Rabbits on the Move
The rabbits are doing so well! Our moms are a pair of Flemish fawns and their babes are old enough to be bouncing around a bit each day with their siblings in the updated rabbit tractors (constructed from the bones of my old chicken tractors). Updated the lld chicken design with a wire bottom that lets grass in/rabbits unable to dig their way out, and an open top a human can get into to collect the hopping babies at dusk.
The bunnies are adorable, chonky, fluffers. They run about and sleep in a pile of fluffy tails and furry feet. It's hard not to grin watching them light up the barnyard. Around them the current group of meat birds, now around a 4-5 weeks old and the usual laying hens seem disinterested in their new lawnmates, which is great. Who wants the neighborhood all in your business after just moving in?!
The tractor is for a few reasons. The rabbits have an entire room in the chicken coop that belongs to them. It has their food and water mounted on the door, fresh hay, nest boxes, and space for everyone to lounge comfortably and hop about. What it doesn't have is grass, fresh air, and cooler breezes on hot days. So in the daylight hours they are moved into the tractor with water in a pan to enjoy at their leisure. They graze, hop around, and enjoy judging the hens for eating gross things like worms. Not a bad way to spend the day if you're a bun!
So why rabbits, again? Because with two people there is time for more things! And these rabbits will either be sold off to other homesteaders, pet folks, or will go into our freezer. We don't plan on breeding all season, but perhaps another kindling later this summer after the babies are sold off or harvested.
Rabbits are an amazing addition to any homestead set in the city, suburbs, or towns. Consider them if you like the idea of good food close to home. Rabbits are clean, quiet, and can be kept in runs, cage systems, hutches, barns, or a variety of homing situations. A pair of does can create 400-600lbs of meat a year! Not bad for a town backyard!
P.S. Contest updates! Winners of this contest will be picked this Friday so you have a few days to enter still! Get a signed book and soap from the farm! And thank you to all who have entered so far, almost 50 people!