Kathleen Marshall

"It's interesting that corn, as a whole plant if I understood correctly, is different from feeding rabbits corn as a grain.
Let me know if that is how you understood the forage part."

Yes, I understood corn to be a grain, not the whole plant.

Also, I don't think you have to worry about overfeeding if you are giving hay, or mostly hay. Give them the specific amount of feed/grain and all the hay they want.

I've been doing a fair amount of research lately on raising rabbits for meat and fur. So far, my understanding is that it's best for a rabbit to be about four months old before dispatch if you want a good pelt.

I like the idea of raising rabbits in a colony, but I'm wondering if this would be a problem with babies being kept until they are that old? Does anyone do this? Are there problems with inbreeding (babies with parents or siblings with each other)?

Thanks for your input. 🙂

I realize this is an older thread, but I have been doing a lot of research into raising rabbits for meat (with my biggest hang up being the dispatching). I found a newish YouTube channel with some excellent info on "ditching the feed store."

Here is her video on rabbits and growing their food: https://youtu.be/65FFzkr1NI8?si=E5ty64GqqN1_T-Sr

I'd love to know everyone's thoughts on this. 🙂

Oh, I'm going to have to look for that. That looks fantastic!

Oh my goodness, I wish I could tour both of your gardens! 😍 I'm getting excited for spring now.

I still have to design and put together my food forest. I know where I want it, but right now it's just an overgrown mess. It's been difficult to maintain anything the last two years. Now I'm anxious to clear out some of the overgrowth and get planting areas set up. I have to pretty much do everything alone so it will be slow.

Still, I feel like I will be able to grow a lot here if I can get a good set up and routine. Unfortunately, I can't have goats. I'm considering rabbits again and I may sneak in some chickens as well. 🙂

If I can figure out to grow enough grain/cereal on my small property, and grow beans of some sort, I feel like I can produce a large percentage of my food.

What a fantastic amount of produce! 😃

I live in a colder climate so I can only garden part of the year. I injured myself about two years ago and was unable to garden, which about killed me.

I'm doing better now so I'm excited to start again in the spring. But I don't think I could grow nearly what you do! Very inspiring!

So then it would probably be great for houseplants as well as the garden. Nice! 🙂

It's definitely more of a challenge with children at home. I would only have to feed myself, since my kids are all grown. I'm sure they would think I'm crazy (and who am I to argue?).

I used to keep silver fox rabbits but I couldn't get myself to butcher them. It looks so simple but I just can't do it. 🤦🏼‍♀️

But there are so many benefits to raising rabbits (food, fur, manure) that I'm considering trying again.

I'll have to check out the link to see what rabbits are in danger of disappearing. Thank you for sharing that link. 🙂

You have a really nice, organized setup. I'm curious if this smells. I'm betting the houseplants would love it too. 🙂