Thimbleberry

We have a rather sticky-ly thorny bush here that grows in patches on my homestead place. I've known it as thimbleberry since moving here. Just recently I had a mainland visitor who informed me that the leaf was quite different from the thimbleberry he was familiar with, so I had to go look it up. And he was right! Turns out that his homeland thimbleberry is a kissin' cousin to mine. His has the scientific name Rufus parviflorus while mine is Rufus rosifolius. The leaf shape is the most apparent difference I first noticed. The Hawaiian thimbleberry leaf looks more like a rose bush. 

Right now the thimbleberries are flowering and creating little red berries the size of raspberries. When ripe, they are red. It's easy to know when they are ripe because they readily come right off the bush and look like little red thimbles. While edible, I find there taste to be insipid. (Hey, how often do you get to use that word!) In plainer words, they're flavorless. But if I wanted, I could surely eat them. The fruit production is sparse, so it would take a massive area of thimbleberry to produce enough fruit to make a cup of jam. But a small handful is do-able and would make a nice decorative statement in salad or atop a cake. 

My rabbits like to eat thimbleberry. They'll eat the entire bush except for the thickest stems, and those they will debark. So I allow thimbleberry to grow so as the be part of my rabbits' diet. 

I find thimbleberry to be an annoyance.......except for the rabbit forage part. It's very thorny. It creates a tangle. It spreads readily via underground shoots. It is difficult to remove by hand and grows back if you leave roots behind. 

For rabbit forage I allow it to grow about 2-3 foot high then snip it off at ground level, using a hand pruning shears  and then cut it into 12-18 inch long lengths. 

Recycle Bean Plants

So many people automatically assume that all my crop residue goes to making compost. Not so! Since I have a multitude of other sources for "waste" plant material, I channel edible plants to the livestock. As I see it, it is far more valuable as a substitute for store bought feed. Feed cost money....plenty of it here in Hawaii considering it all gets shipped in from the mainland. Trash vegetation for composting only cost me my time to gather it.

Today I checked the garden and saw that I had four spent beds of bean plants. All the beans had been picked, the variety (Maxibel) is not a rebloomer, so bean production is pau. Time to remove the plants and re-sow. 

Most gardeners I know do one of three things with old bean plants.....1) throw them into the compost bin, 2) stuff them into a trash bag, 3) throw them into the woods out of sight. #1 I might do, but 2 & 3-- never. Actually I opt for #4.....feed them to the livestock. In this case, it's the rabbits. My rabbits will eat the entire plant that is cut off at ground level. 

Ground level, did I say? Yup. I leave the root system of beans and peas in the ground. These plants form nitrogen fixing nodules on their roots. While the science behind nitrogen fixation is incomplete, the general option is that once the plant and roots die, the root nodules decompose thus making that nitrogen available for the next crop. 

For Bunny Lovers- Rabbit Feed Alphabetical (updated 4/10/15)

I keep getting requests for a list of fresh foods that are safe to feed to rabbits. I'm not here to tell you what to feed your rabbit. I can only say what I feed to mine. My rabbits get an assortment of all sorts of foods. It's whatever I have handy that is ready to go. Yes, you've noticed that I give them stuff that other websites say not to. Well, so far I haven't had a problem. No sick rabbits. But perhaps it's because they always get hay or grasses daily, either alfalfa hay cubes or young grass from the farm. And perhaps it's because they always get a variety of things to pick from, though most are little piggies and eat it all. Oh one more thing. They don't get rabbit pellets. No need. 

So here's a master list, to date, and alphabetized to boot. 

Alfalfa- fresh and dried

Apples (I only have access to fruits at the moment)

Arugula

Asparagus

Aztec spinach

Bamboo- young leaves 

Bananas- fruits including the peel, leaves, cut up trunk

Basil 

Bean- leaves; young pods are sometimes eaten

Beets- leaves and bulb

Blue snakeweed

Bok choy 

Broccoli, including the leaves, and stalks if split

Cabbage

Carrots- roots and tops

Cauliflower, including the leaves

Celeriac- leaves, stalks, and bulb

Celery, leaves and stalks

Chard

Chinese cabbage

Chinese greens, all of them that I've tried I far

Cilantro

Collards

Cooked c.o.b. (corn, oats, barley) 

Corn- leaves, tender parts of stalk, ears including the cob, tassels

Cucumbers- fruits and leaves

Daikon- roots and leaves

Desmodium

Dill

False staghorn fern- young leaves and stems, young frond heads 

Guava fruit

Ginger- flowers

Grasses- most, especially when young

Honeysuckle

Honohono grass

Jerusalem artichoke- entire plant except woody stalks

Kale 

Kohlrabi- leaves and bulb

Lemon- the rind. A few will eat some pulp.

Lettuce

Lilokoi- they prefer the fruits cooked, rind and all. 

Loquat- leaves and the bark off of young branches

Mamaki- leaves and young twigs

Mango- fruits

Melons- fruit, rinds, and seeds

Mustard greens

Nasturtiums 

Noni- only the fully ripe soft fruit

Oats- grain and fresh greens

Oranges- fruit. They reject the rind.

Oregano

Papaya- fruits, leaves, and tender stems

Parsley 

Peas- vines and pods

Pennywort

Peppers, sweet- fruits with seeds

Pineapple - fruits with rind, leaves

Pipinola- fruits and leaves

Plantain (the weed) 

Portuguese cabbage

Pumpkin- seeds and pulp, flowers, growing tips of vines

Purslane

Radishes, roots and leaves 

Rose- flowers, hips, leaves, young twigs

Rutabaga- leaves and roots 

Salad burnet

Spinach

Squash, summer- fruits, flowers, growing tips of vines

Squash, winter- seeds and pulp, flowers, growing tips of vines

Starfruit

Strawberries- fruits and leaves 

Sugar cane, leaves and stalks

Sunflower- leaves, young stalks, flowers, seed heads

Sweet potato- tubers, leaves, and vines

Sword fern 

Tangelos- fruit. They reject the rind.

Tangerines- fruit. They reject the rind. 

Taro, cooked corm. Some will eat it, some won't. 

Thimbleberry- fruits, leaves and tender twigs

Tomatoes- fruits ripe or unripe

Turnips- leaves and roots

Watermelon- fruit including the rind & seeds, tender stem tips and leaves 

Wheat- grain and fresh greens

Yacon - entire plant except the woody stalks

Zucchini squash

Rejected --

Ginger leaves 

Guava leaves

Mango leaves (I know that other people feed their rabbits mango leaves, but mine don't eat them)

Noni leaves

Pumpkin flesh, fresh

Hawaian Ti leaves

I haven't offered them items that I think might be toxic or just don't seem to be bunny food. 

Things I will be trying soon: 

Eggplant

Potatoes

Sage

Loquat fruit

Mulberry fruits and leaves

Rosemary 

I don't have a number of bunny friendly food growing here that I had back on the mainland. And I haven't yet tried introducing them to my farm. Things like dandelion, clovers, bramble berries, stone fruits, pears, grapes, nettles. There are a number of other plants that I've read that they like, but I don't happen to be growing them yet, such as buckwheat. 

Rabbit Water Bowls

Kristin liked the picture of my rabbits eating flowers and mailed back about the bowls she saw in the rabbit pens. She asked what the bowls were for. Well Kristin, they are a low tech, super cheap way of supplying water to the rabbits. Most of the bowls cost me zero. A few I paid a quarter for-- yeah, I can be cheap. 

Rabbit watering systems can vary from the simple water crock, to water bottles hung from the cage walls or ceiling, to water nipples running off a central water line. From simple and cheap to the expensive and complicated. I say, do whatever works best in your own situation. 

In the past, a couple of decades ago, I used those typical rabbit water bottles that you see in pet stores. While most of the time they worked fine, I did have times where they leaked and dripped, thus emptying out rapidly. Other times I had bottles that failed to continue working, thus the rabbit couldn't get the water. And in top of it, they cost money. I'm preferring to shoot for self reliancy, so going out to buy water bottles....or any water system....isn't being self reliant. 

After some thought from different angles, I opted for the low tech approach. I offer fresh feed to the rabbits twice a day, so it's simple to also top up water bowls at the same time. Plus if they happen to spill their bowls, no harm done. The water simply drops onto the dirt below. 

Suitable bowls were surprisingly easy to come by, so I didn't even have to make consider making them myself. Crocks would have been better because of their flat bottoms, but I've found that other bowls also work. I had a couple of unused bowls right in my own kitchen. I asked around and had several bowls given to me. And I found 2 bowls at the thrift shop for fifty cents. See? No need to spend $5-$10 per rabbit for a water bottle. Times that by 17 rabbits and you can see that using bowls is quite a savings. Plus I'm using bowls that would eventually just end up discarded in the dump. So now those ignored bowls have a purpose. 

I really haven't had a problem with the rabbits constantly dumping their water. Perhaps they're not bored? Their hutches are set up so that they have a "privacy cave", lounging shelf, and a communal section where they can see and sniff the other rabbits. They are outdoors, as averse to being inside an enclosed building, so they can watch what is going on around them. They get offered a wide selection of fresh foods twice a day. They get petted and talked to twice daily. So I'm not seeing the destructive behavior that I've seen mentioned on the Internet. No hutch chewing, fur chewing, "furniture" rearranging, aggression. 

Now I'm sure the OCD people out there will be appalled by the motley assortment of bowls. But heck, OCD people wouldn't be raising rabbits on a self sufficient homestead. So no worries, mate. Got it under control!  ;) 

Rabbits & Flowers

Kristin asked via email, "Do your rabbits really eat flowers? What kinds?"

Yes, they do indeed get some flowers. I figure it adds variety to their lives. Since my rabbits eat predominately fresh foods, I figured that edible flowers could be included. Initially, as with all of the other foods I've offered them, I introduced flowers gradually. I watched for any possible problems. To date I've seen none. 

This time of year I have access to plenty of ginger flowers. The rabbits seem to like them quite a bit. White, yellow, and Kahili gingers. I have all 3 on the farm, but I also gather them in places as I drive to and from town. They're fairly common and abundant around here. 

Roses are another one available right now. My bushes are heavily in flower this month. Rather than spoil the beauty of the roses around my house, I wait for the flowers to be old, just before they start dropping their petals. Then I pick them for the rabbits, 

The rabbits don't like all flowers, for example the Mexican elderberry that is rampant here. Won't touch them. Nor many other flowers. But they do like the flowers of nasturtiums, basils and other herbs, squashes and most other veggies. 

Feeding them flowers may not make economic sense or what others would consider a good use of my time, but it does give the rabbits some additional quality of life. So I'll continue doing it. 

Rabbit Breeding

Finally we've gotten our first rabbits bred. Wow, another plateau reached. First was getting the rabbitry created. The next was successfully setting up a feeding program and rearing the critters to breeding age. Now they are successfully mating. Next plateau will be successful kindling in a month. 

Freckles lost his virginity with Snowflake. I had put them together a couple of times before, but he hadn't the least bit of interest. This time around he didn't have any interest either, but Snowflake had some ideas. She pestered him, then gave him a demonstration that made me reconsider Snowflake's sex. Could I have just put two males together? But suddenly a lightbulb went off in Freckles' head and he got the job done. Now that he's discovered adult entertainment, he's eager to explore it more. So tomorrow I'll test Freckles' ability to remember something from 24 hours ago and put Midnight in with him. If he's successful with Midnight, then I'll know Freckles isn't a complete dummy. 

Bun-Bun on the other hand hasn't successfully bred anybody yet. Still a clueless virgin being introduced to other clueless virgins. Uumm, maybe if he watched Freckles in action he'd take the hint. Rabbit porn? 

Rabbit Feeding Update

I hope this list helps other local rabbit keepers. So far on the list of edibles are--

...cucumbers & the leaves 

...bananas, plus leaves, and cut up trunk

...strawberries & the leaves

...papaya

...apples

...tomatoes, ripe or green

...carrot tops & roots

...anything in cabbage family (cabbage, kale, broccoli, cauliflower, etc)

...any of the bok choy types

...celery, stalks & leaves

...oranges & tangerines (I remove the rind) 

...sugar cane, cut up and split, and the young leaves

...radish & daikon, leaves & roots

...turnips, leaves & roots 

...mango fruit

...lettuces

...seeds and pulp from pumpkins and winter squash

...flesh of pumpkins and winter squash, will eat a little but they are not crazy about it

...zucchini squash

...fresh corn on the cob, they will eat the cob too

...beets & the leaves

...chard

...sweet potatoes & the leaves

...pipinola leaves and fruits

...thimbleberry leaves and fruits

...young leaves of pumpkin and squashes, but not crazy about them 

...false staghorn fern, young leaves- not crazy about it but they will eat a bit

...ginger flowers, plus a little of the leaves occasionally 

...dill

...parsley

...various basils

...mint

...cilantro

...green bean leaves

.. honohono grass 

...greenleaf desmodium 

...mamaki leaves

...plantain (the weed)

...ti leaves

...guava fruit

...oregano

...yacon leaves

...rose bush trimmings

...lemon rinds

...loquat leaves and they eat the bark off the twigs

...blue snakeweed

...pennywort

...assorted grasses including molasses and kikuyu, but not a lot 

Recently I've introduced some new items for their review. Accepted are: 

...young bamboo leaves

...starfruit

...cooked taro corm. Some like it, others don't.

...lilokoi, they prefer it cooked and eat the entire fruit. 

...green beans. Most just take nibbles off and on. Others reject them. I will try cooking them next to see if that makes a difference. 

...noni fruit only if ripe a soft. They won't eat the leaves. 

I'm still trying new foods as they become available. 

Just because I have these items on their "will eat" doesn't mean that they wolf them down equally. Some items are definitely preferred, like sweet potato leaves, mango, cooked lilokoi, kale, flowers. Others are just nibbled on -- green beans, bamboo leaves, pumpkin. And plenty of items are in between. I've learned that rabbits like a mix and eat a bit of this, then a bit of that, and so on. There are only a few items that they will gorge on, like mangos and cucumbers. 

Rabbit Update

The rabbits are now 6 months old and ready to start being bred. So I examined each one individually, checking their physical condition and reconfirming their sex. No sense putting two females together and wondering why you're not seeing anything happen! Well, I found out that at least I got all the sexes right. That's a start in the right direction! Don't laugh. If you've never sexed a rabbit, you don't know how easy it is to guess wrong when they are young. None are wearing pink or blue booties to give you a hint. 

Everybody looked good as far as being normal. No dental problems, no lumps and bumps, no other abnormalities. Everyone looked healthy. The only issue I discovered was that some of the females were too lean. Even though they have assorted fresh foods and alfalfa hay cubes in front of them 24 hours a day, some of the females weren't getting enough energy foods. 

Since it will take time to be able to grow higher energy foods for them, I'm temporarily going to resort to feeding them small quantities of commercial grains. Feeding grain to rabbits can be tricky, so I'll start out by giving them one spoonful of cooked corn/oats mix each morning. I plan to weigh those individual rabbits each week to gauge their progress then adjust the grain amount accordingly. 

Rabbits being fed pellets or hay normally meet their energy requirements without needing grains. But when fed predominantly fresh foods, the water content is high, thus limiting the amount of feed (thus energy) they can consume in a day. My rabbits with the bigger appetites appear to be doing well on the fresh diet, but those that are lighter eaters are thinner. From a breeder/farmer point of view, these light eaters will be candidates for being replaced in the future with aggressive eaters. I won't do it now, but eventually they will go into the freezer. 

One other thing I will try to determine --  are those thinner rabbits the bigger or faster growing ones? Quicker growth and larger size is a plus, so I may have to take that into consideration if they are the thinner rabbits. I don't want to cull out rabbits that have desirable growth traits just because they need a bit more energy while growing. Perhaps I should be weighing my rabbits weekly and do some basic body measurements so that I can get a better handle on which ones to keep as long term breeders and which ones would be better suited to the dinner table. 

Feeding the Rabbits - Addendum

I'm still investigating what the rabbits will eat. 

Lemons.  I threw some lemons into their pens just out of curiosity, though I didn't expect them to eat any. To my surprise every rabbit ate the rind off each lemon. But only a couple ate any of the pulp. So lemons are a winner, but just the rinds. The lemon trees I have here on the homestead have thick rinds and only a small amount of dry pulp. Not very good for juice, that's for sure. But their thick rinds are now an asset that I never had considered before. Finally a good use for these lemons! 

Loquat leaves. The loquats aren't fruiting yet, but they are sending out new leaves. I've been putting two leaves into each pen and by the end of the day they're gone. 

Blue snakeweed. I've got a lot of this stuff growing here that I'd like to get rid off. I've been pulling it out for years now. It seems that the rabbits like to eat a fistful of it every day. Great. Within a few months perhaps they will have eaten it all. 

Pennywort. I don't have much of this growing here, but I gave it a try anyway. Rabbits munched it right down, stems included. Up till now I've been regularly hauling the excess growth out of the pond and throwing it into the compost. Now I'll feed it to the rabbits instead, turning it into much preferred rabbit manure. Seems that now I have a reason to start growing it in the other ponds too. 

Kikuyu and molasses grass. I have to change my opinion about these grasses. When fed by themselves, the rabbits weren't thrilled by them. But when fed in a mix with lots of variety, they chowed these grasses down. I'm delighted to see that they find them acceptable because I have tons of the stuff growing around here. 

Rabbit Wives Tales & Myths

..."the rabbit died" 

Before pregnancy tests could be purchased at the drugstore, determining if a woman was pregnant involved injecting a female rabbit with the woman's urine, then several days later killing the rabbit to look for changes in its ovaries. The rabbit ALWAYS died, but somewhere along the line the idea of the rabbit dying became synonymous with pregnancy, not just the test. Thus if a woman was pregnant, one would say, "The rabbit died." 

...lucky rabbit foot

Carrying a rabbit foot in one's pocket was thought to ward off evil spirits and thus bring luck. Not so lucky for the hapless rabbit. 

...rabbit, rabbit, rabbit

Said three times upon wakening on the first of each month, it was suppose to give you luck. I think I got this from my grandfather who was born in Edinburgh, Scotland and lived part of his childhood in England. While my great aunts said "rabbit", grandpop said it should be "white rabbit" because it was the rare white rabbit that was lucky. 

...only eat rabbit in the months with an R in it. 

This most likely applied to wild caught rabbit and probably had something to do with parasites being most prevalent during the summertime. Our ancestors had to deal with parasites and diseases without the benefit of modern medicine, so anything they could learn about keeping healthy could be important. But alas they lived with many misconceptions too. Today's domestic rabbits are fine to eat anytime of the year. 

...white rabbits are deaf

Not true. I've overheard people say that the pink eyed white rabbits are blind. Also not true. 

...cabbits are a cross between a cat and a rabbit

There is no such thing as a cabbit.  Cats and rabbits cannot breed together and produce any offspring. If you see a hopping tailless cat, it has a deformity, most likely spinal bifida. 

...rabbits live off eating carrots

"What's up, Doc." Sadly, many baby pet bunnies have died because of this myth. Rabbits are primarily grass and herb eaters. Roots, veggies, and fruits make up a small potion of their diet. 

...domestic rabbits can breed and produce babies with cottontails and jackrabbits (a hare). 

False. While they might mate, they cannot produce offspring. I've had people swear that they breed domestic rabbits and cottontails together, but it's simply impossible to get baby rabbits from such matings. 

...A female rabbit has two uteruses so she can be pregnant with two litters at the same time. She will give birth to one litter but hold off on the second until the first is weaned. Thus she can produce multiple litters from one mating. 

Partially true. The female has two uterine horns, each with its own cervix that joins the vaginal body. The organ looks like the letter Y. A pregnant rabbit usually has fetuses present in each horn. ALL the fetuses are born at the same time. None are held in reserve. Therefore the doe doesn't produce multiple litters from one mating. But add to that the fact that she can get pregnant again if mated right after giving birth, it just seems like she has a second litter ready to go inside her already. 

...pick up a rabbit by its ears

Ouch! No way! While gently holding their ears might help calm some rabbits while being held, absolutely no way should they be picked up or restrained by their ears. 

There's probably plenty of other myths and misconceptions about rabbits out there, but these are the ones I've heard most often. 

Feeding the Rabbits, Homestead Style

I've been working out a diet list for the rabbits, trying to figure out what and how much of the local feed stuffs they will eat. So not to have raging hunger interfere with the results (heck, I think I'd eat cardboard if I was really hungry), I've been making sure that they have constant access to hay cubes. 

Items offered so far that they will eat.....

...cucumbers & the leaves 

...bananas, leaves, and cut up trunk

...strawberries & the leaves

...papaya

...apples

...tomatoes, ripe or green

...carrot tops & roots

...anything in cabbage family (cabbage, kale, broccoli, cauliflower, etc)

...any of the bok choy types

...celery, stalks & leaves

...oranges & tangerines (I remove the rind) 

...sugar cane, cut up and split

...radish & daikon, leaves & roots

...turnips, leaves & roots 

...mango fruit

...lettuces

...seeds and pulp from pumpkins and winter squash

...flesh of pumpkins and winter squash, but they are not crazy about it

...zucchini squash

...fresh corn on the cob, they will eat the cob too

...beets & the leaves

...chard

...sweet potatoes & the leaves

...pipinola leaves and fruits

...thimbleberry leaves

...young leaves of pumpkin and squashes

...false staghorn fern, young leaves- not crazy about it but they will eat a bit

...ginger leaves, they will eat some but not a lot. They like the white ginger flowers. 

...dill

...parsley

...various basils

...mint

...cilantro

...green bean leaves

.. honohono grass 

...greenleaf desmodium 

...mamaki leaves

...plantain (the weed)

...ti leaves

...guava fruit

...oregano

...yacon leaves

...rose bush trimmings

I'm still in the process of trying foods. So the list will grow.

Next on the list to offer: 

...cooked taro corm

...star fruit

...papaya leaves

...string beans

...peas

...pea vines

Things they've rejected or barely nibble include:

...molasses grass

...kikuyu grass

...guava leaves

...mango leaves

...guinea grass

Bummer. I've got a LOT of that stuff growing around here. 

Some of the things on the "will eat" list they really like, such as cucumbers, apples, parsley, cabbage.   Other things they just eat a little at a time, such as ginger, ti leaves, banana trucks. And I've noticed individual preferences. While some of the rabbits will eat every bit of honohono offered, others will only eat a couple tips. Since I've just started this, I don't know if there are any seasonal differences. I'm aware that some plants are more preferred at different times of the year. So that will be something I will discover in time. 

Rabbit Hutches

I've been fairly quiet this week because I've been rather busy. The kukui and macnuts are dropping, so I've been busy processing those. Plus there's lilokoi to juice. I've been grooming some spots around the homestead to plant pipinola, winter squash, and pumpkins. But the biggest project has been expanding the rabbit hutches. 

I've got 16 young rabbits. So far I've got 13 individual hutches. So looks like I need at least 3 more, but I'd like to have a few extra empty ones. Yes, that's a lot of rabbits, but they aren't here to be pets. Their number one reason for being part of the homestead is for meat. Second is manure. Third is for selling some to other people. 

Each rabbit needs it's own space when confined. Rabbits can be raised in colonies, but they are near to impossible to individually monitor that way. Plus a lot of space needs to be provided in a colony situation in order to prevent hostility. They have been known to kill one another in fights and murder entire litters. Besides, here in Hawaii rabbits are not allowed to be housed on the ground, so that pretty much rules out colonies without an expensive concrete pad. 

I'm providing each rabbit with 14 square foot of hutch space....a 2'x5' floor and 2'x2' lounging shelf. 

The shelf gives them a little "den" for privacy. 

Right now the rabbits have to stay in their hutches, but I plan to build some grazing pens. The floors of those pens will be wire mesh that the grass can grow up through, but it will keep the rabbits up off the ground and prevent them from digging out. Plus importantly, it will prevent mongooses from digging in. I'm not sure yet what the dimensions will be, but I'd like to give the rabbits a chance to hop around and do whatever rabbit behavior they feel like doing--- except for digging out. Sorry Bugs, no digging here in Hawaii. So I'm thinking along the lines of 3'x20'. I'll build one then see what the rabbits think about it before making any others. If the adults aren't impressed, then it will still make a fine weaning pen. 

By the way, well over 50% of the lumber for the hutches is reused material that I've been saving, just waiting for a project to be used on. I used cut up pallets to support the lounging shelves. All the metal roofing is old used pieces but I am using a couple panels of new green fiberglass roofing because I didn't have enough old roofing to do the whole job. All the wire mesh is new. Some of the hinges and latches are used stuff but I had to buy some new because I needed so many. The bunnys' water bowls are all what-not items bought cheaply at yard sales. 

For right now, the manure falls to the ground under the hutches. I put some logs around the bottom to keep the chickens from scratching the manure all over the place. I don't mind them picking out bugs and worms, but I want to collect that manure for the garden. 

Bunnies!

I've finally officially added rabbits to the homestead plan. This week I picked up a dozen youngsters from a local meat breeder. While I don't plan to actually eat these guys, I did want them from meat bloodlines. The intent is to produce future meals.....and in addition, breeding stock for others to start out their own meat production. 

I was torn between having rabbits that were plain white or going with cute, pretty colored ones. Personally I find it easier to kill plain white ones. I know that may sound silly, but when the bunny is cute, I have a harder time of it. Anyway, I opted for colors. That way some of the babies may find their way into pet homes. 

I'm building traditional style rabbit hutches up off the ground for them. I have one four-holer ready for them and am building two more. Today they are still in the wire pen (photo above) but tomorrow they get introduced to the hutches, 3 babies pet hutch for now. They are still young enough that they can be housed together, but within 3-4 weeks they will need to be living separately since instinctively they will fight. 

Right now the rabbits are eating rabbit pellets. But they will be introduced to a wide selection of local foods. I'm already offering them some grasses. Gradually they will be given little bits of the leaves from bananas, beans, cowpeas, pigeon peas, sweet potatoes, plantains, nasturtiums, cucumbers, squashes, pumpkins, corn, millet, mango, carrots, cabbage, broccoli, collards, kale, beets, and chard. While the base of their diet will be hay cubes/grasses, the fresh greens will make for happy bunnies. They will also get treats of bits of fruits and veggies, and edible flowers, but it won't be the bulk of their diet. Rabbits are designed to be grass/leaf eaters so the other things are treats.