The firm rabbit pellets are a nitrogen-rich natural fertilizer which will not burn your plants. Rabbit manure also contains a large amount of phosphorus which is important for flower and fruit formation. Studies of rabbit manure find the following mineral levels: 2.3% Potassium, 2.4% Nitrogen, 1.26% Calcium, 1.4% Phosphoric Acid, 0.6% Potash, 0.4% Magnesium and 0.36% Sulfur.

Unfortunately, raising multiple rabbits means more excrement to deal with and some find they have too much on their hands. There is a market for those wanting to sell rabbit droppings (about $5 for a five-gallon bucket) and rabbit manure tea for the garden, but there’s one more thing you can do with it which requires very little work at all: feed it to your earthworms.

Instead of keeping pans for droppings under your rabbit cages which will need to be emptied and cleaned frequently, you can keep earthworm bins directly below cages and hutches with wire bottoms. The feces will drop right through the wire holes and into the waiting worm bins. The worms will then gobble up the feces, reducing odor and fly problems, as well as helping to eliminate disease which spreads when rabbits are hopping around in their own excrement.

The worm compost, which will be even richer than the rabbit manure, can then be thrown on your garden or you can sell the worm compost as dry material or worm tea. Much like rabbit manure, worm compost is extremely mild to plants and will not harm them. In fact, the plants just take the nutrients they need and the rest goes into the dirt.

Vermicomposting, or composting with worms, will require a small amount of extra time and attention from you (feeding the worms, keeping the compost moist, harvesting worms or compost) but it’s a minimal time investment given the rewards. And you will be spending less time scraping rabbit droppings out of trays.

This type of arrangement works best in open well-ventilated rabbitries located in moderate climates. Worm beds need to be kept moist and rabbits prefer low humidity. If you live in a cold climate or your rabbitry is enclosed without good ventilation, you may experience more problems until a proper balance can be achieved. Instead you might also choose to keep the worm bins just outside the rabbitry so rabbit manure can be dumped into the worm bins conveniently and quickly.

So when you find yourself sick of scraping up rabbit poop, remember that there are other great alternatives for getting rid of the manure. And if you end up with way too much worm compost, you can usually get a better profit margin on it versus rabbit manure. Covering the costs of running your rabbitry is always a big plus.

Some things that you might often think to feed your meat rabbits are lettuce, cabbage, spinach and other leafy greens. While rabbits can eat these foods, they should only be feed in small portions at a time. Otherwise your rabbits will get diarrhea and you don’t want to be scrubbing cages all day. Other foods you should be careful with are Brussel sprouts, cauliflower, corn, groundsel, kale, molasses, mustard greens, tallow and turnips.

Meat rabbits can also eat a large variety of flowers, but crocus, daffodils, irises, poppies and tulips are a few that are not edible. In fact, any flower that comes from a bulb should be kept away from rabbits. So if you occasionally let your meat rabbits out to roam in the yard to much some fresh grass, be certain that they don’t get a hold of any of these flowers.

Never feed meat rabbits chocolate, rhubarb, beans, potato sprouts or the leaves from a tomato, peach or plum tree. Any sort of evergreen tree should not be fed to your rabbits, whether it’s just the leaves or twigs to gnaw on. And keep ivy away from them as well.

In addition to all these plants and flowers which cannot be fed to meat rabbits, there is also a considerable list of twigs that need to be avoided to keep your meat rabbit healthy. Starting with fruit tree twigs, never feed branches from an apricot, cherry, peach or plum tree. As previously mentioned, you should also never feed your rabbit any sort of evergreen branches. Other twigs to avoid feeding your meat rabbits are azalea, beech, clematis, elder, holly, ivy, mistletoe, oak, oleander, rhododendron, rosewood and wisteria.

This is just a small sampling of common plants, vegetables and foods that you might think about feeding to your rabbits. For a complete list of foods that could kill your meat rabbits, join our mailing list. You’ll also get a list of safe foods too. They’re both in an easy to read chart that you can print out and put beside your meat rabbit cages so you never have to question what is ok again.

Feed meat rabbits a high quality rabbit feed pellet  along with fresh timothy or alfalfa hay and other supplements. High quality does not always mean high priced but the pellets should contain at least 16% fiber to stimulate gut function and prevent diarrhea and hairballs. The major ingredient in rabbit feed should be legumous hay and is usually alfalfa.

To keep rabbit teeth worn down, supply your rabbit with twigs and branches for them to chew on. You might choose twigs from apple, fir, hazel, hawthorn, maple, pear, spruce or willow trees. You can also feed meat rabbits cuttings from blackberry and raspberry patches, including the leaves and fruit.

Don’t give your rabbits lots of cabbage and lettuce at once because it may disrupt the balance of good bacteria in the rabbit’s stomach, causing diarrhea. Corn, cauliflower and turnips should also be fed in moderation.

Meat rabbits can also be fed lots of different fruits and vegetables. Things which are good to feed them are: apples, bananas, blackberries, broccoli, carrots, celery, cucumbers, endive, kohlrabi, melons, pears, plantains, pok choi, parsnips, pumpkins, radish greens, raspberries, strawberries, Swiss chard, tomatoes, watercress and even watermelon.

Or try a a variety of different herbs like basil, borage, chamomile, caraway, celeriac, chervil, coriander, dill, horseradish, lavender, marjoram, parsley, peppermint, sage and savory.

This is only a small sampling of what meat rabbits eat. To learn more, sign up for our newsletter. You’ll get a complete list of common plants, vegetables, herbs, fruits, twigs, flowers and more which are safe to feed your meat rabbits absolutely free. A complete list of unsafe foods is also included.