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Rabbit Farming
With very few exceptions, rabbit farming on a small scale, or even not-so-small, is possible no matter where you live (unless you live under a bridge somewhere).
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To start out rabbit farming, in the big city or in the country, here’s what you need:
Start with a buck and two does. You’ll need a cage for the buck that is typically about 20 inches by 30 inches. The door can be on either the long or the short side, depending on your space.
The does will each need TWO cages measuring 36 inches by 30 inches. One cage will house the doe, and her litter up until 6 weeks of age. At this point the cage will be getting crowded, and the doe will be glad if you move the 8 kits to the second cage, where they can stay until market day.
Butcher when the kits reach 4 1/2 to 5 pounds -- 8-12 weeks of age, depending on breed and quality of feed.
Down the road, when it’s time to think about replacing your brood does, you will want a couple more cages. These can be the same size as the buck’s cage. You’ll select a couple large and healthy young females out of your litters, and grow them to 6 months. At this point you can retire the older doe, and put the new doe into service.
When these cages are not in use growing out replacement does, you can use one of them for a replacement buck. Hopefully you won’t need to replace the buck for several years.
If you build one of our large, two-tiered PVC rabbit hutch frames, you can hang two doe cages on the bottom tier, and 4 buck/grower cages in the top tier. (Or, say, 3 doe cages and 2 buck/grower cages.)
Then, at a later date in your rabbit farming enterprise, you might want to build a second PVC rabbit hutch frame, and begin hanging additional doe cages on it, as needed. A second PVC hutch frame will offer you space to grow, should you like to add another doe or a second buck to your rabbit farming project.
COOLING RABBITS - How to keep meat rabbits cool in summer. Tips work for pet rabbits as well.
COMMERCIAL RABBIT FARMING
If you enjoy rabbit-farming, starting small helps you work out the kinks, build your rabbit herd slowly, and get good at managing a rabbit herd. When you're ready, you might just like taking your rabbitry to the next level.
John Fazio is a rabbit farmer in Modena, NY, where he maintains a state-of-the-art, 400-doe commercial rabbit herd. The Huffington Post ran the following story, in conjunction with a peak into his well-managed enterprise via this YouTube video: Huffington Post article and video about a commercial rabbit farm
Teamwork among Neighbors in the Big City
Granted - huge commercial herds are not for everyone.
The story featured three families in downtown Minneapolis who are partnering together to tend a vegetable garden and a ‘barnyard’ including rabbits, chickens, ducks and geese.
Yes, big-city dwellers can raise rabbits for self-sufficiency and improved health.
The high points of the excellent article on urban rabbit farming:
Yes, you CAN raise rabbit for meat in the middle of the city; the article featured three neighbors partnering together to create an ample garden, and a ‘barnyard’ of rabbits, chickens, ducks and geese.
The article acknowledged a rich history of people hunting or raising their own meat, often because the extra meat supplemented an otherwise dismal diet.
For one of the partners, "eating factory-farmed, anonymous meat would be akin to internalizing the horrific conditions at most commercial stockyards and slaughterhouses. By rearing rabbits and poultry, it is possible to become completely self-reliant for one’s protein needs."
Well said. We also decry many of the practices of the meat industry, and take the same view as these urban ‘farmers’ -- we choose to raise our own meat and avoid purchasing any hormone-ridden, antibiotic-polluted, industrially farmed meat.
These rabbit farming urbanites raise Champagne d’Argent and Crème d’Argent rabbits, both old breeds and one of them endangered, according to the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy. New Zealand Whites, Silver Fox rabbits and Californians are also frequent choices for meat rabbits.
Rabbits are very easy to keep. These urban rabbits were raised on alfalfa hay and grass clippings. (We wonder if the rabbits were not also dipping into the chicken mash?)
The article also listed several local restaurants that regularly offer lappin on the menu.
Lastly, the article featured a rabbit recipe for Rabbit Cobbler -- a hearty rabbit stew topped with cornbread. Mmmm!
CONTROL AMMONIA LEVELS: Ammonia smell in animal urine can be dangerous to your animals, so eliminating ammonia odors is essential. And all the better if it's easy to do. With Spalding Labs’ Bye Bye Odor, rabbit farming is that much easier - just ‘spritz spritz spritz.’ Voila, odors minimized. Learn more at Ammonia Levels. Or:
FLY CONTROL: Rabbits are quiet, timid, and unobtrusive. In other words, very easy on the neighbors, as long as you keep the flies under control.
Keep the droppings raked up and tilled into the garden or moved to a covered compost heap
Set up worm beds under your cages
Keep a few chickens, ducks or both, to snap the flies out of the air and to devour the fly maggots and other insects before their numbers get out of hand. There's a huge benefit to this last suggestion - "free" eggs!
Fly Predators are a fabulous and very effective way to wipe out your fly population. It's safe, non-poisonous, and completely natural. Plus, Fly Predators CAN be used successfully in conjunction with chickens to nearly eradicate flies.
Click on the banner to get started on freedom-from-flies today!
CHECK OUT THE RABBIT REVOLUTION, a blog centered around raising your own meat (namely rabbits) as a way to be free of the 'evil' meat industry.
For thousands of years, folks have raised their own meat. It is only in the industrial age that we've forgotten what innards look like.
Maybe it's time that we decentralize our food supply by raising our own meat and tending our own gardens!
Our Rabbit Supplies Store comes with Amazon.com's full A-Z guarantee. Buy with confidence...
Subscribe to Yahoo! MeatRabbits Group
There's nothing like having at your fingertips a group of friends who are all good at rabbit farming, and who have all encountered various problems and solved them.
Take advantage of their expertise! Join the Yahoo! MeatRabbits Group.
Then, when you feel capable, be sure to pay it forward, and help other newbies with their questions.
