Rabbit Meat Diets

You don't have to freeze if you worm your rabbits, keep a calendar, worm them on a rotation, feed the ones that are closest to be needing to be wormed again first. Never feed ones that go overdue, never feed ones you've just dosed.

Easy, cheap - removes the need to freeze, so you can cull + feed fresh.

 

I wonder if anyone here who is truly into rabbits could suggest a small, hardy, fast growing and prolific breed of rabbit. I know that's a lot to ask, but hey. Something that can stand the cold if housed properly. My plan is to raise rabbits during late spring, summer and fall. Everything, except a few special breeders would be in the freezer before first freeze. I do not like taking care of rabbits during the winter. I am willing to take care of a trio or two, but not more than that during the colder months. As it is, my main meat (turkey) supplier literally caught fire and burned down a few weeks ago, and it is becoming a scramble to feed the dogs in the way I wish to.

 

Californian Rabbits are the best meat rabbits, they can survive in the cold with nothing other than straw and a hutch mate for body heat. They are 10 - 12lbs fully grown, have the highest litter yields, best meat yields, hardly ever get sick are piss easy to look after and cheap to buy compared to other breeds.

Side Note: When I say Californian Rabbits - thats the actual name of the breed, not rabbits from the state.

 

a buddy down the street raises these big ass pigeoens .. htese sucers get pretty plump they have a pretty nice sized breast meat on em and they are easy as hell to breed and raise. man i just have a hard time beleiving that feeding a whole carcass is better for my dog than just the meat and organs

 

I made a complete switch this month. Finished with the TOTW and before I headed out to buy a new bag I checked around for meat prices. Got 20lbs of chicken quarters, 4lbs of chicken gizzards/hearts and 5lbs of chicken/pork necks for under $20. The switch was effortless and its easier on my wallet.[/QUOTE]
me to man i was kind of nervous about finding stuff, so i was looking in the yellow pages for butchers. my grandma had to go to wal mart so i said lemme check this place out. come to find out , i bough chicken 2 boxws of chicken livers , beef livers and kidneys. i also got some chicken gizzards and a 10 pound bag of chicken leg quarters for5.50. it was all under 22 dollars. i also picked up some canned mackeral and canned salmon for like once a week. How does your recipes look?

 

New Zealand Whites and California Whites are comercial meat rabbits bred for meat raising.

 

Your not suppost to give feeder rabbit anything(dewormer, antibiotics) nothing..... i was told!!

but if you dewormed the Doe's like you would a bitch dog before welping you should be good, and you should be able to deworm your dogs as normal... to control worms no??

So if you did deeworm a rabbit that was going for consumtion . how long would you wait to feed that rabbit as a feeder?:confused:

 

I wormed all of mine, because in Australia we have MASSIVE problems with worms in both pigs and rabbits. We did it on a 30 day cycle, I can't remember the exact name of the stuff, but we got it cheap as chips at the local feed barn. We'd give them a 30 day worming treatment, then feed them on the 28th day, so if you stagger your treatments, you feed 1 rabbit every 2 days, as I said in one of my first posts, thats the cycle we used to run anyway, never had any problems, and continued to worm my dogs just the same as normal.

 

my daughter raises new zealand whites for 4h we had descent results breedin em for food for the dogs,i would recommend skinnin em of there fur before feedin.but to each is there own. the kits(baby rabbits) r usually 4-4 1/2 lbs. by 4 weeks & r ready 4 cullin. hope this is some help

 

I'll look into this. Thanks.

 

Thanks for the info.

 

Just get the feathers off, and there you go. And yes, the whole carcass is better. If it weren't for the smell and the work, and the lack of space, I would raise pigeons, quail, some kind of good bird,...and not only for the dogs either.

 

I cut the quarters in half and give one half a day.

6oz of quarter
4oz of necks
2oz of hearts/gizzards
A handful of vegetable cut up
Couple spoons of yogurt.
A bit of flax seed oil


Some days I add plain oatmeal and others instead of chicken I use fish.

 

Sounds like you feed a lot like I do, I'll switch and alternate red meat and other critters, eggs and what not. But I throw all my veggie in a blender, I think they get better nutrition that way.

 

i agree. i smash up my peas and mix it up.

last night i fed

half a can of tuna
1 raw hanburger patty
1/2 sweet patatoe
spoon of fatfree yougurt
and beef liver



this morning
chicken quarter
1/4 cup of oatmeal
1 egg, beef liver

NAUSTROm do you feed the gizzards and organs evreyday?

 

heart/gizzards are given every other day or every two days. i give about 3 eggs a week on days i don't give organs. i fast on saturday but still give water

 

not a bad idea man

 

i also raise rabbits for food. and have both nzw and cals. and have come to the conclusion that for the fastest growth mix the 2 breeds. they have been reaching fryer sized about 10-12 days before the pure ones of both breeds. i also give whole and fresh.

someone on a homesteading forum said that pumpkin seeds are an effective wormer for rabbits if u are going to be eating them.

i believe they said something like a small handful everyday for a week or so and that should rid them of the worms. ive been doing this and havent seen a worm yet. but it could be totally false.

 

Sounds Good! I have ordered a couple catalogs from the internet sites for Rabbits, Bass is one, and their is another one i forget the name of, but they have the hanging 24'' deep X 18'' hight X 30'' wide) better for the style housing I'm gonna set up.

 

oh and just make sure u start off with good commercial stock if u can. not the show stock. the show animals usually dont produce as many kits, and generally take longer to reach weight, and they arent bred to be cost effective. gonna take more feed to get them to weight and more to just maintain them when not breeding.