Post information and experiences about raising meat rabbits.
https://nwedible.com/meat-rabbits-truths-no-homesteading-article-tells-you/
https://nwedible.com/meat-rabbits-truths-no-homesteading-article-tells-you/
Raising rabbits for meat?
- Thread starter Proud Prepper
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Well, I've raised a few rabbits and I've eaten a bunch of rabbits, but they were different rabbits, LOL. I've only ever eaten wild rabbits.
With the rabbits we raised, we used several different types of cages, but what worked really well was a hutch that had an enclosure at one end that they could hide in when they felt threatened. As long as we kept lots of Timothy hay and water available, they thrived. We only had one rabbit that got sick and died and I think it was gut stasis. The rest were killed by stray dogs. Once I got a better, more secure hutch, we never lost another rabbit.
With the rabbits we raised, we used several different types of cages, but what worked really well was a hutch that had an enclosure at one end that they could hide in when they felt threatened. As long as we kept lots of Timothy hay and water available, they thrived. We only had one rabbit that got sick and died and I think it was gut stasis. The rest were killed by stray dogs. Once I got a better, more secure hutch, we never lost another rabbit.
You may not want to get to know the meat rabbits as intimately as we did our rabbits, but I was amazed at how different the personalities were between different rabbits. We had rabbits with drastically different personalities. My daughter trained one of the rabbits to do a number of tricks.
First rule of rabbit raising for meat is don’t name the kits. Your breeders can be named if you are going to give them to someone else to cull when they are no longer viable for breeding. Before starting write down your Goals…then stick to them.
Doc is correct. The appropriate cage is essential. Enough space, lots of airflow in the summer and the ability to not freeze to death in the winter is important. Many folks put their cages In barns in the winter.
Attempting to breed during hot periods is not a good idea. Bucks are commonly sterile during hot times. Never put a buck into a doe’s hutch…always put the doe into the buck’s hutch.
Doc is correct. The appropriate cage is essential. Enough space, lots of airflow in the summer and the ability to not freeze to death in the winter is important. Many folks put their cages In barns in the winter.
Attempting to breed during hot periods is not a good idea. Bucks are commonly sterile during hot times. Never put a buck into a doe’s hutch…always put the doe into the buck’s hutch.
Kiwichick
Active Member
I've raised Californian rabbits for meat. 2F + 1 M produced enough offspring for meat for our family of 2 adults + 3 children. They took up little space, ate grass and veggies. Their droppings went in the compost, great for the garden. Easy to butcher/process at 12 weeks, easier than processing chickens in my opinion. We eventually had to rehome the adults because we had to move to a place that didn't allow animals.
39. Raising Critters For Food.
'Taint Worth It.
Our Prepper group has lots of chickens that can be free ranged in time of activation after the chicken food runs out. We have no roosters as they make too much noise. When a hen lays she brags but we don't have neighbors close enough to hear them. That is our plan.
We built a rabbit barn with 15 does and bucks to began producing meat. But we then discovered we could not store enough rabbit food to produce lots of rabbits that would take three months to become dinner. We could not free range them like the chickens because they would not come home at nights as the hens would. So we abandoned that project and gave away the cages.
Here was our deliberate reasoning once we came to our senses. Eggs are sentimental. So too with rabbits unless you are planning for an Adam & Eve long term event.
What we really want is protein. That is the real goal.
The cheapest way to get protein is rice and about 7 ounces (half a can) of beans within 8 hours of each other (or in one meal), each day. This allows the rice to then become protein. That is why most of the world lives on that stuff! You can buy red, kidney, black, pinto or other canned beans in any of the Dollar stores for about $0.70 per can. This is better than dry beans because anything in a can is fully cooked and requires no energy to eat it, whereas it takes at least an hour and a half to cook dry beans. You do the fuel costs.
So here is the kicker. While you are in the Dollar stores, you can purchase a one pound canned ham (Bristle brand I believe) for $3.00. That meat is cheaper than raising chickens or rabbits for meat! Plus it too is fully cooked.
But also keep in mind you don't have to have protein every day.
Therefore, for us the chickens and eggs will be for fun. But the protein for our estimated stay is next to the forks and can opener. This looked better than running out into the night half asleep and dying to protect the chicken coop. Cans are quiet.
See: 28. Sam’s Club / Costco Type Food For Members.
See Also: 29. Rice Insurance
Article Source: Systematic Approach To Group Survival
'Taint Worth It.
Our Prepper group has lots of chickens that can be free ranged in time of activation after the chicken food runs out. We have no roosters as they make too much noise. When a hen lays she brags but we don't have neighbors close enough to hear them. That is our plan.
We built a rabbit barn with 15 does and bucks to began producing meat. But we then discovered we could not store enough rabbit food to produce lots of rabbits that would take three months to become dinner. We could not free range them like the chickens because they would not come home at nights as the hens would. So we abandoned that project and gave away the cages.
Here was our deliberate reasoning once we came to our senses. Eggs are sentimental. So too with rabbits unless you are planning for an Adam & Eve long term event.
What we really want is protein. That is the real goal.
The cheapest way to get protein is rice and about 7 ounces (half a can) of beans within 8 hours of each other (or in one meal), each day. This allows the rice to then become protein. That is why most of the world lives on that stuff! You can buy red, kidney, black, pinto or other canned beans in any of the Dollar stores for about $0.70 per can. This is better than dry beans because anything in a can is fully cooked and requires no energy to eat it, whereas it takes at least an hour and a half to cook dry beans. You do the fuel costs.
So here is the kicker. While you are in the Dollar stores, you can purchase a one pound canned ham (Bristle brand I believe) for $3.00. That meat is cheaper than raising chickens or rabbits for meat! Plus it too is fully cooked.
But also keep in mind you don't have to have protein every day.
Therefore, for us the chickens and eggs will be for fun. But the protein for our estimated stay is next to the forks and can opener. This looked better than running out into the night half asleep and dying to protect the chicken coop. Cans are quiet.
See: 28. Sam’s Club / Costco Type Food For Members.
See Also: 29. Rice Insurance
Article Source: Systematic Approach To Group Survival
P.S. To 'Taint Worth It.
I realize most readers here already are expert Preppers and probably know this, but this is for a nuby that may be lurking by considering living off rabbits during a year of chaos.
Realize you can free range chickens and they will come home every night to roost in their own beds. This means you can leave handy spots for them to lay eggs during the day and for the most part, they can feed themselves to a degree.
Rabbits cannot be free ranged as they will run away.
Realize that if you start with just a start-up inventory of rabbits or chickens and then seriously raise them it will take between three and six months to feed your group, depending on how large an extended family is in your hungry group.
But Jim, the book says 3 months for either to grow to slaughter weight, doesn't it? Yes it does, but you can't eat those eggs if you are hatching some of them. The same for young rabbits. you need them to mature to create offspring as well. You need to have a variety that can be bred and not just the same two parents the entire year.
Now here's the real problem with rabbits.
Calculate how many you need to produce the expected cook-pot fillings for your group, keeping in mind the three months to grow them.
Next calculate how much bagged rabbit food will be required to feed them for the year.
Next calculate how long a bag is good before it goes bad.
That gives you the maximum number of bags you need to purchase the day before you bug-out.
Now where do you plan to purchase that many bags from? You may get the shut out as supplies dwindle as they are purchased by other rabbit ranchers. This is what you are betting the lives of your group on, how successful your timing and shopping skills are.
You may be able to overcome these problems if you . . . .
But I am just suggesting you look ahead before locking yourself into raising critters for a bug out location for survival of chaos.
Best of luck to your group as you proceed.
I realize most readers here already are expert Preppers and probably know this, but this is for a nuby that may be lurking by considering living off rabbits during a year of chaos.
Realize you can free range chickens and they will come home every night to roost in their own beds. This means you can leave handy spots for them to lay eggs during the day and for the most part, they can feed themselves to a degree.
Rabbits cannot be free ranged as they will run away.
Realize that if you start with just a start-up inventory of rabbits or chickens and then seriously raise them it will take between three and six months to feed your group, depending on how large an extended family is in your hungry group.
But Jim, the book says 3 months for either to grow to slaughter weight, doesn't it? Yes it does, but you can't eat those eggs if you are hatching some of them. The same for young rabbits. you need them to mature to create offspring as well. You need to have a variety that can be bred and not just the same two parents the entire year.
Now here's the real problem with rabbits.
Calculate how many you need to produce the expected cook-pot fillings for your group, keeping in mind the three months to grow them.
Next calculate how much bagged rabbit food will be required to feed them for the year.
Next calculate how long a bag is good before it goes bad.
That gives you the maximum number of bags you need to purchase the day before you bug-out.
Now where do you plan to purchase that many bags from? You may get the shut out as supplies dwindle as they are purchased by other rabbit ranchers. This is what you are betting the lives of your group on, how successful your timing and shopping skills are.
You may be able to overcome these problems if you . . . .
But I am just suggesting you look ahead before locking yourself into raising critters for a bug out location for survival of chaos.
Best of luck to your group as you proceed.
Have to disagree with you. My family and others, such as the Quakers and Amish as well as a ton of homesteaders prove you wrong. Small meat animals are very efficient to raise on a homestead or farm. The key is working with others in trade for timothy and orchard hay. Growing greens for them to eat and yes putting them on pasture in moveable tractors during the day.
There is no way…unless one is part of our corrupt government… that you can stock enough meat to live on. This fight and lack of grocery food that is attainable by the masses is going to go on for many years.
THINK LOCAL. FORM SECURE LOCAL GROUPS NOW!
There is no way…unless one is part of our corrupt government… that you can stock enough meat to live on. This fight and lack of grocery food that is attainable by the masses is going to go on for many years.
THINK LOCAL. FORM SECURE LOCAL GROUPS NOW!
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Yeah, not a good idea for someone just starting out to only plan on raising rabbits and or chickens for a protein source.
You point out some good concerns. There are ways to eliminate or greatly reduce them. I do combination, raise chickens and store long term chicken meat. I store dried and canned beans. 100s of pounds of Rice is stored and I plant vegetable gardens. I also have a large wild rabbit population and several trap cages. Rabbit is on the menu as well as, squirrel, opossum, raccoon and nutria.
I can hunt for ducks and other game birds, wild pig, alligator and of course deer. Then there's a plethora of fish, snake's, frogs, shrimp, crabs and crayfish
I can let my chickens free range or put in a tractor and I have maggot producing buckets to feed them. No chicken feed required.
You do what's best for your location and circumstances, every location is not the same, every person's skills and circumstances are not the same.
Wild rabbits forage things that grow wild in your yard. They never eat rabbit pellets. They have an extremely efficient digestive system.
Wild rabbit’s digestive system is different than from a line of raised rabbits. I’ve seen too many rabbits have digestive issues if feed certain things or given the normal greens too soon.
GP, I think the digestive system itself works the same, it's just that their digestive system takes time to adjust to a change in diet.
I let our rabbits forage in the yard, and elsewhere when we took them for walks (on a leash). They seemed to know what to eat and what not to eat. They didn't just eat everything in sight. Some of what looked like prime "rabbit food" to me they turned their nose up at. They explored just about every plant. With some things they would nibble a little bit and then lose interest. With others they would chow down.
They never suffered any ill effects, but the bulk of their diet was still Timothy hay and pellets though.
I let our rabbits forage in the yard, and elsewhere when we took them for walks (on a leash). They seemed to know what to eat and what not to eat. They didn't just eat everything in sight. Some of what looked like prime "rabbit food" to me they turned their nose up at. They explored just about every plant. With some things they would nibble a little bit and then lose interest. With others they would chow down.
They never suffered any ill effects, but the bulk of their diet was still Timothy hay and pellets though.
tmttactical
A True Doomsday Prepper
What would you feed meat rabbits, once it hits the fan and all the feed supplies have dried up / gone south?
GROWING RABBIT FEED
Timothy Hay
Orchard Hay
Clover - great cover crop too
Hulless Oats - Mostly in cold weather. It makes their body too hot in the summer
Beet Greens and limited amount of the beet - Plant early in Spring and late Summer to store over Winter (7 Top Beets give the most greens)
Alfalfa - Feed to Kits up to around 7 months. Also to pregnant and feeding Does. Occasionally in the cold of winter to keep adult rabbits warm.
Carrot leaves - very little carrot
Cauliflower
Cucumber
Celery
Lettuce - the darker leaves are healthier
Coriander
This list is for New Zealand rabbits. They are a larger breed, but not overly hairy. If you stick to the above your Rabbits will stay healthy.
***Join a group or two now to trade for Wheat, Timothy Hay and
Alfalfa. Don’t wait. I’ve joined 2 groups so far with numerous large farmers in them. These are private groups and people won‘t be able to join after the SHTF. I only got invited or even found out about them from going places where farmers are and speaking with them.
Timothy Hay
Orchard Hay
Clover - great cover crop too
Hulless Oats - Mostly in cold weather. It makes their body too hot in the summer
Beet Greens and limited amount of the beet - Plant early in Spring and late Summer to store over Winter (7 Top Beets give the most greens)
Alfalfa - Feed to Kits up to around 7 months. Also to pregnant and feeding Does. Occasionally in the cold of winter to keep adult rabbits warm.
Carrot leaves - very little carrot
Cauliflower
Cucumber
Celery
Lettuce - the darker leaves are healthier
Coriander
This list is for New Zealand rabbits. They are a larger breed, but not overly hairy. If you stick to the above your Rabbits will stay healthy.
***Join a group or two now to trade for Wheat, Timothy Hay and
Alfalfa. Don’t wait. I’ve joined 2 groups so far with numerous large farmers in them. These are private groups and people won‘t be able to join after the SHTF. I only got invited or even found out about them from going places where farmers are and speaking with them.
I’m curious what breed your rabbits were. All breeds do not have the same nutritional requirements.
GP, are you asking me?
Sorry Doc! I was rushing because I had something to do. LOL. Thought I put the quote. 
Very few were pureblooded. The purebloods were Lionhead, mini Dutch, and mini Rex. The ones that had recognizable lineage were American sable, English spot, Mini lop, Rex, and one that looked kind of like a Belgian hare. Some big, some small, long haired, short haired, and a lot in between. I can't remember all of them and half of them weren't identifiable. Whatever baby bunny caught the kids' fancy.
When my daughter went to college we were down to one rabbit. I took care of that one until she got a job, and then she became the keeper of the rabbits. That last one we had here (Skinny Mini, a half Rex half English spot) was like a puppy, very people oriented, and trainable. Skinny lived a long time but eventually had to be put down because of a tumor. My daughter has two rabbits now.
Here's Skinny Mini in action
When my daughter went to college we were down to one rabbit. I took care of that one until she got a job, and then she became the keeper of the rabbits. That last one we had here (Skinny Mini, a half Rex half English spot) was like a puppy, very people oriented, and trainable. Skinny lived a long time but eventually had to be put down because of a tumor. My daughter has two rabbits now.
Here's Skinny Mini in action
Arcticdude
Top Poster
Feeding rabbits is probably about the easiest and cheapest part of raising any animal for food. Its easy to cut enough hay in a very short period of time to feed dozens of rabbits for free. They also like a lot of garden waste. To me beans and rice are a side dish to meat, not the main course. I'd hang myself if that was all I had to eat.
We never feed our chickens or ducks in the summer, they forage for what the need.
Years ago I built several rabbit hutches and we raised quite a few rabbits to sell. Its been so long that I dont remember the breed. We have a lot of wild cotton tail and snowshoe rabbits around here. I'd like to try crossing some wild rabbits with tame bunnies.
We never feed our chickens or ducks in the summer, they forage for what the need.
Years ago I built several rabbit hutches and we raised quite a few rabbits to sell. Its been so long that I dont remember the breed. We have a lot of wild cotton tail and snowshoe rabbits around here. I'd like to try crossing some wild rabbits with tame bunnies.
I have so many hawks cruising over my place everyday any chickens/ducks would be gone in 1 day flat if I free-ranged them without a 'tractor' to protect them. I collect a dozen or more hawk feathers laying on the ground around my cabin in a week's time. If I had saved them all, I could have made a full-size Native American tribal headress by now, easily. Cayotes are seen regularly at my BOL, too. All reasons I may, in the end, decide to not raise meat animals at all, to be honest. Just not convinced it's a practical investment with so many predators around. My neighbor, after all, lost all 40 of his guinea hens, so raising in numbers are obviously not the answer. Fresh meat is always better than canned, but I find myself weighing not only the $$ cost to produce fresh meat, but the time/maintenance/building housing) vs. the cost of buying/opening a can of meat. But I also know the stockpiled canned meat and alternative portein sources will eventually run out in a couple years, so I may have no choice but to revisit such a project.
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