theMarjolein
Member
Hello,
We are a dutch family living in Germany
We were given pet rabbits a few years ago, my husband and son cared for them completly, I just ordered food. I did not care and when they died (they were quite old) I was certain- no more rabbits.
But then I heard about meat rabbits and since we enjoy being a bit more sustainable- I learned quite a bit about it going by some good channels on YouTube. Living Traditions Homestead. Slightly Rednecked. Rabbitry Center. To name some...
I decided for a Belgium breed called 'Blauw van Ham'. They grow well, have big litters, good moms, rare breed... and we got ourselves a German Giant buck
Except, the Belgium doe refused to be bred...
We then picked up some New Zealander Red does from Cologne and put them with our German Giant and they just had their first litters. Very exiting. The does on these litters will be kept as breederd. They will be bred to a NZ buck (that we will purchase later this year DV) and than we'll have, I think, a perfect combination of meat rabbit.
And then our first doe apparently did breed after all and we just butchered our first grow out (9 weeks old and 6.3 lbs- after butchering 3.3 lbs meat and bone -( is that a good weight you think??)). So were are full in on this journey. My husband and I have five young children (aged 8, 5, 3, 1&1) so we have quite some hungry mouths to feed. We now all love the rabbits, but I am doing most of the work. I find it relaxing to do when the children sleep.
We raise them in a colony-way and plan to build a bigger colony this spring. Already asked here for any ideas and got so many wonderful responses. Feels like you are friends actually.
Meat prices in stores are too high, and the way many creatures are being treated in big barns is not good at all. That is the main reason we want to raise our own.
Thanks for reading.
God bless you and love from Germany.
Marjolein
We are a dutch family living in Germany
We were given pet rabbits a few years ago, my husband and son cared for them completly, I just ordered food. I did not care and when they died (they were quite old) I was certain- no more rabbits.
But then I heard about meat rabbits and since we enjoy being a bit more sustainable- I learned quite a bit about it going by some good channels on YouTube. Living Traditions Homestead. Slightly Rednecked. Rabbitry Center. To name some...
I decided for a Belgium breed called 'Blauw van Ham'. They grow well, have big litters, good moms, rare breed... and we got ourselves a German Giant buck
Except, the Belgium doe refused to be bred...
We then picked up some New Zealander Red does from Cologne and put them with our German Giant and they just had their first litters. Very exiting. The does on these litters will be kept as breederd. They will be bred to a NZ buck (that we will purchase later this year DV) and than we'll have, I think, a perfect combination of meat rabbit.
And then our first doe apparently did breed after all and we just butchered our first grow out (9 weeks old and 6.3 lbs- after butchering 3.3 lbs meat and bone -( is that a good weight you think??)). So were are full in on this journey. My husband and I have five young children (aged 8, 5, 3, 1&1) so we have quite some hungry mouths to feed. We now all love the rabbits, but I am doing most of the work. I find it relaxing to do when the children sleep.
We raise them in a colony-way and plan to build a bigger colony this spring. Already asked here for any ideas and got so many wonderful responses. Feels like you are friends actually.
Meat prices in stores are too high, and the way many creatures are being treated in big barns is not good at all. That is the main reason we want to raise our own.
Thanks for reading.
God bless you and love from Germany.
Marjolein