What would YOU like to see in an article?

[Anntann]

Since there were a few comments about the upcoming Colony article in the Hobby Farms magazine, I thought I'd ask folks here what THEY would like to see as a topic in an article for a popular magazine such as Hobby Farm or even in Rabbits?

Remembering that you can't do an IN DEPTH discussion of a subject..you can just put forward information, maybe some photos...probably limited to 2 pages. What kind of topics do you feel need more coverage? What are you interested in? what makes you pick up a magazine and actually BUY it?<br /><br />__________ Thu Jun 16, 2011 12:10 pm __________<br /><br />I'll start. let's see..

I'd like to see an article about how to use rabbits to grow on the small farm. (for something like Hobby Farm) Like...how they can fit into a small farm, feeding greens, alfalfa; providing animals for 4H, as well as meat for the table. With advice from those who do it now. How to get started, resources. What works, what doesn't maybe

I personally would love to see an article following a 4H kid who shows a RAREBREED. How they do at the shows. If they garner interest in the breed or if it's just another rabbit. Can a breed like Palomino, American, Satin, compete in the "meat pen" competition.

 

[Hoping13]

Since there were a few comments about the upcoming Colony article in the Hobby Farms magazine, I thought I'd ask folks here what THEY would like to see as a topic in an article for a popular magazine such as Hobby Farm or even in Rabbits?

Remembering that you can't do an IN DEPTH discussion of a subject..you can just put forward information, maybe some photos...probably limited to 2 pages. What kind of topics do you feel need more coverage? What are you interested in? what makes you pick up a magazine and actually BUY it?

__________ Thu Jun 16, 2011 12:10 pm __________

I'll start. let's see..

I'd like to see an article about how to use rabbits to grow on the small farm. (for something like Hobby Farm) Like...how they can fit into a small farm, feeding greens, alfalfa; providing animals for 4H, as well as meat for the table. With advice from those who do it now. How to get started, resources. What works, what doesn't maybe

I personally would love to see an article following a 4H kid who shows a RAREBREED. How they do at the shows. If they garner interest in the breed or if it's just another rabbit. Can a breed like Palomino, American, Satin, compete in the "meat pen" competition.

I would love to see an article about growing meat rabbits on something other than pellet feed. Seeing something outside of the typical meat breeds (maybe a comparison on what breeds do best on natural diet, etc). I love comparison articles (comparing feed to weight gain, comparing growth between breeds, comparing disease resistance, etc.) as they provide food for thought. I'm particularly fond of seeing things showing people using methods that are not typical, but work. DH thought meat rabbits would be too complicated a setup, until he saw Joel Salatin's rabbit tractors, for example.

 

[MaggieJ]

It would be nice to see an article on natural feeding, but I don't think one can provide enough information in a short article to be useful. An approach that would work for a short magazine article might be common useful weeds and their properties... "Top Ten Common Weeds You Can Feed to your Rabbits" or something like that.

 

[Random Rabbit]

I always enjoy reading how 'Other People' raise their rabbits. Why they chose the breed that they did, what their goals might be... lessons learned...(that one could be a Whole book...)

Also an article on the various software that is out there... side-by-side comparison of the good the bad and the 'ugly' of those. I might not understand the finer points... but it Could make for some interesting reading....

 

[DevonW]

One thing that really bugs me is when the authors of articles do not provide any citations to sources or information on where to start looking if you would like to go more in depth on the topic.

I'd love to see an article that compares raising show rabbits to raising meat rabbits. To prove it's not that different at all. I'm kind of tired of seeing how people who raise commercially are always bashing show breeders saying they don't care if their Grand Champion cannot produce a litter, or they're not concerned about health because the rabbit is the Perfect show rabbit and some PenG will help, that we don't believe litter size is important, and we don't cull strictly enough. Same with show breeders saying commercial raisers don't care about their rabbits, that they breed their does to death, and they ruin breeds because all they do is over produce mutts, their rabbits are too crowded, etc etc. When in reality it is nothing like that.

It seems we compare the bad apples to bad apples and forget about the big shiny ones hiding in the back. So I would love to see an article about it.

 

[eco2pia]

I think with all this comparing (lots of great ideas, all) I really would also want checkable facts and hard data--I hate when someone writes an article on their favorite breed based on their 2 years experience, cursory research on Wikipedia, and an interview with their 2 friends who also like that breed and then make some sweeping generalization based on that info. I love when someone has a broad enough sample that their conclusions are really based on something--ie, NZ growout rate of 30 litters compared to grow out rate of 30 litters of heritage breed x or whatever...Obviously that is a little harder, but I sure appreciate it when there is that level of effort applied--that would make me buy a magazine in a heartbeat.

 

[Frosted Rabbits]

Personally, I like magazines that have depth in their articles-- Articles I have read in magazines like Hobby Farm, Country Living, etc, are just way to shallow for me to spend money on the magazine. If I were to buy a magazine based one one particular article, I want in to be well written, well researched, and 'meaty' in content. the article cannot contain a load of generic information like the TFH books on dog and cat breeds!! even when reading about something for the very first time, I do not want things to be over simplified-- but then, that may very well be the education I have accrued over the years speaking, but that is how I decide if a magazine is worth buying for one article. And several purchases will determine if I subscribe--as the sunscription rate must be worth the entire contentsofthe magazine over the course of the year.

 

[hoodat]

It would be nice to see an article on natural feeding, but I don't think one can provide enough information in a short article to be useful. An approach that would work for a short magazine article might be common useful weeds and their properties... "Top Ten Common Weeds You Can Feed to your Rabbits" or something like that.

I'd love to see an article like that. I'm always looking for good wild food sources; but as far as comparing green feed to pellets for growout I don't think it could be done scientifically. Too much depends on maturity of the greens, condition of the soil they grew in and a lot of other factors.

 

[mi_ku]

Awesome post Devon!

I agree w/ Frosted Rabbit too. I quit subscribing/buying quite a few animal magazine b/c many of the articles seemed generic and superficial. One of my favorite magazines splits up their articles into parts or even features a different columnist every year. That way you get good, in depth information and it increases sells. Win, win.

 

[PulpFaction]

I'm with everyone else, I want some depth and substance. I want something that I can't find with a cursory internet search, interviews with well-established and experienced breeders, for example. With these factors in place, it could be on almost any topic pertaining to rabbits and I would read it.