[jack russell]

hi all

i keep a rabbit on my plot, its bed is wood shavings and i now have two bins full of wet smelly shavings which need emptied my question is,   are they any use in the compost heap or will the shavings rob any goodness from the compost.  I know that the droppings themselves are ok but i cant separate them from the shavings :roll:

If not then what do you do with yours

cheers jr

[Selkie]

I used to keep pet rats and used compost their bedding, poohs and sawdust; not sure about whether it robbed nutrients or not (I never thought about that) but it all rotted down fine.

I wouldn't add too much of anything in one go though (but I guess you already know this)

[WG.]

Easiest thing IMHO is to spread on top of comfrey patch as a mulch.  You can always add high nitrogen stuff on top if you want, or simply rake off after rain has washed in nutrients.

I wouldn't compost since I hate wood shavings but others will disagree.

[richyrich7]

I just chuck it onto the heap it all rots down, the poo will have enough Nitrogen in to off set the wood shavings IMHO, and once it's composted it's no problem anyway.

[WG.]

but others will disagree.

reliable as ever :roll:  

[richyrich7]

but others will disagree.

reliable as ever :roll:  

   well someone has too  

[Trillium]

 You can always add high nitrogen stuff on top if you want

Okay, I must disagree as well. Rabbit manure has the highest amount of nitrogen of all manures (2.4%), even over fresh chicken manure (1.6%).
If it's wet and smelly from the shavings, then I'd recommend composting it, which it should do quickly since it's already so high in nitrogen.
too bad it isn't free of shavings because you can safely add fresh rabbit poo directly to crops with no worry of burning. Champion North American rose growers covet fresh rabbit poo for their plants.

[WG.]

The wood is the problem, not the rabbit dung.   Put it another way, the mixture is certainly way way less than 2.4% nitrogen.

Carbon : nitrogen (C:N) ratio is the relevant figure here.  This link might clear it up for you : http://www.organicgardening.com/feature/0,7518,s1-5-21-112,00.html claims that 30:1 is a good target for finished compost.  (I had heard 20:1).

In particular, wood chips with up to 50% carbon and only 0.1% nitrogen will have a C:N of up to 500:1   This is what causes them to rob nitrogen during decomposition.

This link : http://whatcom.wsu.edu/ag/compost/fundamentals/needs_carbon_nitrogen.htm even claims a whopping 625:1 ratio in weathered sawdust.  Key phrase : Decomposition takes longer, however, when the initial C:N ratio is much above 30.

Accordingly, I would repeat my earlier advice, let the rain wash the nutrients into your comfrey patch & then rake off the woody material.

IMHO - the single valid horticultural use for wood shavings is growing wood fungi.  They are highly adapted to breaking down cellulose.

[Rob the rake]

Easiest thing IMHO is to spread on top of comfrey patch as a mulch.  You can always add high nitrogen stuff on top if you want, or simply rake off after rain has washed in nutrients.

I wouldn't compost since I hate wood shavings but others will disagree.

I was reading an American blogsite (can't find the link) where the owner, who grows in raised beds, used high carbon materials like leaves and shavings/manure in a thick layer on the paths between the beds, and dug this out each Autumn to use as a mulch. Dry materials (poo-free!) were laid on top to stop anything nasty sticking to ones feet.

[WG.]

So I'd venture to suggest that you are agreeing with me Rob?  

[Rob the rake]

So I'd venture to suggest that you are agreeing with me Rob?  

Yes sir, I am.

http://www.texasgardener.com/pastissues/novdec99/compost.html

This is a similar article to the one I described.

[WG.]

Yeah !!!!

[siztenboots]

Interesting about using the rabbit droppings, all the plots on our site have put up rabbit fencing , which means obvious piles of rabbit poo in the access paths. So this could turn a negative into a positive.

Chuck it in the composting bin ?

[jack russell]

Hi thanks for all the replies  ok so i know now that i can use the poo in the compost.    The other thing that springs to mind is the wet shavings with urine is this just the same or not, or do i just put it all in

[WG.]

Now you are just winding us up JR

but i cant separate them from the shavings