We have Bunnies!!
When we were first planning our homestead rabbits were not on our radar. To me they are too much like pets and I wasn’t sure we would be able to butcher them. I considered getting some just for the manure but it seemed like a waste of feed and resources just for manure. Eventually I could not ignore the benefits of keeping rabbits and we decided to try it and see how it goes. Originally I was looking at Silver Foxes but decided to try a cheaper breed for now until we know what we are doing. We picked up two New Zealand’s on Saturday and will be getting two more in a few weeks for a total of 3 does and 1 buck. When all is said and done we will have paid $55 total for all 4 rabbits.
We have set them up in our old duck tractor for now but we should have the rabbit tractor completed by the end of the week. We came up with the design ourselves and we are happy with it so far. A few aspects didn’t work out as planned but I think it might be even better this way. The rabbit tractor will be until they reach maturity (don’t worry the male will be separate) after that we plan to set up a rabbit colony and use the rabbit tractor for the grow outs.
What are these weird looking ducks?!?!
We picked out a variety of colors a black doe, a grey doe, a grey buck, and a broken red doe. This should give us a variety of pelt colors. The goal is to use as much of every animal as possible because of this the color of the pelts were important to us. Most people just get the New Zealand whites but we wanted color variations for things like ear muffs and moccasins. I’m particularly excited about the moccasins!!!
(This isn't one of ours but we couldn't resist getting a picture of this cutie!)
One 2018 Goal down!
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They're beautiful! What a fun addition to the homestead. I love the perspective of making sure every piece of the animal will be used--seriously, I can't think of anything softer than rabbit fur. I petted ours like...multiple times a day sometimes, haha.
We found that our rabbits were super-cheap to keep! We actually bought no supplemental food for them--moving the tractor every day to fresh pasture/sharing appropriate kitchen bits worked out for them just fine. We were only using them for manure production (they excelled at this!) and pasture-taming, though, not meat, so I don't know much beyond that.
They were such sweet animals (until the neighbor's uncontrolled dog ate through the tractor and killed them them a week or so ago. Pretty steamed about that, still...)
Awful @slhomestead! I am sorry to hear about that:( poor bunnies. I would be steamed too <3
Yeah. But! It was part of our learning process, too. Since we are new to the area, we had no idea what kind of threat all the free-roaming dogs were. We've since reinforced our other animal enclosures, and are a little wiser.
I have lost birds to the same lack of knowledge kind of thing. We did the same, now there is no chance of a repeat. You live, you learn <3
So you guys found out it was a dog? That really sucks. I'm trying to slowly introduce them to grass since they were raised in a cage system I don't want them to get bloat
After seeing our rabbits get to jump and literally kick up their heels in the tractor, I couldn't imagine using any other system for holding them--I liked giving them room! I didn't know rabbits could bloat, too!
And...yeah. When we moved here, we didn't know that free-roaming, underfed dogs would be such frequent visitors to our land. I can understand free-ranging herbivores or insectivores, but turning your hungry dog loose in the evening to do whatever is just irresponsible and selfish. Part of our learning curve, though!
I would be such a pain in the butt to the police if that was happening here. Eventually I want a permanent colony set up for the breeding does with tractors for the buck and grow outs or if that doesn't work out we'll have to divide out sections of the colony.
Hah! Yeah. We did actually call our sheriff when we noticed that dogs kept coming, and we learned pretty quickly that rural Missouri is a lot different than urban Ohio. The responsibility to protect our animals falls to us out here, as it should be, I suppose!
I truly understand the phrase, "Good fences make good neighbors" now. We can't get our protective hedges up soon enough!
Also, that sounds like a good system, from the research I've done (again, not an expert, haha!). I saw a rabbit-rearing homestead that actually dug holes in the ground, lined with 5-gallon buckets (with access holes) so that the does could rear their babies underground. Looking forward to seeing how it all comes together!
Probably Be Not Slothful? I think I've mentioned them before. Their system has always been our end game we aren't sure where we want to put our colony yet
I have pet rabbits and I don't like them much. Hahaha. I was at a local farm store on Saturday and man o man, they had the cutest buns there. It was hard. But I don't even like the ones I have... I wondered if it would be different getting them from babies. Haha.
I am wondering, will your new rabbit tractor have wire on the bottom? If not, they might dig out, just something to think about! :) That little red rabbit is adorable. I just love red headed animals.
I had a pet rabbit growing up that was really mean these guys have been handled a lot so hopefully we won't have that issue. It will not have wire so we'll see how it goes. Some people believe that rabbits only do that when they are unhappy with their environment. It's one of those we'll try it and see later on the grow outs will only be in it for 4-8 weeks and it's going to be moved every day!
Ah I haven't heard that! I kinda always thought they dug for funzies. Haha. :D Can't wait to see how it goes for you! :)
Who knows for sure but I'm hoping moving it every day will limit the damage if they do dig!
Oh I'd just be worried about them escaping off into the wild blue 'yonder. Hahah.
They are so beautiful
Sweet little babies! Good idea getting a variety for pelts. I have a few friends who have rabbits for the same reasons and they love it! Congrats on the new adventure! <3
I am beyond excited about some fuzzy moccasins! Wait till you see the other 2 we are getting their colors are my favorite out of the 4!
AWESOME. Rabbits are a very overlooked addition to homestead. They are one of the most usable livestock and have the best feed to meat conversion ratio of any domestic animal. I have raised rabbits for meat, pelt, fiber and show for many years. Feel free to ask if you have any questions.
I will thank you! I've been looking forward to these guys for a while now, can't wait until we breed them!
Congrats!! So cute!!!