Free Ranging and experimental feeding regimes

[dbunni]

I have a local fellow who is interested in meat rabbits (he will be using NZs) but is interested in the free range and non pellet diets. I remember a discussion on this out here, but cannot seem to find it ...

HELP! Wanted to forward him the information...

thank you, in advance ...

 

[Weedchick]

Hi dbunni, there's a thread over on TEG that discusses this. Started by a breeder who raises rabbits on pasture (iajewel, whom I believe I have seen on BYH also ). Anyway here's the link to that thread.
http://www.theeasygarden.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=30335
Hope this is what you were looking for!

 

[rabbitgeek]

There is a lot of discussion about natural feeding and moveable pens at the Homesteading Today rabbit forums.
http://www.homesteadingtoday.com/forumdisplay.php?f=14


Have a good day!
Franco Rios

 

[chinbunny1]

The person mentioned on the first link allows their rabbits to run loose, and is very anti caging. Ran onto them on a couple of email lists. They tend to have a nasty attitude towards anyone who pens, or cages their rabbits. I would caution against following their setup, since you can't control rabbits like that, and they will setup feral colonies, and can cause a lot of damage to the local environment,if their numbers were allowed to get out of control. Its something that should be thoroughly researched to be sure your rabbits won't dig out, or cause problems. Contrary to what this person says, both bucks and does will dig when they feel like it. they don't have to be pregnant. I free range my rabbits during the summer, in large dog cages. Have had to bury plenty of holes the rabbits dug out of boredom. True free ranging doesn't mean the rabbit is allowed to roam loose. Free roaming is never a good idea. you can't keep track of your breedings, and there is no way you'd be able to catch them all since rabbits will go feral. The rabbits are placed in nice big tractoring pens, that allow them a lot of space so they can do whatever they want, and act like rabbits. You have to build them to prevent them from digging out.

I second homesteading today. Lots of good information on free ranging. There is also alot of good information on it on rabbittalk.com. There are also breeders that free range, and grow their own food for theirs on the meat rabbits yahoo group. Again most of these breeders keep theirs, in very nice, large pens.

So if he wants to do it right, encourage him to build some nice escape proof tractor pens for them.

 

[chinbunny1]

Also, good sturdy dog cage, make excellent free ranging pens, as long as they are escape proof.

 

[Weedchick]

chinbunny, I think to be fair there needs to be a little clarification on the link I posted. I read this persons explanation of their setup, and :
1) They do not have a colony type setup. The bucks and does are kept separate
2). Does are taken out of the pasture to kindle, and caged until the kits are weaned.
3) Apparently they are on top of any digging problems.

I don't have a horse in this race, and personally am not interested in this type of arrangement, but it seems to work for them, and they seem to be responsible animal owners. I don't want to offend, I just think they shouldn't be misrepresented.
And , yes, I did pick up the anti caging attitude too. :/

 

[dbunni]

At this point, I am not really interested in the pros and cons. For me, the whole idea is a con. But, I understand why they want to try it. If the economy fails any further, they want to be able to produce feed for the rabbits and in turn themselves without needing to find a pellet supplier. I am helping them with the thought. I did not pass my opions on to them, they are just my opinions. As an intelligent adults they can make that decision.

 

[chinbunny1]

@weedchik, yeah I wanted to caution against something like that, because there is no possible way it work. With that type of setup I would suspect there would be feral rabbits from it. There are always more cons, then there are pros. There is no possible way you can catch all these rabbits, and keep accurate records on them in a setup like that. Its just not ethical. This same person has admitted on a couple of lists that they have a pet rabbit that keeps getting pregnant, and they have no idea why. They are convinced that the rabbit breeds with local wild rabbits. That's not even possible, since domestics and north american wild rabbits can't breed. The only way it can happen is if there is a feral domestic population in the area. I am not trying to bash this person, but I really caution against recommending such a setup, since so many things can go wrong with it. Esp with newbies. You don't want to encourage them to let them to let their rabbits run loose like that. Since they have a rabbit that keeps getting preggo like that, chances are some have gone feral, and their way of doing things may not be as ethical as they want you to think they are.

@dbunni. I hope they can find whatever works for them, there are ways of safely free ranging them without buying pellets. Its not something that I would do, but there are those that have had quite a bit of success raising them like that. When he gets ready, direct him the meat rabbits yahoo list. there a bunch of people on there that free range. There is a lady named tara that is very knowledgeable on accomplishing such a setup. She also puts a lot of work into making sure they get a balanced diet. She raises show quality silver fox,and they look great. She also grows some of the food for them.

 

[Weedchick]

chinbunny, I defer to your knowledge on this. I was only going on the one thing I read, obviously not enough info. Thank you for the clarification.

 

[chinbunny1]

I went and had a look at her website. the pens she made for some of them don't look too bad. They could work out if they were altered with a better, secure fence,and escape proofed so they can't dig out. I wouldn't be comfortable with housing that many rabbits together, because they can fight. I wouldn't keep them outside in the snow either.