Chapter 4 Other Domestic Meat Animals

 

 

        In my ever-so-humble opinion, rabbits are overall the best meat animal for the self-sufficient person or family.  They don't take a lot of room and they're not picky about the type of cage or hutch that they're in.  They'll drink water from a bowl or from a drip tube, and they'll eat from any container or food just tossed in to them.

 

        They're the easiest animal to grow food for in any climate.  Besides the obvious carrots and salad greens, they'll eat any vegetable.  They'll also eat the plants they're grown on.  When you're done picking peas, broccoli, corn, or anything else in the garden, you can pull the plants and toss them in to the rabbits.

 

        You can also feed rabbits all your garden scraps: pea shells, carrot tops, corn husks, the ends cut off green beans.  Anything from the garden can go to the rabbits. 

 

        When you mow your yard you can rake up the cuttings for the rabbits, or if you use a catcher bag, you can toss some or all of it (depending how many rabbits and how big their cages are) into the rabbits.  Make sure the grass hasn't been sprayed with herbicides or insecticides. 

 

        The rabbits will eat what they want and the rest will mix with their manure and make excellent garden additive.  Rabbit manure is one of the best manures you can compost to improve your soil.

 

        If you have room, even a small strip at the back of your garden, you can grow alfalfa.  When it's tall, about 2' or so, you cut it.  You can feed some of it to them fresh, or dry it.  Tie it in bundles after it dries and store it where it won't get wet.  Feed it to the rabbits a bit at a time, along with vegetables and yard/garden waste.

 

        Rabbits love willow branches and they'll eat tender pine branches.  In the winter when the rabbits are bored they'll get all excited when you toss in a branch or two.  Twigs, actually.  

 

        If you don't have willows around your yard, look in marshy areas or along creeks or rivers.  Some of the shrubs might be of the willow family and won't look exactly like the ones people grow in their yards.  Pines are everywhere, so you should be able to find some. 

 

        I've heard they'll eat Aspen, poplar, and cottonwood branches but I've never tried it.  They love the branches of fruit trees, so if you're pruning yours, give them to the rabbits.  I think I'd try just about any type of slender branch if I couldn't find the ones I've already listed.  It's not a real need in their diet but it helps keep them from getting bored and trying to chew their way out of their cages, and it cleans their teeth.

 

        If you're already growing grains for chickens or other animals you can mix those in with the rabbits' vegetables.  Some rabbits are picky about grains, others like them.  Grinding the grains helps.  Dry beans are something else you can grind and feed to the rabbits, but none of these things should be their sole food.  The more variety you can give them, the better.

 

        This might not be in accordance with whatever scientific formula is used to make commercial rabbit food but it'll keep your rabbits alive and healthy.  It might take the rabbits a bit longer to reach butcher size but it's food you can produce without needing outside means.  If you have income you might prefer to buy commercial feed and not have to grow or forage to feed your rabbits.

 

        How many rabbits?  It depends on how many people you plan to feed, how often you will need rabbit meat for meals, and how you plan to cook the meat.  If fried rabbit is the main entree of your meal it won't go as far as it would if you were making rabbit and dumplings or stir fry. 

 

        Since this isn't a “how-to” book I won't go into the details of raising rabbits.  But you'll need separate cages for each rabbit since they'll fight if you keep them together.

 

        There are other animals you can raise for meat, such as goats, sheep, cows, ducks and other birds.  The bottom line is whether you can feed them, provide them shelter, and do you have someone willing to kill the animals at butchering time. 

 

        Don't forget dairy animals.  I've had goats before and been around dairy cows.  They're a serious commitment since you have to be around twice a day for milking time, or arrange for someone to do the milking.  There are a lot of things you can make with milk from either dairy animal, but you'll have to consider the usual concerns:  Food and housing, plus milking.

 

        If you have the land for it, a dairy cow isn't a bad investment.  If you have less land, you might want to look into the idea of getting goats.  Try some fresh goat milk before you get a goat.  Don't buy the stuff at the grocery store, unless they have it fresh in cartons.  The canned stuff isn't the same at all.

 

        The best thing would be to find someone who is selling goats and tell them you're interested and ask for a small sample of the milk.  Please only do this if you're seriously considering getting a goat.

 

        I have to keep refraining from turning this into a “how to”.  Right now I'm twitching and trying not to add in things like “If you get a goat you can tether it out to browse on brushy areas you want cleaned up”, or a caution that animals like goats sometimes need special care like hoof trimming, so keep vet bills in mind.  You can learn to do some of these things yourself.

 

        When we had goats we used to bring the warm milk in the house, pour it through a coffee filter to remove any 'stuff', then add chocolate powder to it and drink it!

 

        In the poor countries of the world you are more likely to see goats and chickens than other animals.  They're easier to feed than critters such as cows, and they take less room.