Newest Edition to the Homestead - A Flemish Giant

I haven't written about rabbit keeping yet.  We were hoping that rabbit meat could replace some of our dependence on chicken, they have small litters and are much less labor intensive, and maybe even cheaper to raise? In theory we could spread out the breeding and harvesting meat throughout the year, rather than the big push for the summer, also spreading out the cost. We haven't been able to really figure out the cost of keeping them and the cost of raising them for meat. The Flemish Giants are selling for $75 each around here, so potentially they may be sold for profit also.  They are popular meat breeds in Europe, not as much in America, but they seem to be gaining popularity.  I've heard they are less popular because their bone to meat ratio is high, making them cost more to raise.  Some people breed them with New Zealands because it improves the meat to bone ratio.  We had a mixed breed male, we bred with our female Flemish, and had one litter that made it's way into our freezer, but we haven't been able to get them to breed again.  I know, RIGHT? Rabbits that won't breed?  What the heck? So we decided to move on and get another male.  We may still look for a New Zealand female and raise some mixed breed and some pure bred.  We'll see, I haven't really thought it out too much, my husband just informed me we were to pick him up at 6:30 when I got home.   

This is Sandy our 1 year old female Flemish

And this is Hugh, our newest edition a 3 month Flemish Giant

He'd like to say hi and introduce himself

And now he'd like to say goodnight, it's getting late and he wants to explore his cage in the chicken coop