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wellington womble

Joined: 08 Nov 2004
Posts: 15051
Location: East Midlands

Posted: Fri Feb 04, 05 5:48 pm Post subject:

Has anyone tried bunny-powered greenhouse heating? I think this could be quite an efficient system. Bunny lives in the greenhouse in the winter, having a nice cosy time muching on kitchen scraps, contributing to the compost heap and keeping the greenhouse frost free. In warmer weather, bunny moves to his summer residence on the lawn, saving mowing and decimating the dandelion population (Ha!) supplemented with more scraps and still contributing to the compost heap.

Got be easier than mucking about with parrafin or ekeltrickery, and greener too. Not sure it would be practical on fluffykittens (and my) scale, but I'm very tempted to give it a try anyway, as the worms are not up to my kitchen waste problem. I know it can't eat everything, but I suspect it could make a bigger dent than my very lazy worms. I would have to keep the compost bin though (bang goes the rhubarb, then) but that would also solve the onion skin problem (worms don't like them)

I wonder how many people keep working rabbits?

alison
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Joined: 29 Oct 2004
Posts: 12918
Location: North Devon

Posted: Fri Feb 04, 05 10:25 pm Post subject:
If you had three, you could have rabbit twice a week all year round and still heat the greenhouse.

sean
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Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 42219
Location: North Devon

Posted: Fri Feb 04, 05 10:30 pm Post subject:
Are you going for it with the rabbits Alison?

alison
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Joined: 29 Oct 2004
Posts: 12918
Location: North Devon

Posted: Fri Feb 04, 05 11:45 pm Post subject:
It is something we looked at on a bigger scale, and I am still interested in it. Chicken meat first though.

wellington womble

Joined: 08 Nov 2004
Posts: 15051
Location: East Midlands

Posted: Sat Feb 05, 05 12:51 pm Post subject:

That did occur to me, but I'm not sure I could. I know it's absolutely pathetic, but although I am happy with the ethics of eating happy meat, humanely killed, I don't think I could do it myself. It's not the slaughter, which I'm sure I could do with a bit of help from someone who knows their stuff. It's the guts I can't deal with.

This is perculiar, as I'm not at a squeamish generally. I am happy to go to an operating theatre and watch operations on people and make the patient jump through hoops afterwards. I will do it, and plan to start with chickens once I have the space for some. I think I could send sheep and cows to slaughter, having rasied them myself, but not pigs (or rabbits) don't know why not rabbits (I know they're furry, but i can think of lots of uses for that!) and pigs have too much personality. What a wimp I am!

alison
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Joined: 29 Oct 2004
Posts: 12918
Location: North Devon

Posted: Sat Feb 05, 05 8:43 pm Post subject:

Really though Clair, they all have their own personalities.

I am totally responsible for our livestock at the moment as my Dad is convelessing, and now they are used to me having close contact again they are all displaying different traits.

I have a chicken, yes the same one, who follows me as I collect the eggs, pecking my boots.

There is the ewe, who I helped deliver her lamb who comes up for a lick on the hand, and the pigs who come for a scratch.

The cows have a pecking order all of their own, as so the alpacas.

We had a cow before that regardless where she was in the barn (we overwintered calves) would come over and have a scratch and lick everytime I went in there, but she ignored any of the others.

Treacodactyl
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Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 25795
Location: Jumping on the bandwagon of opportunism

Posted: Sat Feb 05, 05 10:08 pm Post subject:

I think you make get some problems with ammonia harming tender plants in the greenhouse. I tried keeping a pile of chicken manure in the greenhouse to see if it would heat up. It didn't and some ferns were scorched possibly by the ammonia.

When I grew up we kept rabbits for food. It was a little bit by accident as the two pet rabbits were meant to be female. One day my pet proved he was a he and we ended up eating the children. Yes they were cute but tasty.

wellington womble

Joined: 08 Nov 2004
Posts: 15051
Location: East Midlands

Posted: Sat Feb 05, 05 10:29 pm Post subject:

Cute isn't such a problem, it's personality I think I can't cope with. I hope I could do it (because otherwise I'm a complete hypocrite!) as I eat meat. My MIL thinks that it's because you keep one or two pigs (or cows in her case, I think I could deal with cows) but a whole flock of sheep, so you don;t get so attatched. She's still dithering about what to do with her pastuere and thinking about alpacas (They are useful looking creatures. Like sheep with personality!

)

Of course alison has just scuppered this theory, so perhas vegetarianism is on the cards!

alison
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Joined: 29 Oct 2004
Posts: 12918
Location: North Devon

Posted: Sat Feb 05, 05 10:40 pm Post subject:
Not vegetarian, ethical meat eating.

wellington womble

Joined: 08 Nov 2004
Posts: 15051
Location: East Midlands

Posted: Tue Feb 08, 05 10:33 pm Post subject:

alison wrote:

Not vegetarian, ethical meat eating.

Absolutely - wish I could find it more locally though. At the moment it comes from devon! I found some local pork and lamb though, so that's on the cards as soon as me and them can get to the same farmers market.

Getting back to the greenhouse bit, my mini greenhouse has got lots of condensation in it. Is there any way of ventilating it a bit (other than with a skewer!) and not losing too much warmth?

nettie

Joined: 02 Dec 2004
Posts: 5888
Location: Suffolk

Posted: Tue Feb 08, 05 11:09 pm Post subject:
I'm with you on the guts thing WW, could cope with all the rest but not that. Still the farmer's market is doing alright out of me as a result of my inability to gut a pheasant

nettie

Joined: 02 Dec 2004
Posts: 5888
Location: Suffolk

Posted: Tue Feb 08, 05 11:11 pm Post subject:
Re the greenhouse, you could use a pin. But you'll be compromising the strength of the thing (and they're flimsy as it is)! Best I can suggest is to roll the door open on a mild day and close it again before it loses all its heat.

Lloyd

Joined: 24 Jan 2005
Posts: 2699

Posted: Wed Feb 09, 05 12:10 am Post subject:
Funnily enough I understand this. I can shoot virtually anything for th epot, and have in th epast killed my own chickens as well. But I cannot imagine that I could breed pigs, and then butcher them. My grandfather did in South Wales on his farm, but I think they are just too intelligent, pet-like, etc. Maybe if I was starving it would be easier.

wellington womble

Joined: 08 Nov 2004
Posts: 15051
Location: East Midlands

Posted: Wed Feb 09, 05 10:51 am Post subject:

nettie wrote:

Re the greenhouse, you could use a pin. But you'll be compromising the strength of the thing (and they're flimsy as it is)!

Best I can suggest is to roll the door open on a mild day and close it again before it loses all its heat.

I think that would be best, but I leave too early and get back too late to do it at the moment. The carrots will just have to cope. I might wrap them up in fleece, and then undo one of the zips a bit. If I get the duck tape out, then could tape it so the do is 'ajar' and not flapping wide open.

sugarplumhalle

Joined: 07 Feb 2005
Posts: 50
Location: E. Yorkshire

Posted: Wed Feb 09, 05 1:21 pm Post subject:

Madman wrote:

have in the past killed my own chickens as well. But I cannot imagine that I could breed pigs, and then butcher them.

When my chickens got slaughtered I was so distraut! Also couldnt eat chicken for about two months which totally defeated the object but they were killed for reasons other than meat (long story) Desperately want a pig and know for a fact i wouldnt be able to kill it.

Totally not green house related.. but nevermind.

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