Rabbit tractors and pasturing

[P.O. in MO]

I have seem some recent discussions on rabbit tractors, pasturing and grass feeding and was wondering how these endeavors are going. Mysunwolf had a picture of a nice rabbit tractor and another breeder was pulling grass and feeding to rabbits in hutches. How are these things going. There was a good article in ARBA magazine this month covering common problems with rabbits and noted that ear and fur mites were common with rabbits raised outdoors. Something was mentioned in one of the posts about wood ash for mites, how does that work? Any problems with internal worms yet?

 

[Bossroo]

IN THE LONG RUN , pasturing is more trouble and costly than what it is worth !!!

 

[mysunwolf]

IN THE LONG RUN , pasturing is more trouble and costly than what it is worth !!!

Well, that's what everyone says, but us weirdos would like to know how troublesome and costly it would be When you say long run, are we talking 3 years? 10? Wouldn't it be a worthy project to create strains of rabbits that we could pasture, that are more resistant to parasites?

I mean, I think pasturing chickens is a management nightmare compared to having them in raised wire cages, but I still do it mostly because it's a relief to see an animal out on fresh grass.

I would like to hear the successes and benefits, as well as the failures and drawbacks, of people's pasturing experiences.

 

[P.O. in MO]

Hey Bossroo thanks for weighing in on this. I think you have voiced that opinion before. I take it you are speaking from experience.
As far as the chickens, I pasture mine but keep in a moveable pen and have a predator proof(so far) coop on skids that I move with the pen every two weeks or so. In two years with a dozen chickens I have had one just up and die and lost 2 to impacted crops that I couldn't clear. I clean and disinfect the coop 2 times a year and so far haven't had a problem with parasites. The chicken tractor is to save on feed costs more than anything. I kept track of all feed costs with my last batch of chickens, all the way from chicks to stew pot, and the eggs cost me $1.80 a dozen. I can buy cheaper in the store but would be cage laid and not taste nearly as good.

Back to rabbits: I would like to pasture but am afraid that I will end up with the point of view that Bossroo expressed. I have a nice climate controlled shed with hanging cages, screened windows and a dry floor. I started raising rabbits a year and a half ago and so far I have not seen any worms in any poop or fur or ear mites (knocking on wood). I have an unproductive doe that I am considering moving outside just to see what happens. Saving on feed costs would be nice but not if I end up spending money and TIME doctoring the problems that might arise from living outside. In 5 weeks I will have butchered 92 rabbits, total feed costs including hay put my cost to raise them at around $7.50 each. Would be nice to cut that down to $5.00 if pasture could do that, but again, not if I have to buy meds or be putting mineral oil in their ears all the time.

Any experienced pasturers want to weigh in with their problems encountered. Mysunwolf, are your rabbits all still healthy and parasite free. That was a nice rabbit tractor by the way. PO

 

[Bossroo]

Experience ... YUP !!! I started out in the pasturing thing, then quickly changed to the caged mode. Much more efficient use of feed, space, rate of gain , medication (of the rabbits as well as owner from scratches ) as well as time and labor. I have raised much more than a few, more like in the thousands over the years. If one has just a handful of rabbits, pasturing may be fine for a period of time and the jollies, but when one has more than that , management of feed, housing, digging, fighting, disease starts to raise its ugly head. The costs increase incrementally for medications and poor use of land ( then reclaim the " holy" land) but most of all for labor and time.

 

[mysunwolf]

Ah, Bossroo, that makes so much more sense when you're talking about scale. I hear you there. We are specifically keeping it very small, mostly doing a few for us and for market (enough to sell 1-2 buns per week for the 26 weeks the market runs). But to actually have a rabbit business, I agree that pasturing doesn't seem to make any sense.

I think to make sense on the small scale, you would have to do only a few rabbits (maybe 50-75 fryers annually), and use tractors rather than a warren-type space. House them individually rather than communally, and possibly remove the does from ground before the last week of pregnancy (to prevent den/nest digging). It would have to be some sort of large 8x8 cage, with separate boxes and runs for each doe/buck. House each rabbit in a 2x4 "stall" within this cage structure. So 8 rabbits per 8x8 structure. That does sound costly and like a lot of work to only have 8 rabbits in each pen... and they do eat A LOT of grass for the size of the critter.

Oh, and on weight. We did one batch on grain and grass, and one batch on just grass. The difference in weights at 12 weeks was about 1# lighter (live weight) for the grass-finished buns. I'm pretty sure this would be much more dramatic when comparing rabbits that were grown out on hay and pellets. Though I like that I only go into the cage once a day to add water.

Everyone is still healthy right now, but I think the younguns are too young to get parasites (and the cocci is not happening with daily movings). Adult breeders not yet on grass, but we'll get there eventually. Not sure what we'd do about ear mites if we got them, though.

 

[P.O. in MO]

Hey Bossroo, thanks for the input. Mysunwolf, I hope your pasturing continues with little problems. I will try to remember to ask how it's going in a month or two on this thread. I may still experiment a little when it cools off, will see how the rest of the summer goes.