I got some meat rabbits!

[2boys1homestead]

I have 2 meat does now and we built an awesome hutch for them out of 1/2 " hardware cloth and leftover hardwood flooring material

That's pretty cool! This is the kind of building project I could do. Not too complicated.

 

[Double Kindness]

It really wasn't complicated to do at all, it took maybe 2-3 hours, drill, washers, hooks, rebar, wood screws and metal brackets and we fastened it onto our fence posts with more metal brackets and put a tarp over it and zip tied the tarp to the legs to provide protection from the elements and a windbreak.

I tried to upload more pictures but am having technical difficulties atm it seems. I want to build 2-3 more this size for my beginning rabbitry and have them all along the fence line on one side of our property on the other side of my barn & my house that the greyhounds can't get to as long as the fence gate and barn doors are closed. One for each does litters grow out cages and one for a big buck to use for breeding eventually, but for now I'm just going to pay or barter to get my does pregnant via stud service. Which in my area is $15, my does were $20-$25 each. I feed the gro rabbit pellets and calf manna pellets, alfalfa hay and hemp leaves and dandelion leaves. Alice is a cuddle bunny, Grace isn't and doesn't like to be held but is ok with petting.

I'm breeding my nzw x sf Grace in 3 weeks to a 16 lb nzw buck who is my nzw 12 week old Alice's daddy. Idk anything about meat rabbits yet, but californian, new zealand white, silver fox were breeds I read are best for meat production.

I'm hoping in 3-4 months to be processing my first meat rabbits. I'm trying to not be dependent on food from the grocery store and get my homesteading skills up to snuff before we try to seriously get off the grid.

 

[2boys1homestead]

It really wasn't complicated to do at all, it took maybe 2-3 hours, drill, washers, hooks, rebar, wood screws and metal brackets and we fastened it onto our fence posts with more metal brackets and put a tarp over it and zip tied the tarp to the legs to provide protection from the elements and a windbreak.

I tried to upload more pictures but am having technical difficulties atm it seems. I want to build 2-3 more this size for my beginning rabbitry and have them all along the fence line on one side of our property on the other side of my barn & my house that the greyhounds can't get to as long as the fence gate and barn doors are closed. One for each does litters grow out cages and one for a big buck to use for breeding eventually, but for now I'm just going to pay or barter to get my does pregnant via stud service. Which in my area is $15, my does were $20-$25 each. I feed the gro rabbit pellets and calf manna pellets, alfalfa hay and hemp leaves and dandelion leaves. Alice is a cuddle bunny, Grace isn't and doesn't like to be held but is ok with petting.

I'm breeding my nzw x sf Grace in 3 weeks to a 16 lb nzw buck who is my nzw 12 week old Alice's daddy. Idk anything about meat rabbits yet, but californian, new zealand white, silver fox were breeds I read are best for meat production.

I'm hoping in 3-4 months to be processing my first meat rabbits. I'm trying to not be dependent on food from the grocery store and get my homesteading skills up to snuff before we try to seriously get off the grid.

I would like to try meat rabbits someday, for now I'm going to try to learn to hunt. Once we have the house, chickens and garden, I'll consider rabbits. Thanks for the info though and good luck!

 

[araeihrig]

That is awesome! I am also leaning heavily towards a "screw the system" lifestyle as well. CL seems like a great place (hit and miss at some times though) to find buns at reasonable prices. So far we have 3 pure white NZ (2 female, 1 male) and are looking into getting another male (black NZ). Looking to start breeding in the fall...haven't done it yet, so it'll definitely be a learning experience! Don't have the land for the other animals I want to get (you know, chickens, cows, goats, sheep, etc) but I wanted to start something. Everything I have read about (and people have said) rabbits were a good starting animal to familiarize yourself with...and my hubby really likes rabbit meat, so I figured why not? 

This will definitely be an interesting experience, but we're both really looking forward to it!

Wish everyone else raising animals for self-sufficiency the best of luck with your endeavors! I'll upload some pictures as soon as I take some current ones xD

I got 1 NZ doe,1 Californian doe, a silver fox X bevern buck. The Californian also had one kit that came with her. I got them for $20. Found them on CL. With that being said, I must agree CL is a good source for finding rabbits.
I also live near Amish country and can find miscellaneous meat animals. LOL