Back Yard Rabbits

[rdocr]

On my threads about Back Yard Rabbits, there are comments from people who claim they would never eat a rabbit: some because they are too cute and others because meat is not in their diet plan.

Let’s take a moment and discuss a sustainable garden. One very basic problem is the loss of fertilizers that are derived from oil. The very basic fact is that growing edible food removes nutrients from the soil that must be replaced. Failure to do this results in a soil plot that will no longer support plant life.

There is a basic need for plant nutrients to be replenished. So far as I know, animal manure is the only way to keep an independent garden growing food in the same soil, year after year, assuming that most of the store-bought fertilizers are derived from oil.

So, Vegans, what are you going to do without animals? Here are some options for when you make the decision to have animals..

-Call the animals a “Fertilizer Factory” and raise them for that purpose. I recommend rabbits because they are the only producers of fertilizer that can be applied directly to living plants without composting. They are also the producers of the most nutritious fertilizer of the common domestic animals..
 My recommended herd of three rabbits is about all a small garden can support and still feed the gardeners. But if you really need fertilizer you must mate the two Does and raise their kids to increase the production.

If you and your family don’t eat them, what will you do with all those rabbits? Sell them. Give them away. Barter them ( another one of my books ) or just plain do them in as part of the fertilizer factory overhead.. They may even provide dog food in LATOC.

Written specifically to solve this problem, Back Yard Rabbits and A Sustainable Garden, tells what you need and how to do it. I won’t mention that we have a free booklet of rabbit recipes, available from our website.:-))
If you only want to explore this topic a little more, I have a free booklet, available from our website, entitled Back Yard Rabbits. All you must do is ask for it and tell me where you live: Country or State. I lkie  to know where my word is going.

LOL
Ralph

[Jonathan_Byron]

The angora breed is a good choice for people who don't want rabbit meat - very soft and fine hair that can be woven into incredible garments.

[rdocr]

\  My concern is that if the supply chain goes down, I won't be able to get hay for them and I do not have the growing space to grow my own.  Is there an alternative that I can grow in a relatively small space that will serve the same purpose?  I would like to keep my rabbits healthy.

I also was interested in this request for information.   Maybe someone has ideas other than just the tractoring idea. I would like to grow something (on a little plot about 1/3 acre) that I could dry and use to feed them in the winter.
Joan
[/quote]

Alfalfa makes a good cover crop. It is also used on slopes to stabilie the ground- three roots go down as deep as 25 feet.

And most animals love alfalfa dired or fresh. You don't need a field for it, either.

That's one way


Ralph

[justanouveaufarmer]

I wasn't planning on having rabbits until I read that they're a lot easier to butcher and dress than chickens.  That kind of sold me.  I'm thinking they might make a good cheap source of protein for my dogs and pigs too. 

What's the most natural way of raising them?  I'm not crazy about keeping animals in cages but I guess you can't keep rabbits on pasture because they'd dig out?

[urbanfarmer]

I wasn't planning on having rabbits until I read that they're a lot easier to butcher and dress than chickens.

Ready to mix into the cake batter! 

[WeedEater]

You know, it might be easy, but the animal still deserves it's dignity.  I could deal without the laughing. A club to the base of the skull while you hold it by the feet works just as well.  There is no disconnection provided by the plastic bag.

[urbanfarmer]

It is a chocolate rabbit in a plastic bag. Sorry, bad joke.

[justanouveaufarmer]

The video didn't make it clear it was a chocolate rabbit.  If it'd been a real rabbit in the bag...that would've been bad.

[urbanfarmer]

my bad.  I thought the comment about putting it into the cake batter was enough of a clue. I need to butcher six rabbits for the winter and I am not looking forward to it. . .

[Dasha]

I wasn't planning on having rabbits until I read that they're a lot easier to butcher and dress than chickens.  That kind of sold me.  I'm thinking they might make a good cheap source of protein for my dogs and pigs too. 

What's the most natural way of raising them?  I'm not crazy about keeping animals in cages but I guess you can't keep rabbits on pasture because they'd dig out?

I'd also be interested in hearing about raising rabbits in something other than cages. Anyone know anything about it?

[SouthEastFarmer]

i'll put in another plug for the HomesteadingToday site:

homesteadingtoday.com

(looks like the site is down from a ping attack when I just checked...interesting)

check out the raising rabbits for profit discussion section.  the "raising rabbits naturally" gives a great start on how to switch over to no pelleted feed and there are many good threads on colony raising (no cages, just a big pen).  the initial gist is around raising the buns for sales, but even for someone only looking to provide their own meat, it is the best source of info out there, bar none.  no book or other site comes close, that I've found anyway.

found some good starting stock from a breeder on there, too.

[Emeline]

I wasn't planning on having rabbits until I read that they're a lot easier to butcher and dress than chickens.  That kind of sold me.  I'm thinking they might make a good cheap source of protein for my dogs and pigs too. 

What's the most natural way of raising them?  I'm not crazy about keeping animals in cages but I guess you can't keep rabbits on pasture because they'd dig out?

I'd also be interested in hearing about raising rabbits in something other than cages. Anyone know anything about it?

I don't really know how you could domestically raise rabbits without some kind of fully enclosed cage.

Without wire underneath they will dig out and escape.  If they're not surrounded by wire on the sides and top they will be attacked by dogs, cats, hawks and other predators who like bunny on the hoof.

You could make a REALLY BIG enclosure and give them tons of room to move about, but again I really think you would have to have it securely fenced and escape/invasion proof, over, under and around. 

I do know a few people who keep pet rabbits inside and only take them outside when they are with them, but umm, I don't know how you could eat a pet bunny which had been sleeping in your bedroom! 

I do know a couple of people who actually tethered rabbits outside even though I pleaded with them not to.  They insisted they would "watch them".  Yeah, morons.   A hawk got one, a couple of dogs got the other.   

[SouthEastFarmer]

checked again and HomesteadingToday.com is back up.  Here is the link to the raising rabbits naturally sticky:

http://homesteadingtoday.com/showthread.php?t=211220

[rdocr]

I wasn't planning on having rabbits until I read that they're a lot easier to butcher and dress than chickens.  That kind of sold me.  I'm thinking they might make a good cheap source of protein for my dogs and pigs too. 

What's the most natural way of raising them?  I'm not crazy about keeping animals in cages but I guess you can't keep rabbits on pasture because they'd dig out?

I'd also be interested in hearing about raising rabbits in something other than cages. Anyone know anything about it?

When we had a rabbitry, about 500 rabbits, the life expectancy for a rabbit that got out of the building was less than 1 / 2 hour. Every living creature loves rabbit meat, and they do not hesitate when they see one on the los.
If you want to raise them on the ground:
Every other creature loves rabbit meat and they all go for it. dogs, coyotes, hawks, owls, possums, snakes, etc
---any rabbit that got out was doomed before we could catch it.
Besides, the Broker who bought from us ( 1000 lbs/month,) wouldn't accept any rabbit who had obviously been on the ground.
When he certified us for raising Lab rabbits  ( three times the price of meat rabbits) we had to put a tray of disinfectant at each door for people entering to get on their shoes.
Don't raise your hackles about Lab rabbits: every medication, cosmetic, or anything else that goes on a human gets tested on bunny skin or by ingestion.
It really boosted the income from the rabbits. We went for it. It's that old philosophy- when you sell something, you transfer ownership and any say about its future. ( I refused to sell a sculpture when i learned that the buyer was going to paint it blue.It had my name on it and he was going to modify a copyrighted work. )

Ah well---

Ralph

[rdocr]

my bad.  I thought the comment about putting it into the cake batter was enough of a clue. I need to butcher six rabbits for the winter and I am not looking forward to it. . .

I must tell a story, It is an excerpt from  our book, Farming Is Easy. . . .:
About Rabbits         
   Then there was the rabbit broker. He had been in the business with his father and had experienced all of the occupational tasks related to rabbits, including butchering. He agreed to demonstrate for me how a rabbit was processed.
   That came about when I had mentioned to him that I could have three or four rabbits dressed and in the freezer by morning’s end. He looked at me wide eyed, and said, “What do you do? Pluck them?” So I asked if he would show me how it was done.
   Before the appointed day, I had selected six rabbits, caged them, sharpened our best knives to a razor’s edge, set up a table out back, and even had empty pans and a bucket for his use. I had my camera loaded, too. I wanted all this recorded.
   He came and nodded. He picked up the knife, felt the edge and said, “I guess you want a sharpening demonstration, too?” I nodded, kept silent, and watched as he stroked the knife edge against the back side of another knife.
   He reached into the cage, picked a rabbit, and as he lifted it out he stretched it, holding the head in one hand and the hind legs in the other. The stretch snapped bunny’s neck.
   That hand holding the head also held the knife. A flick of the wrist and the rabbit was bled. Two more flicks and the feet were off and he did the head next. The skin pulled off in a single motion after a slit along each leg. ( No, he didn’t hang it )
   Another swipe and the innards dropped into a bucket, all done before I raised my camera!
   I yelled, “Stop!”
   Please slow down so I can take pictures. He had a vexed expression, but he tried for me.  (Incidentally, the film was spoiled in developing and I didn’t get pictures after all.) It was during this slowed down demonstration that I at least saw all the steps.
   As he whizzed through the rest of the bunnies, I was told that you couldn’t hold the butcher’s job if you were slower than one rabbit dressed a minute.

end of story- what a lesson. ( I still average about 15 minutes per rabbit.- the first one takes about 30 minutes, the sixth one takes ten minutes.)

LOL

Ralph

Oh, for you youngsters, We wound the film, from a bulk roll, into a cassette. After taking pictures, the filn is removed from the cassette in the darkroom and hand dipped into developer and fix. Gad, but Digital cameras are nice ! You have no idea what it took to adjust Gamma before Photoshop.
Oh yes, we had a darkroom for 40 years. I ground the closeup lens for our first camera - made telescope lenses, too.