He is such a good boy! Name him houdini the super escape artist! lol🤣👍👏👏👏👏👏👏

@@barking.dog.productions1777 LOL, yes he is a Houdini. Over the past year, he has not only bred the females in the colony, but he has also taken a female out with him and now has a harem of yard rabbits along with the colony. Thankfully I have a new buck inside the colony so he can live happily with his yard ladies. They are all thriving. I'm surprised that the yard bunnies survived the winter but I saw young ones in the yard all spring so they are still doing well. I stopped mowing the orchard so it's grown up nicely and they are living in that tall grass, coming to the house only at feeding time.

@@Clarinda787 This sparks joy

@@Clarinda787 Lmao your rabbit was like fuck you im start my owning flock... hell yeah.

@Ozzy the Bun ?????

How did it go!?

It is nice.🥳💟

@@navagatingthroughthebeasts2908 your name perfectly matches what I was thinking when reading that guys reply 😆😂🤣

Daddy just needed a break... get that boy some smokes🤣🤣

You should make video of your homestead I would love to learned what you do! I think it would be great since you’re just starting out and it would show your journey from early stage.

Goose、deer、sheep、donkey、horse、llama、alpaca

@Diversity Dolls Don’t eat? You know rabbits are one of the most sustainable animals out there, right? If you want to stop factory farming and that kind of animal cruelty, rabbits are the way to do it :)

@Diversity Dolls Did you even take into consideration anything I said? You’re completely dismissed my earlier comment, please re-read it. The only way to perpetuate today’s cycle of wastefulness, pollution and inevitable animal cruelty is by buying factory farmed, supermarket meat. Rabbits are the solution. I’d much rather fully and sustainably use all parts of a rabbit I mercifully butchered myself, than eat the remains of a cruelly killed cow. Saves the fuel, packaging and transportation environmental costs too.

@Diversity Dolls Are you very young? I feel like something in this debate just isn’t clicking. Your comment is barely relevant to mine.

@Diversity Dolls Do you... do you know what animal abuse and cruelty is? Because I think your calling anything that has to do with processing animals “cruel”. The act of mercifully dispatching an animal to nourish yourself and sustain your family isn’t cruel. Needlessly killing, or doing so in a way that distresses or prolongs the animal’s pain is.

@Diversity Dolls No, I wouldn’t eat a domesticated hamster, and I’m 16. It’s not about which animal’s life matters more, it’s about how to minimize cruelty. Free range, happy rabbits are far better than mass-tortured pigs trapped in their stalls.

I would have never thought of doing this! Thanks for sharing!

Yeah the cage thing always kinda turned me away. I'm glad to see that people make it work in a more free roaming setting.

You can't keep rabbits in an open set up together they get territorial without dens they can hang out together but eventually you have to put them up they get territorial over does

I tried the colony style, in a large hutch, but it failed due to the mess up of the man who sold me 2 bucks and 1 doe instead of the opposite. I will be trying again, once I can get some more does in the mix.

They’re in PA I believe.

I couldn’t say, our colony is an inside colony, the chicken tractors have the grow outs in them, and 15 of them can mow the 4x10 space in a day if that helps...

@@Homesteadyshow what are the dimensions of your space and how many rabbits in your space?

Grow a few white mulberry and be sure to feed the leaves and stems.

Trixie Belton a knife usually keeps them from rebreeding, however they’re also harvested 8-16w

Yes and yes 👍

You could always do barley fodder. Sprouted barley grass. Couple more steps, but cheaper and you know it’s allergy free

I've wondered about this too. I guess the next video will be about tanning hides.

I cant speak for everyone of course, but if you are saving hides, you will obviously get quite a few saved up.. People make house slippers, quilts or bed spreads, coats or even hats. Maybe even add a inside liner that you can button inside your coat.. I think the possibilities could be endless with a little imagination. And if you get good enough or know someone who can make products to sell out of the hides can only increase the income potential.

I’m in Vic too. Geelong at the moment but planning a move to the country soon and then will want rabbits. Any suggestions on which breed is best here and where to get a breeding pair? I’ve seen a few gumtree ads but they seem a bit dodgy.

@@moniquem783 I have dwarf lops and Netherland dwarfs and crosses, because they are pet varieties and so are easy to obtain. I get them from the local pet store. They do have a smaller carcass, but there are only two of us to feed (my son and I) and one bunny does a nice meal for us. If you wanted a larger meat breed, there are breeder's associations which can help you, just type "(name of breed) breeders" into your favourite search engine and you should find what you are looking for. BTW, buying from a pet store is expensive, you pay about twice what you'll pay for the same animal from a breeder. But it is what it is. I'm limited in my transport and so the pet shop for me is the easiest option.

@@PsychicIsaacs thank you! It will only be me so if I have trouble finding a larger breed the pet shop is a good idea to get started with at least. I think I’d prefer a larger carcass though as I suspect I’ll struggle with dispatching them at first so if they’re bigger I won’t have to do that as often. I would cook up the whole thing and freeze the extra servings for another day, although I actually am not at all fussed if I eat the same thing multiple nights in a row. I’ll try that search tip. Thank you!

@@moniquem783 If you have a freezer, you can make a stew and freeze it. We don't have refrigeration here, so a smaller animal is better for us. I have had larger livestock (sheep and goats and even alpacas) for many years, although I don't have any at the moment. I used to kill and butcher my own animals, and compared to a sheep or goat, a rabbit is easy! Mum and Dad used to have a small farm and they always had at least 27 sheep, 26 ewes and a ram, plus lambs. Each fortnight, Dad would kill a lamb and Mum would butcher it into the cuts that she wanted to cook for the next two weeks. They had a lot of children (I'm number seven) and this was how they fed them all! So, when the time came for me to have my own farm, Mum taught me how to kill and butcher a sheep, and she said all animals are the same, it's just some are bigger and others are smaller, that's all! But take my word for it, rabbits and chickens provide all the nourishment you need and are so much easier than sheep or goats! God Bless and All the Best!

@@PsychicIsaacs yes I’ll have a freezer. I had a big one that carked it in November so I’m waiting until I move to replace it so I can get the biggest one I can fit in the new place, plus the freezer on the fridge of course. I’m wanting sheep, and something for dairy. I’d love a cow but will likely start with goats for a while until I know what I’m doing. I figure it’s way less expensive if I mess up with a goat lol. Alpacas are definitely on the list, and a couple of pigs. I’ve never killed anything before. I have chickens here but the one time I had a couple of boys that needed to go was very early in my chicken keeping days and my neighbour at the time who grew up on a farm did the kill. I was fine helping with plucking and gutting them. I was very aware when I was eating them, but partly that was because they had so much flavour compared to what I’ve ever had before. They were older than they should have been too so they were pretty tough. But that one experience taught me that I can eat something I’ve raised, and that once it’s dead I’m fine sticking my hand in it, so it’s just the kill to learn. I am thinking I’ll probably get the mobile butcher for the bigger animals though just because it’s a big heavy job and it’s just me on my own and I have chronic fatigue syndrome but unless I have a whole cool room it’s probably not great to butcher a bit of a lamb then leave it there and go have a nap for a few hours. I’m planning dual purpose chickens so it’ll be kill one at a time as I need one because I’ve watched the videos of processing days when homesteads do big batches of chickens and there’s just no way I can cope with that much all at once. Even if I knew enough people to get the amount of helpers a lot of them have on butcher day, I can’t cope with that many people around for that amount of time. So one at a time and hand plucking will be more practical for me. And rabbits one or maybe two at a time. I figure I’ll eat a fair bit of rabbit the first year there, but once I have the freezer stocked with lamb and pork and maybe goat I’ll slow the bunnies down a bit. They make sense for fast meat when I first get there though. I do wish I’d grown up on a farm and learned all this stuff as a kid like you did! Can’t imagine my mum butchering a lamb though! When I told her that a boy baby of a dairy animal is meat she wanted to bring it to live at her house forever instead 😂😂😂 She’s better about it than my vegan sister though! Oh, there’s another thing I want. A few geese. Ducks too, but geese so I can roast a goose for Christmas and when my sister asks what it’s name is, which she will, I can say Lucy Goosey. I don’t know why that thought cracks me up so much but it does 😂😂 It must get tough without refrigeration. Especially in the middle of summer. Not even thinking about the meat, but just a really cold drink on a hot day is so nice.

You leave the rabbit heads in the cage after you butcher them and say a weasel got them

Some people may disagree, but I believe the younger you expose your child to farm life and eating the animals you process, it becomes more of a natural "way of life" aspect of it rather than some punch to their guttural instincts that 'all life is precious' rather than 'life has purpose' in the 'circle of life'. You eat cows and hogs and chicken and fish and never understand where it actually comes from until your a teenager is shocking that so many people choose to keep their children ignorant about the foods they eat. Now your child may choose to be a vegetarian and thats fine, but its perfectly normal either way. Just because they choose that, don't mean you should not do what you believe is normal.

@@johnskipper2619 you hit the nail on the head! how do people think we survived as a species? My grandparents were tough farm folks who raised kids and grandkids 20 years post Great Depression and did NOT have these issues. You could feel how you felt but got over it, grandma/granddaddy did what they needed to do regardless. The children were expected to conform to the society around them, not the other way around.

Hi it depends on your climate but out here people use fodder beets, they are very high sugar so, they are perfect for growouts but can cause tooth decay in breeders. I feed good pellets to breeders, but the grow outs get everything like kitchen scraps including bread. If you have year round warmth you can grow perennial alfalfa patches to harvest for the rabbits, Or another suitable high protein leaf which grows in your climate. "Beyond the pellet" is a book that goes into detail on this topic

@@tinnerste2507 great information, thank you.

Put down a layer of hay in their pens and when you clean their pens, use their soiled hay as a mulch. Problem solved!

@@PsychicIsaacs I mean if they are in a colony on the ground. You mean the whole area as a pen? Yes I guess that would work. Janice

Litter box train the rabbits to keep the waste.

@@janinemaldonado6806 It's interesting you say that. I had a guinea pig in college, as a pet, and he "Rambo" was paper trained. So I guess that could be a thing but I wonder how difficult it would be. Have you done that? Hmmmm, I wonder. Janice

@@jksatte My granddaughter was given an eight week old rabbit. We put it in a corner of a room. We have it enough space with room to run around with a triangle litter box. We put hay in it. He ate the hay and went in the litter box. We went home a week later. Put him in the bathroom for a couple of days. He went in the litter box. We then expanded his territory every week until he was old enough to make it to the litter box. He is now two years old. Kind of a mixture between a dog and a cat.

If I have this right a father can breed with a daughter but not siblings, is this correct?

@@cherylpennington1742 That's correct! It is called line breeding. Personally, line breeding is ok if trying to emphasize a specific trait in your breeding stock such as a nice disposition, or large size with excellent meat/bone ratio. I wouldn't do it however just to save buying an unrelated buck, because you may also breed in traits that you don't want.

Piwakawaka valley homestead :)

Place 1/2'' x 1" vinyl coated hardware cloth on bottom of the colony house.

You can build a rabbit tractor that doesn't touch the ground, but does allow grass through the bottom.

You can litter box train them and build a room for them. I have a rabbit inside my house that uses a litter box. We have tile. He is afraid of carpet, but some rabbits chew carpet. We didn't neuter him. He doesn't spray his urine. He enjoys his house and goes in it to sleep, eat, do his business, or if the Fed ex truck drives by and scares him. He is mischievous with my husband. Likes to drag his belts around or knock over his boots. Sometimes my husband sends him to his cage when the rabbit chews on his boot. Big no no.

I’m planning on a rabbit shed, or a big room in my barn with straw bedding, and using barley fodder for fresh grass.

Only vaccination will save them from the (RHD) virus as it can be conveyed via feed like hay or flies, mosquitos as well.

No they don’t unless you just don’t take care of your equipment.

German Blue Vienna. I just watched another video where they put the breed on the screen.

Especially when Bugs puts on a dress and kisses Elmer. (sorry, I'll see myself out)

@Big Joker Visit your local Pet Shop. It will probably be a pet breed, but it will get you started until you can find a breeder.

Home raised rabbits processed at 8-12 weeks taste so much like chicken many people wouldn't know the difference if you didn't tell them. It is very different to wild older rabbits!

@@FantailValleyHomestead Thank you for letting me know , I dont know if anyone sells rabbit meat in our area but I would try it .

@@cindyfinn4845 I you have any, you might try Amish or Mennonite grocers near you.

Also, according to @goodsimpleliving , it makes a difference if the animal goes into an overnight ice bath right after processing. This removes excess blood from an animal that appears to have been fully bled, and prevents gamy flavor.

@@laurelb2402 nice tip, thanks

Boy, that’s awful!! Can I ask if you know how you got it?

No the rabbit is not done growing at 13 weeks and most rabbits will not be sexually mature at that time. It can cause delivery problems (like stuck kits) stunted growth which can shorten life and produce small kits and litter sizes

As this so called pandemic keeps going and the government wants to feed us insects they will change their mind. Believe me that and even worse is coming. Grow your own food and prepare.

i am the same way i would either need a strong stomached person to do it or find a processor to do it. looking all into it now since i hope to homestead in the next 5-10 years or so

Add fat when cooking. Apparently it helps keep it moist too. Bacon seems to be a popular way of adding fat, but of course then you need to source bacon.

There are other ways of getting fat. You should add in more fat heavy non meat foods to compensate.

Save and render duck fat to use

You could skip a generation if you wanted but most breeds of does and bucks are safe to breed regardless of relationship without genetic defects.

Or know some other People that Keep rabbits and barther One male rabbit for One male rabbit. Keep THE new rabbit by itself until you know for sure their healthy

And Wendy’s daughter!

E rankin, please send me a link to the laws that state this... I want to read it for myself, seems unbelievable! Where do you live?

Let me be clear, I believe you 😂 just I want to see what crazy laws I have not seen yet

@@Homesteadyshow I kind of read the 10 animals wrong, but it does say up to ten domestic animals can be kept, but no more than three rabbits of those ten :) Here is the Ordinance site for the City of Neenah, WI: library.municode.com/wi/neenah/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=SPAGEOR_CH3AN

I found where it says we cannot slaughter fowl, chickens, or doves... I can't find where they specified about butchering Rabbits. I thought for sure it said somewhere in there that no animal can be raised for slaughter. I'm terribly sorry!

Don't be sorry! Be glad you looked closer! Don't let them take away more of your freedom than they already have. Also.. .MOVE. That place sounds like Homestead Nazis run it.

Sounds normal to me. Then again I'm a Kiwi

You can raise rabbits on timothy hay and alfalfa hay pretty successfully.

Sounds like you need to move.

​@@davidmorgan8612 easier said than done.

@@shermdog6969 especially these days

I have had a rabbit attack when opening a cage... it’s not fun.

Hi Candice, I appreciate your opinion, however may I suggest that just because it hasn't happened to you that it doesn't mean that is doesn't happen ever? I know of several breeders that have had this problem :-)

If a rabbit in a cage set up was attacking a person, do you feel it would be different in a colony? Do you feel the rabbit would be friendly or always fearful, aggressive, or reclusive?

One can look to psychology for the answer, the 3 self defensive reactions an animal tends to have when it feels threatened are fight, flight, or freeze. When a skittish animal is trapped in a confined space that already rules out flight and if the animal doesn't feel that it has enough visual cover for freezing to be effective all that it has left is fight. Because of the usual limited space and the open concept of cages you're increasing the likelihood of them feeling defensive/ skittish in the first place and now going on the attack is basically the only option. If you have extremely chill and docile animals you may not run into the issue but it is one that's pretty much wired into most animals especially prey animals. So by giving them more space where they could run/hide if they feel the need you're already taking an edge off of that fear response and make them more receptive to positive interactions that can lead to a more relaxed and trusting animal.

Candace I believe it depends on the breed. I have raised rabbits for about 30 years. The typical New Zealands and other common meat breeds I was bitten and attacked when I opened the cage. In the past few years became acquainted with the Silver Fox. Wonderful temperament and very gentle. Beautiful pelts. I love this breed. Rabbit tractors that are moved 1-2 times daily is a great alternative to using cage floors. No scratching or biting.

AI does it.

Yes they do. Wild HARES do not