Creme d'Argent bunnies two weeks old.
Here is a young Creme buck.
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Here at M and J Youth Farms, we have a very small rare-breed rabbitry consisting of Creme d'Argent Rabbits and Standard Rex. I raise rare breeds in order to promote and preserve them, helping to protect the genetics of breeds that were developed to thrive under non-industrial management practices and in specific, non-industrial environments. For many reasons, I see rabbits as the ideal urban meat animal. They are clean and quiet, very productive, and easy to butcher. They are a perfect complement to an urban garden, consuming garden waste and turning it into delicious, versatile, easily digestible, high quality animal protein, and providing abundant manure that is a sought-after garden amendment. Additionally, they can make use of vegetation grown in unused areas such as empty lots, side yards, power line easements, and the like. In addition to feeding commercial rabbit pellets, I use an Austrian scythe to collect fresh grass and weeds for my rabbits in season, significantly reducing my feed bill, increasing the healthfulness of the final product, and keeping my yard tidy. Creme d'Argent rabbits are a beautiful, frosted gold rabbit developed in France. They are born orange, and as they mature, each hair is tipped with silver. Cremes are gentle, calm rabbits with good meat characteristics, and the does are good mothers. This is a rare breed in need of preservation. Cremes are listed as "watch" on the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy conservation priority list, which means there are fewer than 200 annual registrations in the United States and estimated global population is less than 2,000 animals. |