Goats vs. Rabbits

[cassie]

can you, please, post some pics of your rabbit's colony? I plan to raise rabbits but know nothing about them exept I will never ever keep them in cages.

Do some research on rabbits. Personally, I would never consider raising them in a colony. I like to be able to keep close tabs on the does, when they are bred, when they kindle and how may babies they had. Rabbits in cages are not exposed to parasites. They don't get picked up and packed off by large hawks and eagles either. People need to do what they think is best and what they are comfortable with. In the end, you pays your money and you takes your choice.

 

[RiverOtter]

It should also be mentioned that goats can contract tuberculosis and it can be spread to humans. That being said as far as a food source and not purely dairy rabbits raised off the ground are better

Most everything can get tuberculosis. Which is why livestock has been tested for it relentlessly in the US since the test was invented, decades ago. You are more likely to get it from the rat raiding your feed than from a goat or cow - and you can have the goat or cow tested, and they've likely been vaccinated against it.
Your dog, btw, can also get it, and likely has not been vaccinated for it. But it's just that rare to come across.
https://www.news-medical.net/health... cattle tuberculosis,otters, seals, hares etc.

I plan to raise maybe 2 goats for milk and a few rabbits for meat. I guess that does not require neither a lot of space nor work. but that would be for personal use only.

Dairy animals are a LOT of work. Their diet has to be far more precise, if you have dairy bred animals, you MUST milk them twice a day, religiously. NO, they won't just give less milk if you feed them less and leave the kids on them, they will get mastitis or all manner of other nasty things and die.
If you want low-care animals, don't get any animal of a dairy breed. You can milk a "scrub" (goat of no particular breed who's ancestors have been kept for pets, meat and weed control) or meat breed doe. You won't get as much as from a dairy doe, but then you can leave the kids with her and skip a day, and separate them overnight when you want milk.

Depending on your setup you don’t need to be that on top of goat poop examination. Listen to Goat Talk with the Goat Doc, she doesn’t recommend doing it that often and she owns a goat dairy.

The OP is in Florida, where worm blooms are a year-round problem and can get very bad, very fast. When I lived in FL, I had to do it all the time. Now I live on a mountain top waaay -up north and do it 2x a year. When I lived 50 miles away, but on much wetter ground, every 6 weeks in the summer and 8 weeks from frost to frost. It is VERY location dependent.

It is also not at all hard. Goats have "berries" like rabbits have "pellets". Pick up 2 per goat, toss them in a vial of sugar water, shake heck out of it, let it sit. Later on that day, take an eyedropper, put a drop from the surface onto a slide, count eggs. Done.

 

[MissE]

Rabbits are far easier. Everyone can be watered and fed and cleaned up after in 10 minutes a day, even if you have a couple dozen.I don't like colony style. Cages or tractors offer better protection, and breeding is easier. If your doe kindles underground, one good rain storm will wipe out the whole litter. You also have to worry about other does killing the kits, snakes and rats eating them, and night time predation from owls since rabbits are very active at night. Plus, rabbits will fight, especially the females. Rabbits are ready for Camp Kenmore in 8-12 weeks and convert feed to meat far more efficiently than most other animal. Cage to ice water is 8 minutes.

Goats need more room, bigger shelter, and more feed. Dairy goats need to be milked. Goats can completely destroy your garden in an hour if they get loose. And they will get loose, usually 5 minutes after you leave for work.

I've had both, and will have both again, but if you are looking for easy, go with rabbits. Laugh your rear end off while pulling your hair out, pick goats.

 

[Ninjasquirrel]

Most everything can get tuberculosis. Which is why livestock has been tested for it relentlessly in the US since the test was invented, decades ago. You are more likely to get it from the rat raiding your feed than from a goat or cow - and you can have the goat or cow tested, and they've likely been vaccinated against it.
Your dog, btw, can also get it, and likely has not been vaccinated for it. But it's just that rare to come across.
https://www.news-medical.net/health/Tuberculosis-in-Animals.aspx#:~:text=The spread of cattle tuberculosis,otters, seals, hares etc.



Dairy animals are a LOT of work. Their diet has to be far more precise, if you have dairy bred animals, you MUST milk them twice a day, religiously. NO, they won't just give less milk if you feed them less and leave the kids on them, they will get mastitis or all manner of other nasty things and die.
If you want low-care animals, don't get any animal of a dairy breed. You can milk a "scrub" (goat of no particular breed who's ancestors have been kept for pets, meat and weed control) or meat breed doe. You won't get as much as from a dairy doe, but then you can leave the kids with her and skip a day, and separate them overnight when you want milk.



The OP is in Florida, where worm blooms are a year-round problem and can get very bad, very fast. When I lived in FL, I had to do it all the time. Now I live on a mountain top waaay -up north and do it 2x a year. When I lived 50 miles away, but on much wetter ground, every 6 weeks in the summer and 8 weeks from frost to frost. It is VERY location dependent.

It is also not at all hard. Goats have "berries" like rabbits have "pellets". Pick up 2 per goat, toss them in a vial of sugar water, shake heck out of it, let it sit. Later on that day, take an eyedropper, put a drop from the surface onto a slide, count eggs. Done.

I dont claim to be an expert I just know what I read in a book about raising goats. Ive never heard of TB in domestic animals but again, not an expert. Anyways I thought Id mention it because it is something to keep in mind. I read it in Storeys Guide to Raising Goats. Storeys Guide to Raising Rabbits is equally informative. Here however is a graph made by experts:

 

[Cinnamon Roll]

Rabbits are far easier. Everyone can be watered and fed and cleaned up after in 10 minutes a day, even if you have a couple dozen.I don't like colony style. Cages or tractors offer better protection, and breeding is easier. If your doe kindles underground, one good rain storm will wipe out the whole litter. You also have to worry about other does killing the kits, snakes and rats eating them, and night time predation from owls since rabbits are very active at night. Plus, rabbits will fight, especially the females.

I have never had a doe kill another doe’s kits. I have had 2 does both try to mother one litter and I have had more than one doe try to mother any kit available.

They also don’t fight any more than chickens or goats do. If you are introducing strange does to each other, yes they will fight. Just like any other introduction it needs to be handled carefully. If they can’t get along, you choose other does to keep. Just like any livestock you choose the best and eat the rest.

Colonies can be managed in all sorts of ways. I personally only have the buck with the does when I want kits. Otherwise he’s with our neutered boy or with the male kits. After I’m done breeding for the year, he’s off to freezer camp. That way I don’t have litters when the weather is hot, which is the most dangerous time in my area. In OP’s situation they would have to decide when litters should be timed.

If you don’t like how the animal behaves in the wild (digging burrows or destroying every plant in sight) they aren’t for you.

Yes keeping rabbits in cages is easier.

Yes disbudding goats makes them easier to handle.

Yes keeping chickens in battery cages lowers the cost of eggs.

But who pays the price for those conveniences?

If an animal is going to give its whole life for my benefit, the least I can do is make their time on earth as pleasant as I can. I am not perfect and have made mistakes in my animal husbandry. The best I can do is to keep learning and trying to be better.

 

[chickengr]

Do some research on rabbits. Personally, I would never consider raising them in a colony. I like to be able to keep close tabs on the does, when they are bred, when they kindle and how may babies they had. Rabbits in cages are not exposed to parasites. They don't get picked up and packed off by large hawks and eagles either. People need to do what they think is best and what they are comfortable with. In the end, you pays your money and you takes your choice.

with so many foxes a rabbit colony is not possible. I am thinking of something like keeping chickens: coop and run.

 

[Vadard]

Having had both, I can tell you rabbits are a lot less expensive and labor intensive than goats. I would suggest you get the book, Storey's Guide to Raising Rabbits by Bob Bennett. It is an excellent beginner's book and it covers all phases of rabbit raising from buying stock to selecting a breed to housing, feeding, and butchering. It isn't expensive and you can get it on amazon.com. That is where I got my copy. I haven't had any rabbits since I moved from California to Missouri. I thought about building a small rabbitry and getting some purebred Florida Whites for meat and to show. Then COVID hit and I nixed that idea at least for now.

Thanks for the suggestion. I bet they have that book at our local library.

 

[Vadard]

Rabbits are far easier. Everyone can be watered and fed and cleaned up after in 10 minutes a day, even if you have a couple dozen.I don't like colony style. Cages or tractors offer better protection, and breeding is easier. If your doe kindles underground, one good rain storm will wipe out the whole litter. You also have to worry about other does killing the kits, snakes and rats eating them, and night time predation from owls since rabbits are very active at night. Plus, rabbits will fight, especially the females. Rabbits are ready for Camp Kenmore in 8-12 weeks and convert feed to meat far more efficiently than most other animal. Cage to ice water is 8 minutes.

Goats need more room, bigger shelter, and more feed. Dairy goats need to be milked. Goats can completely destroy your garden in an hour if they get loose. And they will get loose, usually 5 minutes after you leave for work.

I've had both, and will have both again, but if you are looking for easy, go with rabbits. Laugh your rear end off while pulling your hair out, pick goats.

Reminds me of something a relative of mine (who’s raised many critters) said when I asked him: “Goats? Goats are trouble. Fun, but trouble.” ha ha.

 

[BGcoop]

We got a couple goats as pets because we thought they were cute, rabbits for breeding meat, and chickens for the eggs(And we hatch for fun and eat extra cockerels)
In my experience the rabbits are the easiest livestock animal to care for: they have the least personality-granted we don’t spend time trying to bond with them- making them easier to butcher than the chickens who very quickly learn who brings the food and will come running when called. And while the goats have decided to hate me, they are like dogs for my DH and he wonders how anyone could butcher goats.
Goats are also the most work to maintain of the three, in a great part due to simple size.
I would love to come up with a design that lets me have even more room for my rabbits to run around, but the raised “cage” we have them in makes cleaning sooo much easier. We built our own “cage“, because even the largest store cages just seemed too small to keep them happy.

 

[chickengr]

I have never had a doe kill another doe’s kits. I have had 2 does both try to mother one litter and I have had more than one doe try to mother any kit available.

They also don’t fight any more than chickens or goats do. If you are introducing strange does to each other, yes they will fight. Just like any other introduction it needs to be handled carefully. If they can’t get along, you choose other does to keep. Just like any livestock you choose the best and eat the rest.

Colonies can be managed in all sorts of ways. I personally only have the buck with the does when I want kits. Otherwise he’s with our neutered boy or with the male kits. After I’m done breeding for the year, he’s off to freezer camp. That way I don’t have litters when the weather is hot, which is the most dangerous time in my area. In OP’s situation they would have to decide when litters should be timed.

If you don’t like how the animal behaves in the wild (digging burrows or destroying every plant in sight) they aren’t for you.

Yes keeping rabbits in cages is easier.

Yes disbudding goats makes them easier to handle.

Yes keeping chickens in battery cages lowers the cost of eggs.

But who pays the price for those conveniences?

If an animal is going to give its whole life for my benefit, the least I can do is make their time on earth as pleasant as I can. I am not perfect and have made mistakes in my animal husbandry. The best I can do is to keep learning and trying to be better.

my idea of keeping animals is similar to yours. can you please tell me how much space I need for about 3-4 adults (1 male and 2-3 females) year around? meat is my goal so I would keep the young ones only till they are ready to butcher.

I will probably raise rhinelander rabbits as I want tasty meat. unfortunately I find white meat rabbits (new zealend) tasteless.

I have been severely hit by chicken math, so I might be hit by rabbit math as well!