Many readers call Storey’s Guide to Raising Rabbits “the best rabbit book ever!” But, why?
Storey’s Guide to Raising Rabbits is authored by Bob Bennett. Mr. Bennett first became acquainted with rabbits at age 12 when he earned a Boy Scout merit badge for raising them. He has authored six books on the subject of rabbits since 1975 and has had numerous articles published in magazines and newspapers.
Storey’s Guide to Raising Rabbits was first published in 1975 under the title: Raising Rabbits the Modern Way. Now in it’s 4th edition, this legendary rabbit guide includes:
- Guidelines for showing
- Updated breed guide photographs
- Tips and advice on marketing
Bennett’s writing possesses all the old fashioned charm, simplicity, and quaint humor of a grandfather. With each bit of information and wisdom, often comes a personal story that adds warmth and depth to the book, making it not just a dry technical how to.
The book is a treasure-trove of information conveyed in an easily followed and digestible format. Even his instructions for building a Welded Wire Mesh Rabbit Hutch are surprisingly simple.
Beginner and veteran rabbit enthusiasts both will benefit from this informative book. The rabbit guide covers: care, feeding, breeding, safe housing, best breeds for each purpose, terminating, dressing, selling, health benefits of eating rabbit, convincing children that they are eating chicken, breaking down the manure with worms, and more.
Reader Beware
Storey’s Guide to Raising Rabbits is useful to people wanting Rabbits as pets, but it does lean heavily towards those people looking at Rabbits for breeding, eating, and other commercial endeavours. The guide does not discuss such topics as: bonding with your rabbit, taking your rabbit for a long walk on the beach, singing to your rabbit, what toys rabbits like, reading poetry to your rabbit, or anything that would be considered more of a “pet” topic. Although, he could have have introduced a Kobe Rabbit Beef section requiring much of that. That being said, even people strictly interested in rabbits as pets will gain a mountain of solid information about them.
There is another book written by Bob Bennett and published by Storey entitled Building Rabbit Housing. If you purchase Storey’s Guide to Raising Rabbits, Building Rabbit Housing is unnecessary.
Storey’s guide is not terribly breed specific. Several breeds are discussed, however the minutia of individual rabbit breeds is left out. A book covering all the breeds, even the major ones, would be a whole book in and of itself, as there are more than 50 breeds of rabbits to choose from.
Two Down Sides
Call me daft – you would not be the first, but the chapter on breading could have used more depth in the way of examples. For a book on breeding and considering how well the rest of the book was written, I found this section lacking.
Not available on Kindle – yet. While many of the Storey’s Guide series of books (generally awesome selection) are available in eBook format, Storey’s Guide to Raising Rabbits is not. Personally, I have become spoiled by the fact that I can receive instant reading gratification. eBooks have also meant that I have been able to start giving away a lot of physical books I own. My den and office where starting to look like a very odd library. Most books I flat refuse to buy a physical version of anymore. This is one of the very few books that I have recently made an exception for.
Other books of interest for the Urban Homesteader in the Storey series:
- Storey’s Guide to Raising Chickens: 3rd Edition (let you know how it is soon)
- Storey’s Guide to Raising Dairy Goats, 4th Edition: Breeds, Care, Dairying, Marketing
- Storey’s Guide to Raising Pigs: Care, Facilities, Management, Breed Selection (Or as I like to call them, “Bacon Trees”)
- Storey’s Guide to Keeping Honey Bees: Honey Production, Pollination, Health
- Storey’s Guide to Raising Sheep: 4th Edition (I am sure there is a Survivalist joke in there somewhere)
- Storey’s Guide to Raising Miniature Livestock
- Storey’s Guide to Raising Poultry: Breeds, Care, Health
- Storey’s Basic Country Skills: A Practical Guide to Self-Reliance
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