Rabbit raisers will keep their rabbitries hopping and happy with the advice found in Rabbits, a Hobby Farm book. Rabbit breeder and exhibitor Chris McLaughlin offers years of experience and guidance on the many aspects of raising rabbits on a hobby farm, a livestock choice she considers perfect due to the limited space rabbits need to thrive. Whether the reader is raising rabbits for pets, fiber, or meat, there is much solid information and useful advice to be found in the pages of Rabbits. From the natural and cultural history of rabbits to selecting and purchasing of the right rabbits for a small farm, this book is both practical and enlightening. Individual chapters focusing on housing and feeding, behavior and handling, health care, and breeding and raising young make this an indispensable choice for all rabbit keepers. Handsomely designed with color photographs throughout, Rabbits also offers sidebars of helpful tips, fun anecdotes, and quotes from hobby farmers that prove entertaining and edifying. The final chapter of the book, “Making Money with Rabbits” discusses how to turn the rabbit-raising business profitable through producing show and pet rabbits, wool/fiber rabbits, rabbit manure, and rabbit meat. Resources include a glossary of terms and a catalog of associations, books, periodicals, and websites. Fully indexed.
Gives expert advice on how to choose, raise, and keep rabbits on a small-scale farm. Covers everything from choosing a breed of rabbit for your farm to breeding concerns and health issues.
·Extensive sections devoted to the seven major farm animals, including profiles of the most popular breeds and varieties ·Detailed how-to chapters on the care, handling, feeding, health, and safety of each animal ·Special chapters devoted to the breeding and raising of young animals ·Recommendations for ways of capitalizing on your livestock's output, from selling eggs, milk, fiber, and so forth ·Tips for troubleshooting potential problems and warding off diseases, parasites, and predators ·New edition vetted and updated by Dr. Mark McConnon DVM, hobby farm professionals and veterinarians for the most up-to-date information available on the market for shelter, care, health, medicine, nutrition, behavior, marketing, and profit
An accessible, practical resource for pasture-based rabbit production-complete with rabbit husbandry basics, enterprise budgets, and guidelines for growing, processing and selling rabbits commercially. In recent years, there has been talk in the food world that rabbits make more sense than chicken. In a country with a $41 billion broiler chicken industry, this might seem like a pretty bold statement, but it’s hardly unsubstantiated. And yet while media has been abuzz about the supposed super protein, very few farmers are stepping up to meet the rapidly increasing interest in sustainably raised rabbit meat. This is partly due to the lack of available resources in the field of rabbit husbandry. Raising Pastured Rabbits for Meat is the first book to address the growing trend of ecological rabbit husbandry for the beginning to market-scale farmer. Inspired by Daniel Salatin, who has long been considered the pioneer in integrated rabbit farming, Nichki Carangelo proves that a viable pasture-based rabbitry is not only possible and user-friendly, it’s also profitable. In Carangelo’s approach, happy, healthy rabbits are seasonally raised outside on pasture, using a pasture and wire hybrid system that promotes natural behaviors and a diverse diet, while effectively managing the associated risks. Raising Pastured Rabbits for Meat offers valuable information on how farmers can build their own rabbit enterprise from scratch and includes tips on breed selection, breeding techniques, nutrition guidelines, record keeping tools, slaughtering and butchering instructions, marketing advice, and enterprise guides to help farmers plan for profitability. This is an essential guide for anyone interested in integrating rabbits onto a diversified farm or homestead.
In Maryrose Wood's stunning middle-grade novel, Alice's Farm, a brave young rabbit must work with her natural predators to save her farmland home and secretly help the farm’s earnest but incompetent new owners. When a new family moves into Prune Street Farm, Alice and the other cottontails are cautious. The new owners are from the city; the family and their dog are not at all what the rabbits expect, and soon Alice is making new friends and doing things no rabbit has done before. When she overhears a plan by a developer to run the family off and bulldoze the farm, Alice comes up with a plan, helped by the farmer’s son, and other animals, including a majestic bald eagle. Here is a stunning celebration of life, the bitter and the sweet. Alice is some rabbit—a character readers will love for generations to come.
In Organic Hobby Farming, Andy Tomolonis, a longtime organic gardener, part-time hobby farmer, and award-winning Boston-area journalist, strips down the concept of “organic” and explains why natural farming has emerged as the healthiest and most viable method of growing for hobby farms and other small-scale operations. In addition to the improved taste and the appeal of excluding toxic materials, organic farming benefits farmers, their families, and the environment. It offers economic plusses as well. The current consumer demand for “local” and “organic” food underscores the need for small hobby farms that offer unique high-end goods. Tomolonis explains the basic principles of organic farming and describes how hobby farmers and their families can eat healthier, save money, help preserve the environment, and even turn their passion into a small-scale side business. Chapter 1 will help you assess the land you live on to determine whether it’s suited for organic vegetables, fruit, berries, or livestock. Farmers who are looking to lease or buy land will find practical advice on how to evaluate properties and find their best use, taking climate, soil, water and geography into consideration. In Chapter 2, Tomolonis continues with practical advice on how to choose the right tools without overspending—starting slowly with quality hand implements and then expanding as you determine the need for costlier power equipment. Chapter 3 moves on to the heart of any successful organic farm—building the soil. “The Good Earth” brings readers down to earth, i.e., the soil. You’ll learn how to evaluate and improve your soil with compost and cover crops and protect it from erosion, chemical contamination and other harm. The author also stresses the importance of understanding the complex relationship between underground soil organisms that play such a crucial role in natural plant health. The best soil, with the right balance of nutrients and a healthy population of microbes, will help your plants survive hardship, resist diseases and produce healthier more bountiful harvests, the author explains. Chapter 4 walks you through the steps needed to develop an organized farm plan. The chapter presents a convenient month-by-month overview of the farmer’s year, offering a timeline and detailed instructions for sowing seeds indoors, transplanting seedlings, guarding against insects and weeds, harvesting, planting cover crops extending the season and developing a schedule for successive food crops. Whether you want to feed your growing family all summer long or produce enough food for a small-scale agribusiness, the information here is invaluable. This chapter also covers organic methods for harnessing the power of nature by luring beneficial insects that will help control farm and garden pests. Learn about heirlooms, hybrids, and eclectic vegetable varieties in the comprehensive directory of vegetable crops and herbs introduced in Chapter 5. Tomolonis reveals his favorite varieties, including many alluring heirlooms that have grown in popularity. Each crop description offers detailed information on soil preparation, sowing, companion planting, and battling weeds and insects without harmful chemicals. The author, a former produce manager for a national grocery chain, also includes tips for harvesting crops, prepping them for display, and bringing the goods to market. If you’re looking for advice on fruits and berries, Organic Hobby Farms introduces new options in Chapter 6, where the author suggests ways to branch out with Asian pears, peaches, and apples, as well as nutritious blueberries, blackberries, raspberries and strawberries. As he does in other chapters, Tomolonis explains in common terms, how to choose the best varieties for your region, prepare the soil for maximum production, and deal with pests and diseases organically. Organic Hobby Farming also describes the basics of adding chickens to your farm—for wholesome organic eggs or pastured meat. Select the right breeds, raise a flock from day-old chicks and protect the birds from predators and pests the natural way. Tomolonis also delves into the fascinating world of apiculture in Chapter 8. He and his wife, Valerie, are avid beekeepers with hives that produce gallons of healthy unpasteurized local honey. In addition to bees, the book provides insight into keeping such small livestock as meat rabbits and dairy goats. Hobby farmers who want to turn their agricultural skills into a money-making operation will find practical advice in Chapter 9, which discusses commercial options. Learn how to sell your goods to local restaurants, at farmers’ markets, or as part of a community-supported-agriculture (CSA) program. And, once you make a decision to turn commercial, you’ll find advice in developing a business plan, crafting a mission statement, setting goals, and creating farm budgets. You’ll also learn the myriad benefits—and challenges—of becoming USDA certified organic. Finally, Organic Hobby Farming steers you to multiple sources of additional information with an extensive listing of resources, broken down by subject and chapter. With Organic Hobby Farming, creative-thinking readers will learn ways to increase the profitability of their organic ventures. The reader can decide to transform his hobby farm into a specialty destination for heirloom varieties, organic raw honey, preserves, dried herbs, or a particularly desirable breed of heritage livestock. As Tomolonis states in the book’s introduction, “eat safer, more nutritious food, learn about your soil and plants, support the local food movement and help save the planet—one acre at a time.”
Six containers of heirloom tomatoes, miniature squashes, and herbs on your back patio or six acres of beets, cabbages, and strawberries? Five chickens and a honey bee hive or a small farm with three dozen sheep and a couple of quarter horses? Regardless of the size of your “field of dreams,” Essential Guide to Hobby Farming is your best first step to making that hobby-farm aspiration a pleasurable and profitable reality. A hobby farmer for the past thirty years, Carol Ekarius shares the joys, challenges, and rewards of living the rural life. Hobby farming is as much a state of mind as it is an address in the country, and this instructive, beautifully photographed manual addresses every topic beginning hobby farmers need to know, from purchasing the right land and equipment to choosing and maintaining crops and livestock to marketing and selling your hobby farm’s yield. TOPICS DISCUSSED INSIDE: -Assessing finances and resources—land, water, tools of the trade (trucks, tractors, various implements) -Choosing the best crops for your land, climate, hardiness, and profitability -Selecting and caring for the livestock—chickens, goats, cows, sheep, etc.—that best fits your hobby farm -Protecting crops and livestock against predators, pests, and disease -Business and marketing options for selling your “local food” directly to restaurants and farmers’ markets and through CSA programs -Preserving the harvest, through canning, drying, and freezing, plus over two dozen original recipes for your homegrown produce NEW FOR THE SECOND EDITION: Expanded section on chickens, including urban and suburban accommodations; honey bee keeping; adding a barn or annex building to the farm; trends in planting, including miniature vegetables, heirloom varieties, and “hot” new vegetables and hybrids; adding flower beds to the property; getting involved with a CSA
