st0wandgrow
Well-Known Member
Ahh, gotcha, yeah bat guanos are not exactly environmentally friendly. I've heard seabird guano is a lil friendlier, but they have a higher nitrogen content than the phosphorus bat guanos (wanna say the seabird is like a 12/8/3 type of mix)
Have you had problems burning them if you add the rabbit poo directly to the soil without composting? I've never heard of people composting rabbit manure before, always thought it was "cool" enough. When i transplant into my flowering smartpots, I grind/mash up some alpaca poo into the earthworm castings/cricket castings, and then mix that into some vermifire with a bunch of mychorrizae. Haven't had any problems as long as I have a good 4-5 cms of regular soil to "buffer" the roots, they go crazy!
I've only used rabbit poo for I think 4-5 harvests, and I just added it directly to the soil, didn't add much though (maybe a palm-full for a 7-gallon smartpot)
Not sure what the NPK is for alpaca manure, but I from what I've read their digestive systems kinda compost it for us. Great stuff though, It's cheap too. Plus my pitbull LOVES alpacas, hilarious..
side note, you said you add their bedding also, I wonder what the NPK is on rabbit hair, I know hair has somewhat significant nutritional value(considering it's weight, I remember that from an old Rosenthal grow guide, just hard to get it to break down first.)
Rabbit poop is great, no doubt. I'm probably being overly-cautious, but my thinking is that the thermophilic composting will kill any pathogens that may be present. Unlikely considering we feed and care for the rabbits, and I'd know not to use it if they were sick. I re-use my soil for several cycles too, so I guess I just prefer to play it safe.
The bedding is mostly timothy & alfalfa hay, so it makes for great compost material due to it's nutrient value and the physical structure of it which allows air flow in to the pile/bin.