The reason why you're getting so many viewers so fast is because you're doing the exact opposite of everybody else in this space: you give pure information instead of selling a narrative and emotionalism, use natural language instead of buzzwords for the algorithm, you use a simple, descriptive thumbnail and title instead of sensationalistic, deceptive ones, you make the video 40 minutes long, if that's how long it takes to present all the information, etc. In short, your videos are substance over style, while everybody else's are style over substance. It's quite unique among UA-cam homesteaders. Please keep it up.
You can also do it on the inside if you dont have a patio - or partner with someone and use their land like a community garden plot @@fundamentalreviews
Im out for the last 18 months, totally worthed. Dont worry about heating in winter, working during day will heat you up, you wont get sick if you dont engage the animal named human, only bad thing about winter is cloth washing/management. You can consider a dryer depending on your situation.
jumping from an apartment into the wild garden is like an ocean fish deciding to move to a river. you better get a house in the country and practice before its too late : )
Finally a channel dedicated to actual teaching. Sure its nice watching some dude brush his cows and mention one fact a month, but you wont learn much from that. This is gold!
@@CedarHillsHomesteaddo you have or know of a video that covers the nitty gritty details on chickens. Sheep. Etc. in a similar way that you have? The visual aids and concise approach really helps make things understandable...
Have never raised rabbits for meat (and probably never will), but something that so many people neglect to mention as a benefit of raising rabbits is the non-burning manure. All the manure from our pet rabbits goes directly into our gardens or compost piles without any concern that it will burn the plants like chicken or cow manure can.
A quarter acre-ish (100 x 100 ft) of Timothy /Orchard Grass is our base. Old-school (Austrian) hand-scythe an hay rake work great. Need shed/lean-to/barn/ to store loose hay. Take about 3 times as much space as square bales. Sweet Potato (vines in Summer, tuber in Winter) - a 25-footer row per Rabbit. Sunchoke (tops - stalk, flower, leaf in Summer, tuber all Winter) ... Mangel Beet / Fodder Beet. Black oil sunflower. (Stalk/leaf/flower in Summer, seed head full of seed all Winter.) Ridiculous amounts of easy to propagate/grow Comfrey. Autumn leaf drop from the yard leaves. Peanut hay - we grow 800 row feet of doubled rows for Human snacking of peanut ... the tops are bundled and dried at harvest for Winter Feed. These make up the bulk of our feed. Currently maintaining 2 quads (M F F F) with about 150 growouts a year. Growouts are tractored. The Mating Mob is not.
If you don't mind me asking, I'm expanding my rabbit setup so would love more info: How many kindlings do you have per female per year? Whats your general growing region? (Im Northern Ontario, love me some sunchokes) Do you have your 2 quads in hutches / cages or 2 colonies? Do you provide extra food to the tractored rabbits or is the pasture they are on good enough? Whats your nail cutting schedule if you have one? How often do you move the tractor? Is your tractor open bottomed or slatted or hardware clothed, etc? Sorry for all the qqs, just very curiou
Do you have a good source of mangle beet seed? I can get all of the sugar beet seed (sold as deer plot food) but no one is selling larger amounts of mangle.
Just to expand some horizons a bit: bones of your rabbits can be just as useful as the meat and pelts. I crock pot the bones of my rabbits and have "marrow soup". I crack the long bones, add whatever vegetables are around, my favorite spices and about a tablespoon or maybe two of apple cider vinegar. This makes a very hearty, filling stew that I serve with my choice of starch. Once the bones have gone through the crock pot, I allow them to dry in a solar dehydrator and then grind them up in our hand cranked mill for bone meal. Bone meal has many, many uses. You mentioned a survival situation. The extra nutrients gained in this way could make or break a pregnant mother, a person recovering from illness or even beef up your dog's food.
@@justsurvivin5432 Yep! Any bone will have marrow. I use an ordinary pair of pliers to break open bones and then into a slow rolling boil with occasional added water to melt the marrow as much as possible. Perhaps for bigger bones the marrow can be scooped out.
I simmer the bones until I get gelatin (lasts longer than just broth), then give the bone remnants to the dogs. The fat I render and purify for cooking, pemmican and preserving meat in jars (medieval potted meat, where you raw pack in melted tallow in the jar, let it firm up, then pour in a final inch of melted fat to seal the top--if you successfully mash all the air out while packing, this lasts up to 2 years). Love marrow and gelatin!
This is going to sound weird but please read it. You were a godsend to me today I have been a long time rabbit razor since like 1995 and last night I was doing our finances and getting severely depressed about the amount of money that I was shelling out and feed for all my livestock. I have a huge farm and a bunch of different animals to feed It is April of 2024 I am making more money now than I've ever made before have less bills than I've ever had before and I am more broke now than I'm ever been before. I was honestly thinking about getting rid of a lot of my animals just because I couldn't afford the feed bill. This video was an answer to a prayer of how I could keep my rabbits and still feed myself too. I'm going to be binge watching all the rest of your videos that you have. I again want to say thank you so very much from the bottom of my heart for this very good educational video you have a new subscriber! . .
Wow, thank you so much for taking the time to share this with me; your story is going to keep me motivated to keep the videos and articles coming. I hope you have the most plentiful garden this year and it feeds your animals with leftovers to spare. A lot of people are in your exact position right now but I have a feeling you are tough, resourceful, and will come out of this better than before. I wish you the very best ❤️❤️❤️❤️
You are clever enough to sit down and analyze the feed situation. Well done! Now that you understand the “weak areas”, you’ll be able to implement solutions (ah yeah, this from the woman who is scrambling hard to feed my rabbits with the greens I’m growing - I need to figure out better volume from my ppty). 👍🏻
Can you make a video on how to actually raise rabbits? Space, cage requirements, best practices, etc. I’d love to try my hand at it, but I have no idea how much space I need or what the different ways to raise them are. And I love the way you make videos, they’re super informative!
@@CedarHillsHomestead ..I've been raising animals my whole life (bout 35 yrs) & your video is by far THE best I've come across for rabbits. Considering that severe famine is coming (soon)😞, thank you for the forage info! Excellent video!!! 👍🙂👍🕊🕊🕊🕊
Been raising rabbits for almost 10 years now, and I say your #s are pretty much spot on. My friends and family thought my rabbit math was "funny" until I put 380#s in my freezer, 80#s in my neighbors' 60#s in my cousin's, and another 50#s in misc customers' freezers. In a single year. We run 12 to 23 does, and half a dozen bucks, and we breed 3 to 4 litter runs each year, as the weather allows. When the girls kindle, it's not impossible for us to have over 100 kits drop. Some of those go for live animal sales, a few get saved back to keep our broodstock fresh. The rest are headed to "camp." The past couple years we've figured out how to brine and smoke our jointed rabbit parts to make mini rabbit hams. Some of those get tossed into the smoker for a few hours. Rarely any leftovers on those dinner nights.
What part of the world are you in? With that many, how many people does it take to maintain them and can you feed them your dogs as dog food or will the bones be a problem like with chicken bones?
@joebristor7342 Cooked chicken bones are the issue for dogs, not uncooked bones. If you are interested to learn more, search raw feeding for dogs. There's lots of info out there these days. I like prey-model raw, personally.
@@joebristor7342 If you've ever fed your dog a chicken nugget, then you can create the same thing with any animal you cook down the bones and whatever parts ( except ones like bile etc.) and then grind it down to where its so fine you couldn't feel a sharp piece if you wanted to, then cook. there is one sort of issue with rabbit meat, it is very lean so lean that if you ONLY ate rabbit meat you'd perish. Rabbit generally does not have enough fats to keep you or your pets nutritionally well.
I think I am on my third play through.. This has to be the most densely packed information I have seen on this platform in a long time. Believe it or not the mid level information like how much to feed your rabbits per day by weight will benefit as many people as the breakdown of land per rabbit.
in 1985 i started raising rabbits.. bought 2 New Zealand does that the seller bred right then and there. bought 2 cages and waters, and 2 feeders. bought some wood and built some nest boxes. i built above ground cages and hutches. a guy at work gave me a black and gold collored buck. soon we were eating rabbit a lot. my wife discovered "chicken nuggets" in the store so pretty soon we were eating RABBIT NUGGETS, GOAT NUGGETS, DUCK NUGGETS, GOOSE NUGGETS, AND EVEN HOME RAISED CHICKEN NUGGETS. i sold meat rabbits for $5 each and soon quit me job, to raise rabbits full time!
Zone 7b here in Middle Tennessee, and I have 30+ "wild" meat rabbits that free range that were left from the previous owner. They are domestic animals, as the shape is that of a meat rabbit, but they have breed enough that any particular species is hard to tell. They get, and have not received, any pellet feed. There is hay available, and they eat the hay, plus forage for other food. They also act like a cross between a domestic and wild rabbit, in that they do not leave the 50 acre property, but they have survival instincts of a wild rabbit, they will run and are fast, but become much less wary to an individual with time. They originate from meat rabbits that escaped and created their colonies.
I don't plan on keeping rabbits - but in these times never say never - and still i watched the whole thing. I was that fascinated with all the information that you presented. This was one of the best animal husbandry and prepper vidoes that I have ever seen on YT. Your knowledge base is amazing and you presented the information so well. I sub'd and wishing you the best on your channel. Btw, some great additional videos would be how you cook your rabbits. Think rabbit intimidates many because it is not a meat that many were raised eating.
We had a rabbit for a while that we think was someone's abandoned Easter bunny. Eddie was a massive escape artist. It eventually led to his demise by predation, but that rabbit did not just sit in one spot when he got out. He saw the clover over yonder and he went for it.
With alfalfa I have been told it is too rich or "hot". So i always feed orchard grass or timothy. I have had my rabbits jump out of their hutches before and they always go exploring. I let them "free range" on nice days, and they always have a blast. they run , jump, dig, eat and do zoomies. I bring them back into their cages after a couple of hours. I have a large enclosed area where my chickens roam. I am loving all this great info. ty so much.
It's very interesting because in the year. Let's say 1960? The wildlife game fishing land management people put out a Brochure about how growing rabbit would end all world hunger. They suggested that everybody start having rabbits. It was totally crazy.I just happened across this brochure and I have it somewhere in this house.God only knows where. But I bet you could see it online.
I also found the chicken video, a few days ago, and instantly subscribed. I love the information like this and the thought exercise of what it would take to be self-sufficient with critters. Really puts things into perspective, and it is not that out of the question either. Edit: I live on 14 acres.... Wonder if she could do one on cattle? What would it take to raise up steak naturally fed? From some casual looking I believe it will take 2 years to get to bucher weight feeding naturally... thought that wouldn't be bad to just have two cattle about and alternately replaice one every year.
I absolutely love this and your other videos. They are so incredibly helpful! I raised rabbits as pets when I was a child, and from my experience, those domesticated rabbits definitely desired to be wild. Maybe it's because my hutches were away from the house, down near the woods, but I saw numerous wild rabbits approach my rabbit cages and touch noses with mine. Mine also loved to escape, and the last one actually took off into the woods, never to be seen again!
PS The dry delivery (in line with the rest of the content) of infrequent, comic relief is perfect for nerds like me. Seriously, all compliments, love it.
Rabbit starvation is real *but* it's based on eating late winter wild rabbit with nothing else. It's because a rabbit can get so lean before they start to seriously loose muscle mass. A feel fed rabbit is very healthy food.
When people build Garden walls around their houses and their properties that have footings on them made of stone or concrete the rabbits can be contained within the yard mowing it just like a golf course so short that you could put across it.
This couldn't be better timed! I've seen a ton of questions in a lot of rabbit groups about only pellets vs. Foraged vs. Combo. I love your break downs!
I've been seeing the $37 chicken feed video in my feed a lot lately (haven't watched it yet), but I didn't realize it was by the same channel! That's so awesome that your channel is doing so well in your first month. I can tell you put a lot of time and effort into the video. I subscribed and I am looking forward to what you and your channel bring!
Funniest thing about you saying you might be talking too fast is I watched this on 2X speed. Not a critique just funny to hear while I sped it up. Great info though I'm gonna write it down and when I get the cash I'll be implementing a lot of it.
Can you please tell that to the two dozen people who told me they’re blocking me because I talk way too fast?! 🤣🤣🤣 it’s crazy how different everyone is. Also thank you so much ❤️
@@CedarHillsHomestead Don't worry about them they just need to listen faster lol If they don't want rabbit info that's on them. That's also a silly reason to block since it's... a video. You can pause, rewind, even slow it down if you want
This video was amazing. You did such a good job! Here’s what I especially appreciated: 1. Kept things moving for us ADD people 😂 Nice also because our time is valuable when spending hours researching and learning. 2. Slides that I can go back, screenshot, print and bind for offline reference. 3. All the formulas available so we can scale up, down, or substitute. A wealth of information!
Thank you for the detailed and easy math! We started an off-grid homestead late 2021, and information like this is going to help us get off our reliance on the feed store! Tip: for the grains, just buy the 50# sacks of feed grains and sow them, it's way cheaper! We only just started with rabbits this past winter. The three does we took over from a neighbour/friend who was unsuccessful at breeding - she was doing the cage system. I have never liked cages for any animal - heck, we built a 15x40 aviary for our quail, which are typically raised in battery cages - so i gave them three of the units in our 4-unit chicken coop. The buck has a 4x5 space, the does have 76 square feet, and no issues breeding and getting kits! We're still developing our woodland, and will be tractoring our grow-outs soon!
I've barely scratched the surface of this video, but there's some fantastic information here, thank you. I got rid of my pet type rabbits and got all meat rabbits but it's extremely frustrating trying to figure out what you're supposed to feed them because, as you say, everyone has an opinion, and none of them are the same.
Sorry, like an idiot I hit the send button. Anyhow I've cut my rabbits down to one buck and three doe now, due to the high cost of rabbit pellets. My question is, I've been slowly getting my rabbits used to hay, though I have no idea if it's nice alfalfa Timothy Hay grass hay whatever..... But I wanted to get them used to it but some still won't eat it they just make a mess out of it and push it through their cage. If I were to cut out pallets and feed them just hay how long do you think it would take them to adjust and would it be safe for them? I know if you switch their foods around they can get bloat.
@@wytchwoodhomesteadandkenne5036 Limit the pellet, or feed hay first and pellet an hour later. Some will not eat hay or waste so much it is both not funny and questionable if they eat any of it at all. Offer something other then hay and pellet, just start small amounts wise like the one cookie with afternoon tea when kid comes home from school. That will get them used to other foods both what they can digest and willing to eat it. If you can house them with a rabbit that will eat hay & greens that may help to teach them as well. So mainly make certain your breeding does learn to eat more then pellets, feed them such variety from breeding to weaning and the kits will learn to like more things and the mothers milk & cecotropes will make them able to digest it properly.
Just when I thought raising rabbits is easy, got hit with a ton of math. Great content and you already sound much better compared to the earlier videos.
I’ve wanted to raise meat rabbits and this is so helpful. If you haven’t already, could you do a video on how to make soap from their fat? I appreciate the work you’ve put into these videos, it sure looks like a lot
Well done!!! Very professional, very informative. I came away from your video with a better understanding of cost, nutrition, and forage than the books i bought. THANK YOU 😊 SUBSCRIBER NOW
I grew up on a subsistence style farm and we raised quite a few rabbits. It wasnt that uncommon for small kits to fall out of or in other ways escape the cages. They didnt normally hang out under the cages but would rehome themselves to other nooks and crannies around the farm. They would usually remain close to the farm because of the abundance of food and better protection from the elements. We usually didnt see too many of them unless they got caught in the box traps we had situated around the perimeter of the animal area set to catch small predators.
Wow, moved to my own homestead 2 years ago and always had rabbits in mind from day 1. I had some major refurbishing to do to get my chicken coop usable and started the chicken journey over a year ago. Hatched my own from my eggs this spring 5 of 8 are roos so freezer camp in the fall. One broody hen was sitting on 11 eggs but mama klutz is either handling them roughly or eating some, not sure which because she has broken 3 so far. This video inspired me to rehab the old coop in the yard to make it suitable for rabbits. It is timely because my biggest fear is having these animals and the supply chain breaks. Chickens free range but i do supplement them with pellet feed. Those carnivores eat everything and without store feed, I'm sure we could get by. I have been working on growing food and herbs too and each year, it gets expanded. This gives me hope that I can sustain rabbits even if I cant get food from a store. Subscribed because i want to learn more about the basics of breeding and caring for them. Thank you for your no nonsense informative video and inspiration.
For egg breakage try crushing washed and dried egg shell in tiny pieces to supplement the hens calcium. Or she might need more protein if she is eating the eggs. As for rabbits they can happily exist on good grass mixed with veggies. When I raise sweet corn after I pick a few ears the stalks are then put in the hutches.
Great video! Yea it seems that the perennial forage would definatly be the easiest. Im not sure I would be interested in messing with small grains by hand. Corn and sunflowers would be easy to harvest the big seedheads, I think mangle beats would be another great option for easy harvesting. And sunchokes for the perennial ease of only planting once. I'm just thinking the easier the production system, the more likely I am to actually do it, that makes every perennial option MUCH more attractive. Actually I'm thinking tree crops are a way better option to grains in the long run. Chestnuts, hazelnuts, apple, pear, mulberry, honeylocust pods. Will rabbits eat acorns? Way easier to collect food that drops under trees than tilling, planting, weeding, watering, harvesting grains imo.
Yes, rabbits will eat acorns. Limit here was one per rabbit (4 pound rabbits) per day and no problems. Sunchockes/jerusalem artichockes have their quirks gas wise, advice here is not to feed to livestock untill after feb 1st for changes in digestability from frost. I would only feed the stalks, not the tuber. Rabbit diet is above ground feeds, not underground ones. I feed a lot of willow/hazel/reeds/bamboo as long as i can get it in leaf. If you have the room making treehay (check yt search for more info) is easier then cutting grashay. When feeding forage mainly, variety is key, 3 different plants per meal minimum and enough total mix to vary/rotate some at least every day of the week. there is a book beyond the pellet that gives more info.
A great deal of effort went into this presentation which as far as I am concerned stands head and shoulders above the rest. Thank you from the Caribbean island of Trinidad.
It ain't that difficult. Urban rabbit "hutch" meat was standard for many years. My grandma maintenaned her long hutch as long as she lived. Far easier, quieter, cleaner, and cheaper than chivkens. This good lady narrator is speaking gold!
My first girlfriend used to say that she wouldn't be here if not for the gift of a pair of breeding bunnies her grandmother had received forty years earlier. Girlfriend's dad would have starved in the cradle
This is hands down the best video on raising rabbits. I’ve raised them in the past, not really knowing what I was doing. I’ve just started a colony setup to begin again, and haven’t been able to find much thorough information. Thank you for putting in the work and presenting a video about actually teaching, and not making about how cool you are. This is the first video of yours I’ve watched, but will definitely not be the last.
Amazing ❤❤thanks so much, I live in London and purchased a house with a huge land in a remote village in Transylvania, which I renovated and in the winter will move there.plan to grow a lot of stuff. Thank you very much for the information
Thank you! This is the exact information I needed. Also, another by product of rabbits is bone meal to fertilize the garden. You can probably get enough for container gardening with that many rabbits but I'm not sure about in ground gardens. I guess it depends on how many containers you have. You can probably make blood meal, too, but I'm not sure if it would need pasteurization or if you can just dehydrate it. I'm sure the info is out there but I'm still choosing to buy mine for the moment lol
Sincerely wish I had all this information before I started raising meat rabbits. I love how well you break everything down to detail. Excellent video, I now have about 20 extra screenshots to categorize lol
Lady, you are a treasure. I have to watch your videos multiple times to get/retain even a PORTION of the information relayed. Felt like I was back in a college lecture. I realize my mileage may vary since not all corns, hays, etc, etc, etc are created equal. Some questions; Why do you finish on grains? Do you crack them? Does your hay estimate account for the waste? If you have made a hay rack for yours, I'd love to see it. Haha. I will probably have more after about five more views. Thank you for existing and doing your videos.
Will forward this to my friend's daughter. She started at ~13yo (raising). Therefor this would help her envision a better future for her homestead's future. [She already owns the house and land]
*Sigh* I've got a twisted mind. When you were talking about rabbit cecotropes, my mind cut it down to "Rabbits make(recycle) their own B vitamins," then cut again to "natures B vitamins." Probably wont see that on the shelves any time soon, but you never know... Great video! I like the graphics.
Wow I learned so much of what Im doing wrong off this one video. Ive wondered why my rabbits are hit and miss in reproduction now I know its their nutrition. Thanks for this great video
Man I could have really used this about a year ago! I have had to learn a lot by researching and learning experimentation. But there is still a lot here I can add into what I do! Either way, I would say this is one of the best “to the point and detailed” videos I have ever found on feeding rabbits naturally (or really any way). Thanks!
"The price we pay for our intelligence is those we unintentionally hurt along the way". Ngl, I didn't plan on crying when I turned the video on, but I'm still glad I tuned in. Jokes aside, what beautifully informational video! I've been fondling the idea of raising rabbits not only for meat, but for pels as well for quite some time now. Not that I have any rabbits or even a homestead yet, haha. And I absolutely love your sense of humour!
Thanks Sarah. We harvested hay (our wild lawn) all summer with a debrusiage machine with a grass blade. Turned/Winnowed it by hand with a spring rake and then put up in the greenhouse where the chickens and rabbits over winter. We also offer pellet and pumpkins as well as fresh forage all summer. Are rabbits had tons of yellow fat come harvest. We live on just over an acer near Amqui, QC zone 3B.
great information. Please keep making these informative videos. Really helping me out as an amateur with animals. I already grow most of these crops myself, but the animal raising is new to me. I am always trying to "close loops" on my garden and vegetable operation, and I already have plans to add chickens and rabbits. This guide really helped me figure out how I am going to start out.
ironically enough, we just got our first flock of 12 chickens in february and I found your chicken feed video - and we are back and forth on meat chickens, but leaning towards, and then you make this one 😆
This was an absolutely amazing video. I'm glad it came up on my feed of suggestions. I'm going to save this to reference because it was a lot of information to take in, but it was excellent. Thank you!!! I'm going to subscribe to your channel now.
00:12 Feeding rabbits without the feed store 01:51 Calculate hay and pellet amount based on rabbit's weight for a year. 05:17 Rabbits can provide valuable fat for consumption and other uses. 07:00 Understanding rabbit breeding and meat yield 10:33 Understanding the feed conversion ratio for sustainable backyard meat sourcing 12:11 Consider using a rabbit tractor to reduce feed needs. 15:36 Rabbits need carbs for energy and fiber for digestion. 17:23 Consider natural sources like grass seed and sunflower seeds to boost fat content for rabbits. 20:44 Rabbits need vitamins A, C, D, E, K, and B complex for metabolism. 22:28 Rabbits consume a significant amount of hay for the first 3 months of life. 25:41 Calculating space needed to grow forage for rabbit diets 27:25 Fertilizing and irrigating fields can double yield; small scale farming has advantages 30:26 Proper diet planning is essential for raising healthy rabbits 32:05 Estimate the amount of forage or grain needed to feed rabbits for a year. 35:16 Utilize rabbit manure as free fertilizer for your garden. 37:01 Calculating cost to feed rabbits based on forage or grain diets 40:34 Saving 150th of each crop for seed can help cut out the feed store. Crafted by Merlin AI.
I feel like I am taking a homesteading course and I love it! I am finally getting ALL the info in one "short" video! Down in Texas I could not do this because we lived in a desert. Now we moved up north to snow land, we are working on our home first and making plans for our animals (chickens, turkeys, ducks, fish, and rabbits) hopefully in next year or two. Our how dream and goal is to be self sufficient. That is including feeding our animals without having to buy their food. This info you provided is gold to us. Thank you!
I Love, Love, Loved your lecture today!!!! The best by far! I wish I would have known some of this info as a kid - when I was breeding rabbits. (9th to 12th grades) All the best from Wisconsin!
I'm looking at getting into raising rabbits for meat and pelts. This information is exactly what I needed to hear to get a full picture of diet costs and production. WELL DONE and THANK YOU!
From my own experience with raising rabbits and mostly for pets, and for helping suck rabbits to get healthier, and from my own research; your numbers and research are average to above average. Because some breeders do NOT always include the costs for healing for sick rabbits. Because most Not all breeders sell off any sick rabbits or use what they can of them for feeding their dogs, cats, etc. Thanks for sharing your video and research !
This is the type of math and research that is exactly what I was looking for. You must have been a STEM major haha our brains are similar and i am constantly doing math with stuff like this
Just want to say that I appreciate how much information you packed into this video, the way you presented it, and your honest and open closing. I think you did a great job.
You are absolutely killing it, with your presentation of information, video flow, everything! So much Information in this and the chicken video. Keep it up!
Excellent job! So much useful information! Could you go into the equipment you use regularly to manage your meat rabbits? Such as tractor/4 wheeler/cart. How do you till your soil when you plant your grains? What other kind of equipment would someone need to purchase if they were literally starting from nothing?
Yes, absolutely that is such a good idea! Buying all of this stuff was a slow and sometimes overwhelming process so that would probably be a helpful one to make. 😁
Thank you for this great info. We did rabbits for a bit, but my kids were traumatized by eating them. We switched to chickens to make it a little easier on them.
I understand that with the kids, it can be hard. Our kids know that the breeders (parents) are pets. They know the kits are food, but since we keep a constantly supply of new rabbits being born (and since they all look alike) it’s a lot easier on them.
Thank you! Finally some pure facts in an clear concide and easy to follow format! Were you a teacher in a former life? I am thankful that I stumbled upon your channel!
Keep going I'm totally nerding out for your analysis of these incredibly important subjects. Not until our gggrandparents generation were these subjects openly discussed. Then they all seemed to forget them in the Great Depression AND the Great War after that. We ALL lost so much of our entire histories in those epochal times.
Do you have any thoughts on silage? A local dairy farmer (Shenandoah County, VA) grows winter rye, cuts it just before it would start to turn yellow, then grows corn and does the same and the whole stalk is used. My understanding of silage is while the overall total calories are reduced, the bioavailable calories has increased and may make it practical to get additional harvests.
I snickered a bit when you called your area an extreme. I, a Canadian, think winter that lasts from October through May is pretty normal. It's nice for me, honestly; a lot of farm and garden channels are from places that are a lot warmer than where I am, so it can be hard to find information that would work with my climate.
This is a marvelous tutorial on raising meat rabbits. You have no need to apologize! When you get excited, you speak more quickly, but that only shows your passion for both the rabbits and the information shared! Thank you very much for what you are doing to educate people who might really need this information and these skills in the future.
After watching this video about six times doing my research before I get rabbits. It's looking like a chicken product named gallo pro from Leland Mills here in Utah might be the perfect addition to Timothy Hay. To get that balanced diet without the crazy feed store price. By the way it's extremely refreshing to have someone present such dense information on UA-cam anymore! Of course you'll have to produce the fluff to get monetized and cash that paycheck but you're extremely knowledgeable!
Greatly appreciate the explanation that the numbers are not full proof, they are a guideline and common sense should always be applied, thank you for your hard work and for this invaluable resource.
Thank you so much for doing these videos! I love the detailed explanations which is helping me feel confident to take on the role of rabbit raiser. Knowledge IS power(ful). PS remember that unhappy/critical people are way overrepresented in comments, which says more about them than about you/your video.
The reason why you're getting so many viewers so fast is because you're doing the exact opposite of everybody else in this space: you give pure information instead of selling a narrative and emotionalism, use natural language instead of buzzwords for the algorithm, you use a simple, descriptive thumbnail and title instead of sensationalistic, deceptive ones, you make the video 40 minutes long, if that's how long it takes to present all the information, etc.
In short, your videos are substance over style, while everybody else's are style over substance. It's quite unique among UA-cam homesteaders. Please keep it up.
Amen to this comment!! Her content is a breath of fresh air in a vacuum of "homested" content!
Reminds me of Adam Ragusea’s quick rise in the cooking part of UA-cam
Yes Please!! Your content is fantastic. Right to the point, which is why I'm watching.
Thank you!!
I love the slides.
Thank you so much 🥹🥹🥹❤️❤️❤️ your comment means a lot to me. I am so glad this was helpful too ❤️
Im sitting in an apartment in a shiitty, overcrowded city taking notes and planning for the future. This content is really important. Thank you ❤
You can keep quail or rabbits in an apartment on the patio.
@@jbnovah Urban confinement is why so many pigeons were bred on rooftops for a sense of open air freedom.
You can also do it on the inside if you dont have a patio - or partner with someone and use their land like a community garden plot @@fundamentalreviews
Im out for the last 18 months, totally worthed. Dont worry about heating in winter, working during day will heat you up, you wont get sick if you dont engage the animal named human, only bad thing about winter is cloth washing/management. You can consider a dryer depending on your situation.
jumping from an apartment into the wild garden is like an ocean fish deciding to move to a river. you better get a house in the country and practice before its too late : )
Finally a channel dedicated to actual teaching. Sure its nice watching some dude brush his cows and mention one fact a month, but you wont learn much from that. This is gold!
I appreciate that, thank you so much!
@@CedarHillsHomesteaddo you have or know of a video that covers the nitty gritty details on chickens. Sheep. Etc. in a similar way that you have? The visual aids and concise approach really helps make things understandable...
Have never raised rabbits for meat (and probably never will), but something that so many people neglect to mention as a benefit of raising rabbits is the non-burning manure.
All the manure from our pet rabbits goes directly into our gardens or compost piles without any concern that it will burn the plants like chicken or cow manure can.
💯 one of the best natural fertilizers AND their urine is safe organic pest control
Same here.
@@albatraozgirlI didn't know that about their urine.
A quarter acre-ish (100 x 100 ft) of Timothy /Orchard Grass is our base. Old-school (Austrian) hand-scythe an hay rake work great. Need shed/lean-to/barn/ to store loose hay. Take about 3 times as much space as square bales.
Sweet Potato (vines in Summer, tuber in Winter) - a 25-footer row per Rabbit. Sunchoke (tops - stalk, flower, leaf in Summer, tuber all Winter) ... Mangel Beet / Fodder Beet. Black oil sunflower. (Stalk/leaf/flower in Summer, seed head full of seed all Winter.) Ridiculous amounts of easy to propagate/grow Comfrey. Autumn leaf drop from the yard leaves. Peanut hay - we grow 800 row feet of doubled rows for Human snacking of peanut ... the tops are bundled and dried at harvest for Winter Feed.
These make up the bulk of our feed. Currently maintaining 2 quads (M F F F) with about 150 growouts a year.
Growouts are tractored. The Mating Mob is not.
If you don't mind me asking, I'm expanding my rabbit setup so would love more info:
How many kindlings do you have per female per year?
Whats your general growing region? (Im Northern Ontario, love me some sunchokes)
Do you have your 2 quads in hutches / cages or 2 colonies?
Do you provide extra food to the tractored rabbits or is the pasture they are on good enough?
Whats your nail cutting schedule if you have one?
How often do you move the tractor?
Is your tractor open bottomed or slatted or hardware clothed, etc?
Sorry for all the qqs, just very curiou
Nice breakdown, thanks!
I wish my rabbits (or my chickens) would eat comfrey - but they won't! Luckily we have lots of willow and grass and other things they like.
Do you have a good source of mangle beet seed? I can get all of the sugar beet seed (sold as deer plot food) but no one is selling larger amounts of mangle.
@@MargaretFinnell this place sells it one pound.
Just to expand some horizons a bit: bones of your rabbits can be just as useful as the meat and pelts. I crock pot the bones of my rabbits and have "marrow soup". I crack the long bones, add whatever vegetables are around, my favorite spices and about a tablespoon or maybe two of apple cider vinegar. This makes a very hearty, filling stew that I serve with my choice of starch. Once the bones have gone through the crock pot, I allow them to dry in a solar dehydrator and then grind them up in our hand cranked mill for bone meal. Bone meal has many, many uses. You mentioned a survival situation. The extra nutrients gained in this way could make or break a pregnant mother, a person recovering from illness or even beef up your dog's food.
That's awesome! I Do the same with chicken bones! It's great!
@@justsurvivin5432 Yep! Any bone will have marrow. I use an ordinary pair of pliers to break open bones and then into a slow rolling boil with occasional added water to melt the marrow as much as possible. Perhaps for bigger bones the marrow can be scooped out.
I also sell carved bones/bone jewelry for good $
I simmer the bones until I get gelatin (lasts longer than just broth), then give the bone remnants to the dogs. The fat I render and purify for cooking, pemmican and preserving meat in jars (medieval potted meat, where you raw pack in melted tallow in the jar, let it firm up, then pour in a final inch of melted fat to seal the top--if you successfully mash all the air out while packing, this lasts up to 2 years). Love marrow and gelatin!
This is going to sound weird but please read it. You were a godsend to me today I have been a long time rabbit razor since like 1995 and last night I was doing our finances and getting severely depressed about the amount of money that I was shelling out and feed for all my livestock. I have a huge farm and a bunch of different animals to feed
It is April of 2024 I am making more money now than I've ever made before have less bills than I've ever had before and I am more broke now than I'm ever been before. I was honestly thinking about getting rid of a lot of my animals just because I couldn't afford the feed bill. This video was an answer to a prayer of how I could keep my rabbits and still feed myself too. I'm going to be binge watching all the rest of your videos that you have. I again want to say thank you so very much from the bottom of my heart for this very good educational video you have a new subscriber!
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Wow, thank you so much for taking the time to share this with me; your story is going to keep me motivated to keep the videos and articles coming. I hope you have the most plentiful garden this year and it feeds your animals with leftovers to spare.
A lot of people are in your exact position right now but I have a feeling you are tough, resourceful, and will come out of this better than before. I wish you the very best ❤️❤️❤️❤️
You are clever enough to sit down and analyze the feed situation. Well done! Now that you understand the “weak areas”, you’ll be able to implement solutions (ah yeah, this from the woman who is scrambling hard to feed my rabbits with the greens I’m growing - I need to figure out better volume from my ppty). 👍🏻
She doesn't mention that you can feed rabbits leaves and twigs instead of hay.
Would love to see a tutorial for a rabbit blanket if you end up making one 👀
Can you make a video on how to actually raise rabbits? Space, cage requirements, best practices, etc. I’d love to try my hand at it, but I have no idea how much space I need or what the different ways to raise them are. And I love the way you make videos, they’re super informative!
Great suggestion! Yes I will ❤️
@@CedarHillsHomestead
Yes Please
You not only quell fear but inspire action. Truly a gift.
Thank you so much 😁❤️
@@CedarHillsHomestead ..I've been raising animals my whole life (bout 35 yrs) & your video is by far THE best I've come across for rabbits.
Considering that severe famine is coming (soon)😞, thank you for the forage info!
Excellent video!!! 👍🙂👍🕊🕊🕊🕊
Been raising rabbits for almost 10 years now, and I say your #s are pretty much spot on. My friends and family thought my rabbit math was "funny" until I put 380#s in my freezer, 80#s in my neighbors' 60#s in my cousin's, and another 50#s in misc customers' freezers. In a single year. We run 12 to 23 does, and half a dozen bucks, and we breed 3 to 4 litter runs each year, as the weather allows. When the girls kindle, it's not impossible for us to have over 100 kits drop. Some of those go for live animal sales, a few get saved back to keep our broodstock fresh. The rest are headed to "camp." The past couple years we've figured out how to brine and smoke our jointed rabbit parts to make mini rabbit hams. Some of those get tossed into the smoker for a few hours. Rarely any leftovers on those dinner nights.
What part of the world are you in? With that many, how many people does it take to maintain them and can you feed them your dogs as dog food or will the bones be a problem like with chicken bones?
Mind sharing your rabbit ham brining recipe and smoking process?
@joebristor7342 Cooked chicken bones are the issue for dogs, not uncooked bones. If you are interested to learn more, search raw feeding for dogs. There's lots of info out there these days. I like prey-model raw, personally.
@@joebristor7342 If you've ever fed your dog a chicken nugget, then you can create the same thing with any animal you cook down the bones and whatever parts ( except ones like bile etc.) and then grind it down to where its so fine you couldn't feel a sharp piece if you wanted to, then cook. there is one sort of issue with rabbit meat, it is very lean so lean that if you ONLY ate rabbit meat you'd perish. Rabbit generally does not have enough fats to keep you or your pets nutritionally well.
Rabbit Ham may be the most culinary intriguing idea I have ever heard! I ha e to try it.
I think I am on my third play through.. This has to be the most densely packed information I have seen on this platform in a long time. Believe it or not the mid level information like how much to feed your rabbits per day by weight will benefit as many people as the breakdown of land per rabbit.
in 1985 i started raising rabbits.. bought 2 New Zealand does that the seller bred right then and there. bought 2 cages and waters, and 2 feeders. bought some wood and built some nest boxes. i built above ground cages and hutches. a guy at work gave me a black and gold collored buck. soon we were eating rabbit a lot. my wife discovered "chicken nuggets" in the store so pretty soon we were eating RABBIT NUGGETS, GOAT NUGGETS, DUCK NUGGETS, GOOSE NUGGETS, AND EVEN HOME RAISED CHICKEN NUGGETS.
i sold meat rabbits for $5 each and soon quit me job, to raise rabbits full time!
That is so incredible!!! 🤩 we have a nice meat grinder, maybe we need to learn how to make our own nuggets too, that’s inspiring 😁🫶🏻
Zone 7b here in Middle Tennessee, and I have 30+ "wild" meat rabbits that free range that were left from the previous owner. They are domestic animals, as the shape is that of a meat rabbit, but they have breed enough that any particular species is hard to tell. They get, and have not received, any pellet feed. There is hay available, and they eat the hay, plus forage for other food.
They also act like a cross between a domestic and wild rabbit, in that they do not leave the 50 acre property, but they have survival instincts of a wild rabbit, they will run and are fast, but become much less wary to an individual with time.
They originate from meat rabbits that escaped and created their colonies.
One of your top comments in your chicken feed video was to make a similar video with rabbits. You're true to your fans and true to your information!
I’m new to this channel…. Now I’m going off to find that chicken video you mentioned! 😄
Amazing video. Should be a course in every high school in the country
I don't plan on keeping rabbits - but in these times never say never - and still i watched the whole thing. I was that fascinated with all the information that you presented. This was one of the best animal husbandry and prepper vidoes that I have ever seen on YT. Your knowledge base is amazing and you presented the information so well. I sub'd and wishing you the best on your channel. Btw, some great additional videos would be how you cook your rabbits. Think rabbit intimidates many because it is not a meat that many were raised eating.
It tastes like chicken, when breaded and fried and cut up somewhat resembles a chicken("two backs, 4 legs and thighs")...
We had a rabbit for a while that we think was someone's abandoned Easter bunny. Eddie was a massive escape artist. It eventually led to his demise by predation, but that rabbit did not just sit in one spot when he got out. He saw the clover over yonder and he went for it.
With alfalfa I have been told it is too rich or "hot". So i always feed orchard grass or timothy. I have had my rabbits jump out of their hutches before and they always go exploring. I let them "free range" on nice days, and they always have a blast. they run , jump, dig, eat and do zoomies. I bring them back into their cages after a couple of hours. I have a large enclosed area where my chickens roam.
I am loving all this great info. ty so much.
Do the books one for chickens one for rabbits. you have already done the work. So cool
It's very interesting because in the year. Let's say 1960? The wildlife game fishing land management people put out a Brochure about how growing rabbit would end all world hunger. They suggested that everybody start having rabbits.
It was totally crazy.I just happened across this brochure and I have it somewhere in this house.God only knows where. But I bet you could see it online.
I would love to see this.
So glad I found you (watched your chicken video first)! You are a treasure trove of information. Please keep it coming!!!
I also found the chicken video, a few days ago, and instantly subscribed.
I love the information like this and the thought exercise of what it would take to be self-sufficient with critters.
Really puts things into perspective, and it is not that out of the question either.
Edit: I live on 14 acres....
Wonder if she could do one on cattle? What would it take to raise up steak naturally fed?
From some casual looking I believe it will take 2 years to get to bucher weight feeding naturally... thought that wouldn't be bad to just have two cattle about and alternately replaice one every year.
You put this out so fast in response to us saying we wanted it. Good job. And ty
I absolutely love this and your other videos. They are so incredibly helpful! I raised rabbits as pets when I was a child, and from my experience, those domesticated rabbits definitely desired to be wild. Maybe it's because my hutches were away from the house, down near the woods, but I saw numerous wild rabbits approach my rabbit cages and touch noses with mine. Mine also loved to escape, and the last one actually took off into the woods, never to be seen again!
I love the "nerdness" of your videos. Keep it up, I'm here for it.
PS The dry delivery (in line with the rest of the content) of infrequent, comic relief is perfect for nerds like me. Seriously, all compliments, love it.
Thank you so much, I really appreciate it. You would’ve loved my dad, he was the king of the dry humor 😁❤️
I am so tired of people telling me eating rabbits will cause rabbit starvation. Its crazy how many times I've heard that.
Rabbit starvation is real *but* it's based on eating late winter wild rabbit with nothing else. It's because a rabbit can get so lean before they start to seriously loose muscle mass. A feel fed rabbit is very healthy food.
I raise meat. There is usually enough fat around the organs to supply people enough needed fat.
Can’t fix stupid, carry on and enjoy your life
I guess in that extreme case, they could add fats the same way vegans do... Nuts and seeds, problem solved.
I had actually never heard of rabbit starvation until now. I’ve only been working with meat rabbits for about a year and a half now. So not very long
When people build Garden walls around their houses and their properties that have footings on them made of stone or concrete the rabbits can be contained within the yard mowing it just like a golf course so short that you could put across it.
What?! You did it! Already the rabbit breakdown . You are good. Your channel is gonna soar
I appreciate that! 😁❤️
This couldn't be better timed! I've seen a ton of questions in a lot of rabbit groups about only pellets vs. Foraged vs. Combo. I love your break downs!
My goodness, that's such a comprehensive presentation!
I've been seeing the $37 chicken feed video in my feed a lot lately (haven't watched it yet), but I didn't realize it was by the same channel! That's so awesome that your channel is doing so well in your first month. I can tell you put a lot of time and effort into the video. I subscribed and I am looking forward to what you and your channel bring!
Thank you so much and I hope you enjoy it! ❤️❤️❤️
People like you is why youtube is awesome. great information thank you very much , looking forward to more
Funniest thing about you saying you might be talking too fast is I watched this on 2X speed. Not a critique just funny to hear while I sped it up. Great info though I'm gonna write it down and when I get the cash I'll be implementing a lot of it.
Can you please tell that to the two dozen people who told me they’re blocking me because I talk way too fast?! 🤣🤣🤣 it’s crazy how different everyone is. Also thank you so much ❤️
@@CedarHillsHomestead Don't worry about them they just need to listen faster lol If they don't want rabbit info that's on them. That's also a silly reason to block since it's... a video. You can pause, rewind, even slow it down if you want
This video was amazing. You did such a good job! Here’s what I especially appreciated: 1. Kept things moving for us ADD people 😂 Nice also because our time is valuable when spending hours researching and learning. 2. Slides that I can go back, screenshot, print and bind for offline reference. 3. All the formulas available so we can scale up, down, or substitute.
A wealth of information!
Thank you for the detailed and easy math! We started an off-grid homestead late 2021, and information like this is going to help us get off our reliance on the feed store!
Tip: for the grains, just buy the 50# sacks of feed grains and sow them, it's way cheaper!
We only just started with rabbits this past winter. The three does we took over from a neighbour/friend who was unsuccessful at breeding - she was doing the cage system. I have never liked cages for any animal - heck, we built a 15x40 aviary for our quail, which are typically raised in battery cages - so i gave them three of the units in our 4-unit chicken coop. The buck has a 4x5 space, the does have 76 square feet, and no issues breeding and getting kits! We're still developing our woodland, and will be tractoring our grow-outs soon!
I've barely scratched the surface of this video, but there's some fantastic information here, thank you. I got rid of my pet type rabbits and got all meat rabbits but it's extremely frustrating trying to figure out what you're supposed to feed them because, as you say, everyone has an opinion, and none of them are the same.
Sorry, like an idiot I hit the send button. Anyhow I've cut my rabbits down to one buck and three doe now, due to the high cost of rabbit pellets. My question is, I've been slowly getting my rabbits used to hay, though I have no idea if it's nice alfalfa Timothy Hay grass hay whatever..... But I wanted to get them used to it but some still won't eat it they just make a mess out of it and push it through their cage. If I were to cut out pallets and feed them just hay how long do you think it would take them to adjust and would it be safe for them? I know if you switch their foods around they can get bloat.
@@wytchwoodhomesteadandkenne5036 Limit the pellet, or feed hay first and pellet an hour later. Some will not eat hay or waste so much it is both not funny and questionable if they eat any of it at all. Offer something other then hay and pellet, just start small amounts wise like the one cookie with afternoon tea when kid comes home from school. That will get them used to other foods both what they can digest and willing to eat it. If you can house them with a rabbit that will eat hay & greens that may help to teach them as well. So mainly make certain your breeding does learn to eat more then pellets, feed them such variety from breeding to weaning and the kits will learn to like more things and the mothers milk & cecotropes will make them able to digest it properly.
I am totally in awe of you!!! You did a fantastic job of the video without trying to sell anything and got right to the point👍🏻🤗
Just when I thought raising rabbits is easy, got hit with a ton of math. Great content and you already sound much better compared to the earlier videos.
I’ve wanted to raise meat rabbits and this is so helpful. If you haven’t already, could you do a video on how to make soap from their fat? I appreciate the work you’ve put into these videos, it sure looks like a lot
Well done!!! Very professional, very informative. I came away from your video with a better understanding of cost, nutrition, and forage than the books i bought. THANK YOU 😊 SUBSCRIBER NOW
I grew up on a subsistence style farm and we raised quite a few rabbits. It wasnt that uncommon for small kits to fall out of or in other ways escape the cages. They didnt normally hang out under the cages but would rehome themselves to other nooks and crannies around the farm. They would usually remain close to the farm because of the abundance of food and better protection from the elements. We usually didnt see too many of them unless they got caught in the box traps we had situated around the perimeter of the animal area set to catch small predators.
Wow, moved to my own homestead 2 years ago and always had rabbits in mind from day 1. I had some major refurbishing to do to get my chicken coop usable and started the chicken journey over a year ago. Hatched my own from my eggs this spring 5 of 8 are roos so freezer camp in the fall. One broody hen was sitting on 11 eggs but mama klutz is either handling them roughly or eating some, not sure which because she has broken 3 so far.
This video inspired me to rehab the old coop in the yard to make it suitable for rabbits. It is timely because my biggest fear is having these animals and the supply chain breaks. Chickens free range but i do supplement them with pellet feed. Those carnivores eat everything and without store feed, I'm sure we could get by. I have been working on growing food and herbs too and each year, it gets expanded. This gives me hope that I can sustain rabbits even if I cant get food from a store.
Subscribed because i want to learn more about the basics of breeding and caring for them. Thank you for your no nonsense informative video and inspiration.
For egg breakage try crushing washed and dried egg shell in tiny pieces to supplement the hens calcium. Or she might need more protein if she is eating the eggs. As for rabbits they can happily exist on good grass mixed with veggies. When I raise sweet corn after I pick a few ears the stalks are then put in the hutches.
Great video! Yea it seems that the perennial forage would definatly be the easiest. Im not sure I would be interested in messing with small grains by hand. Corn and sunflowers would be easy to harvest the big seedheads, I think mangle beats would be another great option for easy harvesting. And sunchokes for the perennial ease of only planting once. I'm just thinking the easier the production system, the more likely I am to actually do it, that makes every perennial option MUCH more attractive. Actually I'm thinking tree crops are a way better option to grains in the long run. Chestnuts, hazelnuts, apple, pear, mulberry, honeylocust pods. Will rabbits eat acorns? Way easier to collect food that drops under trees than tilling, planting, weeding, watering, harvesting grains imo.
Yes, rabbits will eat acorns. Limit here was one per rabbit (4 pound rabbits) per day and no problems.
Sunchockes/jerusalem artichockes have their quirks gas wise, advice here is not to feed to livestock untill after feb 1st for changes in digestability from frost. I would only feed the stalks, not the tuber. Rabbit diet is above ground feeds, not underground ones.
I feed a lot of willow/hazel/reeds/bamboo as long as i can get it in leaf. If you have the room making treehay (check yt search for more info) is easier then cutting grashay. When feeding forage mainly, variety is key, 3 different plants per meal minimum and enough total mix to vary/rotate some at least every day of the week. there is a book beyond the pellet that gives more info.
A great deal of effort went into this presentation which as far as I am concerned stands head and shoulders above the rest.
Thank you from the Caribbean island of Trinidad.
It ain't that difficult. Urban rabbit "hutch" meat was standard for many years. My grandma maintenaned her long hutch as long as she lived. Far easier, quieter, cleaner, and cheaper than chivkens. This good lady narrator is speaking gold!
I remember my mother talking about a neighbor who raised rabbits during the depression. Had a lot of trouble with cats.
My first girlfriend used to say that she wouldn't be here if not for the gift of a pair of breeding bunnies her grandmother had received forty years earlier. Girlfriend's dad would have starved in the cradle
Thank you for an amazingly informative video.
Oh my gosh thank you so much, I really appreciate it! ❤️
This is hands down the best video on raising rabbits. I’ve raised them in the past, not really knowing what I was doing. I’ve just started a colony setup to begin again, and haven’t been able to find much thorough information. Thank you for putting in the work and presenting a video about actually teaching, and not making about how cool you are. This is the first video of yours I’ve watched, but will definitely not be the last.
Amazing ❤❤thanks so much, I live in London and purchased a house with a huge land in a remote village in Transylvania, which I renovated and in the winter will move there.plan to grow a lot of stuff. Thank you very much for the information
Thank you!
This is the exact information I needed.
Also, another by product of rabbits is bone meal to fertilize the garden. You can probably get enough for container gardening with that many rabbits but I'm not sure about in ground gardens. I guess it depends on how many containers you have.
You can probably make blood meal, too, but I'm not sure if it would need pasteurization or if you can just dehydrate it. I'm sure the info is out there but I'm still choosing to buy mine for the moment lol
Sincerely wish I had all this information before I started raising meat rabbits. I love how well you break everything down to detail. Excellent video, I now have about 20 extra screenshots to categorize lol
Lady, you are a treasure. I have to watch your videos multiple times to get/retain even a PORTION of the information relayed. Felt like I was back in a college lecture. I realize my mileage may vary since not all corns, hays, etc, etc, etc are created equal. Some questions; Why do you finish on grains? Do you crack them? Does your hay estimate account for the waste? If you have made a hay rack for yours, I'd love to see it. Haha. I will probably have more after about five more views. Thank you for existing and doing your videos.
Thank you for not wasting my time!! Subscribed 🎯
@Cedar Hills Homestead you did a great job. clear and concise. exactly what we all want.
Will forward this to my friend's daughter. She started at ~13yo (raising). Therefor this would help her envision a better future for her homestead's future. [She already owns the house and land]
Disappointed that I can only like this video once. Thank you so much! ❤
For presenting accurate, concise, and actionable content, your channel is top notch 🤙
*Sigh* I've got a twisted mind. When you were talking about rabbit cecotropes, my mind cut it down to "Rabbits make(recycle) their own B vitamins," then cut again to "natures B vitamins." Probably wont see that on the shelves any time soon, but you never know...
Great video! I like the graphics.
Hahaha “Civet coffee” exists so I bet there’s a market out there for people really into the natural stuff 😱😅
Wow I learned so much of what Im doing wrong off this one video. Ive wondered why my rabbits are hit and miss in reproduction now I know its their nutrition. Thanks for this great video
Man I could have really used this about a year ago! I have had to learn a lot by researching and learning experimentation. But there is still a lot here I can add into what I do! Either way, I would say this is one of the best “to the point and detailed” videos I have ever found on feeding rabbits naturally (or really any way). Thanks!
You are a champion of truth and facts, stay authentic
When I had ReX Rabbit's, I had 2 Apple Tree's that were never Sprayed! Woah, did they love the Twigs from Pruning!
Mine also like plum tree, grapevine, tayberry and raspberry, and they adore willow (several types). Mine are Rex too. :)
YOU'RE IN TROUBLE NOW, WE WANT MORE! Quail?
How about goats?!
"The price we pay for our intelligence is those we unintentionally hurt along the way". Ngl, I didn't plan on crying when I turned the video on, but I'm still glad I tuned in.
Jokes aside, what beautifully informational video! I've been fondling the idea of raising rabbits not only for meat, but for pels as well for quite some time now. Not that I have any rabbits or even a homestead yet, haha.
And I absolutely love your sense of humour!
Thanks Sarah. We harvested hay (our wild lawn) all summer with a debrusiage machine with a grass blade. Turned/Winnowed it by hand with a spring rake and then put up in the greenhouse where the chickens and rabbits over winter. We also offer pellet and pumpkins as well as fresh forage all summer. Are rabbits had tons of yellow fat come harvest. We live on just over an acer near Amqui, QC zone 3B.
great information. Please keep making these informative videos. Really helping me out as an amateur with animals. I already grow most of these crops myself, but the animal raising is new to me. I am always trying to "close loops" on my garden and vegetable operation, and I already have plans to add chickens and rabbits. This guide really helped me figure out how I am going to start out.
you give pure information instead of selling a narrative and emotionalism
ironically enough, we just got our first flock of 12 chickens in february and I found your chicken feed video - and we are back and forth on meat chickens, but leaning towards, and then you make this one 😆
Absolutely another great video! This one is very much appreciated as well! Thank you... blessings Kiddo!🥰🌻🐛🌿💚🙏💕
This was an absolutely amazing video. I'm glad it came up on my feed of suggestions. I'm going to save this to reference because it was a lot of information to take in, but it was excellent. Thank you!!!
I'm going to subscribe to your channel now.
00:12 Feeding rabbits without the feed store
01:51 Calculate hay and pellet amount based on rabbit's weight for a year.
05:17 Rabbits can provide valuable fat for consumption and other uses.
07:00 Understanding rabbit breeding and meat yield
10:33 Understanding the feed conversion ratio for sustainable backyard meat sourcing
12:11 Consider using a rabbit tractor to reduce feed needs.
15:36 Rabbits need carbs for energy and fiber for digestion.
17:23 Consider natural sources like grass seed and sunflower seeds to boost fat content for rabbits.
20:44 Rabbits need vitamins A, C, D, E, K, and B complex for metabolism.
22:28 Rabbits consume a significant amount of hay for the first 3 months of life.
25:41 Calculating space needed to grow forage for rabbit diets
27:25 Fertilizing and irrigating fields can double yield; small scale farming has advantages
30:26 Proper diet planning is essential for raising healthy rabbits
32:05 Estimate the amount of forage or grain needed to feed rabbits for a year.
35:16 Utilize rabbit manure as free fertilizer for your garden.
37:01 Calculating cost to feed rabbits based on forage or grain diets
40:34 Saving 150th of each crop for seed can help cut out the feed store.
Crafted by Merlin AI.
I appreciate this level of nerdiness (as well as the specific breakdowns/number-crunching and iillustrative examples.)
I love this content! So much info, simply stated, no filler, great infographics. I have been looking for this content for years.
Goodness gracious. This channel is excellent. Thank you for sharing your hard learned wisdom.
Eyyyyyyy fellow Montanan. 👋🏼 Glad you came up on my feed, subscribed!
The BEST logical explanation ever‼️‼️‼️
How can I get this in a book
I feel like I am taking a homesteading course and I love it! I am finally getting ALL the info in one "short" video! Down in Texas I could not do this because we lived in a desert. Now we moved up north to snow land, we are working on our home first and making plans for our animals (chickens, turkeys, ducks, fish, and rabbits) hopefully in next year or two. Our how dream and goal is to be self sufficient. That is including feeding our animals without having to buy their food. This info you provided is gold to us. Thank you!
Genuinely great video. No added filler or anything it was all relevant to the topic. And I can you wanted to keep going in on some topics😂
I Love, Love, Loved your lecture today!!!! The best by far!
I wish I would have known some of this info as a kid - when I was breeding rabbits. (9th to 12th grades)
All the best from Wisconsin!
I'm looking at getting into raising rabbits for meat and pelts. This information is exactly what I needed to hear to get a full picture of diet costs and production. WELL DONE and THANK YOU!
From my own experience with raising rabbits and mostly for pets, and for helping suck rabbits to get healthier, and from my own research; your numbers and research are average to above average. Because some breeders do NOT always include the costs for healing for sick rabbits. Because most Not all breeders sell off any sick rabbits or use what they can of them for feeding their dogs, cats, etc. Thanks for sharing your video and research !
This is the type of math and research that is exactly what I was looking for.
You must have been a STEM major haha our brains are similar and i am constantly doing math with stuff like this
Ha, I was working on becoming a veterinarian but I had some monkey wrenches thrown into my plans. Now I homestead and write instead. 😁🫶🏻
Just want to say that I appreciate how much information you packed into this video, the way you presented it, and your honest and open closing. I think you did a great job.
You are absolutely killing it, with your presentation of information, video flow, everything! So much Information in this and the chicken video. Keep it up!
Excellent job! So much useful information! Could you go into the equipment you use regularly to manage your meat rabbits? Such as tractor/4 wheeler/cart. How do you till your soil when you plant your grains? What other kind of equipment would someone need to purchase if they were literally starting from nothing?
Yes, absolutely that is such a good idea! Buying all of this stuff was a slow and sometimes overwhelming process so that would probably be a helpful one to make. 😁
I’ve raised rabbits a few different times over my life for meat. This explanation was absolutely fantastic. 😊
You're a walking/talking encyclopedia...amazing information. Thank you
Thank you for this great info. We did rabbits for a bit, but my kids were traumatized by eating them. We switched to chickens to make it a little easier on them.
I understand that with the kids, it can be hard. Our kids know that the breeders (parents) are pets. They know the kits are food, but since we keep a constantly supply of new rabbits being born (and since they all look alike) it’s a lot easier on them.
I'm an adult and I can't imagine eating a rabbit. They are too cute. Chickens and Cows don't come close hence they become dinner
This is such an excellent break down. Keep up the good work sister 👍🏻
I LOVE how much information is in this video. So helpful!!
Thank you! Finally some pure facts in an clear concide and easy to follow format! Were you a teacher in a former life? I am thankful that I stumbled upon your channel!
Keep going I'm totally nerding out for your analysis of these incredibly important subjects. Not until our gggrandparents generation were these subjects openly discussed. Then they all seemed to forget them in the Great Depression AND the Great War after that. We ALL lost so much of our entire histories in those epochal times.
You did a great job on this! Thank you!
Do you have any thoughts on silage? A local dairy farmer (Shenandoah County, VA) grows winter rye, cuts it just before it would start to turn yellow, then grows corn and does the same and the whole stalk is used. My understanding of silage is while the overall total calories are reduced, the bioavailable calories has increased and may make it practical to get additional harvests.
I snickered a bit when you called your area an extreme. I, a Canadian, think winter that lasts from October through May is pretty normal. It's nice for me, honestly; a lot of farm and garden channels are from places that are a lot warmer than where I am, so it can be hard to find information that would work with my climate.
This is a marvelous tutorial on raising meat rabbits. You have no need to apologize! When you get excited, you speak more quickly, but that only shows your passion for both the rabbits and the information shared! Thank you very much for what you are doing to educate people who might really need this information and these skills in the future.
Thank you. Living in another country this gives me an overview of what I should do to keep my feeding my rabbits. ❤
After watching this video about six times doing my research before I get rabbits.
It's looking like a chicken product named gallo pro from Leland Mills here in Utah might be the perfect addition to Timothy Hay. To get that balanced diet without the crazy feed store price.
By the way it's extremely refreshing to have someone present such dense information on UA-cam anymore! Of course you'll have to produce the fluff to get monetized and cash that paycheck but you're extremely knowledgeable!
Love the Nerding!! Appreciate your utilization of dimensional analysis 🎉❤😊 Thank you so much for all the info in your videos!! True Wealth!!
Greatly appreciate the explanation that the numbers are not full proof, they are a guideline and common sense should always be applied, thank you for your hard work and for this invaluable resource.
Thank you so much for doing these videos! I love the detailed explanations which is helping me feel confident to take on the role of rabbit raiser. Knowledge IS power(ful). PS remember that unhappy/critical people are way overrepresented in comments, which says more about them than about you/your video.