**The rabbit colony has fully repopulated after the final winter harvest**
After raising rabbits in a colony system for a few years, the natural cycles of the system have become more obvious. Because the rabbits are free to breed, the population in the colony follows the season. We get a big boom of kits in the spring, harvest them throughout the summer and then another big boom in the fall and harvest before winter sets in.
While we might be able to get more total rabbits harvested in a year with more intensive management style, like cages or tractors, the colony style is very passive. It's more like stocking a pond with fish, when it comes time to harvest, we fish out the biggest rabbits or throw the smaller ones back in to keep growing. We end up with about 150lbs of meat per year from this system with very low input costs.
Here's a podcast I recorded last year going into more detail on the integrated rabbit colony cannabis garden system:
https://fountain.fm/episode/SVdbfVHTW49Y0zxVYwMx
#permaculture #permies #homesteading #meshtadel #rabbits #rabbitcolony #meat
