corvus Posted August 25, 2010 Share Posted August 25, 2010 I had a vague notion that I could farm rabbits to feed the dogs (and us??). But then it occurred to me that I have a pet rabbit and bunnies are about the most ridiculously cute animal in the world and while I could deal with a feral rabbit I don't know that I could kill a fluffy white thing I had raised myself. So I binned the idea. But then I thought about it again and thought if I knew they were destined for the table I wouldn't let myself get attached to them in the first place. I've been involved with hoof and hook cattle competitions and never got sad about saying goodbye to my steer because I had always known it was going to happen and had concentrated on giving him a good life while he was with us. Then again, I didn't have to kill them myself. Basically, just wondering if anyone has tried farming bunnies for meat. I'd like to hear about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persephone Posted August 25, 2010 Share Posted August 25, 2010 WE did investigate it..but I could not raise all those cute little wriggly nose things then kill them. I cannot kill and eat anything I raise We do kill our sheep- but they are away from the house, and not hand raised or anything Any chooks here are perfectly safe from the pot! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staranais Posted August 25, 2010 Share Posted August 25, 2010 I don't eat meat myself, but would love to do this for my dog & cats - but I just don't have the space or the time at the moment. Perhaps in the future. Let us know how you go if you do it. I think it's a great idea. Not sure how you'd go about killing them, though? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corvus Posted August 25, 2010 Author Share Posted August 25, 2010 I remember seeing my ex kill a wild rabbit with his hands and it was quite quick and clean. Current OH would be petitioning for the permanent safety of the bunnies for the extent of their natural lives... And who can blame him. On the other hand, I would know what the bunnies had been fed on and what medication they had received, they would have a good life for the short 12 weeks it takes to raise them, and I would be a little more self-sufficient and sustainable, which is a nice thought. And it would make giving my dogs a more complete, biologically appropriate diet easier. I dunno. More research, I think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andisa Posted August 25, 2010 Share Posted August 25, 2010 (edited) Good luck if you go ahead with it. A few years back I had the brilliant idea of breeding rabbits for the dogs. I bought 4 female and 2 males NZW x Giant Chinchilla rabbits - but was actually 3 females and 3 males. Since they are large breed rabbits I allowed over 12 months before mating them - that was when we had a closer look and noticed we had the extra male - male rabbits will fight. I had several cages and pens set up, spent a "small" fortune growing them with all the expensive premium foods. They were not interested in breeding at first but soon caught on with the idea. Before I knew it we had over 30 rabbits and spent a lot of money growing them on premium foods - after all I wanted them to be healthy since they were going to be dog food. Time for the kill.... Unfortunately after all the time it took to set them up, watch the babies grow and playing with them (NEVER NAME THEM) and all the time we spent caring for them, cleaning their pens/cages and feeding them, cutting nails - we could not get past the thought of doing the deed....they have the most beautiful face... I gave a lot a way to friends as well as some losses but once we got the numbers under control they were kept apart for good. We are down to one beautiful ginger bunny now and don't think I would ever want to invest the time or effort in trying it again because I know we still won't be able to do it. A friend offered to dress them for me since I could not, so had some done and gave them a few for doing it. Only to find out that my dogs DO NOT LIKE RABBIT....but they will eat rabbit barf - go figure... Edited August 25, 2010 by Andisa Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staranais Posted August 25, 2010 Share Posted August 25, 2010 Only to find out that my dogs DO NOT LIKE RABBIT....but they will eat rabbit barf - go figure... Oh that is terrible! But funny! I remember once I went fishing for my cat, and she refused to touch it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J... Posted August 25, 2010 Share Posted August 25, 2010 Had it suggested to me in the last week given the issues I'm having sourcing decent bones for my dogs. I would struggle to kill anything like that so directly. I can get old breeding pairs cheap from a farm not far from here but same issue. Tempted to get a gun license to shoot my own, that I could handle because you're more removed from it. But I believe it's a big time commitment to a club to be allowed a gun license these days. I have quite a few farms that would allow me to shoot on them though so I'm still considering it. For now I can get frozen bunny from the local pet food store for $5.50 each so they are an occasional treat - my dogs love them!! Staranais I think a direct blow to the head or a very quick twist to the neck would be the quickest and easiest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stormie Posted August 25, 2010 Share Posted August 25, 2010 I have considered this too!! But I believe it's very difficult to get approval and to meet the regulations? There is a bit on info on the net about setting it all up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kat99 Posted August 25, 2010 Share Posted August 25, 2010 Hi all , my mum use to breed and show rabbits we use to get the ones that she wouldnt keep she never sold out to breeders or pets they got skined and feed to my dogs , when she left it i took one some very large standard rex i couldnt kill the babies but the adults i did , but my dogs got to enjoy them so much we were had no food for a while and the dogs decided to break into my tin shed long story on how they did that and killed my 2 bucks went down with a fight anyway i gave them up and sold the rest , my dogs were healthies ever when they were eating rabbit they would get rabbit twice a week and there biscuits and were so fat . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tianakaesha Posted August 25, 2010 Share Posted August 25, 2010 Here is a good website for farming rabbits http://www.backyardherds.com - there is a section specifically on Rabbit raising for meat. http://www.homesteadingtoday.com/ is another good one. Both are USA based, but have lots of good information. Most have some that are pets, and others that are for breeding. They give you good practical ideas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mac'ella Posted August 25, 2010 Share Posted August 25, 2010 Ever thought about buying a couple of ferrets and nets.theres plenty of rabbits around if your not sure you could probably wrangle an invite from a ferretter that way you can learn the ropes and get used to the dispatching plus its good getting out inthe fresh air.Then you can catch a few and freeze the excess. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corvus Posted August 25, 2010 Author Share Posted August 25, 2010 Ever thought about buying a couple of ferrets and nets.theres plenty of rabbits around if your not sure you could probably wrangle an invite from a ferretter that way you can learn the ropes and get used to the dispatching plus its good getting out inthe fresh air.Then you can catch a few and freeze the excess. I certainly have! I even looked for some ferreters, but couldn't find any local. I don't know anywhere around here that would have lots of rabbits. We live in an area that has lots of bush and rocks but not a lot of open grassy areas. And lots of National Parks where I wouldn't be able to take ferrets anyway. And I realise it's probably more labour intensive than looking after a handful of bunnies. I've even thought about getting myself a rabbit-hunting dog. :D Thanks for the info, guys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poodlefan Posted August 25, 2010 Share Posted August 25, 2010 Ever thought about buying a couple of ferrets and nets.theres plenty of rabbits around if your not sure you could probably wrangle an invite from a ferretter that way you can learn the ropes and get used to the dispatching plus its good getting out inthe fresh air.Then you can catch a few and freeze the excess. I certainly have! I even looked for some ferreters, but couldn't find any local. I don't know anywhere around here that would have lots of rabbits. We live in an area that has lots of bush and rocks but not a lot of open grassy areas. And lots of National Parks where I wouldn't be able to take ferrets anyway. And I realise it's probably more labour intensive than looking after a handful of bunnies. I've even thought about getting myself a rabbit-hunting dog. :D Thanks for the info, guys. It's illegal to course live prey in every state of Australia so a rabbit hunter is out. You'd be better off learning to shoot and getting a gun license. Some rural supply places sell rabbit (wild killed) for dog food. In most urban areas you cannot slaughter animals on your property so buying dead bunnies is probably the way to go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Esky the husky Posted August 25, 2010 Share Posted August 25, 2010 I've thought about this heaps Corvus. I'm glad I'm not the only one. I've also considered chickens and ducks. Cull the roosters keep the hens. I don't think I could bring myself to kill anything though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkySoaringMagpie Posted August 25, 2010 Share Posted August 25, 2010 It's illegal to course live prey in every state of Australia so a rabbit hunter is out. You'd be better off learning to shoot and getting a gun license. It's illegal to release a captive hare or rabbit for the sport of chasing, but I'm not sure it's illegal if a dog kills a rabbit or hare that comes up out of its own territory where the dog is just standing by? That precludes the scenario corvus is considering of course. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dogsfevr Posted August 25, 2010 Share Posted August 25, 2010 Friends do & it is very succesful. They have been lucky in there area that someone is good a killing/skining so they keep the fur & they take home the carcess Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corvus Posted August 25, 2010 Author Share Posted August 25, 2010 It's illegal to course live prey in every state of Australia so a rabbit hunter is out. You'd be better off learning to shoot and getting a gun license. I looked into this when I was thinking about it and from what I could make out it is illegal to release an animal for the purpose of allowing a dog to chase or capture it, as SSM said, but given it is not illegal to hunt pigs with dogs, or rabbits with ferrets, it seemed bizarre to me that it would be illegal to hunt rabbits with dogs. From what I can tell it is not. At least, I haven't found any laws that suggest it is. Although you need a hunting licence to hunt rabbits on crown land or state forests in NSW, distributed through the Gaming Council, whom I have ethical issues with. Also, I hate guns. I won't have anything to do with them. I have looked around quite a bit for cheap rabbit carcasses, and contacted one of the commercial rabbit farms around here, but they never got back to me. Rabbit meat is a niche market and rabbit carcasses generally go for around $20 a pop around here. My local butcher sells rabbit and other game meats, but it's all gourmet stuff. They charge an arm and a leg. Although I would get hold of some to make sure my dogs were actually going to eat it if I did decide to go ahead. It's very much hypothetical at the moment, though. I like the idea, but not sure if it's worth pursuing. In most urban areas you cannot slaughter animals on your property so buying dead bunnies is probably the way to go. I remember looking into this one, too. I don't remember the details, but I think this has to do with residential zoning. I seem to remember coming to the conclusion that I actually would be able to do it. I think I checked my council's LEP and couldn't find any mention of it. But at any rate, I would actually ask at the council before I went ahead with it to be sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sankari Posted August 25, 2010 Share Posted August 25, 2010 (edited) Personally I couldn't and never will do it, just my opinion. I have been breeding and showing Rabbits for 3 years. I just couldnt face to doing something like that, i couldnt do it to any animal. I see them as the beautiful pets they are not as a food source. Just my feelings on the issue Edited August 25, 2010 by LucyCharzie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Clover Posted August 25, 2010 Share Posted August 25, 2010 I have thought about it but dont have the time, space and $$s to set it all up unfortunately . Fortunate for the bunnies though . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parkeyre Posted August 25, 2010 Share Posted August 25, 2010 (edited) I would really quite seriously like to look at doing this, considering the amount of meat my dogs eat and the price of chicken these days, this could be the way to go. We regularly go out and shoot a kangaroo, and the BF's mate is the one who skins them while we shoot the next one. But lugging a massive kangaroo home then chopping him up on the table saw is a lot of time and effort, and a lot of the kangaroo gets wasted considering we only feed the tail and back legs. Occasionally we will shoot goats too; but they're just the backlegs and I'm more tempted to eat them myself then let the dogs get them. haha. Rearing and butchering your own rabbit stock would save on a lot of bin space too from all those kitchen scraps they could be eating. Atleast rearing your own rabbit meat; you would know exactly what is being fed to your dog. I have a HEAP of questions about it on my facebook... :p I'll add them here. Would someone please answer all that they can for me? lots of cyber love for whoever can help me. Edited August 25, 2010 by Parkeyre Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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