this thread has two very negative attributes: it is labor intensive, needing to be cleaned and flushed several times per week in order to avoid the second negative aspect, which is my rabbits always having to live within inches of their excrement. The photo in the earlier post is my breeder hutch. Since then we have constructed two growout hutches and those are the simple ”everything falls to the ground“ setup. Having lived with and managed both systems, the “to the ground” method is definitely my preferred. As I respond to this posting, we are literally redoing it all to make all of our rabbit housing the “everything drops to the ground” method. This method encourages worm growth, who in turn helps to process (compost) the waste, and the waste is ”feet” instead of mere “inches” from the noses of the rabbit, I can simply use a pitchfork and/or shovel to clean out the accumulated waste, as opposed to having to use gloved hands to clean out the sloped surface and gutters in the system I initially set up. in theory it seemed a good idea. In long term use, it proved to be a bad idea. I really wish there were some way I could get my postings of the system off of rabbit talk because I no longer advocate it. I wonder if an admin can help getting it off.

We have a set up with a sloped corrugated plastic for the upper cages so poop doesn't fall on bunnies in the lower cages. I have thin push broom end that broke off the handle and we use that to scoot it all down and into the bucket. It's working ok. We would have to do it less often expect that one of the buns likes to poop in the same spot every time so it gets kinda high there. Ugh.