Rabbit meat

[possum]

Sky, get yourself a .22 air rifle, you don't need a license and as long as you get a high powered one you will kill bunies with one shot, you are bound to have loads. You could also go shooting possums as well, nice meat from them.

I'm a rubbish shot and so it seems is the hubby as he's never managed to hit one yet.
I was thinking if we bred our own they'd be free of parasites etc too and I'd feel better about serving them up to the family.

You would be surprised how your aim can improve, I had never fired a gun before and to begin with probably couldn't hid the proverbial barn door, after only half a dozen target shots I was within and inch of the bullseye

[mauzi]

I used to feed pellets (along with fresh grass,various herbs, comfrey - which I believe you can actually feed as the majority of the diet once they get used to it) but we have been having some trouble with pellets in Australia. The mill has been changing the mix regularly, depending on what grain is more available I think and it is causing trouble. Not just with rabbits but also other animals. A friend of ours is into rabbits on a semi-commercial basis and just lost a heap of them through sudden change of feed in the pellets. We had trouble too, so I took mine off pellets and went slowly to mixed grain and the other additives as above. Just a thought.

[Sky]

Sky, get yourself a .22 air rifle, you don't need a license and as long as you get a high powered one you will kill bunies with one shot, you are bound to have loads. You could also go shooting possums as well, nice meat from them.

I'm a rubbish shot and so it seems is the hubby as he's never managed to hit one yet.
I was thinking if we bred our own they'd be free of parasites etc too and I'd feel better about serving them up to the family.

You would be surprised how your aim can improve, I had never fired a gun before and to begin with probably couldn't hid the proverbial barn door, after only half a dozen target shots I was within and inch of the bullseye

Lazy eye never got treated properly so now my brain sees double even with one eye closed. I can't focus on one thing for half a milli second without my eyes dancing about so makes me a crap shot.

[alexgadd]

Check out http://www.penguin.co.uk/nf/Book/BookDi ... 29,00.html for the re-issued 1941 book' Keeping Poultry and Rabbits on Scraps' only £6.99!

[moocher]

Check out http://www.penguin.co.uk/nf/Book/BookDi ... 29,00.html for the re-issued 1941 book' Keeping Poultry and Rabbits on Scraps' only £6.99!

good book i picked that up from local bookshop with the ish bible about a month ago.

[carolinew]

Check out http://www.penguin.co.uk/nf/Book/BookDi ... 29,00.html for the re-issued 1941 book' Keeping Poultry and Rabbits on Scraps' only £6.99!

Thanks for the tip, Alex! The 2009 project for my husband and I is to start breeding rabbits for meat - and we started with the hens just over a month ago (expecting our first egg any day now - 2 of the hens look ready). We really want to feed our livestock from home produce as far as is possible. If we know what we're putting in them, then we know what we're putting in ourselves (not to mention the cost savings, of course) So I just ordered the book from Amazon (£4.99).

This is a very interesting thread - thanks to everyone who is contributing. We're in London, and so we couldn't just get a gun and hunt them. But we could breed them at the bottom of the garden.

[alexgadd]

Check out http://www.penguin.co.uk/nf/Book/BookDi ... 29,00.html for the re-issued 1941 book' Keeping Poultry and Rabbits on Scraps' only £6.99!

good book i picked that up from local bookshop with the ish bible about a month ago.

Good book, as in factual & relevant to 2008/2009 or just an interesting read on how things used to be? I have not seen/read the book, just saw it online.

Am deciding whether I can shoot the wild rabbit (or maybe hare - can they be eaten?) on my 10 acres or if keeping rabbits for the table is an easier option.

Alex

[carolinew]

Check out http://www.penguin.co.uk/nf/Book/BookDi ... 29,00.html for the re-issued 1941 book' Keeping Poultry and Rabbits on Scraps' only £6.99!

good book i picked that up from local bookshop with the ish bible about a month ago.

Good book, as in factual & relevant to 2008/2009 or just an interesting read on how things used to be? I have not seen/read the book, just saw it online.

Am deciding whether I can shoot the wild rabbit (or maybe hare - can they be eaten?) on my 10 acres or if keeping rabbits for the table is an easier option.

Alex

It's a good book. Obviously there are bits which aren't relevant now (eg the wartime rations available per head of livestock ), but there's lots that is. Hens and rabbits still live and produce very happily on the food which was given then. And we are still eating those vegetables, etc, to grow and give them scraps from.

There are a number of good internet links out there on what we can grow / kitchen scraps we can give them, but I find this book better because it's telling me exactly how to go about it, and what is needed at each stage (eg what to feed normally, when breeding, etc). Also useful information on mating, killing, etc, etc. Of course, there are the odd bits of out of date info, like picking them up by their ears while supporting the hind legs so as not to damage their pelt (as it would be sold). It does, however, warn that if not done very carefully it would damage the rabbits ears - but hopefully everyone knows not to use the ears when picking them up now! Haven't come across anything else glaring like that, as yet. I would definitely recommend it. And it's so cheap, you can't really go wrong. One saved bag of feed, and it's paid for itself, not to mention the other areas in which it's helpful! (Got mine from Amazon)

We're planning to make our cages from mesh, which doesn't come up in the book - obviously, as it's wartime and metal was needed elsewhere!. Partly so that we can lift the cages onto the lawn and allow the rabbits to graze whilst in the cage. Also so that they can be placed onto our raised beds and allow it to be manured directly (saw that idea on http://thirtyfivebyninety.blogspot.com/ ... he%20cheap and thought it was good)

Hope this helps.

[alexgadd]

There are a number of good internet links out there on what we can grow / kitchen scraps we can give them, but I find this book better because it's telling me exactly how to go about it, and what is needed at each stage (eg what to feed normally, when breeding, etc).

Thanks, the t'internet will never replace the desire / need for actual books. I am back in Essex for the Christmas period and am enjoying using the net but when back in Spain I have no mains or web access so books are always more preferable. Will pick this title up soon.

Alex