In an effort to be more environmentally sustainable and to find a more responsible source of fresh meat, I've decided that I want to start raising rabbits. I've watched a ton of YouTube videos and read the articles, but in all honesty, I've never even had a pet rabbit when I was younger.

Does anyone else raise rabbits?

I did when I was a kid and it's not super easy. At least not to get them to be pet ready. Food source however is a different story. The care and help for them is the same. However handling is best kept minimal.

You'll want to study more what breeds give the most meat and check your local pet shops to see if they have them. Also breaking down the costs of feeding and care so when it comes time to eat them VS the cost of any meat you currently buy is important.

Also if you do this be prepared to have a cold heart as rabbits when in fear or tough situations SCREAM. Not whine or whimper but SCREAM.

I think I'll be going with the New Zealand breed. It seems like they're going to be a good starting point since they're only a medium size and will survive our winters. Arrrgggggg, I thought I'd be a little squeamish about that. I'm sure the clips I've seen of rabbits screaming aren't nearly as bad as in real life.

I have no problem cleaning and preparing an animal, I've just never done the actual killing part. D: Also, I've been reading that rabbits have sharp little back feet. Can they cut you? And are they like cats were you can get infected from them?

Their back claws are like a cats in the sense it's defensive, so yes they CAN cut you. Most people tend to use thick leather gloves when they handle bunnies. When we bred ours my dad wouldn't let us kids handle them. They can get very defensive when it's time to separate them.

A good basic starting point might be to get 3 (one male two female) you can use for breeding and kind of as pets and then use their babies as the food source. You can build pens at opposite ends of the yard if you wanted to keep the babies away once they are old enough to eat on their own.

Also note when the best age/time is for harvesting them for the meat is and make your costs break down from that.

i say 3 bunnies to start because you can get up to 9 bunnies a litter x 2 and you're already at 18 plus your 3 starting for 21 bunnies.

I used to raise rabbits as pets, although a few of the Flemish Giants were used for meat. Since you're primarily using them as food, handling isn't as important as keeping their cost under control. You'll still likely want to be able to catch them and pick them up without a lot of hassle though. They will kick their back legs a lot so learning how to handle them will minimize some scratches. They can also scratch with their front legs, but it's less likely. Rabbits can cut you with their nails, sometimes deep enough to scar.

You can try wearing gloves or a long sleeved shirt to protect your skin from their nails whenever you need to kill or handle them. Gloves also help with any potential biters. If you plan to breed them, make sure to give them some sort of nest building material. They'll combine it with the fur they pull. You'll have to research their gestation periods and how often you can breed them. I'm not sure if it varies any by breed. Considering that litter size can sometimes be quite large, it would save money on buying new stock. You could breed the females a few times before killing them, then use one or two females from the litter to breed when they mature. You could do the same with a designated male or two.