How to Raise Fishing Worms & Rabbits

Raising rabbits means raising worms too, if you wish.

People raise rabbits for fun, meat, show or profit. Rabbits are a small, hearty livestock that provide meat, fur and plenty of little rabbits. These furry farm animals also produce lots of droppings. The droppings can bring in nearly as much profit as the meat if you know what to do with them. Add some table scraps, a little dirt and some night crawlers to the manure, and you get a compost heap that is a fisherman's heaven.

Things You'll Need

• Elevated rabbit hutches (30-by-24-by-24 inches, raised 36 inches off of the ground)
• Rabbits
• Rabbit food
• Water
• Ceramic bowls
• Shovel
• Table scraps
• Lawn clippings
• Tarp
• 8 large rocks
• 10 dozen night crawlers
• Foam cups with ventilated lids
• Plastic bags

Instructions

1. Raise your rabbits in elevated hutches. Feed and water your rabbits in ceramic bowls daily. Check on the general health and welfare of each rabbit when you feed them.

2. Remove each rabbit from its hutch and clean the hutches weekly. Remove droppings from beneath the hutches with a shovel. Place the droppings into a pile in a shaded area away from the rabbit hutch area.

3. Add table scraps and lawn clippings to the pile of droppings. Mix the pile with some dirt and cover it with your tarp. Place the rocks around the perimeter of the tarp to hold it in place.

4. Remove the tarp and add new droppings, soil, table scraps and lawn clippings weekly. Keep the pile mixed and turned. Start a new pile when the tarp will barely cover the old pile.

5. Add night crawlers to the old pile and replace the tarp and rocks. Allow the night crawlers a couple of months to breed. Search out buyers by contacting fishing supply stores, or put up a sign on the side of the road.

6. Collect the night crawlers for sale by removing the tarp and wetting the pile with water and waiting for the worms to surface. Capture the worms by hand and place them into ventilated, covered foam cups with a bit of soil from the pile.

7. Dig out some compost from the pile and place it into bags for sale to gardeners and farmers. Use the compost on your own flower and vegetable gardens to feed your plants.

References

• Southern Sustainable Agriculture Working Group: Farm Stories