Hi, guys. I haven’t posted since last August. (I had to look it up.)
Warning: This rambling post may end up making up for my silence with its length. :roll:
It was a long, hot summer of just feeding and cage cleaning. I’m still turning the fans on occasionally, and it’s January! I think the only way we’re going to cool down significantly is if I replant the coconut trees we lost a few years ago… Then we’d be sure to have a hard freeze that would kill them. :?
I’m at a place where I need to decide where to go with my little meat rabbit hobby. They’ve been in my attached garage since I started a couple years ago, and of course, I now have more than I originally intended to. (10) I’ve only breed one small litter so far this winter. (2 @ 3 weeks old) I don’t have enough cages to grow out more, and don’t want to expand again.
An easy answer is to make bunny burger out of a few older ones, but…
Last winter, we processed 12 or 15, ate some ourselves, and gave some away.
It has been a learning process, for sure.
First, I think my wife and I need to try harder in the kitchen. So far we haven’t made a rabbit meal that was exciting enough to justify the work involved. She has gotten sensitive to spicy food as we’ve gotten older, and rabbit by itself is... pretty boring.
Another thing I’ve learned about rabbits is that they have personalities, and if you interact with them, even if it’s just enough to make them manageable, they become affectionate and are happy to see you when you walk by. And yes… I’ve heard the saying, “Don’t name them if you plan on eating them.” But I was surprised to find that they recognize and visibly respond to the names you give them. :-|
I haven’t gone soft(er) or anything. I won’t have a problem processing these grow-outs, (Which will never have names.) but the 8 adult and I spent the whole summer with and then some, being the “petting zoo” in my logo? That might be hard. :roll:
Anyway, they’ve got to come out of the garage. It’s too crowded and too hard to keep clean the way things are. There’s a friend of a friend who breeds. He’s expressed interest in taking some or all of them if I decide to go that route, but I’m not sure I want to. I keep going back and forth but, putting up some kind of minimal shelter out back for them is probably the answer. Money’s an issue, but with our climate, it would just be a matter of providing shade and protection from rain. If tropical weather threatens, the garage is still here.
I guess, I’d still have to thin the herd or get more grow out cages. :doh:
Any ideas about building a rabbit shelter for cheap?
Thanks! :-D
Warning: This rambling post may end up making up for my silence with its length. :roll:
It was a long, hot summer of just feeding and cage cleaning. I’m still turning the fans on occasionally, and it’s January! I think the only way we’re going to cool down significantly is if I replant the coconut trees we lost a few years ago… Then we’d be sure to have a hard freeze that would kill them. :?
I’m at a place where I need to decide where to go with my little meat rabbit hobby. They’ve been in my attached garage since I started a couple years ago, and of course, I now have more than I originally intended to. (10) I’ve only breed one small litter so far this winter. (2 @ 3 weeks old) I don’t have enough cages to grow out more, and don’t want to expand again.
An easy answer is to make bunny burger out of a few older ones, but…
Last winter, we processed 12 or 15, ate some ourselves, and gave some away.
It has been a learning process, for sure.
First, I think my wife and I need to try harder in the kitchen. So far we haven’t made a rabbit meal that was exciting enough to justify the work involved. She has gotten sensitive to spicy food as we’ve gotten older, and rabbit by itself is... pretty boring.
Another thing I’ve learned about rabbits is that they have personalities, and if you interact with them, even if it’s just enough to make them manageable, they become affectionate and are happy to see you when you walk by. And yes… I’ve heard the saying, “Don’t name them if you plan on eating them.” But I was surprised to find that they recognize and visibly respond to the names you give them. :-|
I haven’t gone soft(er) or anything. I won’t have a problem processing these grow-outs, (Which will never have names.) but the 8 adult and I spent the whole summer with and then some, being the “petting zoo” in my logo? That might be hard. :roll:
Anyway, they’ve got to come out of the garage. It’s too crowded and too hard to keep clean the way things are. There’s a friend of a friend who breeds. He’s expressed interest in taking some or all of them if I decide to go that route, but I’m not sure I want to. I keep going back and forth but, putting up some kind of minimal shelter out back for them is probably the answer. Money’s an issue, but with our climate, it would just be a matter of providing shade and protection from rain. If tropical weather threatens, the garage is still here.
I guess, I’d still have to thin the herd or get more grow out cages. :doh:
Any ideas about building a rabbit shelter for cheap?
Thanks! :-D