raising rabbits for food and profit

[Florezian]

After watching how active my two rabbits were when they had full range of the yard, I just can't justify keeping them in cages :/

They also poop/pee a lot which is great for the garden, but I wouldn't really want to box that smell in a shed.

 

[pinkfox]

personally meat rabbits is a feild im planning on getting into but im not planning on doing it in the typical meaty way..instead im hoping to either arc (movable hutches on the ground kind of like chicken tractors) or a modified colony set up, in which i plan on raising 3 females in a 10 x 10 dog run, the buck would live in a movable arc or in a raised hutch in the pen because i still want to control breeding frequency and timing as much as possible.

the eventual plan if i go with colony raising is to have 3 10x10 runs with wire floors to prevent digging but still provide grass and dirt acess, ill keep 3 females in 1 pen, offspring will grow out in pen #2 and pen #3 will be "recovery" and ill rotate them through so each pen has a chance to recover grass/clover/cover crop.

arcs and hutches with grass acess are much more common and popular in the UK, as opposed to maintining meaties in cages here in the US...i think those are a matter of preference but i do personally want to raise my meaties on dirt, grass under foot ect.

in terms of breed, im a big beliver in raising somehting youll enjoy too.
Many breeds can be used for meat, but seems californians, florida whites and new zealands make the best meaties,
for me i want a meat rabbit with a nice pelt too for crafting, and i love rex pelts so my ultimate plan is new zealand or california x standard rex does under a standard rex buck. the hope is the young will give me a nice soft pelt, and any left long enough to reach stew pot size will give me a lovely rex pelt to use too. standard rex can be used as meaties without mixing but the cali or NZ mix gives them a better growth rate.

if youve got to spend time tending them you should enjoy them too i know silver fox, champagne d'argents, altex, satin and harlequin, are all becomming more popular too.

 

[Dawn419]

sorry if buying and selling rabbits doesnt go in the buying and selling section. my bad

I moved your thread here since you were asking questions about raising rabbits for food and profit. When I first saw the title of this thread, I thought you had a book for sale or trade and got excited!

 

[dtinnan]

After watching how active my two rabbits were when they had full range of the yard, I just can't justify keeping them in cages :/

They also poop/pee a lot which is great for the garden, but I wouldn't really want to box that smell in a shed.

I'm hoping to use the poop in the garden. I have in mind a kind of gutter system under the cages made from 55 gal drum halves, so i can wash it out daily with the hose.

I'm also not looking to make friends with the bunnies, just meat and money, so i am gonna put them in raised cages in a barn.

 

[dtinnan]

sorry if buying and selling rabbits doesnt go in the buying and selling section. my bad

I moved your thread here since you were asking questions about raising rabbits for food and profit. When I first saw the title of this thread, I thought you had a book for sale or trade and got excited!

I do plan on keeping a journal, and if this goes well, who knows... I might write the book!

ya ever notice how people profit from selling you the "how-to book", more than they do from the "do"? LOL

 

[dtinnan]

Many breeds can be used for meat, but seems californians, florida whites and new zealands make the best meaties,

I agree, the californians, or new zealands are what I am planning on going with, not just for the meat, but the pelt as well.

 

[citylife]

(I'm also interested in getting some laying hens, and possibly bees, but one thing at a time. i'm sure the rabbits are gonna keep me busy for a while.)


All I can tell you are my experiances. The shed sounds like a good size for them, but do remember in the summer time they will need a ton of ventalation. Rabbits can handle the cold but not the heat. (This summer it was a full time job keeping my rabbits alive for a solid month)
If your thinking of having chickens toss around the idea of running them under the rabbits, part time. Which will help with composting, help with odor control and give the chickens extra bugs and grains to eat.
Check out my page when you get a minute. It will give you another view of it.
I raise the florida white meat rabbit and have recently started selling food products to neighbors and friends. They love the meat and the quality.

good luck to you. I know how much fun it is getting food out of my yard.

the lady with 2 rescued cocker spaniels, a rescued rottweiler, a german shepherd, fostering an american bulldog, 5 city chickens who have recently decided to boss the rotty........... 6 meat rabbits, their kits and a bumble bee ball python.

 

[Boyd]

You are going to find a lot more info on BYH, next door. You certainly can raise rabbits for food and profit and I find them to be the most profitable small livestock one can raise besides honeybees. They don't take up much space, they require little maintenance and they are so productive that you can breed yourself right out of a market if you aren't careful. They do well stacked onto chickens and vermiculture, they provide healthy and lean meat~more so than any other small livestock when you consider feed conversion to meat.

Start a journal here on the subject and keep us apprised of your progress, if you would...this forum needs more info on these lesser known/practiced subjects! Could be your journal could start others on the same quest when they see how easy it is to keep rabbits.

thanks for the encouraging words! I'm cleaning out a small barn that was on the property when we bought it. It's about 12 by 15. I've got to seal it up and get some cages built, and then it'll be bunny-buying time.

the journal is a great idea, let me collect my thoughts and i'll start soon.

I'm also interested in getting some laying hens, and possibly bees, but one thing at a time. i'm sure the rabbits are gonna keep me busy for a while

http://locavore.webs.com/

http://www.facebook.com/theurbanrabbitproject

we are able to do it, only providing family and friends. Figure we've raised enough rabbit to fill 4-5 large freezers so far.

 

[the funny farm6]

I keep new zeland and new zeland mixes. The flemish were more trouble than they were worth to me, they get very big and you have to reinforce the cages! If you just want meat rabbits I don't recomend the fancy breeds- some don't have as a good a litters as the new zelands ( mine have an averege litter of 8-9 ). If you want the fancy color of some of these, get a buck and cross with your does.

If you can find someone with alfalfa hay to feed I do that when I can insted of buying pellets, and during the summer I have a spot on my property where clover and grass grows high, so I cut it and feed.