What happens if you accidently eat a wild rabbit with myxamotosis, will you die? I don't know why they had to introduce that stupid virus to Austalia, in the long run it didn't do anything.

Carrie and I have been raising and eating meat rabbits in Arizona for a while now. They're New Zealand Whites. We only had one heat death during the summer, and it probably could have been prevented. Some shade and a mister have been sufficient even with the summers we have. Given our experience, I'd think that most other places in the US would be fine with just shade during the summer.

The rabbits are kept in cages with the bucks in their own cages to control the breeding rate. The offspring head for the freezer once they get big enough to start trying to hump each other in earnest.

As for wild rabbits, it's my understanding that, during the warmer months, they can develop worms. After you've bagged a wild rabbit, you can check it's abdomen for worms. I think the evidence is a bumpy abdomen.

Since I live in Louisiana I would like to try and raise nutria. They are an invasive species for La. but they seem to do very very well here. I figure that finding native/wild food for nutria would not be very difficult and the pelts are much finer when properly tanned than rabbits. I have raised rabbits for meat in the past and they are wonderful meat animals but I figure with a shortage of prepared pellets it may be difficult to successfully raise them on wild/native vegetation. By the way nutria tastes better than rabbit and is even easier to hunt/kill.
TIm

Hello all!

I have been raising rabbits (just for the manure) for over four years now. I have been pursuing a more sustainable life style even before becoming peakoil aware, it just so happens that what I have learned over the years might actually pay off! With that said, here are some pointers (all learned through mistakes) that might help newbies. RABBITS BREED, WELL, LIKE RABBITS!! You can keep a litter together for about six months and all hell brakes loose. The males become very aggressive and must be separated from not only the females but the males as well. It is very rare that males can live in the same pen without killing each other. Females can live harmoniously with each other, but must be monitored as they too can be very territorial. Now if the rabbits are fixed this is a different story as their hormone levels are reduced. Sexing the rabbit is a very important skill and is somewhat difficult. The best method is to hold the rabbit as if it were a baby being fed a bottle. If the rabbit is nervous and jumpy, rub it's belly in a soft circular motion (I kid you not!) Once mr./mrs. bunny is calm enough, place your finger just above the genitals, push down lightly, and pull your finger back towards the belly. Presto, it should be self explanatory after that!

Food, rabbits eat just about every weed, but there are many that are poisonous. I have searched the net for a listing of plants that rabbits can/cannot eat and I have come to the conclusion that not all of them are correct. Experiementation on a small scale is recommended. When they are young, you should provide as much alfalfa as possible, plus if you intend to eat them for meat, then I would continue with alfalfa for their entire life cycle, they will be fat and happy. If you intend to just keep them healthy, these are the foods they love most from my area, dandelions, clover, carrots, almost any type of grass, timothy hay is the best for overall health! They go nuts over it! Now if you intend to be completely sustainable and completely provide their diet, you are not only going to need hay for winter storage, but I recommend feeding them dryed oak/maple leaves and most importantly tree limbs! I know it sounds weird. There are alot of vitamins in the bark of certain trees (bunnies won't eat all type of trees) I have found great success in using trimmings from our pear trees and japanese apple trees. The latter is most favored by the bunny community. And it is great for teeth health. Also, fruits can be fed from time to time, don't over do it! Our bunnys love apples,pears, and peaches.

If your rabbits are your fertilizer, I suggest building movable hutches if you want to apply the manure to the land directly. You can easily house three rabbits in a 3X2X9 hutch, just put wheels on it. This will save you alot of time in shoveling out the manure, which is a lot of work.

If you live in a cold climate like I do, anything below 10 degress is kind of hard on the little buggers. Buy some plastic covering to cover up the hutch. My hutch design isn't on wheels as I use manure tea for my garden so I made the hutches pretty close to the ground which allows the manure to build up to the bottom of the hutch. This provides some warmth and blocks out cold air that could sneak into the pen from the bottom. I stole the idea when I was learning how to care for chickens.

I hope this helps any future rabbit owners!

I was thinking of raising guinea cuys instead of rabbits because they are more friendly and don't burrow, but the meat seems to be better on rabbit and the fur is more usable and they are bigger.

How many rabbit pelts does it take to make a coat or a blanket? Be interested in making this type of thing up.

First time I had wild rabbit was in Spain, a paella dish my host mother made that was unbelievable. Don't know how someone posted it takes time to get used to eating it, because it couldn't be any better! With a glass of cheap Calatayud wine!

So hard to get good rabbit in NYC even in the best restaurants.

I have meat rabbits housed in individual tractor cages that I move around the backyard. They are actually "cat birthing cages" that I modified for the purpose - I put roofs on the cages as well as handles at each end - I don't have wheels on them as I wanted the grass to be easy to access for the rabbits. Plus it gets pretty hot in Sydney during summer and the fact that the rabbits can lie directly on the ground helps reduce problems with overheating.

I am in the process of modifying a large cage that I found so I can put all the growers (young rabbits) in there - this one will have small wheels at one end and I will pull it around with a rope at the other. Need the wheels due to the added weight, but the rabbits will still be able to have some direct contact with the ground.

How much meat is on an average rabbit? 2 cups cooked? Three? Including organ meats?

The fyers (8 - 12 weeks old) give you about the same amount of meat as a medium sized chicken.

The stewers (over 6 months) give you double that amount, but the meat is not tender - though if you cook them in a slow cooker it is not a problem.

The roasters (12 weeks - 6 months) would give you somewhere in between. I haven't eaten any that age.

Haven't got into eating the organs yet.

We've been raising rabbits for a while now.We sell most of them because they mature so quickly they are really a good cheap cash crop for kids to learn about livestock with.You don't invest alot in them before you can sell 'em either.30 days gestation,30 to wean.We have six does and two bucks.You can swap out your babies and breed them to their parents if you need more does more offspring and therefore more cash.They live in two foot by three foot hutches.They are in one of my horse stalls so they stay cooler and I can close the door at night from predators. I have a radio on for the horses but it also acclimates the rabbits to human sounds so they are very calm even as babies.Rabbits are really good to have because they require so little space and not much food or upkeep.Water is really the main concern to have for them at all times.You always know you have a good meal at hand too and you know everything you're putting in it as well.You pretty much have to keep from getting sentimental and look at them like livestock,not pets.It's an excellent way to get kids used to caring for animals so they can eventually care for larger, more expensive animals.

The rabbit is the ultimate city livestock animal. I use mine for wool and manure, with the occasional fryer. Urbanites should look into it as I did. I use mine in tractors mounted to my garden beds. Almost a perfect low maintanence thing.

Thanks, Good luck

Patti

For those planning on rabbit tractors, I found the below info on rabbits and tall fescue to give me pause (tall fescue is almost always infected with endophyte) as my yard and pasture is overrun with tall fescue;

Missouri Dept of Conservation, Rabbit Management



and from the Indiana Department of Natural Resources;



Since so many lawns are tall fescue, those with such a lawn would need to kill off the fescue (with a reliable method) and replant with a preferred grass before having a high level of confidence in a rabbit tractoring program. Bluegrass, as one example, results in relatively high yields.

I had new bunnies born today!

I actually entertained the idea of raising rabbits for food and then found a tiny baby rabbit outside my front door. It was raining pretty heavy and he was trying to stay dry. My girlfriend picked him up and fell in love with him....so....we bought a cage for him and he plays with my cats. He even has a little blanket that he drag's around with him.

So much for me killing rabbits for food. What can I say, I'm a suck.

lol, really. Me too. I guess when I'm hungry enough and there's no other food in the house...well, then Thumper becomes dinner.

And just today, as I was tending the garden, a small wild brown cotton tail rabbit was sitting there munching on the grass and weeds. I was able to slowly walk around it to the garden, got within just six ft. from it, and had a staring contest for a few minutes as it munched its grass...

How does one get over killing such a cute animal? No one has related on this thread the killing technique for meat rabbits. Is it that bad? What do you do? Shoot it with a gun or break it's neck? Where's Gollum when you need him! Perhaps I'll just try some bow/arrow practice with the rabbits as targets. If I miss, lucky for the rabbit, if I hit it, then I will feel compelled to eat it.

I guess I'll browse through this thread again and see if there's a book reference someone has posted concerning the proper way for harvesting and preparing wild rabbits.