Hardly Simple Farming by: Nadia

 

Hardly Simple Farming

  Our last stop of day 3 was visiting a Rex Rabbit producer in Gallion, Alabama. All thanks to the Heaton family for letting us tour their home facility where they showed us their 60+ rabbits and beautiful home where they also had LaMancha goats, chickens, ducks, cows and even a pig. Mrs. Rachel Heaton is a 5th generation cattle farmer but because of land constraints she could not breed cattle so she got into breeding rabbits instead. 

The rabbits the Heaton’s breed and raise are used for pets, meat, and show rabbits.  We learned that the rabbits can grow as big as 10 pounds but the ones used for meat are processed at around 4 months or 5 pounds. This is when they are in their prime production of about 2 to 2.5 pounds of meat. These meat rabbits are sold fully processed to the locals in their community, along with the hides and manure. 

What amazed me most was learning that these rex rabbits came in many different colors. It was a great opportunity to learn more about small scale local rabbit producers and getting a close up and personal understanding of all aspects of the industry.