Roaming - Raising Rabbits

Project Overview

YNC08-018
Project Type: Youth
Funds awarded in 2008: $100.00
Projected End Date: 12/31/2009
Region: North Central
State: South Dakota
Project Coordinator:

Commodities

  • Animals: rabbits

Practices

  • Animal Production: feed/forage, housing, grazing management
  • Farm Business Management: budgets/cost and returns

    Abstract:

    PROJECT DESCRIPTION AND RESULTS
    A. BACKGROUND
    (Before receiving this grant, were you involved in any sustainable agriculture activities? If so, briefly describe them.)

    No – I wasn’t!
    My brother did a project last year and I kind of helped him!

    B. GOALS

    Goal # 1 – Raise rabbits
    Goal #2 – Try to let them move around more
    Goal #3 – Let them eat grass, instead of rabbit food all the time
    Goal #4 – Get purples at the fair

    C. PROCESS

    The reason I chose this is because I love my rabbits and I didn’t like to keep them penned up all the time. I already had the rabbits in pens. My older brother and I built a pen that had little wheels on it and I could move it. We got wood for the frame and used wire to enclose it. Then we added the shelter and wheels. I put my rabbits in it and moved it around so they could eat real grass like the wild rabbits do. I also feed them rabbit food and vegetables. They loved eating the fresh grass and it saved us money and time.

    D. PEOPLE

    Jedd – Brother,
    Rex – Brother,
    Shelley – Mom: helped build pen;
    Callie, Erica, Megan, Tyler – friends: helped move pen & feed rabbits;
    Extension office – offered classes on rabbits;

    E. RESULTS

    The results of my project were good. My rabbits loved roaming around and eating. I thought they would be happier and they were. It saved us money and it was easier to play with them. They were healthy and chubby.
    The change I would make is to fix the pen a little so they couldn’t get out sometimes.

    F. DISCUSSION

    I learned responsibility and about living naturally, off the land, instead of eating boughten food all the time. Natural is better – for rabbits and humans!!

    Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view of the U.S. Department of Agriculture or SARE.