Greetings from Sweden. I'm convinced. I'm going to look into switching from chicks to rabbits. Always great information in your videos, very appreciated. :)
I was just telling family at a holiday gathering about this strain of the avian flu, and how I've started using basic PPE gear to take care of our backyard flock. None of them knew that it was going on, nor that our state (CA) is in a state of emergency about it. When I told my partner about the advisory that UC Davis put out, he said "yeah but it's only really bad if it's crossed over to swine". When I broke the news, he immediately understood how serious that is. I have sets of dedicated clothes that I wear, a mask, tall wellies and I wash with antibacterial soap diligently. We live near a lot of dairy farms, and that's where it's most prevalently popping up around here. I feel a lot better taking precautions, peace of mind is invaluable. Especially since both of my parents are extremely immunocompromised! Wishing you and your family well.
I have a few questions. I love the details of your presentation a lot! Good point in the Rabbis vs Chicken video about bird flu. How about all the rabbit diseases that are spreading, like rabbit hammorhagic fever…and others? Where to get vaccines in the apocalypse and for how much money? I would also be interested about the best fur quality-moulting-breeding time. Winter fur is the best, but for that, optimal breeding time would be 6 months earlier, let’s say in July in the hottest time of the year, when the animals are most stressed. What would you recommend? Thanx for your or anybody’s answer.
This has been why I'm interested in rabbits!!! My only issue 😭: I totally did not like the rabbit my son cooked for us. He loved it but I had to pour (without him seeing of course) tons of Thai sauce on it. I think it had belly skin so I don't know if it depends on the body part. I'm going to go get one that is more fresh (last one was a year frozen, given by the neighbor). Another option is rabbit sausage with the pork we're raising coming this year. For the chickens, I'm raising heritage chix by egg and slaughtering on demand (not bulk slaughtering).
Thanks for putting in all the time and effort with your videos. Me as a new homesteader has learned much information just from your channel alone from the few videos I've watched. Please keep them coming!
I so enjoy your videos in this series. Just scratches a nerdy itch for me, you put a lot of work into your cost of growing feed videos. I'm also grateful to see your good sense, good science warning about avian flu. In my case, I have long dreamed of a small farm and rabbits were part of that dream for the last five plus years. Unfortunately, it never will come to pass. Because of COVID, I have a lifelong debilitating chronic illness. I'm losing my ability to work, and I'm likely only to get worse. My covid infections were mild and I think my first infection was asymptomatic, but the virus does so much to the body that I became unable to do any physical work. Now this illness has taken away so much of my ability; no gardening, no future homestead, I can barely reliably look after a houseplant. And so I wish people took these things more seriously. If you're looking ahead to when your local infrastructure falls apart, when you can't get commercial feed or go to the grocery store, take a moment to think about the harder question. What would you do if you couldn't work? What will you do to protect yourself and your community (family, neighbors, etc) from a virus that could literally cause your body to fail at a cellular level forever?
So sorry to hear of your long covid and hope you will have sufficient support & community. I hope more of us can create little communities so those of us with disabilities are engaged vibrantly in a community because we all have skills or caring to share.
Great and useful video, however I'm more of a both kind of person. Chickens have many uses around the homestead in addition to their food contributions such as pest, and weed control. But you won't get those benefits from the commercial breeds. Instead go for Heritage breeds known for their foraging skills. They won't grow as fast but they will require less feed. Then sprout and/or ferment their grain so they digest it better. They will need 1/3 to 1/2 as much as even the ground feed. Also since you're already growing rabbits, grow a few for your flock. Voila, much, much more sustainable!
Are you planning on quail anytime soon? I read a detailed breakdown on how they were more efficient than chickens, but was wondering how they compared to rabbits. I'll be getting both within the next couple years, but like your thoroughness.
It won’t be soon but I do plan to make a video on quail eventually! I have never had quail and neither has my family (farmers) so I don’t know much about them. I’ll have to do a bit more research before I’m ready to tackle that one.
I just harvested a turkey for the first time. I don't have it in me- meat isn't near as important as the nutrients from greens, fruits, and veggies. However, if you're out of crops it wouldn't be a bad idea to have a stockpile of frozen meat resources- but it's a huge misconception to even have to eat as much as we do.
I am in the same boat. I will go on hunting trips with my family (I'm mainly out foraging) and help them with the processing of what they get. Then we all get a freezer full, but keeping the animals and having to harvest them when they trust me... That is a very tough activity. Respect to those who do it themself, but yeah we definitely don't need as much meat as many folks eat - but that's coming from a homesteader in Texas, so we have nearly a year-round growing season.
I have been thinking of rabbits, and I thank you for your information. However I don’t want all the furs. Maybe I could find a local person to take the furs. I think having a rabbit hutch in my vegetable/orchard gardens would be a great idea. Especially if the hutch matches the garden rows, for natural winter fertilizer.
My rabbits are worth keeping just for the manure for my garden. If they produced nothing else that alone is worth the cost of some hay and a few pellets. Any wasted hay also ends up on the garden and as noted they can process weeds so much quicker than composting! I am in Australia so a hot humid climate in summer. Our winters are mild during the day but it does get cold overnight with frosty mornings. My rabbits have a fan blowing during the day in summer in the hottest months and I don’t breed during this time. But that leaves 9 months of the year when than can breed quite happily. Only commercial egg layer breeds of chicken lay eggs for more than 6 months of the year and most of the heritage breeds do a lot less. That said I keep chickens as well for their eggs and for the work they can do in clearing new garden spaces. I pen them over the area I want to turn into garden bed. I work on a small scale doing beds 8 x 4 feet with 4 chickens per pen. Often 3 hens and a rooster. In a week or 2 they have taken the area down to bare dirt. Then I start dumping my rabbits waste into the chickens pen. They work it into the soil and enjoy the insect larvae it attracts. In another week or two I move the chickens on to the next spot and have a raised garden bed ready to plant into, no digging required. By keeping my chickens in small groups I can keep a few different heritage breeds and can sell my excess eggs as fertile eggs for hatching. Depending on the breed can get between $30 to $80 / dozen. If I raise some chickens I can eat the roosters and sell the purebred pellets for a good price too but I also hate plucking chickens! Without the rabbits input and the chickens work those garden beds would require a lot more work and time. This year I am growing a lot more plants to feed my bunnies and birds, popping in things like sunflowers wherever I can find a space. I am also planting trees ( mulberry, willows and poplars ) in a hedge around my house yard perimeter from cuttings that I can feed to my rabbits in years to come. They will grow well in my climate with the grey water from my house being enough to supplement the rainfall if needed. Shouldn’t need much at all after the first year or 2. My biggest fear for my animals is disease so I am very aware of bio security. Australia is the only continent without the current avian flue super virus but it will come with the migratory birds no doubt. I don’t have a lot of chickens but I do have so many beautiful wild birds here and I hate to think what it will do to those wild populations. There are fears it could cause the extinction of our beautiful black swans and so many other unique species. My rabbits are at risk from RHDV2 and myxomatosis, both viruses released by our government to combat rabbits in plague proportions in years gone by. I vaccinate my breeders for RHDV2 but there is no vaccine and no treatment for myxo. Mosquito and infection control are very important. I am doing everything I can to minimise risk because the risk is real. There was a very successful commercial rabbit farm about 20 miles away from me. They were supplying hi end restaurants and butchers. They got wiped out by myxomatosis. Twice. They cleaned and disinfected and put stronger measures in place before restocking but when they lost all of their stock the second time they could not afford to go on. There have been a few outbreaks of avian flu ( an older strain ) on commercial poultry farms last spring and millions of birds were mass slaughtered to contain and control it causing egg shortages in the supermarkets. The risks are very real and we all need to be aware of doing as much as we can to keep our animals healthy. I love this channel so much for the mix of science, practicality and inspiration. My climate couldn’t be more different than Montana’s but the principles are the same. For meat protein production rabbits beat chickens hands down. I just wish I’d seen the video where you talked about picking a breed where they all look the same ( to make it easier emotionally to process ) before I got my rabbits. I have the Aussie equivalent of Tamuks bred to cope well with heat and grow big and fast. Of course they are a composite breed so you can get every colour and patter under the sun all in the one litter! They do live up to the hype though and cope much better with the heat; huge ears and thinner coats.
I started out watching those math videos where you weren't on camera. Such valuable info! But girl, your curls are beautiful #nohomo LOL. I loved watching you even if the sound wasn't totally synced. Thank you for sharing your experience and wisdom.
Love your videos as always - but I notice again a slight audio mismatch, that the video is lagging behind by a few hundred ms. Maybe worth checking for the next video, you could do a sync clap, for instance :)
I think I need to invest in a real camera. I’m recording on my phone and it looks totally fine in my camera roll. I upload to software editing app (I’ve used Canva, CapCut, and Adobe so far) and it looks fine. I upload to RUclips and it’s all messed up. I don’t know WHY it’s happening but it’s making me crazy. 🤪 thanks for being patient while I figure this out.
My rabbits manure does not stop wild rabbits from going in my garden. My chickens run is around my garden and they dont stop them either. Lol. Im new at rabbits, less than a year and i love them and my chickens both. Dont think i could pick which one is better.
I tried to fry some rabbit to see if my husband would like it so I could convince him that we need to raise them. He didn't like it. Do you (or anyone) have an irresistible recipe so that I can try again? I really want to add rabbits to my little farm
I agree that fried rabbit isn't my favorite, either. In our house, we will brine and roast it, make stewed rabbit (you can change the flavor depending on what you cook with it), or replace any shredded chicken recipes with rabbit. At a friend's house, we smoked rabbit -- which was super delicious! I find rabbit meat tastes a little sweeter than chicken. Hopefully, it works out!
I have a BBQ recipe on here we really like, another good option is slow cooking with dumplings. Fried rabbit is good but you have to have a young/tender rabbit and/or soak in a brine for a few days to really make it good. It’s a hard recipe to start with I think.
I had the fun of being stepped on by a horse myself. Fell underneath it when galloping full speed and the horse took a sharp turn. Luckily no bones broken. What you get for riding horses with no bridle or saddle.
Would be interested in hearing truth and based thoughtd from you on those topics others are so quick to dismiss. Thanks for helping us in advance of what might be coming.
Wild rabbit isn’t my favorite either, flavor isn’t as good and it’s usually tougher (probably because they’re older and more fearful but I don’t know that for sure). I just about don’t even consider wild to be the same animal as domestic.
So I have thought about this quite a bit, and to be fair the "cost" is different, but follow with my reasoning for a minute. So a rabbit can have say 4 litters per year and 8 live kits raised to butcher on a higher sustainability level. So 32 butcherable animals plus 2 adults. Now this assumes that electricity is cheap and so is feed, so bear with me. A meat bird will (depending on breed) lay 180 to 200 eggs per year, assuming you get an 80% hatch rate, that is 144 to 160 chicks per year. Which is 4 to 5 times the productivity of a rabbit. This does assume hatching small batches basically each week 5-7 eggs depending on the week, but then you get the same result of maintaining a more or less sustainable number of chicken without filling a freezer. The other points about feed and availability are all true and I am not debating that, and I am also planning on getting rabbits. I am just saying there are production options that changes the math on what people are able to accomplish with the right setup and conditions.
This video is about Self-Sufficiency... According to the math presented in this video you will need 219 acres of land to grow the feed for these birds. While for the rabbits 12.5 acres for the wean and eat program. I am trying to find that "right setup" for chicken feed as well.
@shawn27430 That is true, but what is self sustaining for one person may not be for another. Just 10 acres for one person may be $100,000 dollars...which is a lot of chicken feed. And I may be wrong but I don't think Joel Salatin is running thousands of acres to feed his animals. But to be fair every land type and place has a different carrying capacity. Different plants also do different things, for example Amaranth can produce between 1200 to 2000lbs of seed per acre, at 1/4 pound per adult bird, 1 acre will feed just over 13 adult birds per year, so to feed 144 chickens for a year would be 11 acres. With 144 birds hatched out between 52 weeks, that is hatching just under 3 birds per week (2.7). Over the course of 16 weeks to butcher, you are only feeding 48 birds at any given time from chick to adult. Chicks won't eat as much as an adult. So now we have 48 birds x 92 pounds of feed per year is 4,416 pounds of feed. Which is only 3.7 acres. Again there is plenty of nuance in this, but the point remains that it is do-able.
Chickens are more efficient in creating more animals, but once they’re here they take a lot more space/feed to get up to butcher size. Chickens are great if you want to run a hatchery and sell them on a commercial scale for sure.
Do you feel the same way about ducks. Since they arent depending on grain or feed necessarily. They like small critters and small varieties of vegetation
I love visiting people who have ducks. They’re so cute and absolutely hilarious to watch, but they’re not for me. I don’t enjoy the smell and I know I would struggle with the water situation. While I know some people let their ducks go without a swimming spot all winter, I wouldn’t feel good about that. I don’t want to heat or break out water for a majority of the year so I don’t plan on having them. They sure are cute though and do make great eggs.
@CedarHillsHomestead Thank you for your response. Mscovy ducks don't need water like other breeds. So making a small tote with a lid, with holes would be enough to dip their faces into them. Yes they will still have a smell. But using pebbles or fake grass to wash down the poop into another liquid fertilizer would be an alternative. Also they are seasonal breeders so they plan out their pregnancies and make great mothers. So they are good for incubation, even for other poultry eggs. Mscovy is the "beef" of all ducks cause of their good quality meat.
@CedarHillsHomestead And Yes I understand the water issue. Pros are good fat for cooking and good quality meat and large eggs. They can eat meal worm and beetle and worms, also slugs Which can all be farmed at home. Then just grow their lettuce etc, and soft scrap fruits.
If I ever manage to get my own homestead I'd love to try raising ducks and geese -- not as a major food source, though, so much as because I keep hearing how with the right setup they'll act as bug- and weed-eating roombas. Is it too good to be true? Maybe, but I won't know unless I try :D
@eyesofthecervino3366 They do! Also one of my old neighbors had alot of muscovy ducks and since they are seasonal layers they're birthing rates are high. So her & her husband ended up having 400 baby ducks in one season. Which is found hilarious cause they couldn't sell the ducklings fast enough so they spent thousands that year feeding them until they either butchered them or got them a new home
Yes rabbits are awesome for everything you mentioned... BUT!!!!!!..... Unfortunatly they taste like they smell, yes i said it, that is the truth and im sticking by it. I wish they tasted good, ive tried. IVE TRIED! Ive even mixed it with pork, still not so good. People claim it taste like chicken... well maybe lean chicken mixed with rabbit shit. I still have a number of rabbits and a deep freeze 1/4 full of them, but highly considering getting rid of the remaining rabbits. I run my rabbits on grass in tractors moved twice a day. It is edible when you do a lot to mask the smell/flavor, but all of my family will gobble up our pig we raised and the rabbit is mainly untouched and unwanted. There is a reason they are not so popular and this is it but no one wants to admit it. They are perfect in every way except taste, they are edible but many other things are preferable to them.
I hate to hear that! I don’t have any advice I only wish that would happen locally so I could try it and see what’s up. Every now and then I see someone online say they’ve had exactly that experience and I wish I knew what was up with that. We love our rabbit and strongly prefer its flavor over chicken.
Greetings from Sweden.
I'm convinced. I'm going to look into switching from chicks to rabbits. Always great information in your videos, very appreciated. :)
I was just telling family at a holiday gathering about this strain of the avian flu, and how I've started using basic PPE gear to take care of our backyard flock. None of them knew that it was going on, nor that our state (CA) is in a state of emergency about it. When I told my partner about the advisory that UC Davis put out, he said "yeah but it's only really bad if it's crossed over to swine". When I broke the news, he immediately understood how serious that is. I have sets of dedicated clothes that I wear, a mask, tall wellies and I wash with antibacterial soap diligently. We live near a lot of dairy farms, and that's where it's most prevalently popping up around here. I feel a lot better taking precautions, peace of mind is invaluable. Especially since both of my parents are extremely immunocompromised! Wishing you and your family well.
I have a few questions.
I love the details of your presentation a lot!
Good point in the Rabbis vs Chicken video about bird flu.
How about all the rabbit diseases that are spreading, like rabbit hammorhagic fever…and others?
Where to get vaccines in the apocalypse and for how much money?
I would also be interested about the best fur quality-moulting-breeding time.
Winter fur is the best, but for that, optimal breeding time would be 6 months earlier, let’s say in July in the hottest time of the year, when the animals are most stressed.
What would you recommend?
Thanx for your or anybody’s answer.
Not to mention freezer space: store 1 year worth of chicken vs one rabbit litter at a time.
Very good point. Could harvest as needed.
@@calvinkalmon6746 - kinda like it was done before the freezer (and the monster chicken) was invented :)
This has been why I'm interested in rabbits!!! My only issue 😭: I totally did not like the rabbit my son cooked for us. He loved it but I had to pour (without him seeing of course) tons of Thai sauce on it. I think it had belly skin so I don't know if it depends on the body part. I'm going to go get one that is more fresh (last one was a year frozen, given by the neighbor). Another option is rabbit sausage with the pork we're raising coming this year. For the chickens, I'm raising heritage chix by egg and slaughtering on demand (not bulk slaughtering).
Yeah, but I don't like rabbit eggs.
Your stupid & just insulted yourself
Laying hens eat more than a broiler by the time it's butcher time (typically 4 years).
Chocolate chips!
the feels
You gotta wait for Easter, that’s when the Cadbury eggs happen. 😁 they’re delicious
Thanks for putting in all the time and effort with your videos. Me as a new homesteader has learned much information just from your channel alone from the few videos I've watched. Please keep them coming!
I appreciate you, thank you!
I so enjoy your videos in this series. Just scratches a nerdy itch for me, you put a lot of work into your cost of growing feed videos.
I'm also grateful to see your good sense, good science warning about avian flu. In my case, I have long dreamed of a small farm and rabbits were part of that dream for the last five plus years. Unfortunately, it never will come to pass.
Because of COVID, I have a lifelong debilitating chronic illness. I'm losing my ability to work, and I'm likely only to get worse. My covid infections were mild and I think my first infection was asymptomatic, but the virus does so much to the body that I became unable to do any physical work. Now this illness has taken away so much of my ability; no gardening, no future homestead, I can barely reliably look after a houseplant.
And so I wish people took these things more seriously. If you're looking ahead to when your local infrastructure falls apart, when you can't get commercial feed or go to the grocery store, take a moment to think about the harder question. What would you do if you couldn't work? What will you do to protect yourself and your community (family, neighbors, etc) from a virus that could literally cause your body to fail at a cellular level forever?
So sorry to hear of your long covid and hope you will have sufficient support & community. I hope more of us can create little communities so those of us with disabilities are engaged vibrantly in a community because we all have skills or caring to share.
Great and useful video, however I'm more of a both kind of person.
Chickens have many uses around the homestead in addition to their food contributions such as pest, and weed control. But you won't get those benefits from the commercial breeds.
Instead go for Heritage breeds known for their foraging skills. They won't grow as fast but they will require less feed. Then sprout and/or ferment their grain so they digest it better. They will need 1/3 to 1/2 as much as even the ground feed. Also since you're already growing rabbits, grow a few for your flock. Voila, much, much more sustainable!
I hear you and I agree with you, but I just can’t bring myself to harvest a rabbit. Too darn cute.
Are you planning on quail anytime soon? I read a detailed breakdown on how they were more efficient than chickens, but was wondering how they compared to rabbits. I'll be getting both within the next couple years, but like your thoroughness.
It won’t be soon but I do plan to make a video on quail eventually! I have never had quail and neither has my family (farmers) so I don’t know much about them. I’ll have to do a bit more research before I’m ready to tackle that one.
Ohhh this was so interesting! I love your animal information!
I just harvested a turkey for the first time. I don't have it in me- meat isn't near as important as the nutrients from greens, fruits, and veggies. However, if you're out of crops it wouldn't be a bad idea to have a stockpile of frozen meat resources- but it's a huge misconception to even have to eat as much as we do.
I am in the same boat. I will go on hunting trips with my family (I'm mainly out foraging) and help them with the processing of what they get. Then we all get a freezer full, but keeping the animals and having to harvest them when they trust me... That is a very tough activity. Respect to those who do it themself, but yeah we definitely don't need as much meat as many folks eat - but that's coming from a homesteader in Texas, so we have nearly a year-round growing season.
I have been thinking of rabbits, and I thank you for your information. However I don’t want all the furs. Maybe I could find a local person to take the furs. I think having a rabbit hutch in my vegetable/orchard gardens would be a great idea. Especially if the hutch matches the garden rows, for natural winter fertilizer.
Meat rabbit are pretty useless for fur.
They are taken too young. Skin is too soft. Rips, tears everywhere
@ good to know, but what should be done with the fur? A years worth of rabbit meat is also a lot of fur.
10:27… How do you keep the manure and urine separated? Please have a video of your cage setup. Thanks.
My rabbits are worth keeping just for the manure for my garden. If they produced nothing else that alone is worth the cost of some hay and a few pellets. Any wasted hay also ends up on the garden and as noted they can process weeds so much quicker than composting!
I am in Australia so a hot humid climate in summer. Our winters are mild during the day but it does get cold overnight with frosty mornings. My rabbits have a fan blowing during the day in summer in the hottest months and I don’t breed during this time. But that leaves 9 months of the year when than can breed quite happily. Only commercial egg layer breeds of chicken lay eggs for more than 6 months of the year and most of the heritage breeds do a lot less.
That said I keep chickens as well for their eggs and for the work they can do in clearing new garden spaces. I pen them over the area I want to turn into garden bed. I work on a small scale doing beds 8 x 4 feet with 4 chickens per pen. Often 3 hens and a rooster. In a week or 2 they have taken the area down to bare dirt. Then I start dumping my rabbits waste into the chickens pen. They work it into the soil and enjoy the insect larvae it attracts. In another week or two I move the chickens on to the next spot and have a raised garden bed ready to plant into, no digging required.
By keeping my chickens in small groups I can keep a few different heritage breeds and can sell my excess eggs as fertile eggs for hatching. Depending on the breed can get between $30 to $80 / dozen.
If I raise some chickens I can eat the roosters and sell the purebred pellets for a good price too but I also hate plucking chickens!
Without the rabbits input and the chickens work those garden beds would require a lot more work and time. This year I am growing a lot more plants to feed my bunnies and birds, popping in things like sunflowers wherever I can find a space. I am also planting trees ( mulberry, willows and poplars ) in a hedge around my house yard perimeter from cuttings that I can feed to my rabbits in years to come. They will grow well in my climate with the grey water from my house being enough to supplement the rainfall if needed. Shouldn’t need much at all after the first year or 2.
My biggest fear for my animals is disease so I am very aware of bio security. Australia is the only continent without the current avian flue super virus but it will come with the migratory birds no doubt. I don’t have a lot of chickens but I do have so many beautiful wild birds here and I hate to think what it will do to those wild populations. There are fears it could cause the extinction of our beautiful black swans and so many other unique species.
My rabbits are at risk from RHDV2 and myxomatosis, both viruses released by our government to combat rabbits in plague proportions in years gone by. I vaccinate my breeders for RHDV2 but there is no vaccine and no treatment for myxo. Mosquito and infection control are very important. I am doing everything I can to minimise risk because the risk is real.
There was a very successful commercial rabbit farm about 20 miles away from me. They were supplying hi end restaurants and butchers. They got wiped out by myxomatosis. Twice. They cleaned and disinfected and put stronger measures in place before restocking but when they lost all of their stock the second time they could not afford to go on.
There have been a few outbreaks of avian flu ( an older strain ) on commercial poultry farms last spring and millions of birds were mass slaughtered to contain and control it causing egg shortages in the supermarkets. The risks are very real and we all need to be aware of doing as much as we can to keep our animals healthy.
I love this channel so much for the mix of science, practicality and inspiration. My climate couldn’t be more different than Montana’s but the principles are the same. For meat protein production rabbits beat chickens hands down. I just wish I’d seen the video where you talked about picking a breed where they all look the same ( to make it easier emotionally to process ) before I got my rabbits. I have the Aussie equivalent of Tamuks bred to cope well with heat and grow big and fast. Of course they are a composite breed so you can get every colour and patter under the sun all in the one litter! They do live up to the hype though and cope much better with the heat; huge ears and thinner coats.
Great video. I just bought 2 Rex does. Really looking forward to this. Thank you.
I started out watching those math videos where you weren't on camera. Such valuable info! But girl, your curls are beautiful #nohomo LOL. I loved watching you even if the sound wasn't totally synced. Thank you for sharing your experience and wisdom.
How about a coy pond too? They do get used in Japanese recipes, and you can toss in some bass.😎
Love your videos as always - but I notice again a slight audio mismatch, that the video is lagging behind by a few hundred ms.
Maybe worth checking for the next video, you could do a sync clap, for instance :)
I think I need to invest in a real camera. I’m recording on my phone and it looks totally fine in my camera roll. I upload to software editing app (I’ve used Canva, CapCut, and Adobe so far) and it looks fine. I upload to RUclips and it’s all messed up. I don’t know WHY it’s happening but it’s making me crazy. 🤪 thanks for being patient while I figure this out.
@@CedarHillsHomestead Hahahah totally understand - technology is weird sometimes
My rabbits manure does not stop wild rabbits from going in my garden. My chickens run is around my garden and they dont stop them either. Lol. Im new at rabbits, less than a year and i love them and my chickens both. Dont think i could pick which one is better.
I tried to fry some rabbit to see if my husband would like it so I could convince him that we need to raise them. He didn't like it. Do you (or anyone) have an irresistible recipe so that I can try again? I really want to add rabbits to my little farm
I agree that fried rabbit isn't my favorite, either. In our house, we will brine and roast it, make stewed rabbit (you can change the flavor depending on what you cook with it), or replace any shredded chicken recipes with rabbit. At a friend's house, we smoked rabbit -- which was super delicious! I find rabbit meat tastes a little sweeter than chicken. Hopefully, it works out!
@@chelseapretz4068Such great ideas! Thank you. I hadnt even thought of smoking it.
hunter's rabbit stew is delicious! you could also barbecue them after marinating for a night in abundant vinegar, parsley and garlic
I have a BBQ recipe on here we really like, another good option is slow cooking with dumplings. Fried rabbit is good but you have to have a young/tender rabbit and/or soak in a brine for a few days to really make it good. It’s a hard recipe to start with I think.
@@CedarHillsHomestead Leave it to me to do it the hard way lol
Love your videos keep them coming.
That is why I don't own a horse, I like cattle instead.
I had the fun of being stepped on by a horse myself. Fell underneath it when galloping full speed and the horse took a sharp turn. Luckily no bones broken. What you get for riding horses with no bridle or saddle.
Would be interested in hearing truth and based thoughtd from you on those topics others are so quick to dismiss. Thanks for helping us in advance of what might be coming.
Great research and explanation as always! I have had wild rabbit and am not a fan. Wish I could try domestic to see the difference.
Wild rabbit isn’t my favorite either, flavor isn’t as good and it’s usually tougher (probably because they’re older and more fearful but I don’t know that for sure). I just about don’t even consider wild to be the same animal as domestic.
Can you do a how to feed video on pigs please 🙏
I’m about 3/4 of the way finished writing the article, it should be ready soon and the video will be out after that 😁😁
@ awesome, I’ll be excitedly checking your website periodically 😊
So I have thought about this quite a bit, and to be fair the "cost" is different, but follow with my reasoning for a minute.
So a rabbit can have say 4 litters per year and 8 live kits raised to butcher on a higher sustainability level. So 32 butcherable animals plus 2 adults.
Now this assumes that electricity is cheap and so is feed, so bear with me.
A meat bird will (depending on breed) lay 180 to 200 eggs per year, assuming you get an 80% hatch rate, that is 144 to 160 chicks per year. Which is 4 to 5 times the productivity of a rabbit.
This does assume hatching small batches basically each week 5-7 eggs depending on the week, but then you get the same result of maintaining a more or less sustainable number of chicken without filling a freezer.
The other points about feed and availability are all true and I am not debating that, and I am also planning on getting rabbits.
I am just saying there are production options that changes the math on what people are able to accomplish with the right setup and conditions.
This video is about Self-Sufficiency... According to the math presented in this video you will need 219 acres of land to grow the feed for these birds. While for the rabbits 12.5 acres for the wean and eat program. I am trying to find that "right setup" for chicken feed as well.
@shawn27430 That is true, but what is self sustaining for one person may not be for another. Just 10 acres for one person may be $100,000 dollars...which is a lot of chicken feed.
And I may be wrong but I don't think Joel Salatin is running thousands of acres to feed his animals.
But to be fair every land type and place has a different carrying capacity. Different plants also do different things, for example Amaranth can produce between 1200 to 2000lbs of seed per acre, at 1/4 pound per adult bird, 1 acre will feed just over 13 adult birds per year, so to feed 144 chickens for a year would be 11 acres. With 144 birds hatched out between 52 weeks, that is hatching just under 3 birds per week (2.7). Over the course of 16 weeks to butcher, you are only feeding 48 birds at any given time from chick to adult. Chicks won't eat as much as an adult.
So now we have 48 birds x 92 pounds of feed per year is 4,416 pounds of feed. Which is only 3.7 acres.
Again there is plenty of nuance in this, but the point remains that it is do-able.
Chickens are more efficient in creating more animals, but once they’re here they take a lot more space/feed to get up to butcher size. Chickens are great if you want to run a hatchery and sell them on a commercial scale for sure.
Do you feel the same way about ducks. Since they arent depending on grain or feed necessarily. They like small critters and small varieties of vegetation
I love visiting people who have ducks. They’re so cute and absolutely hilarious to watch, but they’re not for me. I don’t enjoy the smell and I know I would struggle with the water situation. While I know some people let their ducks go without a swimming spot all winter, I wouldn’t feel good about that. I don’t want to heat or break out water for a majority of the year so I don’t plan on having them.
They sure are cute though and do make great eggs.
@CedarHillsHomestead Thank you for your response. Mscovy ducks don't need water like other breeds. So making a small tote with a lid, with holes would be enough to dip their faces into them. Yes they will still have a smell. But using pebbles or fake grass to wash down the poop into another liquid fertilizer would be an alternative. Also they are seasonal breeders so they plan out their pregnancies and make great mothers. So they are good for incubation, even for other poultry eggs. Mscovy is the "beef" of all ducks cause of their good quality meat.
@CedarHillsHomestead And Yes I understand the water issue. Pros are good fat for cooking and good quality meat and large eggs. They can eat meal worm and beetle and worms, also slugs
Which can all be farmed at home. Then just grow their lettuce etc, and soft scrap fruits.
If I ever manage to get my own homestead I'd love to try raising ducks and geese -- not as a major food source, though, so much as because I keep hearing how with the right setup they'll act as bug- and weed-eating roombas. Is it too good to be true? Maybe, but I won't know unless I try :D
@eyesofthecervino3366 They do! Also one of my old neighbors had alot of muscovy ducks and since they are seasonal layers they're birthing rates are high. So her & her husband ended up having 400 baby ducks in one season. Which is found hilarious cause they couldn't sell the ducklings fast enough so they spent thousands that year feeding them until they either butchered them or got them a new home
🐇🐇🐇🐇🐇❤
Rabbits that dont lay eggs are pointless
You just have to wait for Easter 😁
Yes rabbits are awesome for everything you mentioned... BUT!!!!!!..... Unfortunatly they taste like they smell, yes i said it, that is the truth and im sticking by it. I wish they tasted good, ive tried. IVE TRIED! Ive even mixed it with pork, still not so good. People claim it taste like chicken... well maybe lean chicken mixed with rabbit shit. I still have a number of rabbits and a deep freeze 1/4 full of them, but highly considering getting rid of the remaining rabbits. I run my rabbits on grass in tractors moved twice a day. It is edible when you do a lot to mask the smell/flavor, but all of my family will gobble up our pig we raised and the rabbit is mainly untouched and unwanted. There is a reason they are not so popular and this is it but no one wants to admit it. They are perfect in every way except taste, they are edible but many other things are preferable to them.
I hate to hear that! I don’t have any advice I only wish that would happen locally so I could try it and see what’s up. Every now and then I see someone online say they’ve had exactly that experience and I wish I knew what was up with that. We love our rabbit and strongly prefer its flavor over chicken.
i'm on _RAM RANCH_ . what animal should me and the other 17 naked cowboys keep?
#FreeGrantMacDonald