Rabbits

[starmac]

We always fed the does a small ball of hamburger meat to keep them from eating the babies.

[olafhardt]

A rabbits natural diet is low in B vitamins which are produced by bacteria in the large intestine past the part of the guts that extracts the vitamin. Therefore, it is essential that they ear some of their own poo. Since the poo falls through the wire tame rabbits need either added vitamins or a place to sit and eat their poo. Which ever B vitamin it is has a strong odor I think this is linked to the difference between the flavors of wild and domestic rabbits. It is also a reason to include some commercial rabbit food with added vitamins in their feed. I like to plant crimson clover for because it is so pretty in the spring. It really draws rabbits which can be shot out of season because they are deprecating my crops. Various poultry eat it and the lovely bugs it draws.

[.30 Rem]

I raised a few new zealand whites years ago when my kids were small. I still hear from time to time how horrible it was when my youngest came downstairs and saw me cutting fluffies head off over the slop sink. Wife and kids refused to eat them. Now that I'm retired to the country I just may build me a new hutch come spring.

[reloader28]

Everythings going good with these bunnies. No problems over the summer.
I butchered some and gave away some, and have 6 more to butcher as soon as it warms up. Sitting at -9* right now, and I dont feel like cutting them up outside today.

Pretty cheap meat and it dont get any easier. I have 3 does and a buck right now and that is plenty. You can get alotta meat with 3 does.

[Lloyd Smale]

when the kids were young theyd allways pester me for rabbit mcnuggets. Id just roll them I fry majic and fry them till crispy brown and put some bbq sause out for dipping. For me and my wife id take the cooked nuggets and put them in cream of mush soup and serve on noodles or mashed potatoes.

[reloader28]

Thanks, thats a great idea. Never thought of that before.
Going to try that for sure.

[TargetTerror99]

Shhhhhhh.... Be very very very quiet. I'm hunting wabbits.
Sorry, couldnt help it.

[Friends call me Pac]

We raise them. Mostly NZ but we have a few mixed breed along with some Chinchilla. We have 5 of these stands that hold 6 cages each. I also have grow pens outside.



Our rabbits stay off the ground unless I put some in the tractor.



One of my favorite ways to cook one is to wrap it in bacon then put on the rotisary. Some kind of good! Left overs if any gets chopped up, mixed with BBQ sauce and put on a bun and served with fries.

[SSGOldfart]

easiest way to cook a rabbit is just cut him up and place in about a 9x9 pan cover with a large can of cream of chicken/mush soup cover with foil slow bake it for about 11/2 hoursat 350 to 400. serve over rice we eat it two or three times a week for the l0 years started with 3 does & a buck now have 8 does 4 bucks, about 8 or 10 fryers about ready to clean anybody need a buck??

[reloader28]

Cool setup and that rabbit looks good too. I've thought about covering one with bacon and throwing him on the grill or smoker.
Cream of chicken and rice sounds very good too.
I got six butchered this afternoon. Going to eat rabbit in a couple days.

[SSGOldfart]

Pac nice tractor ever have any trouble with the does fighting?I really need to build one that I can use with both my hens and rabbits.

[Friends call me Pac]

Most of the time they will not start fighting until the 12 week time frame. If I see hair or bitten ears I try to figure out which one is the instigator. That one is then removed and ends up in the freezer or on the table that day. As long as there is no fighting going on I like to keep them until 12 weeks. At that age they will dress out between 3 & 3 1/2 pounds and are not getting tough yet. They are just right and one rabbit usually leaves left overs for me and my wife.

The bottom of the rabbit tractor has 2 x 4" wire across the bottom to keep the rabbits from digging out but it is big enough to let the grass grow through for the rabbits to eat. When the eat all the grass I move the tractor just enough to give them a brand new section of grass. I tend to move the tractor once in the morning and then again in the evening.

I have had up to 16 rabbits in there at one time but by 12 weeks it was time for a new batch to take their place.

[Friends call me Pac]

Here is my chicken tractor. The yard part is 6' high so there is no problem going inside the enclosure. The white line is actually the edge of an access door that can be opened for easy clean out. Looking back I should have put the ramp on the right side so it isn't in the way of the door but you know what they say about hindsight.



Here is a side view. I had to redo the nesting area. My hens outgrew the smaller nesting area and I had to make it a lot bigger. This tractor is also on wheels. When the pen area gets nasty just move 8' for a clean piece of ground. I have a fenced in backyard so I let my chickens run around. At dusk they go to the hen house and all I have to do is close the door.

[reloader28]

Update......
Raised from the dead on Easter.

Something kinda weird, actually VERY weird happened.
We had a batch of 4 or 5 little ones last weekend, but all were dead when I saw them by morning. I dumped the nest.
She went to work on the nest again and low and behold almost a week later on Easter morning there were 5 more new babies in the nest.
One was dead, but there are still 4 alive and doing good.

Dug around a little in the book and still not sure what happened other than maybe she aborted one side of the uterus for some reason. I dont know.....

[acoop101]

I grew up eating wild rabbits and decided to raise some tame ones for meat. To me, the taste is totally different. I much prefer the wild ones.

I wonder how much that could be improve by creating a varied diet in an attempt to duplicate a wild diet?