What to do with the hay

[catjac1975]

You can send Hoodat a direct note.

 

[hoodat]

Hoodat is a rabbit expert. Ask him about the bedding for bunnies!

I saw a picture of his buck in a metal cage and I did not see hay. I am not sure if his rabbits are outside thought, but Hoodat, if you see this, what do you think about the hay bedding? I think something has to change because I cannot deal with this amount of hay to compost and looks like I will be starting a weed farm.

My nest box fastens onto one end of my cage and I floor that with a couple inches of hay. My cage floors are bare 1/2X1 inch galvanized wire so the dropping go right through to the poop chute.
If it's urine soaked it should compost pretty fast. If you are worried about weed seeds in it you can do what I often do. Dig a trench about a foot deep and put two or three inches of manure and soiled bedding into the bottom, then backfill it. Plant a row of whatever you want to grow right over it and it will grow like crazy with no further fertilizing till harvest. Weed seeds burried that deep will seldom make it to the surface.

 

[Gardening with Rabbits]

Hoodat is a rabbit expert. Ask him about the bedding for bunnies!

I saw a picture of his buck in a metal cage and I did not see hay. I am not sure if his rabbits are outside thought, but Hoodat, if you see this, what do you think about the hay bedding? I think something has to change because I cannot deal with this amount of hay to compost and looks like I will be starting a weed farm.

My nest box fastens onto one end of my cage and I floor that with a couple inches of hay. My cage floors are bare 1/2X1 inch galvanized wire so the dropping go right through to the poop chute.
If it's urine soaked it should compost pretty fast. If you are worried about weed seeds in it you can do what I often do. Dig a trench about a foot deep and put two or three inches of manure and soiled bedding into the bottom, then backfill it. Plant a row of whatever you want to grow right over it and it will grow like crazy with no further fertilizing till harvest. Weed seeds burried that deep will seldom make it to the surface.

I will try burying some of it. That sounds like a great idea. I think I have too much hay in their beds and worry too much about them getting cold.

 

[ducks4you]

There has been a hay shortage most of this year. IMHO, I'd find a buyer for the hay, and switch to pine shavings for the inside boxes, and not bed the exteriors, just let the pellets fall through below and collect for garden manure. rabbits will pick a corner to potty in, and you can spot clean that daily, and keep the smells down.
I used to keep rabbits, I now keep horses and chickens. The bedding that stinks the worst when soiled is hay. The next worst is corncob bedding. The best is either straw or fine pine shavings with Super dried, extruded pine pellets bc they really keep the odor down.

 

[bobm]

At least in my observation ... I would hazard to guess that with a trench at 1 ft +/- deep then 2-3" of manure and backfilled , then planted with a crop... after harvest, then when spading that row ( typical shovel is 10 inches ) , one would expect at least some of the weed seeds ( some seeds can be dormant for years) to be deposited near the surface, then sprout. At least consider that possibility. I dunno

 

[hoodat]

At least in my observation ... I would hazard to guess that with a trench at 1 ft +/- deep then 2-3" of manure and backfilled , then planted with a crop... after harvest, then when spading that row ( typical shovel is 10 inches ) , one would expect at least some of the weed seeds ( some seeds can be dormant for years) to be deposited near the surface, then sprout. At least consider that possibility. I dunno

That's very possible but, let's face it, weed seeds are everywhere and the typical garden weeds are just waiting for the soil to be disturbed to sprout. Even hoeing out one crop of weeds disturbs the soil so another crop can start. It's a matter of being persistent. The battle never ends. Just don't let the weeds get ahead of the crop.

 

[bobm]

Yup !!! The battle never ends as one tries to kill , maim, and destroy the endless invading weed hords empowered by wind, rain/ flood, birds, animals, and us humin be ins.

 

[Gardening with Rabbits]

There has been a hay shortage most of this year. IMHO, I'd find a buyer for the hay, and switch to pine shavings for the inside boxes, and not bed the exteriors, just let the pellets fall through below and collect for garden manure. rabbits will pick a corner to potty in, and you can spot clean that daily, and keep the smells down.
I used to keep rabbits, I now keep horses and chickens. The bedding that stinks the worst when soiled is hay. The next worst is corncob bedding. The best is either straw or fine pine shavings with Super dried, extruded pine pellets bc they really keep the odor down.

I now have pine horse bed shavings in the litter boxes. They have boxes under the hutch with dirt that catches urine and pellets. The hay I am cleaning out of the hutch where the wire is so things can drop down.

I have collected through the winter a lot of hay with pellets and have in some trash barrels urine soaked wood shavings with some pellets.

I have been reading about compost. Some places say hay is brown and other places consider it green. What would be the fastest way to compost this? Layer of wood shavings, layer of hay, layer of either dirt or cow manure, wet this, layer again? Should it be equal layers? Do I need more greens or is the hay greens? Some of the hay is turning brown.

I am going to layer on the ground hay, wood shavings and cover with plastic to just let it rot down. What would make this faster? This is along fences to kill weeds and build better soil to plant flowers or something later.

 

[seedcorn]

Actually quality alfalfa hay should have 0 weed seeds in it. Straw could be loaded w/seeds.

 

[ducks4you]

Hay is grass with stems. Alfalfa hay often has stiff, hard to chew stems, and rabbits love to eat those. Straw is like the name says, the hollow leftovers after the wheat or the oats or the rice has been harvested. It can have a lot of seeds in it, and I have supplemented my horse's winter feedings, in the past, with oat straw bc of this. Most people cannot tell the difference. For horseman, hay is the horse's primary feed and straw is bedding.
Horse people prefer green hay, but I have bought/fed excellent "brown"hay that was sun bleached. It's quality comes from no mold or dust and being handled and stored correctly.
Sometimes I overfeed my horses, and I hate wasting it AND hay used as bedding downright stinks. Pine shavings, straw and super dried pine pellets ("Equine Fresh" and others) soaks up urine 2x and really keeps down odors. When you use bedding for your animals, you should consider that the ammonia from urine gets into your animal's lungs in an enclosed space. If you can smell it, your animal is breathing it in.
THAT Is why I suggested you re-think using hay as bedding for your rabbit.