Permaculture Series - Residential Scale Rabbitry

My residential scale rabbit experiment has come to an end. 2-1/2 years of thinking outside the box called Normal and there have been plenty of lessons learned concerning how rabbits fit into the back yard ecosystem.

There are ways a rabbitry consisting of 2-3 breeding females and 1 mature male can be maintained with minimal costs if a little planning goes into the landscaping and design of the yard. If done industriously, the mature adults could be 90% sustained from yard growth as long aslitters on the smaller side were deemed acceptable. The growing juveniles will eat ravenously and as they grow larger they will most likely require hay or pellets unless a large enough section of vegetation is available to provide their feed.

Something I was not very consistent with was record keeping. Keeping track of which female is pregnant and how old young rabbits are is very useful knowledge and keeping consistent notes will save time and improve quality in the long run.

I've reached the conclusion that a mature male can roam the entire back yard without trouble from predators. The mature females also can safely free range in the yard if one can solve the problem of controlling when they get pregnant and ensure they have a safe place to give birth and nurse their young for the first several weeks. I have not figured out how to solve that problem, so I would recommed the females be kept in regular wire cages with an opening to an enclosed earthen 'cave' where they will keep the babies. It's also important this cave have easy access for those who are tending the rabbits as it will need to be cleaned out and the newborns cared for.

A useful invention which would greatly aid the food collection process is a scyth type rotating lawn mower which somehow made the grass clippings into a giant stranded rope. This would make harvesting reasonable sized servings on a daily basis and also stopping a lot of the waste rabbits create while eating hay.

Keeping three femals in the manner I describe below would net a family of Four enough meat to enjoy weekly and things could be timed to have young from all three females butcher ready at the same time to provide meat for a larger gathering or Holiday.

The young rabbits should be confined as they become easy meals for hawks and cats if they are out in the open on a regular basis. A movable Tractor style contraption can be used to give them access to fresh grass and room to exercise a la Salatin style chicken tractors, although if they are able to get out it's a pain in the ass catching them again unless they are feeling cooperative.

A basic schematic of how I would recommed housing the female and juvenile rabbits. I live in a very hot, dry, desert environment so getting the rabbits access to the cool ground and shade is critical.
(1 – Brick to keep wood post off the ground) (2 – 2x4 framed cage supports) (3 – Wire Rabbit cage) (4 – Plywood box between wire cage & enclosure) (5 – CMU or Brick walled enclosure) (6 – Hinged top) (7 – Concrete slab to prevent escapes)