When people think about sustainable food, their minds usually jump to backyard chickens, vegetable gardens, or maybe a small herd of goats. But there’s another animal that often gets overlooked—rabbits. And if you’ve got a little bit of grass and some local hay, you might be sitting on one of the most eco-friendly, self-sufficient food sources around.

Meat rabbits are efficient. You can raise rabbits on grass and hay, especially if you have access to fresh forage and quality local hay. While many people rely on commercial pellets, it’s entirely possible to raise rabbits without pellets if you have nutrient-dense forage available.

Plus, rabbit manure is excellent for gardens. It’s a “cold” fertilizer, meaning it can be used fresh without composting. If you’re into permaculture or organic gardening, this is a goldmine.

Efficient Feed Conversion

Rabbits turn grass, weeds, and hay into meat more efficiently than just about any other livestock. Pound for pound, they grow faster and eat less than chickens, goats, or pigs. They can be fed primarily on local hay and what grows right in our own yard—dandelions, clover, and a bit of alfalfa. Not only is this cost-effective, it’s a great way to turn “yard waste” into food.

Minimal Land and Water Needs

You don’t need a pasture or fancy infrastructure. Just a small hutch/cage or rabbit tractor that keeps them safe from predators. And while they need clean water daily, their water use is still much lower than larger animals.

Clean Meat, Clean System

Rabbits are naturally lean, low in cholesterol, and easy to process on a small scale. There’s very little waste, and the manure they produce is garden gold—rich in nitrogen and safe to use without composting first.

No Industrial Grain Dependency

If you raise rabbits thoughtfully, you can reduce or eliminate store-bought pellet feed entirely. That’s a big win when you’re trying to break free from grain-heavy food systems. They will often grow out faster on pelleted feed, though.

Super Easy to Butcher

Before moving to Wyoming, we were either raising or hunting nearly all of the meat for our family. Rabbits are by far the easiest animal to butcher. Chickens are probably my least favorite. Here’s how to humanely process rabbits:

Bonus: Garden Fertilizer

Rabbits produce a steady supply of manure that can go straight into your garden without composting first. It won’t burn your plants and is full of nutrients. This turns your yard into a kind of closed-loop system where your garden helps feed your rabbits, and your rabbits help feed your garden.

Rabbits don’t need acres of pasture or complicated shelter. A secure hutch or movable pen in a shady part of your yard can house a few rabbits comfortably.

In my experience, rabbits can actually become aggressive if given too much space. Here’s a cage we had that was made from an old bird cage. The rabbits liked jumping up on the ledges. I’d recommend not building a cage much bigger than this for a single doe.

The manure is collected in a bin to the side of the cages.

Bunnies are quiet, clean, and low-maintenance compared to many animals, which makes them ideal for suburban or even urban settings.

We’re using a simple movable rabbit cage that allows the growouts to eat fresh grass. This video shows how we built it. We used wheels and the handle from an old kid’s wagon.

If you’re just getting started, you might be asking what are the best meat rabbit breeds for beginners? Popular choices include New Zealand Whites, Californians, and Silver Foxes. These breeds grow quickly and are known for their impressive meat-to-bone ratios. I’ve personally found New Zealand rabbits to be more on the aggressive side if they aren’t separated/butchered before 3 months old, though. They can become territorial as they reach puberty.

Here’s a 3 week old satin x silver fox rabbit.

Here’s a 10 week old satin x silver fox rabbit.

Rabbit meat is delicious, mild, slightly sweet, and extremely versatile. I like to butcher several at a time and package the parts separately.

The tenders (back muscles) are too good to slow cook with the legs. They can be cooked just like chicken tenders.

We package up the front legs together to cook like chicken wings. The back legs often go into curries and similar dishes. Rich, nutritious broth can be made with the leftover carcasses.

Pictured is a skewer of rabbit hearts.

Other rabbit processing videos will likely keep the “saddle” whole but we prefer to cut out the tenders to eat just like chicken tenders.

Raising meat rabbits might not be mainstream, but for those who are looking for sustainable livestock options, they’re hard to beat. They grow fast, reproduce efficiently, thrive on simple diets, and leave behind rich fertilizer. And if you’re concerned about the ethics of meat, knowing that your animals lived a good life makes a big difference. Raising rabbits for food isn’t just sustainable, it’s empowering. It gives you control over your food and reduces your reliance on distant supply chains. Whether you’re on a few acres or in a quiet suburban yard, rabbits might be one of the simplest ways to raise your own ethical, clean, and truly local meat.