By Tysonfredrick from Claendon, PA
Pookarina is right about the lime. That's what was used in outhouses back in the day - my grandparents still had an outhouse when I was little, and I remember sprinkling a little lime into the hole when I "did number 2"! On the other hand, I was just inspired to do some research (google "outhouse lime") and discovered that lime controls odor by slowing down decomposition - so it might not be the perfect solution for fertilizer.
Back in the 1940's, my parents raised chickens, and my sister and I had
pet rabbits. All were in cages built quite high off the ground on posts
made with 4"x4" 's. Underneath the cages where the hardware cloth
(rabbit wire) flooring of all the cages allowed the droppings to fall through,
my father sprinkled sweet lime (garden lime) that he purchased from either
the feed store or the plant nursery. It kept all the odor from being
unpleasant, plus when he removed the top layer of droppings that were
used on their Victory Gardens, that sweet lime added some nutrient to
the soil and I believe it helped to break up the harder clods of dirt.
Check with your local plant nurseryman or feed store owner about other
possible solutions, but I know the lime worked perfectly.
If you have clean fresh water lakes or creeks where you might like to fish,
be sure to keep a worm bed under the rabbit cages too. It's the best
place in the world to grow good fishing worms. If you don't use them for
fishing, add them to your gardens. They will help to keep your ground
soft and tillable.
Good Luck with your rabbits and your gardens. Both are such worth-while
projects. Rabbits make some of the sweetest pets you could ever want.
Pookarina / Julia
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