Backyard Meat Rabbits (The Urban Rabbit Project)

This book came highly reccomended to me from someone I know who has a successful rabbitry. I read the book in a little less than an hour, and to be perfectly honest I did not learn much that I had already not learned from a little online reading and some youtube videos. This book is only 80 pages, fairly large print, and the first 25 pages are spent talking about "why" to raise rabbits, the food crisis our nation is facing, energy dependency, etc. In my mind I already have come to my own conclusions and reasoning for wanting to raise meat rabbits, hence my purchasing the book for instruction on how to raise them. So to spend more that 25% of the book going into these things was pretty useless to me and not what I needed. There was some decent information on his feeding style, but other than that the book really lacked by not really getting into details for how to choose rabbits for purchase, prepare for a litter, what to do or expect once they are born, nothing about cleaning or preparing them at harvest, nothing about seasonal preparations for them and their housing, issues you might have and how to solve them, terminology, etc.

The book was an easy read and I did pick up a few ideas, but honestly it left a lot to be desired.

In conclusion, if you have already done any reading online you've probably already learned what the author covers. If you are looking for a detailed guide on how to raise rabbits for meat from start to finish, I dont see this book accomplishing that for anyone.

Save your money. There are better resources online or in print (the Storey guide, for instance).

The book is barely useful as an introduction to raising rabbits. He makes a lot of claims that should have basic citations, but he breezes past those with "according to what I read... I of course have no way to scientifically verify these...." A citation of where this information came from would be an attempt.

He also makes some claims about the modern agricultural system that are pure fear mongering.

There's little guidance on picking a breed. There are no plans for hutches. There's no useful information on veterinary care (which I'd like to see since he claims to be opposed to antibiotic use. Those sick antibiotic-free rabbits need care, too). It's full of typos. There's no information on humane slaughter and butchering.

I debated buying Volume 2 along with this and I'm glad I didn't. This may be the first time I've returned a book to Amazon.

Purchased this book as I was starting out, even added the facebook groups recommended in the book. Lots of great information in the group but the writer of this book who is also the Admin of the facebook group Backyard Meat Rabbits does NOT have rabbit's or the rabbit communities best interest in mind.... Biggest petty betty I have ever come across... Kicks out and blocks people from the group who go there needing help and advice because of a personal vendetta of his. People are getting blocked from valuable information because he had an issue with someone who was previously a friend of his who basically had a personal disagreement and then Boyd went on a rampage deleting everything and everyone related to this former friend's business (which is a popular and awesome rabbit program called Hutch). Also deletes people if they support anything that he does not support. Like the Hopper Popper. Great item, I even bought one but I know people who have mentioned making their own and next thing you know, they were blocked. Completely childish to take such a minor issue that was many months ago and blow it up into something that effects tons of people just trying to learn and take care of their rabbits. I wish I had never bought these books to support such a tyrannical, selfish, and shallow person who makes people believe that we have a common goal to take care of our rabbits when that isn't really the case. All he's doing is trying to capitalize on people desperate for help. Pathetic.

This book is a joke. It is written like a child did it. Very little useful information. This book may be good for someone that has zero experience in life, zero experience with animals, and no common sense what so ever, but if you're of average intellect and can think for yourself even on the smallest scale, save your money. You can join any rabbit group on Facebook and get this information in no time, for free.

It's a short read, about an hour. It's written very anecdotal, so it's very approachable. But in that style, it felt light on specific content. This was almost an introduction to a real book on how to raise Meat rabbits. It was helpful, but the basic premise is "here's what we did, figure it out." I was just hoping for more specifics, especially concerning the design for hutches.

I was expecting the book to have more actual information regarding the raising of meat rsbbits. Reads like a journal rather than informative material. The book was easy to read but not helpful

Worthless.

Look elsewhere. This guy is not only a dick, the book is truly useless for real rabbit keepers. Highly recommend it for starting your burn piles, tp on hunting trips, picking up your dogs crap in the park, or fix a wobbly leg on your outdoor picnic table.

Like a previous poster, I have also witnessed bullying tactics by this author in the Facebook group he created and admins like a toddler in mid tantrum. If you disagree with him, he deletes your comments or post... Sometimes you too. If you mention the Hutch software he deletes your comments or post (sometimes you too) because he has a personal vendetta against them and takes it out on members that admit to useing it.
The main activity in this group is comprised of members helping members. Without members it would be dead. However, Boyd is narcissistic. He tries to dominate topics so that they conform to only his methods, his beliefs, and his approved purchases if you mention any.

Usually, I enjoy turn-of-the-century and pre-industrial homesteading books, and books like "Raising Rabbits the Modern Way" (1975) by Bob Bennett. I bought this book to sample what a modern example of that "flavor" would be--- ie, something homey and personal and "this is what I've done and what works for me", versus something more generic and "this is the common consensus on how others do it."

I'm especially interested in things like growing forage to help with feed costs. He had some excellent suggestions regarding things to grow, and about his experiences with rabbit tractors. He has another book, "Beyond the Pellet" (2013), which I expect to see under my tree this year, where I look forward to additional detail.

One thing I noticed was that he talks about canning rabbit meat (and how much rabbit fits into a jar), but doesn't provide instructions regarding pounds of pressure, or talks about par-boiling, but doesn't provide a refresher as to the definition of par-boiling. There's a reference to another book in the works in the future, "Rabbits in Jars", but as of this review, it hasn't been printed yet, and has instead been bumped in the timeline by "Rabbits in Colonies" (2013).

So, this book, by itself, is a nice addition of personal experience and anecdote to my homesteading library. It has a friendly, conversational tone; nice b&w photos; and useful bits and pieces that I haven't read elsewhere. It would have benefited from a more polished look with some attention to typesetting, page layout, and book design--- Scribus is excellent and free. Additional information would have been helpful (everyone talks about protecting rabbits from rain-- how do you keep rabbits in those open pens dry?) (you mention feeding fallen green leaves... do less-green autumn leaves have any benefit as bedding or something?) (is rabbit manure effective when spread via pasturing, or does it need to be in concentration?). I wouldn't rely on this book as a single source for any beginner, and am disappointed that what could have been material for one super-awesome book was parceled into a series of thin volumes, but I do find it inspiring that the author has taken the time to experiment with reality, rather than just accepting conventional wisdom on a particular subject.