Always one to invent and create...
Raising rabbits is a great hobby that takes me back to my childhood. For meat-eaters, they say that 1 buck (male rabbit) and 2 does (female rabbits) can produce the same amount of meat as an entire cow in just one year. Honestly they do reproduce like rabbits!
We enjoy raising them and certainly love to breed them and see all of the variety in their offspring. By arranging different "marriages" we have got all sorts of variations in the next generation of bunnies. Since we plan on continuing our breeding efforts long-term, we have to be conscious of the potential cost associated with raising so many rabbits. Additionally, if any die, then that was essentially a waste in time, energy, and effort.
ENTER THE TRACTOR
A "rabbit tractor" is basically a mobile pen that allows the rabbits free access to the green growing grass. Anytime that an animal is allowed to be closer to its original habitat, I believe that it is better for the animal, even domesticated ones. I've experimented with a variety of rabbit tractors over the past few years, but here is my most recent prototype as I am thinking about "beefing up" the structure.
MULTI-PURPOSE AND BUILT TO LAST
By using some $50 Kennel Panel as a base, I wanted to build a solid structure that was still light enough to move by hand. I built it taller than needed to eliminate some of the heat that the sun will provide. If you trap a rabbit directly under a hot sheet of metal I don't think it'll work out very long.
If you look in the photo above, you'll see all sorts of rabbits. That was just us running some tests on sizes. Five of those bucks were too small to place in the tractor. Once the rabbits are big enough though, tractors like this will be a great place for them to live.
Since various predators like hawks, owls, possums, raccoons, coyotes, and wild dogs are always present up here in the Ozark Mountains, having a solid cage is important. We once had some dogs try to attack one of our rabbit pens. By combining the kennel panel with pallet boards and sheets of scrap metal, these tractors should be able to prevent any predators from successfully getting a meal.
By bending the Kennel Panel into a square shape, the rabbits are protected on all sides, once the ends are secured. Since rabbits can dig, I don't want them crawling out of the bottom, or another animal crawling in. Though they cannot get out, their manure still can, and the grass can still get in.
The one in the video is just another prototype. I enjoy creating things and exploring possibilities, and even when I do not reach a final design that I believe is perfect, I still have a functional cage on my hands that works. I'm exploring some other uses for these and having some fun getting creative with the @little-peppers.
We used the one featured in the video to house some of our bucks while we were in Wisconsin, and so far so good. They are all still alive and all still inside!
SHOPPING CARTS ARE INDUSTRIAL STRENGTH TOO!
Also, if you enjoyed this post, perhaps you would like to see how I am using broken shopping carts too. Click the post link here to check it out.
As always, I'm @papa-pepper and here's the proof:
proof-of-industrial-strength-rabbit-tractor
Until next time…
Don’t waste your time online, invest it with steemit.com
I might have to borrow your mobile tractor plan when we start raising rabbits ourselves. Our build is moving along, so far everything is on track for us to be in our new home by November 1st. This time next year we should have rabbits and chickens on our land. Though technically we do already have rabbits on our land though they are wild.
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I saw a wild one on our land tonight!
I hope that your progress continues at an excellent rate!
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Good work thanks for sharing with us !!!
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The rabbit is so cute.
But children are more cute.
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Don't want to say this, because it is unnecessary, but I fear if your kids cry when you sell the rabbits for meat? I say this, because I remember a goat in my childhood, that I used to take out for grazing in open, and I felt attached to it.
One day it was cut for meat, and I can't forget the cry that I had. It felt very bad. But I understand it now that it is all part of life, but as a kid it was a bad experience.
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It is okay to say such things. I know how it is. I think that we must remember that every animal dies anyway. If it can live a good life and then for a purpose, I think that it is better than just having it get sick, be in pain, and eventually rot away.
My children understand enough about life to understand a bit about death, and they would rather enjoy raising these animals than not, but I do understand your concern, and for that I am grateful.
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Well said @papa-pepper We have to get the next generations to understand food doesn't come from a styrofoam box, it starts long before that! Same goes for all food stuff, If we don't remember where it comes from, we are doing a great disservice to all the past generation who had to work for their food!
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Good points there!
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Good to know that. :)
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I asked him the same question some days before and he said his children are aware of all this and are comfortable with it!
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This is a great write up. We're planning on adding rabbits to our homestead. Probably gonna raise a 2-3 breeders indoor this winter and put them on pasture in the spring. This tractor would be ideal and we already have most of the materials in the barn. Just wondering though, is it heavy to move?
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I also have some baby rabbits and i know how it feels to take care of these little cute guys,i really like your rabbits truck idea and i am also going to order a truck for my rabbits also to make them happy and safe @papa-pepper
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wow Amazing post upvoted!!
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Great sharing! Thanks & upv
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Rabbits are tasty too besides serving as a lawnmower.
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That they are.
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Lawnmower and fertilizer in one!
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OH yeah! I like the way that you think!
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Anytime my friend.
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Cute bunnies, my late father would eat them, he would let them soak in vinegar for a day and roast them. Por bunny ;) Looks like your making good progress with the home papa
Keep up the great work ;0)*
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Thank you! I appreciate the encouragement!
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thanks @papa-pepper
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May I ask why you are summarizing my post?
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If you want than
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a rabbits house like a tractor, and can move around, interesting postings
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Nice
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Another really awesome post! Love the shopping cart idea (:
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Yeah, we actually have about 50 shopping carts, so finding practical uses for them helps!
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That's a random score! Good way to put them to work!
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Good plan!! tractors are great if you have some flat land. I used to pick up rabbit poop from a lady who was rescuing and fostering rabbits - pets - not to eat. She had over 30 rabbits in her house and garage and bought all their food - while her yard was overgrown with huge weeds. They would have been so yummy for the little bunnies!!
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I discovered raising rabbits for the pet trade was much more emunerative than raising them for meat - and pet style rabbits were every bit as tasty as the larger meat breeds (when Pet Mart was already supplied with all the babies it needed)!
A full grown meat rabbit cost more to raise than 4 week old babies, and brought less than 20% of the price.
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That is a good point!! I am not sure what the law is in California. I know that dogs and cats can't be sold at pet stores anymore. But I think private sales are still okay. Don't know. Anyways, your point is well taken.
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nice share @papa-pepper
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I love rabbits. this is a post animals very intesting.
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look at this cute childs.your post is very nice, full pack of knowledge and very attractive,, i like rabbits
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I love farming. Being a farmer is fun and rewarding. Keep it up @tybello
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Just love your posts papa-pepper and the rabbits are fabulous. My grandchildren have a house rabbit and he's adorable. As both parents work it's hard to keep a pet but Elvis fits the bill. He gets to go out in the garden (carefully watched) but his breed doesn't allow him to eat much grass. I once visited an Angora rabbit farm in South Africa and they had to drag me away from the cuddles.
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interesting to your post I love animals in general are really beautiful rabbits, nice work for them.
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This post has been ranked within the top 50 most undervalued posts in the first half of Sep 03. We estimate that this post is undervalued by $19.33 as compared to a scenario in which every voter had an equal say.
See the full rankings and details in The Daily Tribune: Sep 03 - Part I. You can also read about some of our methodology, data analysis and technical details in our initial post.
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I like the idea of the rabbit trap from recycled shopping carts. Are you going to use the bottom of the cart to make a wagon for your children to help with chores? As long as you tell your children that the animals are being raised for food they should have less of a problem with them being killed for food.
My preschool class planted the purple carrots and had a blast doing it.
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Good work I like it better to use scrap then send loads of something fancy hey. Upcycle :)
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Cattle panels are so useful. Good idea using it for rabbits. I am thinking of using them in my garden next year along with straw bales.
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I like the idea of the rabbit tractor. I don't think we can use them here since almost all of my available land is taken up with vegetables and fruits. We built a very big rabbit run that is 8 feet wide and 20 feet long and is 8 feet high. Yes, we are intending to raise a lot of rabbits.lol We'll need to keep bedding material and such and the kids will have more work cleaning it. Our kids (now adults) have always known where their food comes from and now the grandchildren are learning the same. Meat on the homestead doesn't come in plastic pre-frozen packs.
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Something you might consider is rotating the rabbit pens and row crops, allowing the pens to fertilize the garden area for a season. Rabbit poop is awesome fertilizer, and it's a far more pleasant task to move the pens from time to time than it is to shovel manure regularly.
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I definitely like rabbit poop over say pig. Chicken poop can also be quiet (fowl) foul smelling:)
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Mu witty of you and the best part is that it is 100% homemade and original of @papa-pepper congratulations and success with your breeding of rabbits, beautiful and delicious animal :)
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LOL, these rabbits are certainly huge in size. I was expecing the ones that can stand on your hand!! Between you said if a rabbit dies it's a loss of time, energy etc. But can't u just eat it.
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If you kill it to eat it, then yes. If it dies from who knows what and you eat it, then you may end up dying from who knows what too, if that makes sense.
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Oh, that way! I got it now.
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The shopping cart is a beautiful, and timely, solution! It would be easy to mount a foot operated cam axle setup to ease moving the tractor for the little peppers.
My early rabbit tractor experiments were foiled by wolves, raccoons, wildcats (including cougar) and black bears. It is difficult to make a bear proof tractor that is still human movable.
Currently, many grocery outlets are replacing with plastic the traditional steel grocery carts you are using for tractors, and availability may well be optimum now, or very soon, at nominal cost.
Given the more robust predators in OR, I'd recommend lids that were also more robust, but suspect the shopping cart is nominal to discourage predators.
I also noted that surviving rabbits were pretty traumatized by savage predators when they had no nesting box style hidey hole in which to avoid seeing the horror at their cage. Just out of humane concern for their mental health (also, the trauma seemed to impact their growth), I'd have some kind of opaque box in which they can pretend they can't be seen.
Also, some means of securing the tractor firmly in place to prevent it being batted around like a ball by a hungry bear. I used stakes, the steel corkscrew type for anchoring dog chains. They can be used with a breaker bar to create great leverage, so that even little peppers can strongly plant them, and unplant them.
Thanks!
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upsteem done
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