Random fact most people don't know about meat rabbits is that they have kidney leaf fat. You can harvest, process, and use it almost exactly like pig lard. You tend to get more of it with grain-fed over grass and hay fed in my experience.
Im so happy to hear from someone who wants to take the little bit of extra effort to make their lives more enriched and comfortable and doesnt just keep them in a bare bones cage because its easier. I would choose rabbits over chickens any day for my future homestead, this info is so valuable, thank you!
Happened on your feed video, as I'm looking into raising rabbits myself. We started off with a few chickens in 2023 for eggs only. My next step will be rabbits for meat for myself and for profit of course, added bonus will be there pelts and fertilizer. Your a wealth of knowledge we're knew to all of this here in NC, I'm going to build 4 or 5 cages thinking of making them as a hutch above ground on a sled type. So I cab move them above my gardens and let them spread there gold during fall and spring time.
Just Excellent!!! Complete and so brillant comments. I have raised meat rabbits for few years and learned quite a few things.... Thank you! Can't wait to watch your other videos...
I love that you prioritize the wellbeing of the animals. Ive seen a lot of ither content about how to get the max output from rabbits so its refreshing to see you putting their comfort and happiness first. Wonderful content as always 😊
I have been binge watching your rabbit series! Thank you! I have been working on their rabbit colony area for a month and I am almost done and ready to get the rabbit this weekend!
Thank you for taking the time and putting forth the effort to put together all this information. Every bit of this 48 minutes was useful. I live in a semi rural area and due to a recent job change I'll be able to get home every day opposed to my former work schedule. Protein is the most expensive part of our dietary needs and I have it in my mind that I'd like to supplement that by raising rabbits in a tractor setup. I think I can be a better steward to the animals I eat than a commercial poultry operation for example while cutting grocery costs and involving my 13 year old in his food chain. I have pasture that I've let grow and can turn into meat that isn't full of antibiotics. I appreciate this information tremendously.
I was so happy to see you reference 4-H as your starting place for raising rabbits. For parents who are thinking "I wish we had 4-H here", you do! It is run by the county extension service and your state universities. It's in every county and parrish in the US. It's in farm country, but also the suburbs and the cities. There are 4-H groups for kids and adult classes on all kinds of subjects through the extension office. I learned you can get lard from rabbits. That's so much better than raising a pig! This is a great video! Fantastic information and you can tell you know because you've done it. Thank you!
Rabbit in warm climates- my grow outs seem to handle it fine (I believe because their fur isn’t fully developed yet) but my breeders suffer. I’m currently working on a hutch with an underground burrow for them. I recommend this for other warm climate rabbit keepers. It’s how wild rabbits keep cool-they go underground. Also, do not plan on breeding in the summer. Dead babies go to my livestock guardian dogs. They love them. So if you have a homestead dog, that’s a third possible use for any rabbit losses. Lastly, water bowls- I buy the bowls that attach to the cage wire. They are more pricey, but I never worry about the bowls being dumped.
Sarah! My goodness woman, you are amazing. Thank you yet again for an in depth and thorough video with oh so much for me to write down for a good hard copy! Put me on the preorder list for your book!! 😂😅😄 Seriously though, write a book!
You are literally the only person how shows how to brain tan rabbits, I’m not kidding … And your videos are always so great! 🎉 I didn’t know that you shouldn’t grab rabbits by the neck 😅 Thanks for alle the great information! 👌🏼
You arent kidding about your rabbits throwing a fit! My angora buck Oscar would get pissed at me if his food bowl ran out for five mins. He would pack all his toys in his bowl and push it to the door and just STARE at me😂. He was such a drama queen
I've been raising rabbits off and on for the last 6 years. We started with Rex, then went to New Zealand. I now have American Chinchilla's and absolutely LOVE them! We will be phasing out the NZ and just strictly having American Chins. I didn't know you shouldn't pick up a rabbit by the scruff so that was interesting to learn. Love all of your video's, keep up the great work!
I'm in Southeastern Ohio, and there are 2 local butcher shops. One does not do small animals. The other one currently does poultry and is going to start doing rabbits, but it's $5 per animal. Cheaper to do it yourself.
Just found your channel and I love how you deliver information. Do you think you could do a video on genetics and how to keep a healthy line of rabbits? Especially when dealing with a rare breed.
LOL! I live in Florida and a friend just butchered a cow, not too long ago and recommended your chicken video without a feed store. I just watched your rabbit video and it was amazing. I wish I could have rabbits. It sounds like Florida is going to be too hot for rabbits.
It’s still so wild to me that people are recommending my videos to each other, thank you so much for checking it out and taking the time to comment! 😁🤯
Loved your video, been raising rabbits for 4 years now, mainly New zealand x Rex (Northern ontario, so similar winters to you) I'm soon moving from a hutch to a colony setup. I tend to aim for ~4 kindlings a year per doe per year (my does tend to have 5-8 babies) and Ive always been split on Does Heat cycles, when researching seems like sources are split down the middle as to weather they have one or not, for the first 2 years I tracked and paired like they did, but for the last two I've just been going off of my planned schedule and have not really seen any differenc in results when pairing my buck with the does and the resulting kindling what are your thoughts? On a side note, I have notifications turned on but have not been getting any for your channel, I missed your last 6 videos (though that means I get a nice backlog to watch through now), but still whats the point of that notificiation bell being set to All if it still seems to ignore your uploads
one thing I learned the hard way when I was small is to not feed them your citrus peels, lost a pet rabit when i was 6 or 7 that way tiny little me wanted to share the bits I cant eat and rabbit seemed to enjoy them
Etsy would probably the best. My stuff seems to sell pretty quick there. I haven’t sold pelts yet (I’m still using all of them here) but that’s where they’ll go when I have excess.
Thank you so much for this video! I’ve watched a few now and learning a BUNCH. In your other rabbit video you say you can use the pelt after 3-4 months. What makes you wait 6 months?
3-4 months is the most efficient, 6 months is when the hide thickens up (especially in winter like how I time it) and when the hide is as big as it’s going to get. I don’t mind feeding them longer for that but some people will want to do it earlier, it’s all preference 😁
@@CedarHillsHomestead thank you. Now that you mentioned it, I think you said it in another video of yours and forgot to write it down. Thank you for taking the time to respond and love tour videos.
I have 3 bunnies as pets, but i'm still not yet okay with making them live so little time should i be raising rabbits to eat them one day (but it's me applying human morals to farming, not very practical, i agree) But anyhoo! I'd love to raise animals in the future, that way i'll know exactly how well the animal i'm eating has been treated and i know they won't have been suffering like cattle suffers in slaughter houses in their last moments, so big thanks to you mam!
Yes they do come back! I used to deal with that issue when I lived in southern Indiana but haven’t had it here in northern MT. I think it depends on the buck. Most are good within 2 weeks or so, others may take longer to recover - especially if they’re overweight (which is relatable haha).
What’s your thoughts on eating a rabbit that died without you killing it? We had a rabbit get out and thought it was gone but found it the next day. We put it back in the cage and the next day I saw it having a seizure and then it died. I’m guessing it ate something that made it sick. We decided not to eat it but I hated to just put it in the compost. Thanks for the videos!
I think you did the right thing, especially since you don’t know if it ate something it shouldn’t- it could’ve gotten into rat poison somewhere. Compost is the easy choice for small rabbits, but that question gets a lot harder the larger the animal. It can be hard to let food go to “waste” I understand that totally
😲 I disagree on the floor wire, I raised and bred open for 8 years with commercial meat rabbits and wool rabbits on the side. I became the biggest wire snob and 14 ga galvanized after weld 1 x1/2" floors was the only way to go. 16 gauge 1 x2. I will say that wool was a big obstacle and I get the notion that your hay is holding the manure up if you need 1 x2 floors. Not trying to tell you your business and like I said, I became a rabbit snob. From the way you talked about chicken wire I think you know how wire advice goes. I have stories or exceptions on most of these but I think you hit the different topics really well! I can pick it apart some more later, if you'd like.
(a different Sarah here, I don't have a Google account anymore so have to use husband's!) I've been raising American Chinchilla rabbits for almost exactly a year. The only fact I didn't know was the running out of food irritating the stomach one. I'd be curious to read more about that if you have links! I found a forum called RabbitTalk online, dedicated to meat rabbit raising, and learned most of the things you covered here, there. But many of them were a surprise to me in the beginning! I have a couple comments - first, temp: I am in Arizona, we have almost zero days under 70 degrees and the rabbits are just fine. I haven't had any obvious signs of stress with them even in our prolonged streak of days over 100 degrees (113 day streak, it was a record). I think it helps that I got them from a local breeder so they're hardier, acclimated to our temps. I do have a portable AC unit in their shed and try to keep it under 80, so far I've never lost an adult rabbit - but the AC can only keep it about 30 degrees under ambient temp. I utilize ceramic tiles as resting boards, giant ice cubes (frozen in a plastic storage container then put them on the tiles). Second - hay. I feed mine timothy/alfalfa hay cubes. Satisfies the chew need, helps maintain teeth, still provides that fiber & keeps their guts happy. Also for anyone still worried about rabbits eating hay they pooped on... they eat their own poop as part of their digestion process (cecotropes, those mushy, small clusters that you might sometimes see) so "contaminated hay" is really a non-issue for them. Peed on hay is a different story but as you mentioned they don't tend to mix up their kitchen and bathroom. Third, my wire floors are 14ga 1/2 x 1 (the rest of the cage is 16ga 1/2 x 1 because I got a good deal on a 50' roll) and the poops of even Am Chins goes through fine. I do still have to brush/rinse off their resting tiles and occasionally a nugget gets stuck but not very often.
Fellow Arizonan, thank you for sharing this! I was wondering how others here keep their rabbits cool in the summer. Do you do anything in the winter? I get a month or two that occasionally dips below freezing.
@@spiritsojourning no need to do anything in winter. They wear a heavy fur coat after all! Many people raise rabbits in northern states/countries and no one worries about keeping their buns warm until temps are well into negative numbers. The only issue for here would be making sure their water doesn't freeze and for me, at least, that's a zero worry issue bc they are indoors including their water. In 3 years living here we've had frost but never ever had standing water freeze even outdoors.
Random fact most people don't know about meat rabbits is that they have kidney leaf fat.
You can harvest, process, and use it almost exactly like pig lard.
You tend to get more of it with grain-fed over grass and hay fed in my experience.
I used that to make soap this year! I accidentally made it too spicy (too much lye) but I’m gonna try again soon. There’s a ton in there!
You can tell when someone has been doing something for a while and really knows their stuff.
This goes straight in my new saved list.
Thank you I really appreciate that!!
Im so happy to hear from someone who wants to take the little bit of extra effort to make their lives more enriched and comfortable and doesnt just keep them in a bare bones cage because its easier. I would choose rabbits over chickens any day for my future homestead, this info is so valuable, thank you!
Happened on your feed video, as I'm looking into raising rabbits myself. We started off with a few chickens in 2023 for eggs only. My next step will be rabbits for meat for myself and for profit of course, added bonus will be there pelts and fertilizer. Your a wealth of knowledge we're knew to all of this here in NC, I'm going to build 4 or 5 cages thinking of making them as a hutch above ground on a sled type. So I cab move them above my gardens and let them spread there gold during fall and spring time.
Just Excellent!!! Complete and so brillant comments. I have raised meat rabbits for few years and learned quite a few things.... Thank you! Can't wait to watch your other videos...
I love that you prioritize the wellbeing of the animals. Ive seen a lot of ither content about how to get the max output from rabbits so its refreshing to see you putting their comfort and happiness first. Wonderful content as always 😊
I continue to be impressed by your content and presentation. Thanks for putting in the time to do this!
I have been binge watching your rabbit series! Thank you! I have been working on their rabbit colony area for a month and I am almost done and ready to get the rabbit this weekend!
Thank you for taking the time and putting forth the effort to put together all this information. Every bit of this 48 minutes was useful. I live in a semi rural area and due to a recent job change I'll be able to get home every day opposed to my former work schedule. Protein is the most expensive part of our dietary needs and I have it in my mind that I'd like to supplement that by raising rabbits in a tractor setup. I think I can be a better steward to the animals I eat than a commercial poultry operation for example while cutting grocery costs and involving my 13 year old in his food chain. I have pasture that I've let grow and can turn into meat that isn't full of antibiotics. I appreciate this information tremendously.
I was so happy to see you reference 4-H as your starting place for raising rabbits. For parents who are thinking "I wish we had 4-H here", you do! It is run by the county extension service and your state universities. It's in every county and parrish in the US. It's in farm country, but also the suburbs and the cities. There are 4-H groups for kids and adult classes on all kinds of subjects through the extension office.
I learned you can get lard from rabbits. That's so much better than raising a pig!
This is a great video! Fantastic information and you can tell you know because you've done it. Thank you!
Rabbit in warm climates- my grow outs seem to handle it fine (I believe because their fur isn’t fully developed yet) but my breeders suffer. I’m currently working on a hutch with an underground burrow for them. I recommend this for other warm climate rabbit keepers. It’s how wild rabbits keep cool-they go underground. Also, do not plan on breeding in the summer.
Dead babies go to my livestock guardian dogs. They love them. So if you have a homestead dog, that’s a third possible use for any rabbit losses.
Lastly, water bowls- I buy the bowls that attach to the cage wire. They are more pricey, but I never worry about the bowls being dumped.
Thank you for sharing.
Sarah! My goodness woman, you are amazing. Thank you yet again for an in depth and thorough video with oh so much for me to write down for a good hard copy! Put me on the preorder list for your book!! 😂😅😄 Seriously though, write a book!
Thank you and you are so welcome! I have some half-written books, we’ll see if I can get them finished up over the winter 😁💖
@@CedarHillsHomestead I look forward to you being snowed in to finish them! 😅
You are literally the only person how shows how to brain tan rabbits, I’m not kidding … And your videos are always so great! 🎉 I didn’t know that you shouldn’t grab rabbits by the neck 😅 Thanks for alle the great information! 👌🏼
Thank you!!!!! ☺️
Haven't started raising rabbits. Taking all the notes and getting informed before starting. Such great advice!!!!
I cannot tell you how grateful future you will be for all the research you’re doing right now! ♥️ I wish everyone were this thoughtful, thank you!
Thank you. Learned several things. I look forward to expanding my new homestead in time.
Great information! Getting my meat rabbits today!
I’ve been raising meat rabbit for 5 years. It is a numbers breeding challenge. Thank you for info.
Thank you! We are researching meat rabbits.
You arent kidding about your rabbits throwing a fit! My angora buck Oscar would get pissed at me if his food bowl ran out for five mins. He would pack all his toys in his bowl and push it to the door and just STARE at me😂. He was such a drama queen
The attachment issue is a personal issue that will vary with every person. It's ok to approach it in whatever way works for you.
I've been raising rabbits off and on for the last 6 years. We started with Rex, then went to New Zealand. I now have American Chinchilla's and absolutely LOVE them! We will be phasing out the NZ and just strictly having American Chins. I didn't know you shouldn't pick up a rabbit by the scruff so that was interesting to learn. Love all of your video's, keep up the great work!
Thanks for this video, this is fantastic information!
Can you describe and show how you handle the rabbit's water in the winter? I'd love to see your process. Thank you so much
I'm in Southeastern Ohio, and there are 2 local butcher shops. One does not do small animals. The other one currently does poultry and is going to start doing rabbits, but it's $5 per animal. Cheaper to do it yourself.
Wow that is high!! Thank you so much for sharing that, it sure makes it easy to do it yourself! 😁
Just found your channel and I love how you deliver information. Do you think you could do a video on genetics and how to keep a healthy line of rabbits? Especially when dealing with a rare breed.
Oh dang that’s a really good idea, thank you for the suggestion! I’ll add it to the notebook of videos to do. Thank you! 😊
LOL! I live in Florida and a friend just butchered a cow, not too long ago and recommended your chicken video without a feed store. I just watched your rabbit video and it was amazing. I wish I could have rabbits. It sounds like Florida is going to be too hot for rabbits.
It’s still so wild to me that people are recommending my videos to each other, thank you so much for checking it out and taking the time to comment! 😁🤯
Great video.
Thank you so much!
Great video. Thanks. New zelands and silver foxes here in canton, ga. Cheers🎉
Amazing! You definitely have a totally different set of challenges down in GA, I wish you the best 😁
Best meat rabbit guide or reference?
So beautiful!
Thank you 🫶🏻🫶🏻🫶🏻
I've never gotten to a video this early 😆
Thank you for being here!!! 🫶🏻
Great video.
hummm the saliva thing is new info for me...thank you. I agree with the same color....makes it easier. I raise American Blues.....❤
Oooh American Blues are stunning, that’s a great breed!
Loved your video, been raising rabbits for 4 years now, mainly New zealand x Rex (Northern ontario, so similar winters to you) I'm soon moving from a hutch to a colony setup. I tend to aim for ~4 kindlings a year per doe per year (my does tend to have 5-8 babies) and Ive always been split on Does Heat cycles, when researching seems like sources are split down the middle as to weather they have one or not, for the first 2 years I tracked and paired like they did, but for the last two I've just been going off of my planned schedule and have not really seen any differenc in results when pairing my buck with the does and the resulting kindling what are your thoughts?
On a side note, I have notifications turned on but have not been getting any for your channel, I missed your last 6 videos (though that means I get a nice backlog to watch through now), but still whats the point of that notificiation bell being set to All if it still seems to ignore your uploads
one thing I learned the hard way when I was small is to not feed them your citrus peels,
lost a pet rabit when i was 6 or 7 that way
tiny little me wanted to share the bits I cant eat and rabbit seemed to enjoy them
I’m so sorry small you 😭 your comment might have saved another person’s rabbit 🫶🏻
It’s a great video ❤
Do you use fodder trees to feed your rabbits and goats? Nick Ferguson talked about them on Jack Spirko's podcast
Ooohhh yay!! ❤❤❤
Girl I love you so much, you’re the most supportive person and it means everything to me 😭💖
I didn't know not to pick up by the neck
With the state of things where would you sell your pelts to?
Etsy would probably the best. My stuff seems to sell pretty quick there. I haven’t sold pelts yet (I’m still using all of them here) but that’s where they’ll go when I have excess.
Hopper popper for me is best mounted at bellybutton high, and lean back not pull down to dislocate.
I haven’t seen that, interesting! That’s good to know, thank you!
What would be the best breeds of meat rabbit for central Fl. pertaining heat sensitivity. If any.
I have not raised them but I’ve heard TAMUKs are ideal for hotter areas. They still need plenty of shade and help, but they’re better equipped for it.
I have them and I live in Texas, so similar weather - great creatures
How do you deal with your older males that are six months or five months older and want to start fighting. Are your males caged separately?
Thank you so much for this video! I’ve watched a few now and learning a BUNCH. In your other rabbit video you say you can use the pelt after 3-4 months. What makes you wait 6 months?
3-4 months is the most efficient, 6 months is when the hide thickens up (especially in winter like how I time it) and when the hide is as big as it’s going to get. I don’t mind feeding them longer for that but some people will want to do it earlier, it’s all preference 😁
@@CedarHillsHomestead thank you for your perspective! Keep up the vids you’re doing amazing!
Do you have a breeder recommendation for American Chinchilla Rabbits?
Mine are from Wallace’s Stoplight Hoppers in Avon, MT. I think they originally came from the L3 Farm in Washington State.
@@CedarHillsHomestead thank you. Now that you mentioned it, I think you said it in another video of yours and forgot to write it down. Thank you for taking the time to respond and love tour videos.
❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤
I have 3 bunnies as pets, but i'm still not yet okay with making them live so little time should i be raising rabbits to eat them one day (but it's me applying human morals to farming, not very practical, i agree)
But anyhoo! I'd love to raise animals in the future, that way i'll know exactly how well the animal i'm eating has been treated and i know they won't have been suffering like cattle suffers in slaughter houses in their last moments, so big thanks to you mam!
how often do you have to replace your rabbit buck and or Doe's?
Probably every 4-9 years, depending on your program. If you don’t breed them very often, they don’t need replaced as often (usually).
I would love to know when do the males become fertile again after being in high temps? I’ve never found an answer. Days? Weeks?
Yes they do come back! I used to deal with that issue when I lived in southern Indiana but haven’t had it here in northern MT.
I think it depends on the buck. Most are good within 2 weeks or so, others may take longer to recover - especially if they’re overweight (which is relatable haha).
Don't rabbits eat their own poop anyway so the people complaining about rabbits eating hay with poop on it is a non-issue?
They eat a specific tipe of excretion called cecotrope. Not just any poop
What’s your thoughts on eating a rabbit that died without you killing it?
We had a rabbit get out and thought it was gone but found it the next day. We put it back in the cage and the next day I saw it having a seizure and then it died. I’m guessing it ate something that made it sick.
We decided not to eat it but I hated to just put it in the compost.
Thanks for the videos!
I think you did the right thing, especially since you don’t know if it ate something it shouldn’t- it could’ve gotten into rat poison somewhere. Compost is the easy choice for small rabbits, but that question gets a lot harder the larger the animal. It can be hard to let food go to “waste” I understand that totally
@@CedarHillsHomestead cool thanks for the reply!
😲 I disagree on the floor wire, I raised and bred open for 8 years with commercial meat rabbits and wool rabbits on the side. I became the biggest wire snob and 14 ga galvanized after weld 1 x1/2" floors was the only way to go. 16 gauge 1 x2. I will say that wool was a big obstacle and I get the notion that your hay is holding the manure up if you need 1 x2 floors.
Not trying to tell you your business and like I said, I became a rabbit snob. From the way you talked about chicken wire I think you know how wire advice goes.
I have stories or exceptions on most of these but I think you hit the different topics really well!
I can pick it apart some more later, if you'd like.
I use wire floors! I just don’t like chicken wire as flooring
(a different Sarah here, I don't have a Google account anymore so have to use husband's!) I've been raising American Chinchilla rabbits for almost exactly a year. The only fact I didn't know was the running out of food irritating the stomach one. I'd be curious to read more about that if you have links! I found a forum called RabbitTalk online, dedicated to meat rabbit raising, and learned most of the things you covered here, there. But many of them were a surprise to me in the beginning!
I have a couple comments - first, temp: I am in Arizona, we have almost zero days under 70 degrees and the rabbits are just fine. I haven't had any obvious signs of stress with them even in our prolonged streak of days over 100 degrees (113 day streak, it was a record). I think it helps that I got them from a local breeder so they're hardier, acclimated to our temps. I do have a portable AC unit in their shed and try to keep it under 80, so far I've never lost an adult rabbit - but the AC can only keep it about 30 degrees under ambient temp. I utilize ceramic tiles as resting boards, giant ice cubes (frozen in a plastic storage container then put them on the tiles).
Second - hay. I feed mine timothy/alfalfa hay cubes. Satisfies the chew need, helps maintain teeth, still provides that fiber & keeps their guts happy. Also for anyone still worried about rabbits eating hay they pooped on... they eat their own poop as part of their digestion process (cecotropes, those mushy, small clusters that you might sometimes see) so "contaminated hay" is really a non-issue for them. Peed on hay is a different story but as you mentioned they don't tend to mix up their kitchen and bathroom.
Third, my wire floors are 14ga 1/2 x 1 (the rest of the cage is 16ga 1/2 x 1 because I got a good deal on a 50' roll) and the poops of even Am Chins goes through fine. I do still have to brush/rinse off their resting tiles and occasionally a nugget gets stuck but not very often.
Fellow Arizonan, thank you for sharing this! I was wondering how others here keep their rabbits cool in the summer. Do you do anything in the winter? I get a month or two that occasionally dips below freezing.
@@spiritsojourning no need to do anything in winter. They wear a heavy fur coat after all! Many people raise rabbits in northern states/countries and no one worries about keeping their buns warm until temps are well into negative numbers. The only issue for here would be making sure their water doesn't freeze and for me, at least, that's a zero worry issue bc they are indoors including their water. In 3 years living here we've had frost but never ever had standing water freeze even outdoors.