Can you keep "wild" rabbits that care for themselves?

katebl

Personally I find your idea pretty ill-thought out, and as for posting on the pet pages "any excess will go on a plate", why don't you go get your kicks elsewhere. There's money saving and then there's just tactless bad taste.

Glad to see you are carrying it on elsewhere.

meritaten

I got the distinct impression that the OP was going to turn domesticated rabbits loose to fend for themselves. That is unspeakably cruel! I am no great fan of rabbits as pets but those bred to be pets have a right to be treated as such! Those rabbits bred in the wild should remain in the wild - they will have learned to fend for themselves along with their mothers milk!
and as for 'could chickens and goats' .......................words bloody well fail me!!! Is this a Wind UP!!! because if you are serious OP - Then I would be able to suggest a good psychiatrist.

Welshwoofs

simmed wrote: »

These 2 parts of your post directly contradict each other.

Err no they don't. The first part is in regard to wild rabbits and the second part to domestic New Zealand White rabbits which are traditionally bred for meat. Wild rabbits are vermin and farmers work hard to get rid of them, not encourage them.

Anyway, a goat also sounds like a good idea. Do goats eat grass/general wild foliage? What would the best thing be to plant in your garden for a goat to eat?

Goats eat ANYTHING - grass, bushes, leaves off low branches, your prize dahlias, any washing you have left out to dry etc etc

Far more sensible though and if you got a couple of nannies who are good milkers you've got your own milk and cheese.

Welshwoofs

simmed wrote: »

Just see here

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/43474936#Comment_43474936

Simmed, you don't breed wild rabbits for meat. They're not terribly good for meat (quantity wise) which is why farmed rabbits are a totally different breed (New Zealand Whites) and are much bigger than wild ones.

You only get wild rabbit meat on sale simply because the wild population is massive, causes vast damage to crops and the structure of land and have to be controlled by culling - generally in the form of air rifle shooting, ferreting or hunting with birds of prey (Harris Hawks normally).

There is absolutely no way in hell you'll 'farm' wild rabbit so I'd give up on that idea and if you're absolutely dead set on rearing rabbits for food, go with the traditional domesticated meat breeds and the proper rearing thereof.

Raksha

simmed wrote: »

I direct you to the thread title:

"Can you keep "wild" rabbits that care for themselves?"

You can do what you like, but I think you will find that legally, once you start to confine an animal, it becomes your responsibility - you are domesticating it and are responsible for providing the 5 freedoms. Cows are domesticated - they don't wander at will across a field (well, the vast majority of them don't, and those that do - in the New forest for example, still belong to somebody and are the owners responsibility). Putting "speech marks" around a word doesn't negate you of your responsibilities, however big you want to make the word, or however loud you shout.

JCS1

I can understand the attraction - I'm on a farm and when you look out the windows into the garden and see wild rabbits on the lawn (especially the pale baby ones we seemed to have last year), it does look very cute.

You would, however, never have sufficient fencing to keep them in your garden (regardless of the rights and wrongs). Believe me, we've tried fencing to keep them out of the vegetables patches but they always find a way.

We did have a cat years ago who had a habit of bringing back wild rabbits they had caught but not killing them, but they would be in shock and have bad flesh wounds. We did keep these in a rabbit hutch, but always released them back into the wild once they had recovered.

littlelost

We have a rabbit named rabbitey-rabbit it was my daughter who chose the name, he lived in a cage for 2 years and we would put him out in this run on the grass every now and then....

Last summer he escaped from his run and was lose in the garden.... He tried catching him for hours on end but he would always outwit us and we would end up a knackered heap on the floor whilst he was bouncing off to the far end of the garden..... The summer came and went and we regullarly attempted to re-capture him but to no avail....

We would leave his hutch open with food in to try and tempt him back in but he would go in and out as he pleased but as soon as he heard the back door open he would run off to the end of the garden.

Our garden isnt huge about 6 meters wide by 18 meters with a 6ft fence above 2 foot of concrete kickboard. We have kept an area of grass long in the corner for him and he munches and also has veg that we put in his hutch over night. He hasnt dug one hole in the garden in the 9 months he has been out there.

We have two cats and a dog (jack russell cross shitzu) and they all live in the garden quite happily although at time the dog will attempt to chase the rabbit but soon gives up when one of the cats distract him, the rabbit hides or when he gets told no.

So from my experience of the past 9 months I would say yes a rabbit can happily live out in the garden, ours has gone through a very harsh winter bouncing around in the snow with us trying to coax him back to his hutch and to be honest we may now only go out once a week in an attempt to catch him but he seems happy with the freedom he has and every now and then he will be brave and sit in the garden with us without running away,

Im just dreading next month when we have to plan a full scale attempted recapture as he is due his vaccination....... (more funny pics and videos for facebook)

Raksha

Littlelost - see if you can borrow a ferret net from somebody - secure it across a pathway between buildings or similar and 'drive' the rabbit into the net.

littlelost

last time we tried the net the rabbit managed to get under it..... It has now sussed that out and any chance of driving it anywhere is slim..lol I swear our rabbit has an IQ as high as einstein....:D I think it can sense when you are going out in an attempt to re-capture it and when you are just going out to the garden...

Raksha

You need to secure the net at the bottom - using tent pegs or similar so that it's a tight fit against the ground.