Chickens or Rabbits. Which to raise and eat?

[Jared77]

I was going on what I was told because they are not running so hard they don't get real gamey. My cousin who raises them and hunts wilds says its day and night between the two and claimed the fat. I've never raised them so I'm limited in that regard. Bunny I eat is all wild

 

[hoodat]

Wild rabbits seldom get a chance to accumulate any fat. Their diet is less rich in the first place and what little they ever make gets run off them. Rabbits don't need to store fat since there is something for them to eat anywhere they are at any time of the year. If there weren't they wouldn't be there. They can survive on a diet that doesn't seem to have any nutrition at all in it. Rabbits don't dig burrows although they may take advantage of burrows other animals dig. They often live in woodchuck burrows while the chucks are hibernating. The chuck doesn't seem to mind the company.
Tame rabbits really aren't rabbits at all. They originated with the European hare; an animal which normally lives on reasonably rich grassland like pastures and hides in hedgerows and brush patches in the rough parts of those pastures and by digging burrows to form colonies. They probably started their association with man at the time mankind first started farming and keeping grazing animals. Both of those activities are beneficial to them. That's probably how they got domesticated.

 

[Smiles Jr.]

Something about the magic of a beagles baying on a hot track that just gets me down deep in my core.

Oh yeah! Me too.

 

[StupidBird]

It's a good thing my DH doesn't lurk here, he'd have rabbits yesterday. I love rabbits, too; they're delicious. And they hate me. Even someone's really tame housepet rabbit took one look at me and attacked. Maybe I just looked hungry at it too hard.

Is it really that hard to care for them in hot, humid Georgia summers? Because I know that the care and feeding and cleaning and all will end up being MY job, just like every other thing in this place. (ok, I'm in a bad mood today).

 

[hoodat]

Heat is a lot harer on them than cold. They can stand almost any amount of cold if they stay dry and out of the wind but heat does them in in a hurry.

 

[AlienChick]

I have chickens for eggs and meat . . . also have some for the cuteness factor.

Thought about rabbits at one time, but decided against it since no one wanted to butcher a fuzzy wittle wabbit.

 

[StupidBird]

Rabbit care question: Is it possible to safely set up the rabbit area/cages so that I can go away for a weekend with little oversight from housemates? I have the chickens set up this way...oversized waterers and feeders, super duty coop and run. I am still not sold on DH's meat rabbit project. Heat/humidity is my biggest worry; there is a list of worries to be addressed.

 

[hoodat]

There's no doubt animals tie you down. The limiting factor in both chickens and rabbits is water. They can do without food for 24 hours with no harm done if they have some fat reserve. If a rabbits water bottle somehow gets knocked off the cage on a hot day however they can be in serious trouble. Chickens are more self sufficient but even there water is the key. Even setting up an automatic watering system is chancy. Many things can go wrong if they aren't monitored.

 

[CheerioLounge]

Chickens would be my vote. Eggs and meat! And there is nothing better than fresh eggs!

 

[hoodat]

Chickens are a dual purpose animal. You get the eggs and when they are no longer producing you have delicious meat. They have several problems though. Their manure is harder to keep cleaned up. I have poop chutes under my rabbit cages that drop all of the manure and spilled food into a central bin for collection. Chickens are not normally kept in individual cages so that system doesn't work for them. There is also a question of how close to neighbors you are and if chickens will be anoying to them. Even if you have no rooster chickens can be noisy. Personally I like to hear them but not everyone feels that way. The ideal situation if you have close neighbors is for them also to have a flock.