What do you do with the waste?

[JR]

When you clean the hutch and you have a huge bag full of wood shavings and straw, what do you do with it?

My local authority don’t allow me to put it in any kind of recycling and so it has to go to landfill. To me, this seems like an awful shame. It’s 99% natural product. The council say it’s because of the urine that it can’t go in with my garden waste but I don’t think that can be right.

I could put it in a compost heap of my own, I suppose.

Any tips or suggestions greatly appreciated.

[tobyluv]

I don’t use wood shavings or straw, but I put the poop and wet litter from my rabbits’ litter boxes, along with older uneaten hay,  into my compost bin.

[Bam]

I use wood stove pellets and I compost the used litter.

[LBJ10]

The composting facility in my city is yard waste only. I think it’s because they don’t want to have to worry about all of the things associated with incorporating food scrapes and animal wastes. Yard waste only is very simply to manage and maintain, without all of the extra precautions and considerations. So yes, I can totally understand that. It helps them cut down on costs, etc.

Rabbit or horse poop does not have the same concerns associated with it that pig, cat or dog poop does. Different manures contain different levels of nutrients. Rabbit contains more nitrogen and phosphorus than cow, for example.

Anyway, if you’re want to avoid wasting your bunny’s, uh, waste, then the best thing would be to compost it at home. The only other option would be to bury the poop, but bunnies produce a lot of poop so it probably wouldn’t be practical.

[Bam]

I meant I compost mine at home, we seem to have the same system here as what LBJ describes. Food scraps are collected separately and are fermented (?) into biogas. Only garden waste can go into the “public” compost (some people interpret garden waste to include old garden furniture and barbecue left-overs and beer cans if you’ve had the beer in your garden -but that’s not the correct interpretation!)
I’ve buried lots of bunny litter in my garden during the non-growth season, but it takes quite some time for the wood to break down. Once it does, it really does wonders for stiff clay soil, if you have that. I also put litter in my three closed compost bins, mixed with mown grass and other plant matter and bio char.
I’d not dream of composting dog poop, but bunnies are vegan so their poop is fine for composting.

[JR]

It’s interesting you all talk about rabbit poop, which is what I would too. I found it interesting that the council guy specifically said it was the rabbit urine that was the problem. He couldn’t explain why, just a straight no.

[LBJ10]

What does the city use the compost for? Maybe they think it’s adding too much nitrogen, which can burn plants.

Rabbit “manure” is also high in phosphorus. I could see that being a concern if you already have a lot of phosphorus in your soil (it’s naturally high where I live) because that contributes to algae blooms.

[Reesebun]

Make sure you are not using pine of cedar wood shavings! those are toxic to rabbits.

[caudex]

Our litter is horse bedding, pressed pellets, and it makes up the base for lovely compost.All you have to do to make sure it breaks down, is add enough green stuff to balance your Carbon:Nitrogen. Lawn clippings are perfect. Mix it up as best you can, add a bit of water, and you’re well on your way.

[Author]

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