# Rabbits, worms and fish



## NaeKid (Oct 17, 2008)

After reading many of Jerry's stories, he seems to include rabbits, worms and fish into the stories - I am just trying to figure out the why-factor on how that works. I have never raised rabbits, so, I don't really understand the theory between the three ...


Can anyone enlighten me on how these all work together?


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## UncleJoe (Jan 11, 2009)

Funny you should bring this up tonight. I just finished "Stupid Computer" and it got me thinking about this trio. 
The way I see it, and this is just my simple mind at work here, the rabbits would be fairly easy to feed from your backyard with grass and other nutritious greenery, as well as garden scraps and sprouts you could grow inside during the winter. The rabbit pen, with a screened bottom, is positioned over top of a bin with worms and the worms would process the rabbit droppings. They would then be fed to the fish. It seems like a rather simple cycle that most anyone could set up. But hey, what do I know. :dunno:


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## *Andi (Nov 8, 2009)

I think UncleJoe has it.

I keep three doe rabbits and a buck, they keep us in meat, fur and droppings for the garden and yes, worms for fishing. I think I fed the fish in a differnt way (hook and line ) But the basics are the same.

I had to put Jerry on a limit  LOL. So I have not made it to that part ... yet ... but I will.


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## TreeMUPKennel (Jan 29, 2010)

AHH my spring time plan, RABBITS. Been wanting to raise some rabbits for eating and droppings for the garden.


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## NaeKid (Oct 17, 2008)

Hmmm ... 

:scratch

Would it make much of a difference with me being in the northern end of the world where winter and winter-like conditions are around for 8 out of 12 months? Would it be best if I setup a green-house with a rabbit-hutch inside and a compost-pile as well inside and use all that for the greenhouse itself? As for the water for the fish to live in, unless I have a way to keep the water from freezing, it will be frozen.

Just so that you all understand what I am talking about, one of my favorite lakes to visit is great for fly-fishing, but, it is a stocked lake due to the depth that the ice reaches in the winter-time and the ice kills off the fish population.


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## *Andi (Nov 8, 2009)

I'm not 100% sure how the system works in the story, but I did find some info that went around in the 80's.

Monitor the water temperature in the barrel frequently - We was going to do a spring to fall season but even with that temperature was a biggie. With your weather, I would say some kind of heater for the fish and a greenhouse.

This ehow didn't have a filter system and our extension office said it would be a must.:dunno:

Also maybe a cold water fish would work better, catfish need temps around 70 - 80 degrees.

Not much help am I. LOL If you try this let us know.

How to Raise Catfish in a Barrel | eHow.com


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## Riverdale (Oct 31, 2009)

NaeKid said:


> Would it make much of a difference with me being in the northern end of the world where winter and winter-like conditions are around for 8 out of 12 months?


We got out of rabbits this winter (the dander really irritated my wife's allergies, but if TSHTF we would raise them again).

They do better in cooler climates than hot. The only problem you might have is with the number of litters you can raise per year. We are just slightly south of the 45th and we had 5 litters with little problems last year.


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## HozayBuck (Jan 27, 2010)

Funny we all seem to be thinking the same all of a sudden, yesterday I bought 2 lbs of Tilapia to try as I had never eatten it, VERY!! good.. so I decided to look into growing them, found the web site below and started reading, haven't finished it yet but did find out that this fish has to have warm water...60 to 80, 50 deg and they die...but all is not lost, there are ways to do it..I intend to keep reading...

Yes the bunny's do their thing and it drops into the worm beds and then the fish eat the worms, that said, you should know that the worm beds after the worms are removed are mostly worm casings ( poop so to speak) and are some of the best fertilizer you can have, also the water from the fish is pumped out and run thru gravel based hydro gardens which removed the waste from the fish and is then returned to the tanks, leaving behind all they great fish fertilizer !!...sorta a win win thing...

Hell, I don't know nothing, I just got this from reading in this site

Tilapia Farming at Home

But I'm going to be looking at it real hard, damn good eating fish!!


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## NaeKid (Oct 17, 2008)

Hozay,

I've been eating Tilapia for a few years myself, a very nice white-fish. I BBQ or deep-fry them in my own custom batter or sauces (sometimes just lemon juice and butter in tinfoil).

I was hoping that when I get out of this town that I will be able to dig out a pond that I can raise fish in, but, being on the 51st parallel winter freezing can kill off fish if the water isn't deep enough and flowing fast enough to allow the fish to survive our winters.

I have medium sized aquariums, but, the fish that I have aren't really the eating type.


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## Seneschal (Dec 12, 2008)

Hmm. Not sure about raising fish, but I've heard of water heating systems that're not electric; at least, the heating isn't. The water is routed through black pads on the roof that absorb sunlight and warm the water, then the water is ran through the walls/floors of houses to heat the house. I hear that it works well. Why not do something of the sort with the fish? Though, I could also see the value of just having a greenhouse for it. I know some reptiles need full-spectrum UVB rays in order to survive, but I don't know about fish. You might need lights on them, too, in winter.


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## ReconPatriot (Jun 7, 2015)

Worms also do fine on garden scraps or the plants that die. For a fish farm a lot of people have two sandboxes full of earthworms and take from one or the other each day. The worms usually end up reproducing faster than they can actually use them


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## crabapple (Jan 1, 2012)

Fish in a dome greenhouse in the cold North.





This guy did it right.


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## crabapple (Jan 1, 2012)

UncleJoe said:


> Funny you should bring this up tonight. I just finished "Stupid Computer" and it got me thinking about this trio.
> The way I see it, and this is just my simple mind at work here, the rabbits would be fairly easy to feed from your backyard with grass and other nutritious greenery, as well as garden scraps and sprouts you could grow inside during the winter. The rabbit pen, with a screened bottom, is positioned over top of a bin with worms and the worms would process the rabbit droppings. They would then be fed to the fish. It seems like a rather simple cycle that most anyone could set up. But hey, what do I know. :dunno:


Could one use poultry in place of rabbits for compost, meat, worm food,& eggs. Pigeons, doves & chickens are fairly easy to raise.
I would add honeybees for the honey & wax.

Could not find it on the net, but as a child heard of a guy who was call the worm king .
He raised rabbits with 50 pounds of rabbit feed, then use 50 pounds of manure to raise worms, then used the waste product as bagged azalea fertilizer & became rich.
So he used one 50 pound bag of rabbit food three times.


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