The Rabbitry Hops Along...

We have raised rabbits for about 2 years now.  We really enjoy the rabbits as a part of our projects around the farm, although we started it when we still lived in town.  They make a great project for backyards because they are quiet, don't smell strong, and are enjoyable to handle.  When we moved onto acreage it was easy to keep going with it as well.

When we sold the house in town we stayed at some dear friends house for 6 weeks while waiting between our house sale and the finalization of our new place purchase.  Our friends we were staying with got a real kick out of saying "Ya, and they moved in with their 4 kids, 2 cats, 1 dog, and 20 rabbits!"  Those were some priceless memories and we are eternally grateful for that time spend with dear friends!  I want to be just like them when I grow up!

Here are some pictures of our rabbits over the last couple years.

Market trio of New Zealand rabbits.

 A wee bunny.

The newest addition, a Rex doe.

A nest box full of New Zealand bunnies about 2 weeks old.

The buck we got last summer that died before we could get any bunnies from him.  So sad.  He was Californian breed.

With the summer season coming up and it looking to be rather busy, we decided to temporarily give up the rabbit operation so we can focus on the garden and meat chickens.  That is going to be a LOT of work and honestly we could use a little simplification.  There were other factors, but those were the main ones.

It just so happens we were able to help some friends out that were considering getting into rabbits.  They were just about to build a hutch of their own when I had the idea to just let them borrow our operation for as long as they need it and once they are done they can just return the equipment and we will decide if we want to resume it or not at that time.  I imagine we will want to keep going with it.


There are things I will miss:

*  Sweet little bunnies to snuggle with!
*  Always having baby bunnies just a month away!
*  The fertilizer for the garden.
*  The meat  (It is so good, tender, and moist).
*  The $ from selling the bunnies as pets and selling larger ones for fryers.
(All our rabbits are meat breeds so we sell for both pets and meat purposes.)


The doe is due in just 4 days so it will be fun for them to have bunnies right away!   Which would be a dream come true for someone impatient like me that can hardly wait the gestation period of just 31 days for rabbits.  Hard to believe I managed to patiently live through 4 pregnancies huh?  Well if you ask my husband, he might not describe it as "waited patiently through 4 pregnancies" but you get the idea.

So there is the update on the rabbit operation.  I wish our friends lots of bountiful batches of bouncing bunnies!  I also look forward to simplified chore time and streamlined operations around here for a while.  With having meat chickens, laying hens, pigs, horses, cats, dogs, a 10,000 sf garden, hay crops to irrigate daily, and homeschool to teach it might be a little insane to add much more.