Rabbits

After the pigs it was over to the Raken House. The first time we visited this farm it was with other farming friends who live in Virginia. We had no experience with the suspended rabbit breeding cage system but our friend Winkie had and the first thing she exclaimed was "there is no smell!'. Rabbits were the starting point for Daniel. He raised them in cages and then ran them on in movable pens on grass (just like his father's meat chickens). On this visit, late spring, the Raken House was full of pregnant does and also females with new born young.

Female rabbit (doe) in a suspended cage in the Raken House

Babies!

The solution to breeding rabbits successfully is to make sure that the understory is taken care of. In this case hens graze under the cages utilizing the rabbit droppings, producing eggs and keeping the whole system clean and sweet smelling.

Laying hens under the rabbit cages.
Feeders on the ground and nesting boxes up high.

Another view of the Raken House