Your rabbitry, your rules. What does that mean? Why is this a discussion worth having?
Your rabbitry, your rules, means that you are in control of the management and decisions as regards your meat rabbits.
It means that you should make an informed choice, and consider the practices and management styles available to you, but that ultimately, you should take confidence in, and responsibility for, your rabbitry and basically, do things your way.
Jump to:
- There is a World of Rabbit Raising Resources Out There
- There Isn’t Only One “Right” Way
- Gather Information
- Decide Your Course
- Identify A Few Good, Trusted Resources that Suit Your Breeding and Growing Style
- VIDEO: Your Rabbitry, Your Rules!
- There Are No Two Meat Rabbit Breeders Who Do Everything Exactly the Same
- Be Open to Considering Other Options and Management Styles
- Take Confidence In Your Management Decisions
- Tips to Help You Find Who to Follow
- Recommended Reading
- You Owe Your Rabbits only Humane Treatment and Good Care…No Matter How You Choose to Get There
There is a World of Rabbit Raising Resources Out There
Between what is available on the internet, what is published in meat rabbit raising books, and social media groups for meat rabbit growers, there is a world of information on raising meat rabbits.
The thing is, for any single topic, you will find different information, opinions, strategies, and management styles. Often, you will find that the information is variable at best, and simply conflicting at worst.
You will find people who offer information and their own management and strategies as an example and a guide, and you will find people who insist that theirs is the only right way to do things.
There Isn’t Only One “Right” Way
Information can range and vary because there is not a one and only way to raise meat rabbits.
While there are some solid, foundational basics, and there are some definite hard and fast rules that need to be observed, there are different ways to meet the needs of your rabbits.
For example, some people prefer to raise rabbits in colonies. Some (myself included) prefer cages, for the protection and control they offer.
Some like the more natural approach to feeding and raising their rabbits outside in tractors. Some grow their feed. Some feed strictly pellets from a known ration with a known analysis. Some feed hay, some don’t.
Some feed some combination of many or all of the above!
Clearly, there are options. And there are several that can work.
Gather Information
Gather information from a variety of resources. Ideally, you should do this before you ever bring a rabbit home.
Don’t limit yourself to only the internet, either. Look to books and publications, and real, live human beings (if you can find one…meat rabbit growers are often few and far between; you may have to do your best with live bodies on the internet).
Consider different management styles and approaches to meat rabbits. Consider your resources, property, and housing. It’s okay -- wise -- to consider some things that you don’t expect will be right for you. There’s often some solid logic and foundation behind it that will inform all or part of your decisions.
Lean on meat rabbit resources, not pet resources
When you’re researching, seek out sources that either entirely focus on meat rabbits or at least include them in a respectful way.
Meat rabbits are livestock, not pets, and they should not be treated as such. The opinions and approaches to handling a pet rabbit are different from how you would efficiently manage meat rabbits.
Technically, the biological needs of pet rabbits are the same as those of meat rabbits, but in practice, there are certainly things you will want to do differently and things you will handle more on your own (such as health, wellness, and veterinary care) than a pet rabbit keeper might do.
There is also a good deal of negativity amongst pet rabbit owners. Immersing yourself in their groups and populations will open you up to inevitable insults and bullying. You don’t need that. Find your people.
You will have far greater success by learning from other meat rabbit raisers and professionals who understand what you are doing, what your goals are, than you will from people who are looking towards rabbits only as pets, and who don’t understand their place as a viable, reliable, valuable meat and protein source.
Decide Your Course
Once you have gathered a good foundation of knowledge, decide on the course that is right for you.
Pick and choose. Glean from the different bits, pieces, and portions of advice and management styles what is right for you.
- What speaks to you the most?
- What seems to be most popular? (YOU do not have to do the popular thing, but often the more common and popular practices are popular for a reason; and it’s usually because it’s what works, and what’s proven.)
- What do you feel the most “right” about?
- What is most manageable given your property and space?
- What is most manageable given your budget?
This is not an exhaustive list, but it is an example of the types of questions and considerations you should take into account. It’s a place to start, to guide how you decide to manage your rabbitry.
Be prepared to pivot or adjust as needed
Just because you start out one way doesn’t mean you have to continue in that vein if it’s not working out for you.
Your management will ultimately be informed by your experiences, too. Everyone finds their twists and tweaks. Some are major changes, some are small and subtle.
It’s not uncommon to see people who start out raising their rabbits in colonies, but then find health or management issues become too intense, and they end up opting for raising rabbits in cages.
On the flip side, some people start in cages but end up looking for a more natural approach and turn to colony style. And some land somewhere in between, seeing if they can make tractors work and capture the best of both worlds.
The same is often true of medications and health treatments.
Personally, I opt for the more gentle, natural approach whenever possible. For example, for ear mites, my preferred treatment is mineral oil. However, if I were ever to come up against a stubborn, recurring, chronic problem with mites, I would not be opposed to using Ivermectin, either. And I do see how, practically speaking, a drop on the back of the head would be easier to apply than drops in the ear.
Again, these are just examples, but the person who says they never changed a thing from day one probably isn’t being very honest.
Identify A Few Good, Trusted Resources that Suit Your Breeding and Growing Style
There is something to be said for finding the people who are doing most of what you want to do, and choosing them as your guidance and resource. Once you find a firm footing in your own management practice, you will want to drown out some of the noise. Some good resources can still be good and not be right for you. And since you can’t follow them all, wean away those that aren’t serving you.
This is especially true when you’re participating in social media and similar forums. For every question asked, there will be a range of answers. And some that are completely wrong and off the mark. It’s okay -- and only sensible -- to focus on those that serve you best.
VIDEO: Your Rabbitry, Your Rules!
There Are No Two Meat Rabbit Breeders Who Do Everything Exactly the Same
No two managers raise their meat rabbits in exactly the same way. At the very least, there will be subtle differences in things like housing, relative to the property and what’s available to you (or them).
So, while you can and often should be guided by another, you should also personalize your practice and your experience.
Remember -- we are not all raising our rabbits in the same climate or conditions. That alone is a reason why you might need to veer away from something that a respected breeder or mentor is doing.
Understand your rabbits’ needs, and let that guide you.
Be Open to Considering Other Options and Management Styles
It is a good idea to at least be open to considering other options, practices, or management styles. Picking, choosing, and embracing what you find best and most workable is how you’ll really find the most efficient and successful path to raising meat rabbits.
Take away the bits and pieces that seem workable for you. Mix, match, and combine strategies. Use these other options as examples of what you might incorporate to make your rabbitry your own.
Take Confidence In Your Management Decisions
When you’ve decided what your management style will be, and you’ve started to find some success in your rabbitry and management practices, take confidence in that.
It’s easy to be sidelined by all the people who are entrenched in their own practices and can’t leave room for others to do it a slightly different way. You will come up against resistance now and again. Hopefully, by keeping a community of similar-minded rabbit raisers around you and tuning out some of the noise and negativity, this will be kept to a minimum.
But when you do come up against it, remind yourself that you have come to your management choices based on some good, solid, foundational knowledge, and you’ve made decisions for good reasons, based on your style and experience. Sometimes, you just need to remind yourself to be you!
Tips to Help You Find Who to Follow
- Look for people who come from a place of learning and experience
- Look for people who share their why -- Why have they chosen to do things how they do them?
- Look for sources that offer backup and informational sources
- Follow the trail back to the original source (this will help you understand more about a given practice, but you will often also learn more about the topic -- no single source or article covers every last detail!)
- Find a community, not just a master
- When someone disagrees, ask them why. What informed their advice or decision? There’s often a good reason, but there’s also frequently someone repeating something they’ve seen or heard. If they can’t explain it, move on to someone who can or will.
- Take things with the proverbial “grain of salt”
- Think beyond the statement, and try on what you’re being told; Does the strategy, protocol, or response fit with how you’ve decided to run your rabbitry?
- Remember -- it is okay to disregard some information, based on your own insight, ethics, experience, or growing style. In fact, with so many different approaches, at some point you will have to.
Recommended Reading
What are a few good resources that I recommend?
These are the books that I keep on hand for reading and reference. While I don’t practice in exactly the same way, for the most part, these are the people and practices I follow…combined with some things I’ve learned from others along the way, informed by challenges and experiences from my own rabbitry.
- Storey’s Guide to Raising Rabbits by Bob Bennett (In general, I find Storey’s Guides, books, and publications to be an excellent resource for good, solid, down-to-earth advice on animals and country knowledge. This book includes but is not exclusively focused on meat rabbits.)
- Raising Rabbits for Meat by Callene and Eric Rapp
- Beyond the Pellet: Feeding Rabbits Naturally by Boyd Craven, Jr and Rick Worden
Of the University resources, Michigan State University has some of the more detailed and focused meat rabbit management resources.
- Rabbit Tracks from Michigan State University
You Owe Your Rabbits only Humane Treatment and Good Care…No Matter How You Choose to Get There
The only thing you owe anyone (and by anyone, I mean your rabbits!), is good care, respect, and humane living.
It is up to you to decide what gets you there.
Raising quality, humane meat for your table, food that you can be confident in and feel good about, knowing how they lived, were treated, fed, and cared for, is why we do this thing. Even if you incorporate a commercial aspect into your rabbitry, that is still a true base. And if you stay true to those basic tenets, you won’t need to wonder if you are doing the “right” thing, raising your meat rabbits in the way that you choose.
Leave a Reply