I never had any huge problems with stink, but I kept the cage areas very clean. mostly cuz I knew I was gonna EAT these things!
As far as the "pain in the ass" issue - I'll give you the same advice I got from "Back To Basics," way back when I read up on it. In the order of ease to raise, bees are #1 (yes, I said BEES), & rabbits are #2. Chickens & goats are farther down the list (I think chickens might be #3, but I don't remember exactly).
Raising rabbits was really one of the cooler things I've done, & I was rather successful at it, from a gourmand's standpoint. I had several varieties - a giant white angora, some lop-eared, a cpl dwarf chinchillas, a dutch, & a mutt or two. I mixed 'em up pretty regularly. You get a lot of meat off of the larger rabbits, but there's also the larger bones. 1/2 lops are pretty sturdy rabbits, whereas the 1/2 angoras had smaller bones, but longer hair on the pelt, too.
I had this idea of making a satin-backed rabbit-fur bedspread. I tanned quite a few hides, but I never quite perfected the art of sewing them together in ways that would make them tough enough not to pull apart. There must be an art to that, but, back in the 80's when I was into it all, I hadn't found it. (Of course that was pre-internet for me, too.)
The meat was really rather tasteless. Unlike your wild rabbits, all mine ate was alfalfa pellets & weedy treats from Ian. When I cooked it, I'd simmer it in wine or vodka for anywhere from 1/2 hr to 45 minutes (the alcohol breaks down the tough fibers in the meat - when you skin a rabbit, ALL the fat goes with the fur, & there's no marbling fats in there to tenderize it at all). Sometimes I'd add chicken boullion or beef, sometimes I'd spice it up a bit. Only after it's cooked would I either BBQ it or bread it & deep fry. Cooking it that way was about the only way you could chew the stuff.
The meat is lower in fat & higher in protein even than chicken, on the up side. On the down side - a rabbit is one of those cud-chewers, like cattle & deer & other red meats, & there is a higher amount of uric acids in those meats, & the higher the metabolism of the animal in question, the higher the uric acidity. I thik slow cooking with alcohol removes that to some extent, but it's still higher than it is in white meats.
Overall, my experiences with rabbits was kinda fun, & kinda educational, & a bit of hard work. You can figure on 4-6 pups per doe every 8 weeks, if you're going that route. I usually had mine giving birth every 3 months, so as not to wear out the does. You only need (or want) one buck. THEY are the pain in the ass. They'll spray ya if you don't breed them often enough, & like has been said, they don't spray urine. Mine raped a cat. Do NOT put the buck in the doe's cage to breed. When the young are 6 to 9 weeks old, they're perfect for cooking. Older than that & they are tough.
Keep the cages clean & open to the air, yet give them a nesting box & roof for protection from the weather. In winter, you can enclose them a bit more, but they need air in the warmer months. The cage floor should be a simple 1/4" hardware cloth, although I've used 1/4"x1/2" ungalvanized to even better effect. It's more expensive, but easier to clean (& you'd better clean it or it'll rust).
As far as the "pain in the ass" issue - I'll give you the same advice I got from "Back To Basics," way back when I read up on it. In the order of ease to raise, bees are #1 (yes, I said BEES), & rabbits are #2. Chickens & goats are farther down the list (I think chickens might be #3, but I don't remember exactly).
Raising rabbits was really one of the cooler things I've done, & I was rather successful at it, from a gourmand's standpoint. I had several varieties - a giant white angora, some lop-eared, a cpl dwarf chinchillas, a dutch, & a mutt or two. I mixed 'em up pretty regularly. You get a lot of meat off of the larger rabbits, but there's also the larger bones. 1/2 lops are pretty sturdy rabbits, whereas the 1/2 angoras had smaller bones, but longer hair on the pelt, too.
I had this idea of making a satin-backed rabbit-fur bedspread. I tanned quite a few hides, but I never quite perfected the art of sewing them together in ways that would make them tough enough not to pull apart. There must be an art to that, but, back in the 80's when I was into it all, I hadn't found it. (Of course that was pre-internet for me, too.)
The meat was really rather tasteless. Unlike your wild rabbits, all mine ate was alfalfa pellets & weedy treats from Ian. When I cooked it, I'd simmer it in wine or vodka for anywhere from 1/2 hr to 45 minutes (the alcohol breaks down the tough fibers in the meat - when you skin a rabbit, ALL the fat goes with the fur, & there's no marbling fats in there to tenderize it at all). Sometimes I'd add chicken boullion or beef, sometimes I'd spice it up a bit. Only after it's cooked would I either BBQ it or bread it & deep fry. Cooking it that way was about the only way you could chew the stuff.
The meat is lower in fat & higher in protein even than chicken, on the up side. On the down side - a rabbit is one of those cud-chewers, like cattle & deer & other red meats, & there is a higher amount of uric acids in those meats, & the higher the metabolism of the animal in question, the higher the uric acidity. I thik slow cooking with alcohol removes that to some extent, but it's still higher than it is in white meats.
Overall, my experiences with rabbits was kinda fun, & kinda educational, & a bit of hard work. You can figure on 4-6 pups per doe every 8 weeks, if you're going that route. I usually had mine giving birth every 3 months, so as not to wear out the does. You only need (or want) one buck. THEY are the pain in the ass. They'll spray ya if you don't breed them often enough, & like has been said, they don't spray urine. Mine raped a cat. Do NOT put the buck in the doe's cage to breed. When the young are 6 to 9 weeks old, they're perfect for cooking. Older than that & they are tough.
Keep the cages clean & open to the air, yet give them a nesting box & roof for protection from the weather. In winter, you can enclose them a bit more, but they need air in the warmer months. The cage floor should be a simple 1/4" hardware cloth, although I've used 1/4"x1/2" ungalvanized to even better effect. It's more expensive, but easier to clean (& you'd better clean it or it'll rust).
SMILE - it's the safest way to spread your cheeks!
