Rabbit Farming

[Kavik]

Kavik, I'm a cow lover, too, and I've nurtured baby steers and cared for them and loved them and then eaten them. Maybe I'm weird, but I think there's something to be said for caring about the animals you're going to slaughter for food. I mean, really caring about them as an individual. Feeling sad about it. I love my pet bunnies and obviously I wouldn't dream of feeding them to my dogs, but that's because their purpose in my life has been well-defined as companions. You don't feed your friends to your dogs. But when you raise an animal for the table it doesn't matter how much you love them, their purpose in your life is well-defined as food. Otherwise no, I wouldn't be able to do it.

I guess you have to find your moral boundaries somewhere. As much as I love my bunnies, I can't say I love them more than I have loved some of the dairy cows I have worked with. Does that mean I shouldn't eat beef? I have to reconcile myself with that dichotomy somehow. However I do it doesn't really matter as long as I'm at peace with it.

Sorry, that wasn't meant to be a speech. :D I guess I just want people to know that I believe it is possible to love an animal and also kill it at a young age and eat it (or feed it to a dog). I don't expect everyone to agree or understand where I'm coming from, but I've done it and found it to be very meaningful to me. Never appreciated a meal more than when I personally knew the animal it came from. It's sad and weird, but that's life. Better to know the animal and feel sad than just eat something you're not even sure where it came from or what kind of life it had.

Anyway, we have a large bunny and a wild hare, so we already go through plenty of pellets and we get meadow hay by the bale from a place out at Picton. We have found it to be very cheap to keep rabbits in the scheme of things. 25kg of pellets costs us about $27 and lasts us a couple of months. To feed the dogs on raw for two months it costs about $100. Plus extra for supplements and organs. The rabbits hardly ever get sick or injured and I don't think I've ever medicated them. The bunny is sensitive to heat, but it's only a few days in a year that we have to manage that. The hare is tough as old boots. My worm farm gets most of vegie leftovers (and the used rabbit litter), but the rabbit gets carrot tops and sweet potato offcuts and asian greens leftovers and the hare gets over-ripe fruit.

I guess I just didn't picture you as the type to be able to do this. I don't think I could do it.

[Staranais]

I dont eat rabbits and never will nor will my dog ever recieve it either Staranais! I am a breeder and exhibutor. I have come in here solely to provide rabbit care advice.

Yup, I was more talking to Corvus, saying that if she did go to the vet with food bunnies then she should also tell the vet the bunnies were for food. Used your quote since you bought up the vet topic, was just elaborating on it. Make more sense?

[Ons]

a girl i knew when i lived in Moree was starting a commercial rabbit farm. They weren't having a lot of success at that stage (hopefully things might have changed for them) as myxamatosis (sp?) or another disease can't remember which one was rampant. The bunnies had to be innoculated but it was very expensive and the price they got for rabbit meat not worth it. There was a rabbit abbatoir at Narrabri they took the rabbits too. I remember her saying that they had sick bunnies quarantined and someone visited without permission and them knowing and patted the sick bunnies then went into the other area and the disease was spread

[ravenau1]

My grandfather raises his own rabbits for his and his dogs food. He has been doing it for years. I've watched him kill them before, it was always a quick snap of the neck then he would quickly skin and cut the neck so that the blood could drain out apparently having the blood in the meat makes it sour or something (trying to make sense of his ramblings is hard these days). He also tans the skins and if he is going to eat the meat his dogs get the offal so nothing is wasted.

--Lhok

Also I can't recommend Ferreting (this is before I knew it was illegal) the noise of the screaming rabbits is horrifying.

I havent ferretted since I was a kid but back then if you had a ferret which killed in the burrow you could actualy muzzle it,the main reason being that they tended to take a nap after a feed and you had to dig them out.

I didn't know it was now illegal, when did this come about? the only thing I knew was you can't keep them in some states.

That's been my experience with ferretting also, the ferret was used to chase the rabbits out of the warren, usually into nets placed over the holes, rather than to kill the rabbits.

Edit: I should say, my 'limited' experience with ferretting . My best friend's father used to do it but it's been many years.

Edited August 26, 2010 by ravenau1

[Jaxx'sBuddy]

My grandfather raises his own rabbits for his and his dogs food. He has been doing it for years. I've watched him kill them before, it was always a quick snap of the neck then he would quickly skin and cut the neck so that the blood could drain out apparently having the blood in the meat makes it sour or something (trying to make sense of his ramblings is hard these days). He also tans the skins and if he is going to eat the meat his dogs get the offal so nothing is wasted.

--Lhok

Also I can't recommend Ferreting (this is before I knew it was illegal) the noise of the screaming rabbits is horrifying.

I havent ferretted since I was a kid but back then if you had a ferret which killed in the burrow you could actualy muzzle it,the main reason being that they tended to take a nap after a feed and you had to dig them out.

I didn't know it was now illegal, when did this come about? the only thing I knew was you can't keep them in some states.

That's been my experience with ferretting also, the ferret was used to chase the rabbits out of the warren, usually into nets placed over the holes, rather than to kill the rabbits.

Edit: I should say, my 'limited' experience with ferretting . My best friend's father used to do it but it's been many years.

yep mine too. ferrets never killed the rabbits the rabbits ran from the ferrets into the nets

[corvus]

Thanks everyone. OH thinks it's all immoral madness. I've thought about getting involved with the local hunting club, but frankly most hunters I've met have been rednecks and not especially interested in welfare. Around here it's all deer and pig hunters. I don't want to hunt large animals. Just want to be a little more self-sufficient.

[Lhok]

My grandfather raises his own rabbits for his and his dogs food. He has been doing it for years. I've watched him kill them before, it was always a quick snap of the neck then he would quickly skin and cut the neck so that the blood could drain out apparently having the blood in the meat makes it sour or something (trying to make sense of his ramblings is hard these days). He also tans the skins and if he is going to eat the meat his dogs get the offal so nothing is wasted.

--Lhok

Also I can't recommend Ferreting (this is before I knew it was illegal) the noise of the screaming rabbits is horrifying.

I havent ferretted since I was a kid but back then if you had a ferret which killed in the burrow you could actualy muzzle it,the main reason being that they tended to take a nap after a feed and you had to dig them out.

I didn't know it was now illegal, when did this come about? the only thing I knew was you can't keep them in some states.

I can only go off what my grandfather says so please don't quote it as absolutely true. However apparently it is illegal to course game unless you have a permit. No idea how to get a permit or anything.

--Lhok

[Nekhbet]

if you have a dog to catch rabbits when they bolt the hole its not illegal from what I can see. You need a good sighthound wth a soft mouth though

If you want to farm rabbits New Zealand whites are the way to go. Big litters, good mums and plenty of meat. I would be building a frame hutches you can move about the lawn to allow the rabbits exercise, fresh air and a food source.

They need a concentrate feed source (Barastoc make rabbit pellets in 20kg bags) good grass hay for roughage and plenty of water. Rabbits are not good in extreme temperatures especially heat so you have to make provisions for that or you will lose animals especially young. Hence why rabbits live in climate controlled burrows

As for parasite control, I would worm the mothers but not bother at all with the babies. You will be gutting them anyway so there is no risk of parasites. I sometimes see worm cysts in thhe rabbit muscle when I skin them, those go straight into the rubbish bin. You can buy small animal wormers from pet stores or just use some ivermectin based pour on.

Rabbits are a great source of meat but too lean to be an exclusive protein source. There is a condition called rabbit starvation from eating way too much rabbit and not much else so investigate that thoroughly, takes a rabbit exclusive diet to cause it though.

[mac'ella]

if you have a dog to catch rabbits when they bolt the hole its not illegal from what I can see. You need a good sighthound wth a soft mouth though

If you want to farm rabbits New Zealand whites are the way to go. Big litters, good mums and plenty of meat. I would be building a frame hutches you can move about the lawn to allow the rabbits exercise, fresh air and a food source.

They need a concentrate feed source (Barastoc make rabbit pellets in 20kg bags) good grass hay for roughage and plenty of water. Rabbits are not good in extreme temperatures especially heat so you have to make provisions for that or you will lose animals especially young. Hence why rabbits live in climate controlled burrows

As for parasite control, I would worm the mothers but not bother at all with the babies. You will be gutting them anyway so there is no risk of parasites. I sometimes see worm cysts in thhe rabbit muscle when I skin them, those go straight into the rubbish bin. You can buy small animal wormers from pet stores or just use some ivermectin based pour on.

Rabbits are a great source of meat but too lean to be an exclusive protein source. There is a condition called rabbit starvation from eating way too much rabbit and not much else so investigate that thoroughly, takes a rabbit exclusive diet to cause it though.

are you talking about cysts in wild caught rabbits?

if so this is probably Hydatids and if so could be in any rabbits in the area at some stage of developement, best not use any others and don't let dogs eat any offal

[*Bones*]

is it true that in qld that it is illegal to keep rabbits without a license and there are guidelines as to only one pet being allowed???? i would be more inclined to use more roos though i do have concerns on occasions about parasites

Keeping rabbits in Q is prohibited. $10,000 fine per rabbit. Schools, universities etc. may keep rabbits under special permit considerations. I saw on the news that someone was attempting to begin a rabbit farm, with permits, but as far as I know, it never got off the ground.

[corvus]

I thought it was a $30 000 fine, now. They used to let people with a magician's licence keep rabbits, but I think they made it much harder to get a magician's licence as a lot of people were doing it. It's utterly ridiculous and I wish they'd comprehend how rubbish pet rabbits are at living in the wild. My domestic bunny wouldn't last a day.

[Kavik]

SLightly OT but

My local pet shop is selling squirrels as pets. I thought after what happened with rabbits that you weren't allowed to import new species like that which could take over. I know you can't get hamsters or gerbils here (which are very popular pets in the USA) - I assumed for that very reason? The squirrels are very cute but not as easy to handle as more domesticated species (I asked the owner of shop).

[Jaxx'sBuddy]

SLightly OT but

My local pet shop is selling squirrels as pets. I thought after what happened with rabbits that you weren't allowed to import new species like that which could take over. I know you can't get hamsters or gerbils here (which are very popular pets in the USA) - I assumed for that very reason? The squirrels are very cute but not as easy to handle as more domesticated species (I asked the owner of shop).

:D

i come from a place that has squirrels and i dont think they should be here. is it legal or is this pet shop bending the rules?

i am astounded...no one keeps squirrels as pets

ets and they carry fleas and other nasties so what can be used on them...cat flea stuff, dog flea stuff, rabbit flea stuff?? so many questions

eta it would be like keeping possums as pets....not good.

Edited August 28, 2010 by Jaxx'sBuddy

[Kirty]

Apparently the squirrels are desexed prior to being sold. There was a thread on here recently about them. I think they cost about $1500 too!!

[Kavik]

Yeah I'm pretty sure they said they are desexed before being sold. All legit from what I can gather. I couldn't believe it though when I first saw the sign Not sure about the price - I didn't ask.

Edited August 28, 2010 by Kavik

[Jaxx'sBuddy]

Yeah I'm pretty sure they said they are desexed before being sold. All legit from what I can gather. I couldn't believe it though when I first saw the sign Not sure about the price - I didn't ask.

i really am astounded..really really shocked.

as a child i was told NEVER to touch or feed the grey squirrels (red squirrels are dying out unfortunately) and here is why:

they bite are unlikely to be tamed and carry disease...from the AQIS site:

Squirrels carry a range of disease threats from trichinosis (which can be fatal to humans) to plague and even rabies, as well as diseases and exotic parasites that could threaten Australia's vulnerable native mammals.

[Kavik]

They are not the same squirrels as are found in the USA everywhere - I can't remember what species of squirrel they were. But not the big grey ones that are pests in the USA. These were much smaller and more finely built.

EDIT: did a google and think they are northern palm squirrels?

I found this on environment.gov.au - looks like they've been in Australia for a while, and only now making it to the pet trade, so they didn't have to jump through hoops to import them (I didn't know they already existed here)

The Palm Squirrel is considered a potential pest species in Western Australia and has

been a Declared Animal (Vermin) in that State since 1973 (Agriculture

Protection Board of Western Australia 1985). A few of these animals,

inadvertently translocated, have been found (and destroyed) in remote areas as

far as 140 km from Perth. It is a common commensal in northern India, but does

not seem to be a major problem. In the United States, the Grey Squirrel is the

third most important game animal, with millions being taken annually for meat

and pelts. In the United Kingdom, it is declared vermin because of its damage to

forests (particularly hardwood plantations) and its presumed replacement of the

indigenous Red Squirrel (Madson 1964; Barkalow & Shorten 1973).

There is a potential pet trade in Palm Squirrels and because of the zoo

population in Melbourne, there is a possibility a feral population might be

established there.

Edited August 28, 2010 by Kavik

[Jaxx'sBuddy]

They are not the same squirrels as are found in the USA everywhere - I can't remember what species of squirrel they were. But not the big grey ones that are pests in the USA. These were much smaller and more finely built.

maybe they are the red squirrels. i come from Scotland and we have both types there, the greys were introduced from the USA i think and the reds are native squirrels and are becoming extinct.

red squirrel

Edited August 28, 2010 by Jaxx'sBuddy

[casowner]

You need a permit to own a squirrel and they only come from one accredited breeder as far as I am aware, I believe they are Indian Palm Squirrels.

Regarding shooting roos in SA you have to get a permit to allow them to be shot on private property and the carcass must be tagged and buried, you are not allowed to use the meat for human or animal consumption and there are fines if you do so.

We breed rats/mice for my birds of prey but have a CO2 unit for euthanasia and they are kept in a very clean environment, I have scaled it down as it is cheaper for me to buy in day old chickens (already gassed) as well as frozen rats/mice from wholesalers

[mac'ella]

You need a permit to own a squirrel and they only come from one accredited breeder as far as I am aware, I believe they are Indian Palm Squirrels.

Regarding shooting roos in SA you have to get a permit to allow them to be shot on private property and the carcass must be tagged and buried, you are not allowed to use the meat for human or animal consumption and there are fines if you do so.

We breed rats/mice for my birds of prey but have a CO2 unit for euthanasia and they are kept in a very clean environment, I have scaled it down as it is cheaper for me to buy in day old chickens (already gassed) as well as frozen rats/mice from wholesalers

there used to be palm squirrels running around free in Taronga zoo but I think they got rid of them to stop them transfering diseases.