Comments on: Bunnies are Fluffy and So Much More

By: Annette Cottrell

Annette Cottrell — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 18:01:10 +0000

Hi Robbert – Do you have a facebook page or something with pictures of your set up? I’d love to see it! I actually just recently finished a new set up at my new house and now I’m working on an exercise area they can be in part of the time.

By: Robert Fiut

Robert Fiut — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 17:56:14 +0000

I raise New Zealand White meat rabbits humanely in Skagit County, WA. Please contact me for breeding stock, state-of-the-art quonset-style, all-wire hutches, and/or advice. Robert Fiut
rhfiut@webtv.net 360 873 4513

By: admin

admin — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 16:19:45 +0000

Dave where are you located? I might not have been able to do it if I didn’t have a guide that first time. And if I can do it so can you. We just need to find you a guide.

By: Dave Stone

Dave Stone — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 16:13:49 +0000

Thanks for this post. You’re no brute but even knowing the realities of the food industries it’s hard to get our minds around the hands-on facts of humane and sustainable operations.
Still thinking of raising meat rabbits. Still not sure I can dress them myself.

By: admin

admin — Sat, 02 Apr 2011 04:44:41 +0000

Illoura – how horrible! The only two people I know who have raised meat rabbits are both older men, both stopped because they couldn’t stand the screams. It doesn’t have to be that way! As soon as this book is done I am starting on an integrated chicken/rabbit/compost area. I’m hoping to have bunnies in a month – I can’t wait!

By: Illoura

Illoura — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 02:14:47 +0000

Wow, your discourse on meat rabbits was an eye opener for me!
I remember once when I was 14, riding my pony over to see my boyfriend, to find him busy yanking meat rabbits ears forward to kill them. My pony certainly didn’t like the scream they emitted, and after I realized what was happening, I was horrified. They weren’t ‘cute’ bunnies, but they were still screaming… Later I raised angora rabbits (as pets), and for many years after I let my daughters raise “house rabbits”- any rabbit that you allow to live like a pet cat in your home. They use a litter box too! That might work for you- a male and female with their own small cages in the house that they can often leave (the door open so they can use their litter boxes), to play and romp with family. The meat rabbits then could be housed in a ‘run’ the size of a desk (ramps to several shelves would lend vertical space to move around in there).
Where there’s a will, there’s a way, they say!
Thank you so much for sharing this whole new adventure with me, so that I know now there is a better way to butcher rabbits for meat.

By: admin

admin — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 05:47:40 +0000

Hi Yolanda. I have a little bit. Rabbits get worms really easily and then the normal course for those is to give them medicine. So it’s possible to feed them on grass but may not get you what you want. I know a rabbit farmer who feeds them oats and alfalfa along with garden scraps and supplemental nutrients but many just feed the commercial pellets. I’m not comfortable going the pellet route personally but I haven’t yet started a rabbit operation and likely won’t in this neighborhood. If we were to have more space so that I could set up a large enclosure so that they had room to hop around more then I would. I don’t feel right keeping them in those small cages though.

By: Yolanda

Yolanda — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 22:13:31 +0000

Have you looked into what would be the best way to feed domestic rabbits? I am working up to setting up a small (just for me and DH) rabbit operation here at home(Indiana.) I want the meat to be as healthy as possible. I am aware that, for instance, “grass fed” beef is much healthier than grain fed. How about with rabbits? How can one feed them in a “natural” way, and would it improve the healthiness of the meat?

By: admin

admin — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 07:34:00 +0000

Josee I’m still thinking on this one. I don’t feel right giving them such a small caged space so in the meantime we will be eating more pastured beef which grow very easily around here with all our rainfall. Someday I may be able to build a setup that gives them more room but I’m just not ready for that right now. I do still think they are a great source of backyard meat!

By: Josee

Josee — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 05:29:20 +0000

We’ve been raising rabbits in our backyard for a year now. We were inspired to do this for many of the same reasons as you stated in your blog. Let me know if you start raising rabbits too