Chickens Vs. Rabbits

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Caribou

Caribou

Time traveler
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I was thinking about getting chickens. A friend suggested rabbits as they would be easier to protect from the mink, and would be easier to care for. Please, kick this idea around.
 
In Alaska, rabbits do exceptionally well. As a kid on the farm, we had both. But I recall chicken and eggs were a larger part of our diets. I have friends in Alaska who raise chickens. I will need to catch up with them for how well they do. I probably ought to add one or both to my little hobby farm. More chores which I don’t cherish adding to, but likely worth it.
 
Tough Call! I like eggs but chickens can be noisy and they need more space. Both chickens and rabbits provide fertilizer for the garden, both reproduce fairly easily, and they both can provide a steady source of meat. If you are in a very small place I would go with rabbits. If you have a larger space where you can have a nice chicken run, then it's chickens. If you had a lot of space I would do both....
 
Both have their pluses and minuses, that's for sure. The biggest difference is in breeding - it's easier to handle egg hatching as a mechanical, controlled process if you want, where with rabbits you are counting on the mom to do most of the work and there's lots of room for nature to do way random things there.

I've also found in the last year or so it's somehow gotten a little harder for me to end a life, so chickens with eggs for a couple of years and only occasional harvesting is easier than something like rabbits where you only get protein by wielding death. Also it's a lot easier for me to harvest poultry than bunnies...

If you have predator issues and want to try poultry, you could give coturnix quail a shot. They lay eggs, can live in hutches like rabbits (don't need a run), and are super easy to process (no plucking needed). You go from eggs to egglayers in 6-8 weeks so it's a lot easier to re-build a flock after a predator attach as well!
 
Chickens give you eggs & meat, rabbits give you fur & meat, both give you compost.
I say both are good, but if only one, chickens.. Should be easy to protect from wild life, but the cold is another thing.
I also agree with TeeJ on the Quail.
 
Chickens and rabbits both do well in my areas of Alaska. For my fellow Alaskans, I have friends in both Ketchikan (rainy but relatively warm) and just north of Eagle River (cold). Both have reduced egg production in the winter.

Where I'm at now the predators I need to worry about are mink, eagles, and black bear.
 
Those predators will eat both chickens and rabbits. So you need to make it predator proof the best you can. We've all had loses. Mine have been from dogs and raccoons. Neighbor said he was going after a raccoon that was after his chickens, a big ol raccoon. Then he got on our property and climbed up the silo.
 
After chasing off a delicious looking black bear this morning, I’m reminded why I have been reluctant to do rabbits or chickens. Third time this year that I’ve had to chase a bear away.

The original homesteader had some sort of area where they had chickens or rabbits. Its all overgrown with willows and alders now. The only other neighbor recalls the original homesteader struggled with bears getting into whatever he was raising.

Maybe raising something would be useful for putting small game on the table and bringing in the more tasty and sizable black bears for easy pickins! Brown bears need not apply, :)
 
Alaskajohn said:
After chasing off a delicious looking black bear this morning, I’m reminded why I have been reluctant to do rabbits or chickens. Third time this year that I’ve had to chase a bear away.

The original homesteader had some sort of area where they had chickens or rabbits. Its all overgrown with willows and alders now. The only other neighbor recalls the original homesteader struggled with bears getting into whatever he was raising.

Maybe raising something would be useful for putting small game on the table and bringing in the more tasty and sizable black bears for easy pickins! Brown bears need not apply, :)
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Grow pumpkin, moose love pumpkin. That's my plan for when I get home.
 
I think I would do chickens. My experience around rabbits is that all you have to do is look at them funny, and they'll keel over and die. Funky things can happen with chickens too - a couple years ago a lady from my church lost 25 hens to swarms of gnats. They were so thick that they clogged the chicken's airways and they suffocated.

But if you can keep the predators out, chickens are fairly hardy. As a bonus, if you can free range them for part of the day they'll eat all the bugs out of your yard. No more ticks, no more crickets...
 
The thing about the bunnies was an exaggeration. It's true that I haven't found domestic rabbits to be very hardy though.

The killer gnats is not an exaggeration though. I think it was 2018, we had a terrible infestation of gnats in Central Iowa. A person could barely go outside in June of that year. They were so thick you had to cover your mouth and nose if you walked through grass or foliage or you would breathe them in. The only thing that would keep them away was this stuff made of vanilla and lemongrass. It was terrible...
 
Alaskajohn said:
After chasing off a delicious looking black bear this morning, I’m reminded why I have been reluctant to do rabbits or chickens. Third time this year that I’ve had to chase a bear away.

The original homesteader had some sort of area where they had chickens or rabbits. Its all overgrown with willows and alders now. The only other neighbor recalls the original homesteader struggled with bears getting into whatever he was raising.

Maybe raising something would be useful for putting small game on the table and bringing in the more tasty and sizable black bears for easy pickins! Brown bears need not apply, :)
Click to expand...
I'm roaming from personal knowledge to the likes of what I've watched on YouTube, but I've seen a couple of people in AK who have had good luck keeping the bears out of their chickens with solar electric fencing... YMMV, though.
 
TeeJ said:
I'm roaming from personal knowledge to the likes of what I've watched on YouTube, but I've seen a couple of people in AK who have had good luck keeping the bears out of their chickens with solar electric fencing... YMMV, though.
Click to expand...

Solar would be a bit hard when I get no sunlight during part of my winter. But yes, electric fences do work. Not a bad idea but I would hard wire it. Add this to my long list of never ending projects on a limited budget! I’ve been thinking about this.
 
Alaskajohn said:
Solar would be a bit hard when I get no sunlight during part of my winter. But yes, electric fences do work. Not a bad idea but I would hard wire it. Add this to my long list of never ending projects on a limited budget! I’ve been thinking about this.
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Bears shouldn't be a big problem in the darkest part of winter.
 
We have had both. We would raise 25 chickens n 5 turkeys each year. Along with the rabbits. I like the rabbits myself. We can get eggs from free range chickens fairly easy. Our
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daughter raised banty chickens for many years spending hours with those birds. Tending n caring.
We went back to raising rabbits. Last year we put up over 300 pounds of rabbit meat. Cost was near 3.50 pound. We bartered at least half the meat for other stuff. The manure compost is better I believe.
Are you thinking meat birds or egg birds ? Plucking feathers isn't my bag. And would just skin the chickens. The rabbits go pretty fast.
Animal husbandry, yeah you have to harvest the meat. Again to me, nobody enjoys taking the life of an animal. As a rabbit farmer it's our responsibility to make sure that it's done in a moral way. The animals are raised in a humaine caring way. Raised on hormone n steroid free foods. Shying away from fact that you have to harvest an animal raised specifically for food. Again I don't like that part, as dad n papa knowing that my family has the best protein available helps. It's an important part of the job that demands respect.
I m guess I'm particularly proud of our daughter who suggested we go back to raising rabbits for meat. And stepped up to the plate. She can process 6 n hour now. I still do the slaughtering and just had my beautiful wife get a new tool that uses a spike to the brain so its instant.
And the sense of satisfaction that my family can do this n do it well. Feels good. They just finished up 150 pounds of moose meat that was awaiting grinding into burger a couple days ago getting the freezers cleaned out n ready for this year's moose n salmon.
Homesteading n country living takes time n labor. Hard work but satisfying work. Good times n hard times. As far as slaughtering day goes, knowing that my family has the best I can do trumps all. And every day I care for my breeding stock that are cared for like our lives depended on them. I am great full that they are good at doing their part. And can say this. Last night when all the other chores were done. Going n picking them a bunch of dandelions n chick weed. New sprouts from the trees felt real good. And a nice way to end the day for me
 
Caribou said:
I was thinking about getting chickens. A friend suggested rabbits as they would be easier to protect from the mink, and would be easier to care for. Please, kick this idea around.
Click to expand...
Feed for rabbits is available via any roadside weed patch. Chickens require more to feed. The other side of the coin is chickens give both eggs, meat and feathers. Rabbits give meat and pelts. Depends upon your priorities.
 
We don't use the pelts. The manure from rabbits is great for the garden providing the maximum amount of soil nutrients, 2-2-1.
If you're just raising for meat the chickens can be bought for a few bucks. 25-30 birds are fairly easy to handle. Couple months to grow n harvest them. Done for the year. Rabbits not so much. Gotta carry our breeding stock over the winter.
Chickens can be for eggs as a primary and eventually to the pot. Eggs in between. They would do well cleaning up,around the rabbit pens. And give them a reason to hang around. Probably coin free. Could raise a dozen meat chickens just on the rabbit stuff. And keep some layers. If you're tending chickens, well rabbits don't take long.
Yeppers welcome to homesteading eh
 
Well, I've settled on getting started with rabbits. I have a lead on hutches. I'm headed to Seattle in a couple of weeks. What kind of rabbit feed should I pick up? Down the road I'll want suggestions on rabbit breeds for meat production. Should I wait till spring to get the rabbits and just work on the yard this winter?
 
Work on your rabbit set up this winter. You're not going to be breeding them till spring anyway. I'm trying to work on setting up anything I think I need, just because of availability and pricing on things. Rabbit feed is easy. I get a 50lb bag at our feed store. We grow alfalfa, so they get that, and they get what's in the garden. Favorites are apple, lettuce, spinach, carrot, kale...
 
Caribou said:
We don't have a feed store. I need to buy a years worth in Seattle and barge it up. Do I need a ton? More? Less? Should I pick up a couple bales of alfalfa?
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I would say yes on the hay.
Three cups weigh about one pound.that is 1/2 cup per adult rabbit per day X 61 pounds a year.
365 days X 1/2 cup =182.5 *3 (cups per pound)=60. 833333333333 or 61 pounds per rabbit per year.

You will need to ration the pellets for most adult bunnies. If you don’t, they tend to overeat and get fat, and when they are full from pellets, they don’t eat enough hay! A common portion is ¼ to ½ cup daily for a 5 to 7 pound adult rabbit. Bunnies who need to lose weight will need more restricted pellets and more exercise. Baby or growing bunnies (up to 6 months), or sick bunnies needing to gain weight, should be served unlimited pellets along with their piles of hay and their veggies. Baby and growing bunnies need to be fed alfalfa-based pellets.

For more info on veggies to feed, check out the greens and vegetables section or view rabbit.org/faq-diet.
https://www.indianahrs.org/rabbit-c... will need to ration,to 7 pound adult rabbit.
 
We have both. And both have there place But I do prefer my rabbits. Ready to use fertilizer, the don’t need much room and the reproductive rate is fast and the meat is great!
That being said we eat a lot of eggs and chicken too. The chickens do need a little more care in the colder months
 
I'd say get the best rabbits you can when starting. We bought purebred 3 New Zealand does and Californian buck. And had to raise them through the winter to get to breeding age. 6 months. And now 3 years later we can start our own breeding program.
Feed, get as much as you can. Kits eat a lot. We feed 1 cup day pellets. Gets cold in ak so we also add a pinch of sunflower seeds for more fats.
There are folks who say don't feed alfalfa. Use timothy. We use timothy. And alfalfa costs 75 bucks a bale. Good ol ak grown timothy 13 bucks. We store our pellets in a 300 gallon plastic stock tank. Plywood lid. Might fit on a pallet and you would have it.
For what it's worth, we produced 130 kits and processed over 300 pounds of meat at near 3 bucks pound. Cheap meat in ak.
Hey good luck n have fun, it will be getting busier but worth it to us
 
Aklogcabin said:
I'd say get the best rabbits you can when starting. We bought purebred 3 New Zealand does and Californian buck. And had to raise them through the winter to get to breeding age. 6 months. And now 3 years later we can start our own breeding program.
Feed, get as much as you can. Kits eat a lot. We feed 1 cup day pellets. Gets cold in ak so we also add a pinch of sunflower seeds for more fats.
There are folks who say don't feed alfalfa. Use timothy. We use timothy. And alfalfa costs 75 bucks a bale. Good ol ak grown timothy 13 bucks. We store our pellets in a 300 gallon plastic stock tank. Plywood lid. Might fit on a pallet and you would have it.
For what it's worth, we produced 130 kits and processed over 300 pounds of meat at near 3 bucks pound. Cheap meat in ak.
Hey good luck n have fun, it will be getting busier but worth it to us
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I am in South Carolina, so I was way off by half, thanks, Aklogcabiin.
I think it got down to 14F one year forty years ago, before the polar cap melted.
 
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