Donna Wildwood 288 Posted June 25, 2015 Report Share Posted June 25, 2015 Some of my french lop babbers at a month old! Not bad for colony reared on wild greens and a few pellets eh? 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
socks 32,253 Posted June 25, 2015 Report Share Posted June 25, 2015 Are they for eating ...... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Donna Wildwood 288 Posted June 25, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 25, 2015 i'm holding one doe back for breeding and have promised a kit to my neice. But yep, the rest and any future ones are for the pot! I'm experimenting with different colours as well so I can tan the skins and make stuff with them. I'm really liking the chinchilla colour in the middle of the 2nd pic, the buck is that colour so should get a few more. i cull any runts for the ferrets, and the rest I will keep to 10 -12 weeks 7 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Donna Wildwood 288 Posted June 25, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 25, 2015 Yup on the herbivore side of things I have rabbits, an AN goat for milk and a Boer doe to produce meat kids plus a small flock of shetland sheep. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
charlie caller 3,654 Posted June 25, 2015 Report Share Posted June 25, 2015 Nice one Donna, do you notice a great difference in taste between them and wild rabbit? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Accip74 7,112 Posted June 25, 2015 Report Share Posted June 25, 2015 Nice one Donna, do you notice a great difference in taste between them and wild rabbit? I hate to say this, but farmed rabbit is better...... 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Donna Wildwood 288 Posted June 25, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 25, 2015 I like both but there are bugger all wildies round here! Feeding them this way gives them a slight gamey flavour but not too strong. I don't like to feed too much commercial feed to any of my animals, I don;t think they were designed to eat it. I get slower growth rates but tastier results and meat that i know is chemical free 3 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Donna Wildwood 288 Posted June 25, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 25, 2015 Goats are fab, but believe me they are far more intelligent than you would think lol! My rabbits don't tend to carry too much fat, but then they are never shut in hutches so get plenty of exercise. Dealing with flies is easy, muck out every day! I get more flies on the elderflowers than I do my animals Quote Link to post Share on other sites
leegreen 2,308 Posted June 25, 2015 Report Share Posted June 25, 2015 Nice one Donna, do you notice a great difference in taste between them and wild rabbit? I hate to say this, but farmed rabbit is better...... Farmed in most species are more tender. Rabbit is the second most farmed animal in the world after chicken. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Accip74 7,112 Posted June 25, 2015 Report Share Posted June 25, 2015 Nice one Donna, do you notice a great difference in taste between them and wild rabbit?I hate to say this, but farmed rabbit is better......Farmed in most species are more tender.Rabbit is the second most farmed animal in the world after chicken. I never knew that......about most farmed........ I was eating rabbit from the super market the other night, it was so nice......I was thinking maybe I couldn't go back to eating wild, I kinda felt guilty about it.........it's so much easier to cook though ;-) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Donna Wildwood 288 Posted June 25, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 25, 2015 Check out the cages most farmed rabbits are kept in. They take a social communual burrowing animal force it to live on a wire floor in solitary confinement. Do feel guilty about eating supermarket rabbit! It's kept worse than battery hens ;( If you have a shed and an area to make a secure pen, 2 does and one buck will give you all the meat you want. I have 2 enclosures. the 1st is where the main colony is kept, bucks, does, kits all together. Then after the birth of the young I move the buck out, along with the older kits for company into the 2nd pen. The mothers tend to nest together and share feeding duties. All the books say to keep well apart etc, but my buck loves the young ones and is forever playing with them and grooming them. SPACE is what rabbits need. Space to be rabbits. A good varied diet of wild greens, enough that they can choose what they need. Hay and clean water. I feed pellets sparingly (a baked bean tin full between them twice a day) just enough to make sure they are keen for food and will come to a call if I need to shut them in. Also they are bloody good converters of weeds into the finest compost, bonus! 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Accip74 7,112 Posted June 25, 2015 Report Share Posted June 25, 2015 Check out the cages most farmed rabbits are kept in. They take a social communual burrowing animal force it to live on a wire floor in solitary confinement. Do feel guilty about eating supermarket rabbit! It's kept worse than battery hens ;( If you have a shed and an area to make a secure pen, 2 does and one buck will give you all the meat you want. I have 2 enclosures. the 1st is where the main colony is kept, bucks, does, kits all together. Then after the birth of the young I move the buck out, along with the older kits for company into the 2nd pen. The mothers tend to nest together and share feeding duties. All the books say to keep well apart etc, but my buck loves the young ones and is forever playing with them and grooming them. SPACE is what rabbits need. Space to be rabbits. A good varied diet of wild greens, enough that they can choose what they need. Hay and clean water. I feed pellets sparingly (a baked bean tin full between them twice a day) just enough to make sure they are keen for food and will come to a call if I need to shut them in. Also they are bloody good converters of weeds into the finest compost, bonus! This has crossed my mind recently......because we will move next year & I'll be looking for a bigger space, so I may give something like this a go.............in the meantime I'll live with the guilt, but I do think the ones I've bought have been better welfare or summit.......it's in french haha... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
leegreen 2,308 Posted June 26, 2015 Report Share Posted June 26, 2015 Do feel guilty about eating supermarket rabbit! It's kept worse than "battery hens." Rabbits need batteries too . Quote Link to post Share on other sites
unlacedgecko 1,467 Posted June 26, 2015 Report Share Posted June 26, 2015 Nice one Donna. You are certainly living the dream... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Chicken_man 1,651 Posted June 26, 2015 Report Share Posted June 26, 2015 Very good Donna. I like your style :-) Atb Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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