i was woundering if any one could tell me if there is any info on the net as to how to raise them and what kind is the best for meat. me and my boys have been talking about this for a while and i think this spring i might try it.

No clue where you are from so can't advise on rabbitries.

The classified adds in different Fish and Game magazines may lead you in the right direction.

Best wishes, Bill

Here some info for you:

http://www.rudolphsrabbitranch.com/rrrpt1.htm

http://ga.essortment.com/raisingmeatrab_ripe.htm

http://www.ssrsi.org/sr1/Farm/hop.htm

I'd read the wiki page on "Domestic rabbits" with particular attention to the paragraph on "meat rabbits" as well as the notes on rabbit breeds.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domestic_rabbit#Meat_rabbits

It's not what I'd consider "Complete" but it's a good primer.

I don't raise rabbits myself but I have relatives who do or have...

It's been a long time, but I think you will have good luck with Califorians. They are hardy, and grow to fryer size pretty quickly.

Good luck!

Check to see if there are any 4-H clubs in your area. 4-H clubs are common in the rural area where I live and kids show their rabbits at the county fairs.

We used to raise them commercially. Cleanliness is of major importance with rabbits. You might want to look at "New Zealands" they are a large and yummy type.

the chef

I don't remember what kind they were, except they were black, white, brown and spotted, but my son raised rabbits when he was at home. We ate some and sold some to the local grocery store meat market. They were very good eating. I don't recall them being any kind of special rabbit, just plain domesticated rabbits.

quote:

Originally posted by cridertj:
i was woundering if any one could tell me if there is any info on the net as to how to raise them and what kind is the best for meat. me and my boys have been talking about this for a while and i think this spring i might try it.

I raised 100 Californians for meat 20+yrs. I butchered,cut & wrapped for $2.50 per lb and had a waiting list. Many people want Fryers and some want Roasters and some want Stewers.

What you want to watch is the New Stock you bring in to the Rabbitrie and have in Quarantine
on Medicated Feed for 30 days. The most common Drug mixed in feed is (Sulfaquinoxaline)and must be withdrawn from feeding 30 days before Human Comsumption....

Another tip.....Use hanging cages made of Bright Wire 1/2" X 12" spacing on the wire on all 6 sides, this will keep rats from entering. Do Not use Galvanized Hardware Cloth or Galvinized flooring on cages, it will rub their feet raw. Also, try to stay away from Flemish Giants (13 & 15 lb rabbits) unless you use a heavyer gage for the flooring...

Hope this will help for now..
Recommanded http://www.arba.net/.....When you open the Link, at the top of the page ubder the brown rabbit, click on Breed Photos...

Californian......The only Multi Colored rabbit in the World with Pink Eyes...

quote:

Originally posted by Red C.:
I don't remember what kind they were, except they were black, white, brown and spotted, but my son raised rabbits when he was at home. We ate some and sold some to the local grocery store meat market. They were very good eating. I don't recall them being any kind of special rabbit, just plain domesticated rabbits.

Off breeds are called "Sports"

For my meat rabbits i been crossbreeding so i end up with 1/2 to 3/4 flemish giants and 1/4 either new zealand or californian.I seem to be getting more size in the same time.They are so very tasty!My male now is 8 months old now and is around 15 lbs.hoping for 18 to 22 when done.my smallest female right now is around 14lbs.1 of the rabbits feeds the family of four with leftovers.

One piece of personal advise. Don't raise rabbits for food if you have little kids or in my case grand kids. Once Mr. Fluffy gets a name your dinner just turned into another pet for you to take care of. Maybe one of these days while everyone's in town Mr. Fluffy will "escape" while I'm having dinner . Mr. Fluffy flambeau as it were. "Right", big talker. I'll be feeding bunnies till the grand kids are old enough to vote.
This all started with my remembering how tasty the rabbits we raised as kid's were.

i must of lucked out because my kids enjoy eating them too much.daughter asks which one is this or who are we eating?lol.plus i raise about 50 to 75 a year and i do all the chores and they dont even see the rabbit barn,unless there is littles in it.just another tasty treat from the farm

i remember lopp eared rabbits were tasty when i was a kid. didnt ask were they came from but my grampa had a nail in the barn he buchered them on. mmmm better that chickn

We raised Dutch rabbits for meat. I liked the smaller pieces they where about cottontail size at butchering usually about 12 weeks. Man we ate rabbit about every meal. Ground, fried, stewed, baked ( about like Bubba with the shrimp in Forrest Gump ) man I got tired of rabbit. But if you like Chicken livers, Rabbit livers will ruin you.

One Easter when I was about 16 I sold $2,500.00 worth of Easter Bunnies in 5 days, man I was rich.

quote:

Originally posted by montdoug:
One piece of personal advise. Don't raise rabbits for food if you have little kids or in my case grand kids. Once Mr. Fluffy gets a name your dinner just turned into another pet for you to take care of. Maybe one of these days while everyone's in town Mr. Fluffy will "escape" while I'm having dinner . Mr. Fluffy flambeau as it were. "Right", big talker. I'll be feeding bunnies till the grand kids are old enough to vote.
This all started with my remembering how tasty the rabbits we raised as kid's were.

had exactly the same problem with a Flemish giant i bought to raise and eat. once the wife gave him a name, dinner was out of the question. now we have a 24 lb house rabbit( actually, a pretty good pet).

Buy an 870 and hunt the rabbits. and you will enjoy the hunting time with your boys. A used shot gun in will run you around the same price as a good cage, water bottle, feed and bedding. hey you have to keep the boys away from the girls so that means 2 cages. hey that pays for ammo. either way good luck!

did some research on raising meat rabbits myself. check out these facts.

http://www.ardengrabbit.com/facts.html

any farm kid learns an important lesson early on

DON'T MAKE FRIENDS WITH THE FOOD.

quote:

We used to raise them commercially. Cleanliness is of major importance with rabbits. You might want to look at "New Zealands" they are a large and yummy type.

Mmmmm.... had one of those as a pet once. He had a thing for the neigbours black cat! Tried to bunny him a few times!!!! Mainly when the neighbours cat was distracted by stealing our black cats food!

When my kids were young we raised several types of animals for their education.
When they decided to name the chicks I said, "Ok, that one is Dumplin. We'll call this one fried. The black one will be Alfredo..."

Well, you get the idea.

I used to roll out an average of 2000 per month. Im thinking about starting again on a smaller scale

A few years ago I was at a yard sale at the outskirts of town, notice some thing move. I went to investigate. The biggest jack rabbits I ever seen. About twice the size as the ones back home. I asked the lady about em, she said her and her husband feeds em. They were roaming free. Didn't ask em what they fed em. They stuck around and probuly are still there, if the same couple is still living there.

quote:

Originally posted by jdollar:
now we have a 24 lb house rabbit( actually, a pretty good pet).

WOW that's a monster!

I have nothing to add except this: when hunting rabbits for meat, do not shoot them more than once with you 12 ga. shotgun up close or your wife will be picking shot out of her dinner. The good thing that came from this revelation is that my wife found the "Country Rabbit Company" (now defunct) which dealt with rabbit by the pound for consumers.

M

We've just started into raising rabbits. My daughter turned 7 last month and that's what we got her for her birthday (8 of them). Mostly New Zealand White's. It seems New Zealands and Californians are the most popular meat rabbit.

So I've been reading all the rabbit raising books I can get. I'm told (if done right) 4 breeding does can give you as much meat in a year as 2 steers. My 3 year old triplet boys can't wait to "EAT FLOPSY" and they torture her sister about it. She's pretty good about it though. The brood stock are her pets and we'll eat and sell the young.

It's sure a lot of fun and they are easier to take care of than I expected (so far). Check back in 6 months and we'll see how it's gone.

Anybody else getting hungry?