I also have a dwarf bunny (his partner recently passed away to old age) and treat all my roses and clematis and other heavy feeders to generous helpings of the droppings - they love it! I compost the rest and it also makes a great compost tea steep. Use it liberally - it's great stuff :-)

I have not used bunny drops but would compost them before using them for anything. And I definitely would not use uncomposted dung from any animal in tea.

Rabbit droppings are considered a "cold" manure - they can be applied directly from the rabbit to the garden without fear of burning. Since most rabbits urinate in a different location from where they defecate, if one keeps the hutch or cage cleaned regularly, there is little risk of the pellets becoming ammonia-soaked. Even so, allowing the hutch cleanings to sit a week or so before using allows the volatization of any excessive amounts of ammonia.

Dry rabbit droppings are almost entirely barely recycled alfalfa - there is virtually no difference from using rabbit droppings as a steep or tea as there is in using alfalfa meal or pellets directly in this manner. If it bothers you, just don't use it on edible crops but it's not going to hurt the plants at all. In fact, rabbit manure is frequently referred to as "bunny gold" or "super fertilizer" as it contains the highest concentrations of basic plant nutrients of any common animal manure.

I've raised rabbits for years as pets and for their benefit as little fertilizer machines and have used their droppings both directly, as a tea and as a cold compost. In fact, rabbit manure is pretty much the only 'fertilizer' I have used on my garden in the past 15 years or so.

As a general rule of thumb any animal manure should be composted before being used in the garden if only to capture as many nutrients as possible. Manure spread across the garden and then not tilled in right away will loose most of any nutrients to the atmosphere and those will not be useable by your plants. While rabbit droppings are somewhat more stable than horse manure it is still better to compost them first.

one lady i know swears by her rabbit tea

Are your rabbits litter trained? My rabbit Mizuna is a house rabbit, and her litterbox is filled with a recycled paper litter, so when it comes time to change it I simply dump it right in the garden. Very handy and mess-free. I'm planning a new bed, so right now all the bunny beans go there.

She likes to munch her hay while she sits in her litter box, so all the stale stems she doesn't eat also go into the bed with the litter.

Alfalfa is OK for rabbits but the optimum hay for most rabbits is a good grass hay.

Here is a link that might be useful: House Rabbit Society

...as a general rule. Does not apply here. Use directly without composting. I have 3 rabbits and throw their poop right in the beds. It's one of 2 or 3 manures that never needs to be composted (along with llama).

Good for you giving hay! They need all that they can get. I give mine Timothy hay- less calcium issues.

Unless the droppings are urine soaked composting is not necessary. You can turn droppings into the top two inches of soil and be done with it.

When we had a commercial meat rabbitry we spread several inches of rabbit manure on the garden every fall, again in the spring and again when one crop was pulled and the next planted. The garden was incredible.

>>It's one of 2 or 3 manures that never needs to be composted (along with llama).Goat doesn't need to be composted either.

Thanks Everyone! Our neighbor has horses, so we steal some of her Alfalfa Hay sometimes. I know Timothy Hay is better for them. We give them both kinds. Anyway, they're super healthy, and they are litter box trained. Jeff & Bear. Jeff is a white rabbit and Jeff is short for Jefferson Airplane.
Bear is just cute & brown. They are Dwarf mixes, not lops or anything. They are pretty small & they're adorable!

Jefferson Airplane! I love it!

Hello...I'd appreciate some info. How to make Bunny Tea? How much bunny droppings need to be added to how much water? How long does it have to steep before I can use it? How often do you need to start a new batch? My daughter has a mini lop...name Babette :)...and I am sure I can get droppings from her. Can't wait to get started.

Hi Connie, I am no expert, I am making bunny tea for the first time this year. I take a small shovel full and dump it into a 5 gallon bucket. Fill the bucket with water, give it a good stir every now and then and I let it sit for a day or two. When I'm ready to use it I dip a quart jar into the bucket, trying not to stir up the sediment because it'll clog the watering can. Pour the quart of tea into a 1 gallon watering can and fill up the rest of the can with water and it is ready to use.

When I get near the bottom of the bucket where all the sediment is I just dump it all, liquid and sediment, into my compost pile.

Thanks Neoguy/ Ijust got back to this website and found your reply. How is your bunny tea working this summer? So far I've just been adding it when I plant purchaced flowers in the garden. But will be making the "tea" as soom as I get a 5 gallon container.

Hi Connie,

The home garden is doing great except for flea beetles, slugs, earwigs, aphids....I am using the rabbit maure tea and Alaska 5-1-1 fish fertizer, alternating every couple of weeks. Everything is lush and green. I was late planting my maters, late May, early June, but most are close to 5' already. Most are full of flowers and fruit except for 2 plants. I had to place tomatoe cages around my peppers yesterday, they are close to 2' already.

You don't need a 5 gallon bucket, use whatever you have, just don't add a shovel full of manure, adjust accordingly. By the way, you may want to put the manure into an old sock or pillow case, it'll be easier to deal with the sediment that way.

I don't think this is too far off topic... We have a house bunny and use Feline Pine in his litter box. Every other day or so it is all dumped into the compost pile. Does anyone have any opinions about this litter as far as maintaining an organic garden?

Sometimes it is hard to decide weather an organic material needs to be composted. I have devised a test for myself that has never failed to answer this question correctly.

1. Did the material originate from the inside of an animal?
2. Did the material pass through the intestinal tract of the animal?
3. Did the material pass through what is commonly known as a rectum to reach the outside world?
4. Did the material have the same temperature as the owner once it reached the outside world?

If the answer to any of these questions is "yes", then the material is to be promptly composted before being used in my garden.

Now, there is one other test at my disposal, but I rarely use it. If there is a need, I can take any questionable material to town to Ray Rays Paint Shop. Ray Ray Schmitt is an expert at identifying such material. I can take many samples to Ray Ray, and he will say; Blu, this is rabbit schmitt, this is horse schmitt, this is cow schmitt, this is chicken schmitt, and this is bull schmitt. You see, Ray Ray is the head of the Schmitt family, a real Schmitt head.

IMO, regardless of weather a manure will burn a plant or not, all feces should be composted to be on the safe side. And in all honesty, composted manure (including rabbit) has performed much better than raw organic matter in all my beds. As to weather raw manure should be used in a tea, see test above. Again, IMO, it is better to be on the protected side, just in case one of those Schmitz hits the fanÂ

Blutranes

It really is vital that you not feed alfalfa hay to rabbits over a year old....it will cause damage to their kidneys...stick to timothy or grass hay..