Introduction

I currently reside on just under an acre of property just outside atlanta georgia. I moved down here with dreams of practicing small scale and eventually moving up and out of the area to start a full fledged homesteading farm. I was determined to raise goats, chickens, small pigs, and grow some crops via aquaponics and dirt based practices. After I moved in with my fiancée I made the discovery that in my county I can not raise any type of livestock at all unless if I have over two acres of property! I didn't expect to raise sheep and cattle in less then an acre but can you honestly tell me that an acre of land is too small to raise a few backyard chickens on?

I wouldn't try to raise this breed I just think they are funny to look at!

I found myself forced to figure out livestock that is not defined as livestock. After looking around I've settled on two animals that I think I can get away with. Rabbits and quail. Rabbits are considered pets and quail (though needing a permit) are considered a game bird. Through my studies and research I've discovered a few other types of not livestock animals and the ways they are raised and I wanted to share my adventures here with you all! 

It's been a few years since I've moved down here and many things have gotten in my way. New job which regularly takes me out of town, family troubles, etc. but I am still determined to start small here and learn as much as I can while I save my pennies until I can afford to leave.  

During my time down here I tried my hand with some rabbits. We were lucky enough to find a guy who was getting away from rabbits and was willing to sell us a small chunk of his supplies for dirt cheap prices. We were so thrilled we jumped in head first. Unfortunately we were unprepared and undereducated on what to do. 

One day neither of us had ever had a pet rabbit before and the next we had 12 rabbits, 9 all wire cages, and no where to put them! I scrambled and built a make shift shelter for them. It didn't take long for the tarp roof to begin to collect water and collapse my construction efforts. So we rebuilt and then paid someone 400$ to build us a professional looking hutch. That hurt my wallet but they seemed much happier. 

The breed of rabbits we went with are New Zealand whites a breed made for their meat production and white fur.

We made many mistakes with those rabbits and eventually they all passed on in various ways. However they were a huge learning opportunity! For example I struggled trying to figure out why my rabbits wouldn't breed for me. I put them together and they did their thing but I never got a single kit! It was incredibly frustrating and entirely my fault. 

Follow along as I blog about my adventures and what I have learned along the way. My failures and successes will be shared here. When starting out something like this any failure is just a learning experience and once you stick to it and try different things you'll eventually succeed. Currently I am redesigning a new rabbit hutch that I will build which will be more like a bunny McMansion when compared to what they're usually raised in. Hit that follow button so you don't miss out. My goal with these animals since I will be traveling out of town regularly will cause me to design their setup to be as maintenance free as possible. In this blog I will talk about the different animal rearing I've learned about along with my shortfalls and success stories.