Refining the System: Counting the Cost of Meat Rabbits
There’s a quiet discipline to building systems that work.
Not flashy systems.
Not theoretical ones.
But the kind that quietly produce — season after season — because the inputs are measured, intentional, and rooted in reality.
Lately, I’ve been refining the feed program for our meat rabbits.
Not abandoning the off-grid vision.
Not compromising the homestead ethic.
But tightening the bolts.
Because self-sufficiency isn’t just about doing everything yourself — it’s about doing it wisely.
Counting the Cost
Before our Lord ever spoke about building towers or going to war, He spoke about something most homesteaders eventually learn:
“For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it?”
— Luke 14:28
Breeding meat rabbits without counting feed costs, body condition, and output is no different than building without measuring lumber.
So we ran the numbers.
We’re currently supplementing with:
- Mixed grass hay
- Timothy
- Alfalfa
- Commercial pellets
An 18 kg bag of pellets costs $35.
Feeding ¼ cup per rabbit per day equals roughly 27–28 grams per rabbit.
With four rabbits, that works out to:
- ~110 grams per day total
- 18,000 grams per bag
- Approximately 164 days per bag
Over five months.
For $35.
About 5 cents per rabbit per day.
When you count the cost, clarity replaces emotion.
Stewardship Over Ideology
There is a temptation in off-grid living to prove something.
To say: “We don’t need outside inputs.” “We can do it all ourselves.” “We’ll feed entirely from forage.”
And sometimes that is possible.
But Scripture doesn’t praise stubbornness — it praises stewardship.
“Moreover it is required in stewards that one be found faithful.”
— 1 Corinthians 4:2
A lactating doe burns calories like a wood stove in January.
Protein matters.
Milk production matters.
Kit survival matters.
If a modest pellet supplement:
- Improves conception
- Increases litter size
- Boosts milk production
- Stabilizes body condition
Then that 5 cents per rabbit per day becomes not dependency — but diligence.
Faithfulness means using what is available wisely.
The Principle of Provision
Proverbs tells us:
“The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance.”
— Proverbs 21:5
Abundance rarely comes from extremes.
It comes from measured adjustments.
If one $35 bag stabilizes breeding and produces even one additional litter, the economics change quickly.
One litter of 6–8 kits can yield:
- 25–40 pounds of meat
- Months of protein for the family
- Manure for the gardens
- Pelts for trade or craft
That’s multiplication.
The system strengthens itself.
The Mycorrhizal Pattern
In the forest, trees exchange nutrients through unseen fungal networks. They don’t operate in isolation. They support one another strategically.
Creation itself teaches this.
“Go to the ant, O sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise.”
— Proverbs 6:6
The ant stores in summer for winter.
The forest shares resources through hidden roots.
And the homesteader refines systems through observation and correction.
Pellet supplementation is not abandoning the land — it is strengthening the cycle:
Feed efficiency
→ Stronger breeding
→ Greater meat yield
→ More manure
→ Richer soil
→ Better forage
→ Less dependence long term
It’s a loop. A living one.
Discipline Is Not a Lack of Faith
There is sometimes a false divide between faith and practicality.
But Scripture consistently binds them together.
Joseph stored grain.
Noah built with measurements.
Nehemiah organized labor.
Faith is not chaos.
Faith is obedience in structure.
And structure requires math.
Sometimes dragons are fought with pitchforks.
Sometimes they’re defeated with a feed scoop and a calculator.
Refinement Is Maturity
Early in homesteading, we try to prove resilience.
Later, we aim for endurance.
The goal is not to suffer for the sake of purity.
The goal is to build something that feeds our families for decades.
And so we refine.
We measure grams per cup.
We calculate days per bag.
We adjust body condition before breeding season.
We track outcomes.
Because stewardship honors the Provider.
And if we are faithful with rabbits, hay, and five-cent inputs —
we will be trusted with greater abundance.