Rabbit poop can be used as fertilizer for establishing new grass or feeding a lawn that needs a boost. Rabbit poop is a balanced organic fertilizer that will build your soil over time and release nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium throughout the growing season.
Rabbit poop is particularly high in nitrogen and phosphorus, but it also contains minerals like zinc and iron. This natural fertilizer is said to be twice as nutrient-dense as chicken manure. When used as fertilizer it is often called “bunny honey.”
Rabbit poop can be purchased at some lawn and garden stores or from a local farmer. Some 4-H programs encourage raising rabbits and they may be willing to let you collect the droppings.
Rabbit poop can be used to mulch an established lawn or when planting new grass seed.
Rabbit poop is plentiful for farmers who raise rabbits for pets or meat. The poop creates a cold compost that provides available nutrients to your lawn.
Some gardeners have trouble with wild rabbits causing damage to their lawns, but the droppings of wild rabbits can feed grass. Install a short fence to keep them from your flower beds and vegetable garden.
Can Rabbit Poop Fertilize Grass?
Rabbit poop is a great option for lawn fertilizer. Chicken and rabbit fertilizers are similar in their dryer texture.
This makes rabbit poop easier to spread across your lawn.
Rabbit poop is thought to be twice as nutrient-dense as chicken manure which makes it an excellent choice for lawn fertilizer.
Use the rabbit poop in the spring at the beginning of the growing season when the grass needs support.
Because the pellets break down quickly it is unlikely that they will cause burns to the roots of the grass.
When rabbit manure is mixed with urine it can become acidic. This can burn your lawn, but light watering should help prevent this from happening.
Does Rabbit Poop Kill Grass?
Rabbit poop from just a few rabbits is unlikely to cause any damage to your grass. Rabbit urine can cause burns on your grass, but gentle regular watering can prevent any damage.
Rabbit poop breaks down quickly and becomes available for use by the plants. Wild rabbits or 1-2 pet rabbits may not produce enough rabbit poop to harm grass.
Rabbit poop can smother grass if enough of it is left on the grass.
Areas under an outdoor hutch will likely see grass die. You can mulch the area heavily if you hope to protect the soil beneath.
If you regularly remove the dropping to a compost pile or other location you may be able to preserve the grass beneath.
Wild rabbits can cause damage to your lawn and garden by eating plants or attracting predators, but their droppings are not a danger to your lawn.
Using rabbit Poop to Start Grass Seed
If you are just starting to establish a lawn or working to cover bald spots you can use rabbit poop to fertilize the soil while you are spreading the seeds.
Start by raking up the soil where you plan to start grass.
The seeds cannot grow if they are just placed on top of the soil.
Next spread the seeds with a bag spreader, rolling spreader, or spread by hand. Aim for even coverage, but do not try for perfection.
Spread rabbit manure over the seeds and use the rake to mix the seed and manure. Try to keep the seeds evenly distributed in the area.
Finally, cover the area with hay to prevent the rain from washing away the seeds and to discourage birds from eating the seeds.
Be sure to choose a grass type that is appropriate for your planting area and your climate. You can ask at the local hardware store for recommendations or ask a neighbor with a great lawn what type they are growing.
Rabbit manure is high in nitrogen and phosphorus. Nitrogen is especially important when establishing a new lawn.
Consider using a soil test to check the condition of your soil before planting seeds. This will allow you to create a plan for fertilizing your lawn all season long.
What do you do with rabbit poop in your yard?
If you have abundant rabbit poop you can use it in many areas of your garden.
Rabbits produce 3-400 pellets each day so even with just a few rabbits that pile can grow quickly.
There are quite a few ways to use the rabbit poop in your garden so find the one that works for you and consider trying to sell the rest!
Rabbit poop is often marketed as “bunny honey” when sold for fertilizing.
Spread as Mulch
Rabbit poop can be spread right from under the hutch into your garden, flower beds or onto the lawn.
The pellets are considered cold compost and they will not burn your plants when spread directly onto your plants.
It can also be used to mulch plants to help keep the soil moist.
It can be added to sandy soil to improve water retention.
Compost Tea
Rabbit pellets can also be used to make compost tea.
Compost tea makes the nutrients from the rabbit poop available to the plants all at once.
Make compost tea by adding a few cups of rabbit pellets to a 5-gallon bucket of water and stirring it a few times a day for two to three days.
Use this to water any plants that are starting to yellow.
If you are looking for a quick-release fertilizer to boost the green in your lawn in the fall, compost tea may do it for you.
Rabbit Tractor
Some gardeners use rabbits as a part of the permaculture system of their garden.
A rabbit or two in a movable enclosure can clear an area of weeds while leaving behind rich fertilizer for future planting.
A successful setup will both protect the rabbits from predators and weather as well as allow the rabbits access to the ground.
Feed Worms
Worms and rabbits work well together to build poor soil. If you have done a soil test and found that you have poor soil you may want to try building it with rabbit pellets.
This cheap fertilizer will build the soil and attract worms that will help aerate the soil and improve texture.
The worms will help carry the nutrition deep into the soil to improve your soil texture and allow the roots to go deeper.
How Long Does It Take Rabbit Poop to Break Down?
Rabbit poop is considered cold compost, so it does not need to be broken down to be used as fertilizer. It can be raked up or crushed into powder if you want to break up the pellets.
Rabbit poop that lays on dry ground and is undisturbed will take 180 days to completely break down.
Rake rabbit poop across your lawn and water the lawn regularly and you can expect the poop to break down within weeks.
You can break down rabbit poop in compost tea in a matter of 2-5 days. Water will speed up the time it takes the rabbit poop to break down.
You can also add rabbit poop to a hot compost pile for it to break down. Worms break down the rabbit poop over time and can improve the pile’s ability to retain moisture.
If you keep rabbits you may consider putting them in a hole to break down. Worms will work with you to break down the pellets more quickly.
If you are using rabbit pellets to make compost tea you can expect the pellets to take 2 to 3 days for the pellets to break down completely into compost tea. You can mix the compost tea more frequently if you want it to break down quickly.
Rabbit poop can take quite a while to break down completely in dry compost, but they break down more quickly with watering.
How to Compost Rabbit Manure
Rabbit manure does not need to be composted to be used safely in the garden, but it can be helpful in vermiculture composting where earthworms are used to speed up the composting process.
Worms like rabbit pellets and they can help improve the texture of your hot compost pile and encourage worm growth and activity.
Alternatively you can create compost tea with rabbit manure. This is the preferred way for gardeners or farmers to use rabbit poop apart from spreading it dry.
Making compost tea allows the pellets to break down quickly in 2-5 days in water. You can then use the mixture to water your plants.
If you are mixing rabbit poop with chicken, cow or pig manure it should still be allowed to compost for 6 to 8 months to be sure that there are no pathogens that could be harmful to people or pets.
Rabbit Manure vs Chicken Manure
Rabbit and chicken manure are often compared as they are both common animals in a backyard.
The biggest advantage of rabbit manure over chicken manure is that rabbit manure does not need to be composted before use in the garden. Rabbit poop does not carry the risk of pathogens like cow or chicken manure.
Rabbit manure also has twice the nutrients of chicken manure and 4 times the nutrients of cow manure.
Cow manure may be easier to attain as it is sold at many lawn and garden stores.
The NPK ratio of rabbit manure is roughly 2.4-1.4-.6 making it a nitrogen-rich fertilizer, great for lawns.
| Nitrogen | Phosphorus | Potassium | |
| Rabbit | 2.4 | 1.4 | .6 |
| Chicken | 1.1 | .8 | .5 |
| Cow | .6 | .4 | .5 |
These values make it clear that rabbit pellets are a much better choice for fertilizing your lawn.
Rabbit manure is also much more pleasant to handle as the pellets are dry and almost odorless.
If you are looking for a natural way to boost your lawn without commercial fertilizers, rabbit pellets dry or as compost tea will be a great option.
The look and smell of rabbit poop should also not raise any HOA eyebrows.
Chicken manure must be composted for 6-9 months before it can safely be used in the garden. This is to prevent the manure from burning the plants and to kill any pathogens.
Rabbits are very unlikely to pass any pathogens in their poop, but the chickens have a variety of potentially hazardous pathogens that must be dealt with in hot compost before being added to the lawn or garden where pets or children could pick up the pathogens.
Rabbit Poop For Lawn Fertilizer
When looking to fertilize your lawn rabbit poop is a good option to provide nitrogen and potassium to your lawn. You can use it dry as a slow-release fertilizer and mulch or you can soak the pellets in water to create compost tea. The tea will make the nutrients available immediately to your lawn.
Depending on your goals and the time that you are applying the fertilizer you can choose the solid or liquid forms.
Rabbit poop is a safe fertilizer as it is very unlikely to cause nitrogen burns to your grass.
If you are establishing a new lawn or working to fill bald spots rabbit poop is a good fertilizer that will create a rich bed for the seeds to grow.
If you raise rabbits you will have an ample supply of bunny honey or rabbit poop fertilizer, but if you do not have any check with your local 4H club.
These clubs regularly raise rabbits and may be able to provide you with rabbit manure for compost tea or direct application to the lawn.
It is worth seeking out as the experience of using rabbit manure is much more pleasant than cow or chicken manure.