Keeping them fed and watered was real pain, especially in winter, as I'd have to go out before school, remove the ice from their water dishes, and load some hay and rabbit pellets into their feeders. When I got home I had to repeat all that, as well as scrape out the rabbit droppings from the hutches. However, we never went without meat.
Sounds familiar. One of my dad’s money-making schemes was to raise rabbits for sale and home consumption. At one time, we had around 200 of the stupid things. The only animals dumber were chickens.
My brother and I had responsibility for feeding, watering, and cleaning up after the rabbits. Which was hell in the winter.
For all that, I got a buck or two whenever we sold a batch of meat or pelts. I don’t think it was worth it. But let’s just say that participation wasn’t voluntary.