The Magic Bunny Poo – A Composting Tale
Hey, did you hear the one about the boy and the magic beans? Well, this tale is about the rabbit and the magic poo. It goes like this…
Once upon a time, there was a home where a few rabbits lived, along with their humans. The humans would diligently change the litterpans to keep them clean and fresh. They would dump the litterpan contents into the trash, and away it all went, come trash day. Time passed, and more rabbits came to live with the humans, and more litterpans were cleaned, and more poo was thrown out. One day, the Composting Fairy visited the humans and said, “What are you doing, wasting all that magic poo?” The fairy explained that with a slight change in habits and a little expense and effort, the humans could turn rabbit poo into black gold. Black gold?! “Yes, the best composted, nutrient-rich material your gardens will ever get!” exclaimed the fairy. Intrigued by the prospects of decreasing their weekly trash, increasing recycling efforts, and getting something for nearly nothing, the humans listened with rapt attention…
First Things First
To start this whole magical transformation from poo to gold, you need the right raw materials in the litterpan. For the litter we use (and highly praise) “stove chow” – pellets of compressed wood fiber. Though intended as fuel for pellet-burning wood stoves, stove chow is an excellent litter as it effectively absorbs urine and suppresses odor. (An alternative is the recycled newspaper pellets.) On top of the litter is a fluffy bed of timothy hay, which the rabbit eats with relish, leaving the soiled pieces of hay to mix with the litter layer below. Topping it off is the magic poo as produced by the rabbit(s). Rabbit poo is ideal, as it is basically chow, hay, veggies, etc. – all vegetarian.
Tools for Success
Before, when the litterpans needed changing, the entire contents were thrown out (i.e., saturated litter, rejected hay, poo, and pee). Now, instead, the whole lot of it is dumped into a wheeled trash barrel in the garage. When the barrel is full enough, it is wheeled out to the composting bins area, dumped out, and the material forked and shoveled onto the compost pile. As we have eight rabbits, we need a few bins to age the material, and an open area for end product (the black gold!) When a bin gets full of raw material, we turn it with the pitchfork, put it into the bin next to it for aeration and, to ensure the urine ammonia has dissipated, a five-inch diameter PVC tube with holes in it stands upright in the center of know it is ready when a shovelful of material has become a dark, raw mix of organic bits and probably a few worms too!
If visions of becoming Farmer Brown are flitting through your mind, and you think, “This is not going to work for me.” – don’t give up trying – this is just one technique. There are many others that are even simpler. Some folks throw out the soiled hay of the litterpan (to lessen the likelihood of weed seed germination from the hay) but still compost the litter and poo. This definitely takes less space and time. Others make it even simpler by just broadcasting the litterpan contents over their lawn, letting the material age in situ where it lands.
Going for the Gold
Initially, I thought composting poo would be too expensive, too stinky, too unsightly, too hard, etc. Rubbish (or the lack thereof)! I’ve found my woodpile, not stinky, and surprisingly not hard at all considering the reward at the end. There are great local and on-line resources for composting techniques and supplies (e.g., wire bins, compost tumblers, tools). They can help keep expenses down and keep it simple. Just check out www.gardeners.com and search on “composting” to get started.
Not so Grimm a Tale
So how does the tale end? Well, the Composting Fairy told the humans to erect the bins, gather the litterpan material, and age it over the winter. She promised that by the next gardening season, a mound of black gold would be ready to amend the soil of new and existing flower beds. And sure enough, there it was!
The humans rejoiced and used their bounty wisely, working the rich humus into the tired soil, feeding the growing plants. Lest we forget the true heroes of the tale, the rabbits continued to be fed their favorite foods and hay, and thus they continued to make their magic rabbit poo. And everyone lived happily ever after.
by Christine Bennett