Should i get me some bunnies for the Manure? I have the space and i can build the cages. I always need more and more compost. How many rabbits and I know what happens if male and female get together. But how many rabbits are to many? and what do i feed them Do i grow part of the garden for the rabbits like lettuce all year round int he sahde and if it bolts can i get it to them? what else can they eat? help I live in a subdivision/ but no covenant and my county regulations says i can have up to 20 rabbits i have checked My DW says she would not have one for christmas dinner . But i would be ok with it. ? what do yall think? for Georgia boy going rabbits

A buck and two does could give you 50 bunnies a year, if you let them mix it up together. They are supposed to be good eating, although I wouldn't know, since they are not kosher. If you are planning on raising them for meat, you need to get the right breed. They do produce a lot of manure that is supposed to be fabulous fertilizer. Lettuce is not the best food for them (could you grow on a lettuce diet). You can feed them bread, veggie peels and scraps (carrots, kale, turnip greens, apples etc.) hay, a little oats and commercial rabbit food.If you were close enough, I'd give you our two rabbits, as they barely get any attention and I am tired of nagging the kids to feed and water them. They're not the eating kind, though, and the female lop eared rabbit is always growling at everyone (I think she's a descendant of the swamp rabbit that attacked Jimmy Carter.

You don't need many rabbits for a good supply of manure.
My neighbor owns some 10 rabbits for meat, and we get a lot of manure which he doesn't have any use for. He feeds them commercial rabbit foods, which is basically compressed alfalfa stuff. He gave us a rabbit too, but it was so cute and cuddly that we couldn't butcher it, and let it roam free in the (fenced) back yard. The breed was "dwarf australian white", they don't grow very large and are quite friendly. I never knew rabbits, but one thing I have learned is that they are EXTREMELY intelligent animals, and that if not caged and let free to express themselves, they always find a way to outsmart you. Our rabbit was a free spirited force of nature, but it fell prey of a pack of nasty dogs one day, because it could no longer stand being confined in our fenced property. I would never eat a rabbit again.
Good luck, Gardpro zone 5b

i've raised rabbits for about 10 years now and they are a great source of manure. I currently have 8 rabbits and that is plenty for my needs. I don't compost it, I just dig holes in my flower beds and bury it. This has worked well for me.

I feed my rabbits a diet of just alfalfa pellets. That's all they need to be healthy, but treats of hay, oats, lettuce, carrots and apples are always welcome treats.

My MIL raises rabbits for meat, but no way could I eat one - not after having raised them. Strangely enough, after having made 5 attempts at breeding them, only one was successful. So we have never been over-run with them. All the neighbor kids know that our place is now the local home for wayward rabbits, which is fine. I can always use extra rabbit manure and once you start buying feed in 50 lb. bags, feeding an extra rabbit or three doesn't cost that much.

Good luck....I hope it works out for you. One thing I'd like to mention is that they are very low maintenance animals. No need for vaccines and they rarely get sick with anything that can't be cured with a dose or two of apple cider.

I raised rabbits for years in the 70's and am going to start again with my daughter.
They are indeed low maintenance as long as you set things up right. Minimal housing needs, but they need to be dry and out of the wind. Also need to be able to get away from direct sunlight.
I used to raise the New Zealands, and Californians, and they performed excellent for me. Very hardy and very delicious, too. This time we are going to raise Florida Whites. They are a smaller size, since my daughter is only 9.
I was raised a farm boy, so I'm used to harvesting animals, but it still bothered me. The only way I can do it is to let myself get attached to the ones I decide to keep for brood stock, and make a point of not cuddling up to the rest.
As to needs-with 4 good does, breeding one every 2 weeks, 4 weeks after she has kindled, weaning at 6 weeks, you could put half a rabbit on the table every day without ever running out. Average productive lifespan of 2-3 years. If that's more food than you need relax the regimen and they'll last longer for you.
A very popular food in Europe, they have never caught on big here.
One thing we're going to experiment with is composting worms/redworms in their piles. Also by layering your manure with handfuls of sawdust, straw, etc, and perhaps a little lime, objectionable odors are non-existant. A mild fertilizer with excellent organic matter! Enjoy!

If you only want them for the manure you can do just fine with 2-6 rabbits even if you never breed them for meat production. You don't even need to compost the manure, it is mild enough to add directly to your gardens if desired. It will develop a smell, mostly from urine, if you just let it sit below the cage, so I would advise aerating by moving it and adding light layers of other compost. If you get to many rabbits you will have more manure then you wish to be moving.