Rabbits anyone?

[Adjee]

Finally I have started to extend our rabbitry. Today we rearranged all the current occupants and pegged out the boundary for extending the concrete base (once the weather improves) and started working on some new cages the design we have copied after purchasing one from a contact out here. We currently run with four permanent resident does and two males but are increasing the number of permanent resident does to six. So we need both new internal and external cages for them plus the extra grow out cages. The external runs will be completed and put in place next year after we have planted an area to grow lucerne.

We have been practicing tanning the fur of the fryers we dispatch but the hide is rather thin to do much with so we aim to grow some on to hopefully get some better pelts to experiment with next year.

But what are the other benefits of keeping rabbits? There is absolutely no waste from a dispatched rabbit, they could be classed as ultimate preppers animal to keep. They cost nothing in upkeep (after the initial cage building), are quiet and take up minimal space. Below is a list of how and what we use them for after we have butchered them for meat:

Head - Give to the dog, crush and feed to the chickens, make into a stew/stock
Brain - Use for tanning the pelt, use as dog food, make into a stew/stock
Ears/Feet - Bake and use as dog treats
Tail - Dog treat or use as a pollinating brush
Liver/Kidneys/Heart/Lungs - Eat, use for animal feed
Stomach/Pancreas - Feed raw to dogs, chickens, ducks (our muscovies love them)
Intestines - Grind for sausages, use for dog food
Fat - Render it, add to animal feed
Bones - Makes lovely stock for our use and adding to dog/cat food or dehydrate and crush for bone meal
Blood - Use as a fertilizer (we mix ours with sawdust from chain sawing the logs) or add to animal feed
Pelt - Tan or cut and dehydrate for dog treats
Manure - Collect and use directly on the garden, it classed as a "hot" manure so does not need composting. We dry our rabbit manure and sell it.

All the above can also be put in a "maggot bucket" and hung above your chicken run which will act as a boredom breaker whilst supplying a fresh supply of food to the birds underneath.

Anyone else use utilize them for something different I would be interested to know.

[PepperThePrepper]

Hi!

I know this is an older thread, but we are just starting on oir rabbit journey.

What breeds do you keep and what's your set up like?

[Adjee]

I know this is an older thread, but we are just starting on oir rabbit journey.

What breeds do you keep and what's your set up like?

Firstly bear in mind here we cannot get a lot of the livestock breeds available in the UK. You also have to bear in mind our temperatures here average from @ -15C (extreme -25C) in winter to @ the mid 40's C (extreme 50C) in Summer which reflects on the animals we raise. Stud rabbits can go temporary heat sterile at @ 30C.

With rabbits breed wise, we started with Californian then New Zealand Whites and then Flemish Giants. There are Pros and Cons with keeping each e.g. the Californians were more prone to heat sterility but the feed to meat ratio was good. So we experimented with different crosses. As a note, hybrids seem to grow out faster than same breed kits. We finally pursued with a couple of does from a Californian/New Zealand cross that we then bred to our Flemish giant and that is where all our stock comes from today (though we do outcross to bring in new bloodlines).

Number wise it varies. We tend to keep 6 does plus any we like the look of that we grow on, (at present we have 8) along with 3 bucks (two stud and our old retired Flemish Giant Stud, normally we sell or dispatch animals that are no longer required but now and then you get that special one that you keep, you have been warned!).

Inside holding cages are made of aluminum profile two cages high, each 1m x 60cm x 60cm, flooring is grooved plastic animal cage flooring so all their crap passes through and into the aluminum tray positioned under each cage. Easy to clean and all waste is collected and put straight on the garden. Rabbit droppings (same as goats) are considered "hot" compost so does not need composting. Grow out cages made the same way two cages high, each 2m x 60cm x 60 cm. We do supplement these at times with dog crates as not all rabbits are friendly, sweet and cuddly with each other, they can be vicious little things (being polite!).We did start out with all wire cages that we suspended from a wooden frame, they are simple to make and very efficient to use. Do not fall for the argument that wire floors cause sore hocks, they do not, sore hocks are generally an inherited problem often due to posture. As a side note the only rabbit we had that suffered from this affliction was out Belgian Hare rabbit that had free run of the house and garden never stepping a paw on any wire (and never living in a cage).

Outside pens (where we move most of them to during the day) are simple wire and wood frame pens that hook/bolt together they also have wire top and bottoms as we have many predators out here in the sky and on the land but they are also inside our electric netting for safety. The rabbits also have the chance to run around in the rabbitry so they all get well exercised.

Feed wise, 70% of their diet is hay and lucerne. This time of year it is supplemented with what we harvest from the garden and different types of vegetation/fauna we collect from the area around us. Winter we give them additional pellets. Anyone we sell rabbits to (alive or dead) we take payment in bags of rabbit pellets to save us paying out for them.

I hope that helps and good luck if you start your venture.

One word of warning and I apologize for being blunt but you do have to be able to kill them after you have raised them. We have had to step in out here and help a couple of people who started breeding rabbits and became overrun with them because they could not dispatch the cute little things.