Rabbits are a wonderful way of getting your feet wet raising your own meat on limited space and budget. They tend to be less smelly than chickens and their reproductive methods are not only faster, but easier on the homesteader. Of course, it's a good idea to actually keep both rabbits and chickens, and while they should not be kept together openly, there is nothing wrong with your chickens and rabbits sharing a barn. Of course one of the biggest hurdles for many new homesteaders is actually killing and then eating your own rabbits. A few tips I offer, first do not name any offspring you intend to butcher, naming tends to increase a bond with the animal. Keep personal interaction with your grower rabbits to a minimum, lavish that attention on your brood rabbits instead.
A few things to keep in mind about rabbits: First, the meat is highly nutritious and lean. The meat will have a texture and flavor similar to chicken and can be used in exactly the same recipes. To make ground rabbit or rabbit sausage you will need to add some fat from other meat as it is too lean by itself, also it grinds easier if it is slightly frozen. Meat is not the only product your rabbits can give to you! Rabbit manure is very valuable as fertilizer in that it requires no composting, just add straight from the pan to the garden. Some rabbits can produce fine wool that can be spun by itself or combined with other fiber for luxurious yarns. Rabbit skins can be preserved and given a great number of uses, or sell them as green or tanned hides. Worms can even be raised in manure beds.
Rabbit feed can be supplemented by "green manure" from your garden: beet/carrot tops, melon rinds (in moderation), cut grass, radish greens, even honeysuckle, fresh green pine branches, and bamboo greens! Be careful not to feed too much fresh foods to rabbits less than 6 months of age. Overall, rabbits require very little input as compared to potential production of any livestock species in existence today.
There are two main methods and ideology for raising rabbits for production. One allows you to minimize your space needs and also identify exact parentage, this is cage rearing. The other will maximize overall production output by allowing the rabbits to "do what rabbits do" through colony rearing. Both methods will need some planning and basic materials to get started. Cage rearing you will need enough cages to comfortably house each brood rabbit individually. Each cage should be twice the length of the rabbit, stretched out, though larger is always better. Bucks should have ample space to mount a stretched out doe to breed. Pregnant does and growing brood juniors (bucks and does after weaning, but less than 6 months of age) require less space. Does with litters will need more space even than bucks. And you will need to account for at least 1 very large cage per litter for rearing your growers to butchering weight. You will also need enough feed and water bowls for each rabbit, and a large feed hopper for each grower pen/cage. I recommend your cages have a wire floor, but be prepared to also add a plank, tile, board, or mat of some kind to give the rabbits' feet a rest from the wire.
Cage rearing is fairly simple, always take the doe to the buck's cage for breeding. Rabbits do not have a 'heat cycle' they can breed anytime of the day or year, though they tend to be more receptive during the spring/summer than fall/winter. Perseverance is key though, if you want off-season litters, keep at them! The buck should mount the doe and attempt to breed. If she is receptive, she should stretch and lift her hindquarter. The buck should grunt and fall over, this is how you know the breeding was successful. Allow the buck to breed her 2-3 times more, then remove the doe. Take her back about 8 hours later to increase litter size. Mark your calendar for 31 days hence. Move the doe to a kindling (birth/litter) cage after about 2 weeks and offer her a nest with straw/shavings in it about 3-4 days prior to her due date. Then watch carefully. She should pull fur for the babies, if you see a pile of fur in the nest, you can carefully pull back to see if the babies are ok. If so, leave them alone. The doe may not even go back to the nest for up to 24 hours, this is perfectly normal. Check them daily for the first few days to be sure their bellies are rounded out. Well-fed babies should appear plump at all times, if they begin to appear slim and wrinkled she isn't feeding them. We'll go into that later though.
Colony rearing is slightly less labor intensive, though a little more space consuming. You would actually setup and prepare a large area fully fenced on all sides (don't forget the floor, rabbits can and will try to dig burrows! If they are successful, you will not be able to control the population and might not even be able to have a handle on total number or catch the young for consumption!) The rabbits would need to have sufficient feed and water available at all times. They will also require nest boxes or a well kept area of straw/hay for rearing litters. You will still need to check litters to be sure that any that die early are removed promptly. In this method you may use one buck for several does. You will know which is the sire of any given offspring, but will never know which is the dam. This is a great way to let "rabbits be rabbits" in a controlled way.
Whichever method you choose to keep your rabbits, have fun with them! Rabbits are a joy, and they're mighty tasty too!!
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