Rabbit meat is my husband's favorite small-animal meat. Rabbits and duck are the two most cost-efficient meats you can raise on small acreage. (Ducks need a bit more room than rabbits but are ready to butcher at 10 weeks. We'll talk more about them a bit later.) Young meat rabbit Truly grass-fed rabbits require only alfalfa pellets, salt blocks and fresh grass/weeds (hay during the winter months). Yes, you can buy expensive rabbit-chow, but for meat production, your rabbits' nutritional needs are simple. Young rabbits are ready for butcher at about 12 weeks, and whether your take them to butcher or do it yourself, you can fill your freezer with nutritional, tasty meat. Rabbits can be raised out on pasture in wood-slatted-floor cages. You can put them out without the bottom, but there is a chance they will dig out. If you have neighborhood dogs that roam into your yard, you'll need to keep an eye out - some dogs will break into pens. We have our watch-dog, Jennie, who keeps our homestead critter and four-legged-visitor free.... If you keep your rabbits in cages, you can pick weeds and grass for them - they'll do well if this is 50% of their diet. Some value-added opportunities to compliment your meat rabbit venture:
2 Comments
Carmen
10/2/2011 01:46:38 am
Just be careful in the heat. Rabbits do NOT handle the heat very well. We found that out the hard way. Was not pretty.
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10/2/2011 03:45:57 am
That's a great point, Carmen. Rabbits do require shade and good ventilation. Can I ask - what was your setup? It will be a good learning tool for the rest of us...
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