Awesome. Sounds like a plan. Does anyone have a pic of the hutch they used? Do you have to keep the females separate? I plan on keeping the buck separate and breed the doe's as needed.
Yeah, we raise them for food.
But you are gonna be feed dependent. Sometimes you can help out with garden scraps and trimmings.
If you raise rabbits as a hedge against a SHTF type scenario, you have to make sure you have an alternative feed plan. They are not like chickens. You can NOT free range. They'll all be dead in day. You can't even use a "chicken tractor" type mobile cage. They'll dig out within minutes.
Our alternative feed plan is taking a scythe to the hay field.
I'm sober but sore. Unfortunately I also woke up fat this morning.Immmm fat.
And you'll be sober in the morning.
I'm sober but sore. Unfortunately I also woke up fat this morning.
I'd be open to this but I think I would have a hard time getting my wife and kids on board. Try explaining to a 3 year old girl where half the rabbits went. If anyone has some extra meat, I'd like to try it though.
OK, that was interesting. have to tell you right now.. Im not a hunter, call me a Nancy boy all you want? But Im not pulling guts out of an animal. The rest of it Im good with. Talked to the wife,,She's ok with the guts part, but doesn't want to kill or skin it.Sounds like between the two of us we can make this happen..New Zealand would be my recommendation based on my previous life in Idaho - they are tender and they "breed just like rabbits." When I had them, I used a tractor that was basically 2' tall by 6' wide and deep with chicken wire on the outside (except for the bottom). Move them every couple of days and make sure they have water. Harvest when they get above three to five pounds.
Processing is pretty easy - watch out for them claws (like cat's claws) and do not mind the little scream - knock them in the head with a hammer. Dressing - there are many methods and wives tales... Start here: http://www.artofmanliness.com/2014/04/16/how-to-field-dress-and-butcher-a-rabbit/
Make sure that you get all the hair off of the meat and vacuum pack before you put in the freezer and you should have continuous meat for all year with a couple of bucks and does.
Definitely!I think @MacEntyre raises them for food. Maybe...
My daughter and I have fed them 100% from plants foraged from chemical free yards in the neighborhood for years. Dandelion, broad and narrow leaf plantain, wood sorrel, white and red clover, kudzu, thistle, backberry vines, rose vines, mulberry branches with leaves, wild grape, wild violet, wild strawberry, chicory, plus garden greens like kale, spinach, carrot tops, beet tops, lettuce, but no nightshade plants like tomato. Feed yer does plenty of cilantro and dandelion to enhance milk production. We also get scraps from grocery stores. I only just started supplementing with pellets (she's gone to college). One full plastic grocery bag per rabbit per day... it can be a lot of foraging!But you are gonna be feed dependent. Sometimes you can help out with garden scraps and trimmings.
Only the does... bucks don't do that. Anyway, I use 2"x4" welded wire on the floor of rabbit tractors, works ok. Flattens down the plants you want 'em to eat, but they will eat.You can't even use a "chicken tractor" type mobile cage. They'll dig out within minutes.
Assume average litter is 8 kits, and average dressed weight of rabbit (no head, skin or guts) is 6 to 8 lbs.I have a family of 5. How many rabbits would I need to support that size family?
OK, that was interesting. have to tell you right now.. Im not a hunter, call me a Nancy boy all you want? But Im not pulling guts out of an animal. The rest of it Im good with. Talked to the wife,,She's ok with the guts part, but doesn't want to kill or skin it.Sounds like between the two of us we can make this happen..
I'd be open to this but I think I would have a hard time getting my wife and kids on board. Try explaining to a 3 year old girl where half the rabbits went. If anyone has some extra meat, I'd like to try it though.
Need to go hunting..... or Harris Teeter... your choice...
Harris Teeter sells rabbit?
Wild rabbit is malnourished compared to colony raised or 'domesticated' rabbit. They are much smaller and leaner. It's a tough life, bein' a wild rabbit!...wild rabbit is better, firmer meat and better taste.
I was going to point this out. I remember watching a Survivorman (Les Stroud) where he cautioned against eating them exclusively. Sounds weird/counterintuitive, but it's a thing:Google "rabbit starvation".
BTW, I strongly object to raisin' rabbits in cages. They thrive in a small 10'x10' run connected to a hutch, especially the kits. I have plans for a complete 10'x10' wire hut, totally enclosed, of me own design, that costs less than $300 depending on where you get materials.
I went hunting last week... bagged my first turkey...Need to go hunting..... or Harris Teeter... your choice...
I went hunting last week... bagged my first turkey...
of course the people in Harris Teeter went berzerk when I discharged my 12 ga. in the frozen meats section...