Disposing of soiled shavings, wood pellets, etc

[luvthempigs]

I am curious especially from the members here who have several bunnies. How do you dispose of your dirty shavings, wood pellets, solided hay, etc.?

On garbage collection day I normally have four large trash cans full to go to the street (that includes household garbage as well) We are one of the only cities left that doesn't charge for trash collection. I got to thinking I wonder what would happen if they decide to do that here. In the cities where they charge you have to use a standard size trash can, it has a limit on the weight and your limited to how many cans will be picked up.

Just trying to figure out other ways to dispose of waste.

 

[Korr_and_Sophie]

You could compost it. Even if you don't compost, I am sure you could find someone who would. Rabbit manure is a very good fertilizer, and it doesn't need to be composted.

It might be possible to burn it. It would depend on your local bylaws. I am not sure if it would smell very good though.

I get 1 large garbage bag a week for the buns and gerbils. We don't have a limit on the number of bags, but the trash collectors do need to be able to pick up the bag, so I think each bag has to weigh less than 40 pounds.

 

[Sabine]

I advertised my bunny waste on gumtree and freecycle (I am sure there are similar sites in the US) and got over a dozen replies. People came and collected it.
At the moment I have an arrangement with a guy who holds a plot of land and uses it for compost.

 

[funnybunnymummy]

Compost it and put it on your garden/lawn. Advertize on Craigslist or similar that you've got rabbit fertilizer. I'm sure there'll be some happy gardeners to take it off your hands!

Also, do you reduce/reuse/recycle your household garbage? Most people recycle cans and bottles and cardboard, but most plastic containers and bags (including Ziplocs) are recycleable. I recycle so much that my household waste is down to around 1 1/2 kitchen bags of waste per week (for a family of 4 and 1 rabbit). If I composted, I could probably cut that back even further!

Hope that helps!

Rue

 

[CiaraPatricia]

I throw it over the fence because there's a field behind my house (which isn't used, not really a field, just some land) and it all rots down very quickly. So I'm sure if you could have a compost bin or something then that would be good.

 

[edwinf8936]

Poop gets thown on the lawn and flower beds. The shavings get dumped in the corner of the yard I put the yard waste in. In the winter I dump some of it in the flower beds.



ed

 

[countrybuns]

I compost my bunny poop. We average 1 1/2 bags garbage per week for 2 adults 2 children and a baby. we are big compost and recyclers

 

[pocketsizedrhino]

So to those of you who use the poop as fertilizer... do you just compost/dump the whole litter pan... poop, litter, pee, left over hay and all into it or would you have to painstakingly pick the poop out to separate it in order for it to be usable fertilizer?

I would consider posting my bunny waste/litter on freecycle if it can go all together.

 

[Cabrissi]

I chuck the whole lot (poo, wee, hay and newspaper litter pellets) into the compost, along with garden trimmings, veggie scraps that aren't edible by the chickens/ducks/sheep/cows, horse and cow poo. It all rots down into organic matter in the end. Technically you don't have to compost it to use it as it's not a 'hot' manure/litter but it's easier to prevent the dogs from snarfling through it to look for snacks. (Yerg!)

 

[Happi Bun]

I really try to be conscious about being environment friendly, so I came up with a plan to limit the amount of plastic bag's I put in the dumpster. The litter accumulates quickly and it's a shame to put it in a plastic bag when it composts so well. So I bought a decent sized plastic storage bin, one that isn't too huge so I can still carry it out when filled with soiled litter. I dump litter boxes in that. When it gets filled I take it to the dumpster and tip all the litter in, the storage bin goes back outside on our deck. Takes a bit more work, but I can use the exercise.

 

[luvthempigs]

thanks for all the tips, I'm sure I can use some of them

The thing that I worry about with making a pile in my back yard is the smell. I wouldn't be bothered by a manure pile in the back but I'm sure my neighbors wouldn't appreciate the smell. If I lived in an area with more land I would have been doing it already.

 

[Cabrissi]

You should be able to get a compost bin - which looks a bit like a trash bin except the bottom is missing so that the litter is in contact with the ground and worms and such can come up into it. These are very good for backyard situations as they keep appearances up, are very tidy and have a snug lid. Here's some Aussie examples to give an idea:
http://www.reln.com.au/compost-bin-p-10.html
http://www.burnside.sa.gov.au/site/page.cfm?u=1144

Even with an ordinary compost system though there shouldn't be a smell. I have a 3 bay compost system, each bay is 1 x 1 meter in size and we chuck everything in there - bunny litter, horse manure, leaf litter, clippings, veggie/fruit scraps, tea bags, old newspapers/paperwaste etc. It's done in layers... so I'd chuck in the bunny litter and then chuck in a bit of grass clippings or leaves etc. It's kept moist but not soggy, turned once a week during 'cooking' stage and a piece of old carpet on top. There is NO smell to it beyond a sweetish, earthy smell akin to opening a bag of potting mix. Composts with bad smells are imbalanced.

 

[BethM]

I use the pelleted wood litter, and it all gets composted. Wood pellet/sawdust, poo, wee, hay, the whole lot. I use a grate in my litterboxes, and sometimes during the growing season I'll scoop the top part out (just poo and hay bits) and spread it directly around some plants. I did that last year on my basil, and within a week they went from tiny sickly little things to giant, lush, dark green.

Right now, my compost is just in a big pile in the back of the yard. I plan on making a containment area for it, but haven't done it yet. I also put most of my kitchen scraps (no meat) in there. I just started this last May, but haven't noticed any smell at all, even during the hottest summer months.

We also recycle, and for two adults we only have one bag of trash each week, and it's usually not a full bag. Our city allows up to 6 bags of trash per house per week for one rate, but next year they're going to start charging based on the number of bags.

 

[luvthempigs]

:shock:If I had to pay by the bag I would be in big trouble

I am definately going to look into composting, thanks again

 

[luvthempigs]

Couple questions came to mind this morning about composting. Can I dump a dirty cat litterbox into a compost bin? What about dog poo?

 

[tamsin]

No, cat and dog poop contain nasty bugs you don't want those spread around your garden. Rabbits are okay because they are herbivores.

 

[RandomWiktor]

We compost ours, though not to any particular ends. The whole stretch of our back yard has about a 3ft wide fenced off area that we put leaves, hay, fallen branches, etc. in to compost.

Tamsin is 100% correct; do not compost carnivore poo if you intend on using it as fertilizers. Apparently it tends to have some nasties in it that you don't want to be spreading about on your plantings. When I worked at the zoo, we had a seperate area for carnivore waste disposal that was periodically rounded up and heat treated before being spread over a field. I don't know if what's true for zoo poo is true for dog/cat poo, but apparently the incidence of parasites and bacteria potentially harmful to humans and wildlife demands it. *shrugs*

 

[Cabrissi]

I keep a seperate compost barrel for composting cat litter and dog doo. (Three large dogs, one cat, a dozen foster kittens at any given time... we generate a lot!) It's not used for the garden, just as a more environmentally friendly way to get rid of pet waste.