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Episode 147 Raising Rabbits with Rick Worden (Rise and Shine Rabbitry)

By Jason, on February 7th, 2012

Today we are joined by Rick Worden from Rise and Shine Rabbitry (http://riseandshinerabbitrydotcom.wordpress.com/) (Facebook).  We discuss all of the aspects of raising rabbits to achieve self-sufficiency on the homestead.

 

  • The unusual origin and uses of rabbits in history.
  • Why rabbits are the ideal homestead livestock.
  •  Some alternatives to the conventional meat choices of NZ Whites.
  • How does one start with rabbits?  First steps?
  • What does one need to know medically about rabbits?
  • Potentially predator and wild animal issues.
  • Why heat is such a big problem and what we can do to alleviate the concerns.  Some interesting ideas around the heat issue here.
  • Good and bad things to feed rabbits from the land.
  • How to get to the Joel Salatin pastured setup.  Why modern breeding has been so detrimental.
  • Thoughts on butchering and killing.
  • Favorite ways to cook rabbits.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

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  • BeninMA

    Great interview!  My favorite way to have rabbit is in a red wine and garlic-based Portuguese stew!  Soo… is Ron Paul going to win Maine on Saturday? 

  • Jason

    Love stew!  LOL

    Let’s hope Ron wins Maine (and the whole thing (longshot I know)).  If not – Rand Paul 2016!

    Jason

  • BeninMA

    Yep, he’s sowing the seeds for liberty! I just found a video relevant to this episode: http://youtu.be/yfw2ybbRTYs Joel Salatin says he has bred rabbits to live primarily from forage… he says he had 50% mortality for the first five years of line breeding! I hope Rick gets to see this since it sounds like he’s moving in that direction. http://youtu.be/yfw2ybbRTYs Joel Salatin says he has bred rabbits to live primarily from forage… he says he had 50% mortality for the first five years of line breeding! I hope Rick gets to see this since it sounds like he’s moving in that direction.

  • BeninMA

    Oops, sorry about the mangled reply.

  • http://pathtosustainableliving.com/ Kevin

    This was an awesome interview with some excellent information.  I will be referencing this often when we get around to raising rabbits.

  • Matthew from Gooseneck, Ga

    Great interview Jason! I have my rabbit cages. I just need to build a hutches for them now. I am excited to get started! And run electricity to it to keep them cool. I do like the solar fans he was talking about. My main concern is keeping them cool In these long, humid Georgia summers.

  • Agorculture

    As we say in New England, this podcast is “Wicked Good”!  I would like to raise rabbits, but I am traumatized from putting down my sister’s pet rabbit 10 years ago. The rabbit became paralyzed in her front legs, then her rear legs and the poor thing was unable to move. The legs started to swell and the vets were unable to determine the cause or treatment. My rabbit also did sneeze from time to time, but she was not sneezing when she became paralyzed. I only recently began to eat rabbit again -there is an excellent restaurant in Quebec City, Le Lapin Saute.
     
    Chickens are mean cannibals, so that makes butchering less difficult.
     
    BeninMA,
    Thank you for the delicious recipe! Are you in Massachusetts? (I ask because of the MA in your username and Portuguese recipe.) Joel Salatin will be speaking at Liberty Forum in Nashua, NH in a couple weeks. Joel is on the National Advisory Board of Farmers for Ron Paul, whom I also endorse. If I speak to him, do you have any questions for Joel?  

  • Agorculture

    I wonder if fans from old CPUs would work? Perhaps a flower pot fridge? Would the ambient humidity be a problem? http://www.shtfplan.com/emergency-preparedness/off-grid-shtf-survival-ancient-technology-for-refrigeration_09252011 

  • Riseandshinerabbitry

    i used fans out of old computers

  • http://www.thedailyprep.com/ Urbivalist Dan

    Great podcast guys! Big thanks to Jason and Rick both. I am still new to the whole idea of rabbits as a food source, but really like what I hear (I love when Jason was asking Rick about the upsides to rabbits, and it took him like 4 minutes to get them all out! Nice) I’m wondering, is there anywhere where you can actually buy rabbit meat just to try? I’m thinking not, but maybe there is. That might be a good first step for my wife and I…Thanks again guys!

  • Jason

    Dan – I don’t know of a place except maybe a farmer’s market where they sell you the rabbit, you butcher and clean it.  You are very welcome for the podcast.  I owe all the credit to Rick – such a great guest!
    Jason

  • Agorculture

    On Valentine’s Day, I served my wife rabbit lavender pate that we bought from a charcuterier at a farmer’s market. It was amazing!
    Perhaps Craigslist.com or EatWild.com or LocalHarvest.org? Also look up chicken swaps, which the local Tractor Supply hosts in their parking lot. I think it would be great if a local rabbitry can provide some tips. (That’s how I learned about ducks.)
    Butcher shops might be able to order it for an exorbitant rate and/or quantity. Here is a nationally distributed supplier of gourmet meat. Look at the prices! And to think this was once considered “poor man’s beef”!
    http://www.dartagnan.com/Search.aspx?key=rabbit

  • candybabye

    Great show. I’d love for you to have him back on and discuss the colony breeding idea and alternative housing ideas in more detail. That would be really interesting.

  • Riseandshinerabbitry

    i would love to come back any time!

  • Riseandshinerabbitry

    Had a great time! thanks again, Jason

  • BeninMA

    Hi Agorculture,Sorry I missed your message. Yes, I’m in MA… by your name, I take it you cultivate liberty? ;) I hear great things from NH — someday I may just make my escape north to freedom! But just tell the guys in Keene to stop giving the police so much work!I hope the liberty forum went well… any chance Salatin’s presentation will be on youtube? I saw him on John Stossel the other night — that guy’s a force of nature!

  • Agorculture

    Thanks, Ben!
    My pseudonym is indeed taken from the cultivation of Liberty- from “Agora” and “Culture”. I just checked for Salatin’s keynote on YouTube and Vimeo and nothing yet, but I hope they do post it. The speech was excellent and absolutely worth seeing in person! I think gardening is so much better, for the individual and for liberty, than blowing smoke in cops’ faces.

  • http://chiotsrun.com/2012/10/15/cultivate-simple-2-winter-is-coming/ Cultivate Simple 2: Winter Is Coming | Chiot's Run

    [...] Self-Sufficient Gardener – Episodes 147 & [...]

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