Rabbits in an orchard ecosystem

Rabbits are the most efficient converters of grass to protein, and their poo contains as much nitrogen as chicken manure, but in slow-release form so no nitrogen burning occurs. Hearing this was enough to start me experimenting with rabbits in the orchard.

Choosing the breed

We went with mixed breeds, hoping this would give us better robust genetics, so had a different breed for male and female breeding stock. We chose a quick meat breed – either New Zealand White (which ironically was bred in California) or California White, crossed with a rabbit that had some Flemish Giant in it.

The meat breeds were bred overseas, where rabbit meat is more widely used. They very quickly become large enough to harvest. Flemish Giants and other giant breeds build bones first before bulking up, and are therefore less efficient for meat production. But I figured we were not going to run the system for optimal meat production, but rather harvest when it was convenient, or when more