Vermicomposting with rabbits

[Wolf-Kim]

Put 6 inches of shredded newspaper in my plastic tote, over the past 3 weeks filled it with rabbit waste. Then I put another 2-3 inches of shredded newspaper on top of that. Can my put my new wormies in now?

 

[ginbart]

Boy it looks like no one got back to you. How did you make out? I'm thinking of doing this I went out the other night to close the chicken coop door it was dark and I could see night crawers all over the place.

 

[maplesky7]

what kind of wormies, kimmy?

 

[Bettacreek]

I think that most worms are more forgiving than most think. I kept some in coconut coir, and others in straight topsoil. I added food (baby cereal, fish food or whatever) and they did just fine and reproduced.

 

[gypsy2621]

aww poop I never saw this post ill now.
yes you could have added them right from the first layer of manure then just buildon top , they will take care of the rest.

it wont take long before you have zillions of little worms.

 

[Wolf-Kim]

They were Redworms, not sure if they're deadworms now though. Hubby was curious and shoveled through the bucket, but alas we found none. Plenty of maggots though, not the black fly larvae wither, these are truly maggots. Yuck. Thought about sprinkling some DE, think I read somewhere it doesn't mess with the worms, but I eventually want to put it all in the garden. BUT, we're added a couple of beehives soon and I don't need to be killing any bees with the DE. So the maggots stay, guess decomposing is decomposing.

 

[gypsy2621]

Quote:
There shouldnt be maggots,
Ok lets see,
where is the tote, inside or outside?
Is there ventilation holes on the side, bottom holes with a screen covering the holes?
is drainage good?
too wet and tto dry will contribute to the worms dying off.

the most important question is were the worms healthy when you got them?
if not very healthy then they will die quickly.
is there a really foul odor coming from the tub?
not the smell of rabbit poop but a gross dead worm smell, not much compares to the stench trust me.

A lot of worm growers use a simple 2x4 construction similar to a raised bed, line the bottom with screen and build this way.
ventilation is key to happy healthy worms.
LOL tell hubby " leave it alone and they will grow".
oh few more questions, did you get grown worms or eggs? the eggs(ie:very small worms) can take a while to develope into larger worms.
what are you supplementing them with, grass clippings are best but in winter you can get away with a little cornmeal or oatmeal sprinkled on top. leaves from the yard if not already raked up and disposed of.
Walmart carries a special worm food for wintering over your worms they sell it in the fishing section.

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

If you have rabbits, you can put the worm beds under the cages.
Any spilled feed will become worm food too

Where did you have them?
The ideal temps are 55-75. Anything much above 80-85 can kill them