On tonight's ABC gardening program they showed a rabbit cage atop
a worm farm. The rabbit hutch had a netting floor so that the
droppings would fall straight through onto the worm farm below.
All fine and good, so it would seem.

But I understood that rabbits give their droppings a second chew,
and this tidy arrangement clearly defeats that behaviour.

So, is immediate removal of rabbit droppings a wise thing? (The
rabbit looked healthy enough, so I guess recycling the pellets
is not *essential* to a domestic rabbit's extracting adequate
nutrition, even if it may be essential for a wild bunny on a
much poorer diet.)
--
John Savage (my news address is not valid for email)

"John Savage" wrote in message
...
On tonight's ABC gardening program they showed a rabbit cage atop
a worm farm. The rabbit hutch had a netting floor so that the
droppings would fall straight through onto the worm farm below.
All fine and good, so it would seem.

But I understood that rabbits give their droppings a second chew,
and this tidy arrangement clearly defeats that behaviour.

So, is immediate removal of rabbit droppings a wise thing? (The
rabbit looked healthy enough, so I guess recycling the pellets
is not *essential* to a domestic rabbit's extracting adequate
nutrition, even if it may be essential for a wild bunny on a
much poorer diet.)
--
John Savage (my news address is not valid for email)

Just moved to near Toowoomba from 400+km west. Had rabbits make their
dunghills on the acre we had. Now don't take this the wrong way, I did not
examine the droppings closely but they all appeared smooth. Have never heard
this one before and have lived in country locations most of my life, from
Vic to Darwin and quite a few places in between.



-- Posted on news://freenews.netfront.net - Complaints to --

On Sat, 11 Oct 2008 08:14:28 +0000, John Savage wrote:

On tonight's ABC gardening program they showed a rabbit cage atop a worm
farm. The rabbit hutch had a netting floor so that the droppings would
fall straight through onto the worm farm below. All fine and good, so it
would seem.

But I understood that rabbits give their droppings a second chew, and this
tidy arrangement clearly defeats that behaviour.

They would need to do this in the wild to extract the maximun nutrients
when food is scare. Pet or farmed rabbits would be on a "good thng" with
very rich tucker and have no need of it.

In any case, AFAI've observed, they do not eat it from the ground, so it
would not matter.

Did they say how many decades the person had had this sytem gong?

In article ,
John Savage wrote:

On tonight's ABC gardening program they showed a rabbit cage atop
a worm farm. The rabbit hutch had a netting floor so that the
droppings would fall straight through onto the worm farm below.
All fine and good, so it would seem.

But I understood that rabbits give their droppings a second chew,
and this tidy arrangement clearly defeats that behaviour.

If they are coprophages, like guinea pigs, then the droppings they eat are not
the regular ones but a special kind, which they eat straight from the vending
machine.

While I'm on the subject of piggies, I'll just mention that they should never
live on a wire floor (though you can allow a wire floor with rabbits). It's
bad for their feet and may also cause broken bones.

--
Chookie -- Sydney, Australia
(Replace "foulspambegone" with "optushome" to reply)

http://chookiesbackyard.blogspot.com/

"Chookie" wrote in message
news:ehrebeniuk-141CFA.07303513102008@news...
In article ,
John Savage wrote:

On tonight's ABC gardening program they showed a rabbit cage atop
a worm farm. The rabbit hutch had a netting floor so that the
droppings would fall straight through onto the worm farm below.
All fine and good, so it would seem.

But I understood that rabbits give their droppings a second chew,
and this tidy arrangement clearly defeats that behaviour.

If they are coprophages, like guinea pigs, then the droppings they eat are
not
the regular ones but a special kind, which they eat straight from the
vending
machine.

While I'm on the subject of piggies, I'll just mention that they should
never
live on a wire floor (though you can allow a wire floor with rabbits).
It's
bad for their feet and may also cause broken bones.

normally a rabbit's wire floor is right on the ground though - john's post
caused me a bit of anxiety concerning the rabbits having to walk on wire all
the time (although i may have misunderstood something there). animals which
can get bumblefoot from wire floors also include chickens and rats - i
should think the list is most likely very long & could include rabbits in
this sort of circumstance. (?)
kylie

Chookie writes:
In article ,
John Savage wrote:

But I understood that rabbits give their droppings a second chew,
and this tidy arrangement clearly defeats that behaviour.

If they are coprophages, like guinea pigs, then the droppings they eat are not
the regular ones but a special kind, which they eat straight from the vending
machine.

Ah. That answers that question, but raises more. I guess rabbits are
sufficiently flexible for this feat, but Guinea Pigs aren't, so must
Guinea Pigs then eat their supper in pairs??

What's more, how many times can the one meal be recycled? Maybe like
chewing gum on the bedstead, grass gradually loses its flavour with
each chewing?
--
John Savage (my news address is not valid for email)

On Thu, 16 Oct 2008 14:33:39 +0000, John Savage wrote:

Chookie writes:
In article ,
John Savage wrote:

But I understood that rabbits give their droppings a second chew, and
this tidy arrangement clearly defeats that behaviour.

If they are coprophages, like guinea pigs, then the droppings they eat
are not the regular ones but a special kind, which they eat straight
from the vending machine.

Ah. That answers that question, but raises more. I guess rabbits are
sufficiently flexible for this feat, but Guinea Pigs aren't, so must
Guinea Pigs then eat their supper in pairs??

What's more, how many times can the one meal be recycled?

From what I've seen - at least 3 times:

Twice for the rabbits and once for my less-than-sane-but-still-only-a-pup
Kelpie. She seems to think rabbit poo is as good as the dry food she gets.
(we are almost inundated by bunnies here - but the fresh meat is
appreciated)


Maybe like chewing gum on the bedstead, grass gradually loses
its flavour with each chewing?

Your theory may explain why I find the old & well read Reader's Digest
mags at the doctor's surgery so boring?

In article ,
John Savage wrote:

If they are coprophages, like guinea pigs, then the droppings they eat are
not
the regular ones but a special kind, which they eat straight from the
vending
machine.

Ah. That answers that question, but raises more. I guess rabbits are
sufficiently flexible for this feat, but Guinea Pigs aren't, so must
Guinea Pigs then eat their supper in pairs??

Hmmm. Methinks you have not owned any GPs.

--
Chookie -- Sydney, Australia
(Replace "foulspambegone" with "optushome" to reply)

http://chookiesbackyard.blogspot.com/

This is a bit OT... but my friend's garden gets a visit from their
neighbor's fluffy rabbit every day. It crawls through a hole in between the
fence and sits around my friend's garden munching away at the weeds - quite
contented.

My friend doesn't mow the "lawn" or do any weeding. His garden is literally
a mass of weeds.

I'm tempted to go and buy a rabbit and keep it in my garden...