Food So now I have bunnies

AlaskaSue

AlaskaSue

North to the Future
The barn was burned but not lost after last May's disaster. A family friend wanted to unburden herself of some rabbits so she dropped off about a dozen cute huge - and some tiny - bunnies last week. Next day she dropped off three more. I have seen 14 so far. They feed and drink in the barn but have made themselves at home under snow burrows and along one of the cliff ledges. They always have two sentinels out when they eat. It's very cold so I have to break the ice from their water pans and fill with fresh several times a day and overnight. Ok, doesn't bother me cuz I don't sleep anyway. And it's so lovely and quiet out here at 1 am!

I've never had anything to do with bunnies. So am naming some of them Stu, Fricassee, Hasenpfeffer, etc.

Do any of you have words of wisdom to guide me? Have had cats and dogs and chickens and horses and cows and pigs and ferrets. So get the general idea of care. But bunnies are new. And with this many you know we are going to see more.

Thinking ahead to protect my gardens come spring! :)
 
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AlaskaSue

AlaskaSue

North to the Future
I live at my brother's place - I just deal with the house stuff, the yard stuff and animals. So appreciate your post, WalknTrot. Most of my garden is very very high raised beds and containers. But some of the hoppers are sure big enough that I think they can get up there! Will see what we can come up with -
 
M

moldy

Veteran Member
my neighbors used to keep rabbits in a shed with a dirt floor. Just be aware they will dig out if you don't have wire placed. They also will multiply like, well, rabbits! Great food source - cook with a lot of moisture or wrapped in bacon. Even commercially raised they don't have much fat.
 
AlaskaSue

AlaskaSue

North to the Future
We used to be able to get rabbit at a local store here so I cooked that almost all my life until they took it out of the stores. I can totally deal with it because my brother has cooked wild Alaska bunnies forever. I just want to make sure I take good care of them and can protect my green stuff too. Had planned to do a ground level bed this year and I still might but just make it buckwheat and small corn stalks that grow up here.
 
ioujc

ioujc

MARANTHA!! Even so, come LORD JESUS!!!
I used to have a large colony. They are easy to care for, just feed and water.

When rabbit food went up really high back in the early part of the 2000s, I started feeding them warm oatmeal with molasses during the winter. They loved it. I couldn't bring myself to kill any of them, and I wasn't starving. When they became too much, and I went back to work, and they continued to multiply, I let them all go. They REFUSED to leave!!!

Finally, I went in the house and they apparently went into the woods for the night. I didn't see any the next morning when I left for work, so I figured I'd be OK.

That evening, when I came home, a HERD OF RABBITS ran out of the woods to greet my car!!! This continued for several weeks......actually longer than a month!!

One thing I observed, was that they are actually quite similar to cats in their grooming and some of their behaviours.

Good luck and enjoy them!!
 
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AlaskaSue

AlaskaSue

North to the Future
ioujc said:
I used to have a large colony. They are easy to care for, just feed and water.

When rabbit food went up really high back in the early part of the 2000s, I started feeding them warm oatmeal with molasses during the winter. They loved it. I couldn't bring myself to kill any of them, and I wasn't starving. When they became too much, and I went back to work, and they continued to multiply, I let them all go. They REFUSED to leave!!!

Finally, I went in the house and they apparently went into the woods for the night. I didn't see any the next morning when I left for work, so I figured I'd be OK.

That evening, when I came home, a HERD OF RABBITS ran out of the woods to greet my car!!! This continued for several weeks......actually longer than a month!!

One thing I observed, was that they are actually quite similar to cats in their grooming and some of their behaviours.

Good luck and enjoy them!!
Click to expand...
I'm several days in now...they will come running when I'm trekking out to the barn and call them. Still always have one or two guard bunnies out. The snow is very deep and I know they are good and warm thru the night. Fresh water, good timothy and feed is all they want at this point. I hope to keep them happy and well - I know my dear Daddy would have loved this (he was never able to shoot a deer or coon but he might have been able to take on bunnies). Appreciate your thoughts for sure!
 
AlaskaSue

AlaskaSue

North to the Future
They are pretty much feral...but count on my feed and water. I'll treat them with warm oatmeal as ioujc says she does. They are very sweet - but I do think of them as a food source in these days. They have the run of the barn, and the entire acreage here. I do like seeing them up in the cliffs - can't wait to see how we'll all get along spring and summer :) We have a few moose wander through but nothing more serious to be a threat (well, maybe a lynx or two but that would be worth it).
 
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