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Comment by Ralph Anderson on April 30, 2013 at 7:04am

Thank loads folks lots to think about.  For now most of the berries go in the composting bin then tilled into the garden in the spring.  Tried small constant flow fish system last year.  Small fish tank to hot a summer all died.  Going to try fish less this year. 

Comment by Jim Fisk on April 28, 2013 at 3:35pm

Points well taken. Hi JonI see you read the fine details.

I should mention that's a major reason I went to my long tumbler tunnel design. Very well mixed and goes to 160+F which will kill pathogens as well. Some say those temps can hurt some good bacteria but the results speak for themselves. Good compost will kill most pathogens whether wet or dry done properly.

Moderator Comment by Jon Parr on April 28, 2013 at 1:50pm

I'll throw my opinion in here as well, gentlemen. Brewing an aerated compost tea IS composting, and a remarkably fast method of composting. If you are using freh manure, you may want to brew it longer, but it is still composting, and a more predicable way to get the job done thoroughly. A compost pile has so many variables and corners that may not get composted properly, that I fin it hypocritical to say that tea can be made from compost, and manure may be composted, but tea may not be brewed from manure? Where is the logic?
And...Ralph's wife wanted the concoction for houseplants, so we don't have to worry about ecoli anyway. Now, there is a safe and legal method for doing what Ralph and Jim are after, and that is to dessicate the rabbit berries first (solar kiln), which breaks the pathogen life cycle and the berries can be used for whatever you want, including fish food.

Comment by Jim Fisk on April 28, 2013 at 7:46am

Good advice Vlad. Compost everything including add the sludge to the compost or the worm bin. Keep it out of any closed loop system in it's raw state. That should work fine.

The worm tea (run off from the worm bin) should be fine? or should that be composted first as well? I have been collecting it and treating the plants in the GBs with it. They love it and it helped with the fungus gnats a lot.

Ralph, I kept my worm bin in the GH over the winter and that was great. You must have one hell of a worm bin with that many rabbits. I grind all our household garbage to make compost along with chicken manure, etc. and give the worms their fare share of that as well. Now I have to move that sucker to finish digging out the rest of the GH in a few weeks. Glad it is only 55 gal size. Probably use the loader anyway. Producing lots of worms for the trout. Now I need to learn just how much worms to feed the trout. They (the trout) tell me they will eat all I will give them but I heard that the flavor can be neg. affected if too much.

Comment by Ralph Anderson on April 28, 2013 at 6:44am

Thanks alot.  Let you know how thing shape up.  I already compost and worm bed alot of poo (50 bunnies).  Lost most of my worms to cold this winter small heater problem.

Moderator Comment by Vlad Jovanovic on April 27, 2013 at 3:07pm

Well no, you would definitely want to either compost the rabbit manure first, or put it through a worm reactor...Not so much for the plants sake (burn), but just because rabbits are warm blooded critters. IMO it's potentially a very, very bad idea to use such manure (from any warm blooded animals) without properly composting. 'Bunny berries' make great worm food however, and those castings can then be used with less potential for any negative effects...plant, human or otherwise...

The run off though...hmm...call me anal retentive, but I'd not use it. I'm not saying that you shouldn't,...just that I wouldn't. In the dirt garden, sure. In a closed loop, re-circulating food production system...not a chance.

If you're hard up for an N source there are other totally free and safer options...

Comment by Jim Fisk on April 27, 2013 at 1:57pm

Compost or manure tea that has been aerated and brewed should be fine. Breaks it down like composting. The manure itself I would compost and then make tea, but Ralph has liquid to deal with and that could be brewed. Rabbit manure is considered a cold manure and will not burn plants even raw if dried.

Comment by Bob Campbell on April 27, 2013 at 8:07am

@Jim and Ralph - I get that the rabbit poo is a good source of nitrogen, but using it before composting seems unhealthy, and less than ideal for the plants.

Comment by Jim Fisk on April 27, 2013 at 7:59am

Should add that I will be aerating the tea constantly as well.

Comment by Jim Fisk on April 27, 2013 at 7:58am

Hey Ralph, doing something like that soon myself with compost and worm teas. I plan on circing it thru a couple of IBCs or even half barrels with flood and drain media beds using a small pond pump and bell siphons. That way the plants and bacteria will constantly be removing the nutrients and I will be replacing them when needed. You can then do things with additives that fish would not appreciate.

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