Featured Rabbitry #2: Fog City Rabbitry. An interview with the owner of Fog City Rabbitry- David Tulkin.
Check them out of Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/FogCityRabbitry
1: Tell us about your rabbitry…
FogCity is a small rabbitry with big dreams. I got my first rabbit, a Dutch, when I was seven, but I have been really into it for about two years. I believe that rabbits are the meat of the future. What other meat animal can you raise in your New York City apartment? I live in Daly City, about 10 minutes outside of San Francisco. I have about 25 holes but I usually only use about 20 of them. I raise rabbits for meat, raw dog food, hobby fur and pets. All of my rabbits are fed on a combination of pellets from a local miller, certified organic veggies and a combination of local grasses. I take great passion in all my rabbits and do my best to feed them as organic a diet as possible.
I am currently working with some farmers to put rabbits on pasture. We are growing certified organic crops and we have purchased a pellet mill. We will be milling our own organic pellets. In a couple months we will have twenty does on pasture each one placed in its own “rabbit tractor.” The pens will be moved around the field after they have consumed the available forage. The does we will be using will be a combination of Rex, CA, NZ, Flemish, American, and Florida. We are hoping to get invovled in seveal different aspects including the sales of rabbit tractors, organic rabbit pellets (on an affordable scale), and of course meat rabbits.
I also spend time working on making my rabbits taste good. Just as there is a differnce between steers finished in feed lots and those on pasture, I belive the same is true for rabbits. There is also a differnce in terms of how breeds taste. I could go into detail about this but if you are interested feel free to contact me.
My breeding stock consists of California, New Zealands, Flemish Giants, and American. Most of my meat rabbits are crosses but I also have pure bred rabbits as well. I breed the CA and NZ mostly for breeding stock for purchase. I prefer the crosses. I breed crosses for several main reasons. The first is that I feel the merits of breeding pure breed are only relevant if one is producing on a major scale, if money is of a serious concern, or of course if one is breeding for show. I don’t breed for show. Second, if a rabbit takes one extra week or is a couple ounces less than the others it does not really matter to me. Third, I find crosses so much more interesting. Forth, I find that I can get great meat rabbits out of crosses.
I spend a great deal of time reseaching how rabbit genetics work and which crosses can produce the best rabbits. I am also interested in rabbit nutrtion and which feeds produce the best meat. Just as there is a major taste difference between grain fed beef verses pasture beef, I find the same true for rabbits.
Raising rabbits is something my whole family does. My wife and children love to come outside and help with the rabbits each day. My kids especially like putting hay and fresh greens in the cages. Because they are young, we have one name for the rabbits, Pate, and at this point I think we are up to Pate XIV.
I also get a lot of joy helping other people get their rabbitries started. I have met so many great people, most of them via Craigs list.
I always have meat rabbits for sale and my breeding stock changes often. I rarely have mature breed stock and when I do it usually goes quickly. Currently I have the following.
**California mixes, will be eight weeks old and ready for pick up March 20th $20.00
**NZ mixes, will be eight weeks old and ready for pick up March 20th, $20.00
**American/Florida cross, will be eight weeks old and ready for pick up middle of April, $25.00 (these rabbits are really awesome looking). Colors are blue, black and white
**Pure CA rabbits, will be eight weeks old and ready for pick up April 25th $30.00