anyone raise rabbits?

[thewarriorhunter]

pretty straightforward question. i've been thinking of getting into rabbits to have meat on hand. from the basic research that i've just started it seems like they are inexpensive to keep and since they reproduce so much i'll always have meat on hand.

i figure this will be a great way for me to practice and hone my skills at butchering and cleaning (i have no experience at all). i'll also have meat on hand that i can use to learn to salt preserve, jerk, smoke, can... whatever.

so if you do raise them how is it? easy, hard, wish you never would have? any tips or suggestions?

[Bonehead]

I am no expert but I am a bit involved with what my friend has going on. He went with chickens first and now is working on pigs and rabbits.

he wants "New Zealand whites" rabbits because they are easy to raise and good for meat. they are supposed to be easy to take care of. food water and keep the hutches clean. skinning rabbits doesn't even need a knife.

Easiest Way To Skin A Rabbit - YouTube

Easiest Way To Skin A Rabbit - YouTube

[thewarriorhunter]

yeah, i've heard of the new zealand breed, another i heard mentioned was california... something. can't remember. i'm in a suburb so i think chickens might make too much noise, although i wish i could because i'd love fresh eggs. rabbits should be a lot quieter though which is why i'm going that route.

[Thefatgunner]

Originally Posted by thewarriorhunter

yeah, i've heard of the new zealand breed, another i heard mentioned was california... something. can't remember. i'm in a suburb so i think chickens might make too much noise, although i wish i could because i'd love fresh eggs. rabbits should be a lot quieter though which is why i'm going that route.

California giants not sure how they are compared to NZ's.

I to have been thinking about getting some rabbits my fiancee doesn't like the idea (more so because she'll get attached to the animal). check local restrictions, my HOA limits me on the amount of animals, of course i dont give a sht what my HOA thinks either, but the city may have limits.

[Bonehead]

yeah. chickens were a big deal to get started. he went all out for the hen house he built. its a real chore but he gets about 2 dozen eggs a week and has a freezer full of chickens. completely renewable AND he can feed them out of his garden all summer.

the rabbit hutches are not built yet but he is going to do that as soon as he gets the pig pen built.

he is going for sustainability and self reliance. I wonder about inbreeding rabbits though. there is a point where they are ALL brothers and sisters and cousins and... all the same gene pool. if you get to a point where you cant bring new rabbits in I wonder how they will work out.

if worse comes to worse I suppose he could cross them with wild rabbits to add new genes in and improve health. maybe i am over thinking it lol

[mficare]

This tread reminds me of when I was a kid. Thumper bit threw the cage were female Thumper was and they multiplied. My father was not happy, shortly after we came home and the bunnies were gone and there was a nice chicken vesuvio dinner....or so we thought ..Turns out it was Thumper.....mmmmmmmmm =)

[mhen]

Originally Posted by Bonehead

yeah. chickens were a big deal to get started. he went all out for the hen house he built. its a real chore but he gets about 2 dozen eggs a week and has a freezer full of chickens. completely renewable AND he can feed them out of his garden all summer.

Don't mean to thread jack here; bonehead, do you know how many chickens your friend has? Just curious how many chickens it takes to get 2 dozen eggs per week?

Thewarriorhunter; I have family in Germany that raises one rabbit at a time and eats them for Christmas dinner. They just feed them food scraps, pretty much whatever is left over. When I saw it the thing was huge. Not sure how much usable meat or how long it took though. Apparently raising rabbits for food is pretty common in Europe. Might be worth giving European web sites a look (if you can translate it )

[Bonehead]

Originally Posted by mhen

Don't mean to thread jack here; bonehead, do you know how many chickens your friend has? Just curious how many chickens it takes to get 2 dozen eggs per week?

Thewarriorhunter; I have family in Germany that raises one rabbit at a time and eats them for Christmas dinner. They just feed them food scraps, pretty much whatever is left over. When I saw it the thing was huge. Not sure how much usable meat or how long it took though. Apparently raising rabbits for food is pretty common in Europe. Might be worth giving European web sites a look (if you can translate it )

I know he started out with around 50 chicks. He raised them up and culled all but 2 or 3 roosters. he lost some to the dogs too... I would say around 30 guesstimation. probably less than 30.

Plymouth Rock (chicken) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[thewarriorhunter]

gunner i'm right there with you... the HOA can kiss my butt. i keep the front yard looking nice for them, but the backyard is my space. i did all the landscaping without even letting them know like 'i'm supposed to'. i figure a pen with some rabbits won't be a big deal.

the inbreeding thing is something to consider that i hadn't thought of yet. i wonder if it becomes an issue or not.

[Crashagn]

Eggs will very depending on the weather and light available. We have 15 hens and 2 roosters. Used to have 30 of em. We get any were from 4-8 eggs a day in the summer. Winter time I would leave a light on 24/7 and still get 3-5 eggs a day. A couple of months ago their was still some snow on the ground. I let all the chickens out for the 1st time that winter and the next day I had 12 eggs. All feather footed mini bantams... takes 3 eggs to equal 1 eggs but they are dam good. I have not purchased store eggs in a few years.