Meat Rabbits

[Sundance]

Like Ben Brew I've been pondering farmyard animals.

I have ruled out egg laying chickens as I have to watch
cholesterol.

I am intrigued by rabbits for meat. And initial web research
tells me it's about the healthiest meat you can raise. As well
as a very high meat to feed ratio.

I am interested in hearing first hand experiences with different
breeds for meat output. Especially from the northland.

Thanks

[mike haney]

the value realized is in the quality of the meat, the self suffeciency in raising your own, and a small amount of by-products(skin,fur, manure.) the cost of feed puts the price near or slightly above grocery beef, your labor has its own rewards( exercise, close to nature,self satifaction). good luck,mike

[Sundance]

Mike,

Any reason I can't feed rabbits my own alfalfa??

I guess I'm blown away with the idea of the cost per pound
equaling store bought beef........ seems impossible??

My initial digging shows that rabbits produce 6 pounds of
meat on the same feed and water requirement that would
produce 1 pound of beef.......

[mike haney]

unless strictly processed, alfalfa will give them a severe case of the runs. i had more success with native rabbits taken from the nest and raised/bred. tricky,but doable. the purebreds i raised were just too finicky for native foods except in moderation. good luck,mike

[drobbins]

the cost of feed for a hobbiest has really shot up
I keep a few chickens and a bag of feed is up 50% from a year ago
I expect rabbit feed is just as bad
you might want to look for a comparison of rabbits to meat birds
there may be a reason there are huge commercial chicken farms but not rabbit farms

Dave

[cow pollinater]

How about ducks? I don't know much about the cholesteral levels in the meat but the meat is superb and they can live on their own once you get them started. The eggs are reported to be much healthier but taste quite similar to chicken eggs. As a bonus, they are great for your garden as they eat bugs (not bees) but not plants.
Also, many of my wife's former customers(former as in we finally shut down the farm stand this week:D:D:D No more free labor for cow pollinater:D) bought eggs from us on their doctor's advice because free range eggs are suposed to have less cholesterol than store bought??? Please do your own research but maybe worth looking into.

[Tom G. Laury]

"An live off the fatta the lan'," Lennie shouted. "An' have rabbits. Go on, George! Tell about what we're gonna have in the garden and about the rabbits in the cages and about the rain in the winter and the stove, and how thick the cream is on the milk like you can hardly cut it. Tell about that, George."

Steinbeck There is a little Lenny in many of us

[Adrian Quiney WI]

Well, I raised 3 litters from a New Zealand Doe 5 years ago. They were litters of 6, 10, and 10. I raised them on Fleet Farm rabbit pellets and ate them when they reached an average 4 pounds a piece. However, they didn't taste as good as chicken and the parents were retired as pets. They passed away this winter. They can stand cold climates if you can get them water twice a day in the winter, and they are fine with the cold if you keep them out of the wind.
What I would suggest is find someone in your area; The ARBA website is a good place to start, buy a couple of "fryers" and see if you like the meat. It is not worth the effort if you are not going to enjoy the product.
Yet what I will say is this - the way the doe makes a nest, gives birth, and raises them is fascinating. She only visits the nest once a day to suckle them. At a week to ten days they grow fur, at 3 weeks they start hopping around the cage. I forget whether it is 6 or 8 weeks, but they reach a point where continuing feeding them is not cost effective and that is the time to eat em. Perhaps you could trade honey for the fryers? If you have kids its a great 4H project. If you decide to try get the cages that have the screen on the bottom, the poop and pee falls right out. They make a lot of poop.
As for feeding them alfalfa, it might work for the adults as a supplement, and they probably would love it, but as a previous poster mentioned it would give the young ones the runs, most likely. If you have a Fleet Farm store near you then you can get all you need. Or, if you ever come to Minneapolis/Saint Paul I could trade you my 3 cages, and two brood nest boxes for some of your surplus bee-stuff. Incidentally don't do anything without reading up really well. For example if you put the doe in the buck's cage at the right time he will breed her, but if you put the buck in the doe's cage she will attempt to kill him by emasculating him:cry: Adrian

[Sundance]

I've had rabbit several times and liked it a lot.

I get to St Cloud and have a Bro in Mpls so the trade is
on...........

I'll PM you.

[Galaxy]

If I were doing this with either rabbits or chickens, I would use a chicken tractor for rabbits and/or chickens. This should save substantially on feed bills. Google pastured poultry and chicken tractor.

To keep the varmints out of the chicken tractors that I have, I put an electric fence around the bottom about four inches from the ground and four inches from the pens' wire. I never had a varmint get in except for a black snake. It's interesting to put your hand in a hen's nesting box to retrieve eggs and instead grab a black snake. :( And, I have had the fence kill one black snake.

In Italy, I have seen chickens and meat rabbits being housed in the same pen.

[Galaxy]

If you go with ducks the best type is probably the Muscovy duck. The French eat a lot of duck and their commercial breed is a Muscovy type. Duck meat is high in fat. But, when cooked right it is very good as is most high-fat meat.

[dragonfly]

I personally love plain ole cottontails, especially in a gumbo, so I bet just about any domestic rabbit would be excellent.

CP- I believe, although I could be mistaken, that chickens who are allowed to range and eat lots of greens and bugs do have less cholesterol than caged chickens that are fed primarily grains. Kind of like eating range-fed beef as opposed to cows raised in pens.

[BeeAware]

I've been raising meat rabbits for a few years now, and the cost of feeding them has really increased in recent months. A 50 lb bag of feed is now selling for $11.50. If you plan to only produce meat for your own table you will not need many does. I have 32 does and they produce a lot of offspring!

A couple of good does and one buck can produce all the meat you will likely need for one family. You can follow the commercial breeding schedule of 14 days and get a lot of rabbits per year. I re-breed does 14 days after kindling and the kits are ready for slaughter at 8 weeks of age.

The best breeds for meat are New Zealand Whites and Californians. The Californians have the best taste, in my opinion. When ready to mate the does, be sure to place the doe in the buck's cage, not the other way around.

Good eating.

[Sundance]

No to ducks............. to fatty. I am interested in only
low fat, low cholesterol meat. And my digging so far says
rabbit beats everything else by a long way.

And you can clean 4 or 5 rabbits to every chicken. Fast
and easy. The killing excepted..........

Putting the rabbit cages on wheels is on my list of to dos
for sure.

A plus with bunnies is their manure is the only one you can
incorporate directly into your garden or trees without
composting.

[riverrat]

If you can get bizzybee away from his Presto we have a fire wax melter pot.:D I think he has gotten into raising bunnies for meat

[Bizzybee]

I roast the bunnies over the wax fire rat, knock out two birds (rabbits) with one stone don't you know! :D

I think the best suggestion I heard up the line was to get a fryer (kind you want to keep) first and try it out. IT IS SO YUMMY!!! A great break from chicken chicken chicken chicken chicken! It has a light flavor and goes well into most chicken recipes.

My highest cost goes into pellets (Purina Rabbit Chow) and Timothy Hay. The first $12.50/50lb and hay is $11.00 a bail. Maybe I can find it a bit less somewhere? The rest I grow or pick wild for them. They have a very, varied diet.

If you buy all of your feed in small portions from pet shops and the like I would expect the cost to be quite high and possibly close to retail meat? But it no where near the cost of beef if you shop out your feed sources and buy in bulk.

Wish I could find some California's local, I'm still looking. But I'm content with my New Zealands for now.

[NeilV]

I know nothing about raising rabbits, but have one comment and questions.

I have heard about people raising rabbits on pasture in movable cages. Joel Salatin uses that method for meat chickens and rabbits. It should reduce feed costs because the rabbits eat the grass from the pasture for part of their food intake. Also, grass fed critters have healthier meat. Anybody tried that?

I've eaten plenty of cottontails. I always thought they were okay, but pretty dry and tough. I like squirrels better for taste, even though they can be tough too. How do hutch rabbits compare in flavor and tenderness? Just wondering.

Also, FWIW, duck fat is one of the healthier kinds of fat.

ndvan

[Hambone]

I personally love plain ole cottontails, especially in a gumbo,

LOL. Kinda knowing you D/F. I fell out of my chair. Still LOL. I thought you were gonna say something else after that comma. lol. still. Your the best.

[HAB]

Been raising meat rabbits for seven years now. All of the meat breeds are delicious. But the price of bulk (10 or more 50lb bags at the local Co-Op) feed is now $11.20 a bag so we've come to the conclusion its no longer worth it. Got 14 ready to butcher, and 3 does due to kilt in the next two weeks then that'll be it.
Sure gonna miss the buggars.

[Sungold]

From reading this thread, it seems that people are paying approx $11./$11.50 per 50lb of feed. Roughly speaking, how many lbs of feed does it take to bring a rabbit to weight for slaughter?

[alpha6]

Horse...eat horse meat. Go to an auction where they are selling them to the dog food companies and you can get them really cheap. Usually pretty lean meat, may be a little tough if it is an older animal but a good crockpot cooking will help that.

The only problem is if your neighbors see you hanging and skinning the thing...something about it really bugs them. Also you will need room in the freezer.

Good luck... :D

BTW...remember Tonto in the the lone Ranger. Kimosabe actually means "One day I am going to eat your horse" ... no really.... :shhhh:

[Sundance]

From reading this thread, it seems that people are paying approx $11./$11.50 per 50lb of feed. Roughly speaking, how many lbs of feed does it take to bring a rabbit to weight for slaughter?

That is my question too..............

[Sundance]

Horse...eat horse meat.

Isn't it wild what people will or will not eat?? Just depends on
the culture. Many eat cats and dogs and think eating a chicken
is barbaric. Many cultures eat horse........... but I'll pass......:D

[Sungold]

Isn't it wild what people will or will not eat?? Just depends on
the culture. Many eat cats and dogs and think eating a chicken
is barbaric. Many cultures eat horse........... but I'll pass......:D

The only thing I try to avoid is "eating crow".

[Adrian Quiney WI]

According to "Rabbit Production" by Mcnitt et al. 2000. "As a rule of thumb, a New Zealand White Doe and litter will consume about 100 pounds of feed from breeding to eight weeks of age. Weanling rabbits will consume from 2 to 6 ounces of feed per day, depending on their size.
Feed conversion is the pounds of feed consumed divided by the pounds of body weight gained. It is commonly referred to as the feed:grain ratio. Weanling rabbits will consume about 3 pounds of feed per pound of gain. As a rule it will take 3.5 to 4.0 pounds of feed for a doe and litter per pound of gain of the litter."
Incidentally alfalfa meal, whatever that is, ranges from 40% to 54% of some examples of diet formulas this book gives. Anyway using this ratio and the figure of $11.50 per 50 pound feed bag; This works out to be $0.23/pound of feed; Multiply $0.23/pound of feed by 4.0 pounds of feed per pound of weight gain gives a cost of $0.92 per pound of rabbit grown. However, then you need to multiply by 2 because 50% of the rabbit will be lost when you process it - unless you have a dog to eat bones, fur and guts. Yet at $1.84 a pound it is still low cholesterol meat you have had control over. Meat is becoming more expensive everywhere these days. I hope these figures are helpful. Adrian.

[Sungold]

Adrian,

Thanks, that's a very nice summary.

Cliff

[NeilV]

So are the hutch rabbits tastier and more tender than wild cottontails?

Also, the "eating crow" reference mixed in with rabbits reminds me of a true story. I went rabbit hunting one time with my Dad, my half-brother and HIS cousin (but not MY cousin, which is important, as will be explained). Anyway, we shot some rabbits and then decided to break out the crow call and shoot some crows. Shooting crows is about the only thing I've ever shot just for the fun of shooting something for no reason. I've given it up, but that was then and this is now. Then, it was exciting to call in crows and blast away. We called in a bunch of crows and popped a few of them.

Then, my Brother's cousin decides that he wants to see what crow meat tastes like. He proceeds to skin a crow, which from the looks of it is not easy. As it turns out, the skin sticks to the meat. Crow meat is the ultimate dark meat. It's nearly black. It also stinks.

According to my brother, HIS cousin was undeterred and actually cooked and tried to eat the crow. He did not manage to swallow one bite, which he reported was the worst tasting meat he had ever tried.

So the moral of the story, if there is one, and I'm not sure there is, is that some people may eat dogs, cats and horses, but nobody eats crows.

[Sundance]

So are the hutch rabbits tastier and more tender than wild cottontails?................but nobody eats crows.

From experience........ Hutch raised rabbits are much, much
better than wild. Better flavor, and tender.

And as to crow............ I talked to a guy that hunted them
regularly in Pecan orchards and they love them!! Breasted
out and on the BQ.

[Sundance]

This works out to be $0.23/pound of feed; Multiply $0.23/pound of feed by 4.0 pounds of feed per pound of weight gain gives a cost of $0.92 per pound of rabbit grown. However, then you need to multiply by 2 because 50% of the rabbit will be lost when you process it - unless you have a dog to eat bones, fur and guts. Yet at $1.84 a pound it is still low cholesterol meat you have had control over. Meat is becoming more expensive everywhere these days. I hope these figures are helpful. Adrian.

Thanks a million Adrian......... At 92 cents a pound that is very
comparable to store bought chicken. And way cheaper than
lean beef.

The dogs will get the innards.......:)

[Sungold]

Unless your buying chicken "on the hoof", wouldn't the comparison be at $1.84/lb.

Either way, I just got back from a local market (Northern New Jersey), thawed rabbit $8.99/lb. It looked very good, fresh, nice and lean but $8.99/lb Maybe that's typical, I guess I was just thinking priced more like chicken.

[Sundance]

Unless your buying chicken "on the hoof", wouldn't the comparison be at $1.84/lb.

Either way, I just got back from a local market (Northern New Jersey), thawed rabbit $8.99/lb. It looked very good, fresh, nice and lean but $8.99/lb Maybe that's typical, I guess I was just thinking priced more like chicken.

Note that the $1.84 per pound is boneless, and skinless. Boneless
chicken is in that same price zone. Perhaps more.

[dcross]

We fed our rabbits baled hay(almost pure alfalfa) and dried ear corn at all times, never had any problems. Pellets were fed too, but not unlimited quantities except to nursing does. I would be comfortable drying down plain old grass clippings for bucks.

[Sundance]

Thanks Dave....... I have a lot of alfalfa that I mow a
couple times a year. Seems a waste to let it lay.

[beegee]

My brother used to raise meat rabbits. He got to where he hated to kill them. After he got out of it, a guy started a truck route that came around and picked up the live rabbits and took them to the Pel-Freeze plant.

[Sundance]

Killing is certainly the nasty side!! I know that I will hate
it most of all.

We are so used to getting meat on Styrofoam trays that
we've lost touch with the nasty side of eating meat.

[dcross]

If I was going to do it again, I would strongly consider a CO2 chamber for the deed. I believe an old aquarium, a plexi lid and some weather stripping would be all you need.


http://nwco.net/0531-StepThreeLethalToolsAndTechniques/5-4-0-CarbonDioxideChamber.asp

[Sundance]

That is very interesting Dave......... but does it have any
impact on meat quality??

[Sungold]

This seems to be a fairly humain way to dispatch a rabbit. The video may be coverd by an overlay, Last week the overlay was not on the video.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A9uFuW_Xvn0

[Sundance]

Dial up blues here...........

My concern would be on what CO2 does to the meat
product. Probably nothing, but I'd feel more comfortable
knowing.

[dcross]

That is very interesting Dave......... but does it have any
impact on meat quality??


I know zoos use it to kill rats and mice for their critters, and it's used to flush oxygen out of bags of shredded cheese to prevent spoilage. I have heard it CAN give off-flavors to cheese, but it takes a pretty significant level to do that.

[doc25]

Just a note here on chicken. It cost me $6.00 to raise meat birds to slaughter including the cost of the bird. They were allowed to free range during this time as well. The chickens were butchered at the 4.5 to 6.5 lb range.

The dark meat turned out nearly as white as the breast. Without scientific equipment to test I'm still assuming that they are leaner than store bought. Labour aside they cost half the price as an equivalent store bought chicken.

Free range chicken eggs are better for you as well. I think they were quoting 1/2 the chloresterol as store bought.

[Sundance]

Unfortunatly free range chickens are out of the
question for me............

I have free range dogs:).

[cow pollinater]

Unfortunatly free range chickens are out of the
question for me............

I have free range dogs:).

Do what you want, but I'd say stick with the rabbit idea. Dog meat(even free range dog meat) might be a delacasy in other parts of the world but it might get a few funny looks here...:D

[Tom G. Laury]

Have Free Range minds

[BEES4U]

:)

http://pan-am.uniserve.com/pg000031.htm

Feed conversion is an important number - feed conversion as high as 16:1 has been recorded for BC rabbit producers (Ference, 1981), a 4:1 total barn conversion is needed to make any money. Take your total feed used divided by total weight of fryers sold for a period of time, that gives the total barn feed conversion. Then take your price of feed times the feed conversion number, and if that price is not higher than your fryer price you are in trouble. This calculation shows the benefits of keeping your costs down, avoiding over-capitalization and using a feed that gives you value for the money spent. The cheapest feed is probably not the best buy. There are much more important ways to improve profitability, such as getting an extra litter per year from a doe, or having one more pup survive in a litter (Armero & Blasco, 1992).

Ernie

[Adrian Quiney WI]

One thing to keep in mind. The NZ doe and buck I kept needed about a cup of dry (Fleet Farm brand) feed a day when dry. This made a 25 pound bag last an awful long time.
I have four kids (humans not goats), and found that adult rabbits love left-over apple cores, peelings, and any weeds I pulled. The thing that they ate most eagerly was bread. They love to chew, so I gave them cardboard as well from time to time. This is the ultimate home recycling critter. No waiting around for compost to decompose. You put leftovers in one end, and fertilizer comes out the other; Not sloppy stinky stuff, but pelletized shovelable stuff. Rabbit urine is high in calcium, and stinks.
My point in this is that during the long dark winter months the does are not going to be fertile, but that if you only have a couple of does and a buck feeding them is not going to break the bank. An adult rabbit's diet is easy to supplement with stuff that you would either throw out or put in the compost pile. One caveat, a person should be careful not to let the rabbit get fat. Fat rabbits have greater difficulty getting pregnant and giving birth.
Ernie is right in that if you factor in the months in the north when the rabbits are just hanging out say October through early March the feed conversion rate has to be higher than it would be in the south where you would get a longer period of production.
An unrelated factoid. I remember reading that the female rabbit is most fertile within the 24 hours of giving birth, and that is what the commercial breeders took advantage of. Adrian

[Sundance]

What about artificial light??? Will that make them
produce in the winter??

[Adrian Quiney WI]

Artificial light could help, I never tried breeding them over the winter, and kept them outside after having them in my basement for a month. According to my book (McNitt), it may help if you keep the light on for as long as the longest day in your region. Is it going to be dependable? I don't know.:scratch:

[Adrian Quiney WI]

Of course in our region it gets so cold that all living creatures are stressed by winter. I changed the water over twice-a-day in the winter, and the rabbits would drink their fill before it froze, and they were OK. Yet if the doe is lactating she has to consume more food and fluids to deal with this metabolic requirement. Could she keep up with this in our winters and not wear down? How about the rabbit young (known as kits)? The european wild rabbit, from which domestic rabbits have been developed, keeps her kits in a nest underground in a burrow where I would guess it must be 50 degrees. In a northern climate rabbits in cages are going to be colder than that unless they are in a heated building. When they are first born they are hairless - I would worry about them freezing.

[Sundance]

I was thinking more about the either side of the "nasty"
stuff. Like Sept - Oct - March - April. I wouldn't even
consider those nasty months.

[wayacoyote]

Sundance,
Rabbits should do well in cooler climates. It is the heat that they can't take. I have a recipe for home-made rabbit food that I'll for if you PM me. We do raise chickens in a tractor as Galaxy mentioned and are considering raising rabbits, too. The chickens were hatched in April and were just butcherable last month. Rabbits have a faster turn-around cycle. So should be cheaper in that you feed them less as long.

Mike Haney,
The idea of finding local rabbits would probably still work well, except it is now illegal in Kentucky to keep wildlife without a permit. Perhaps a permit wouldn't be too hard to get. I did notice that we are allowed to trap rabbits and squirrels this year. Though I'm sure we'll be required to put them down right away.

Galaxy,
We too use chicken tractors and are considering rabbits. A floor would probably be necessary to keep the rabbits from digging out, right?

Regarding Dragonfly's comments on collesterol in free-ranged chickens, one of our magazines did a whole issue on it claiming that the gov and big Chicken doesn't want us to know that there is a health benefit to free-range eggs. However, the magazine claimed to have had it studied and shown that the eggs have less colestrol.


CO2 chambers for putting down animals - considered humane
I have worked at zoos and other places where this was utilized because it is one of the few "approved humane" methods. However, watch the process. Then learn about the respiratory cycle. We feel the urge to inhale because there is too much CO2 in our blood. Ever panic from not being able to breath? what if the air you Did breath put more CO2 in your blood? I decided that it is a horrible way to go, every breath doesn't satisfy but only makes the urge to breath stronger. I've often wondered if the animals died from lack of oxygen (which can take a Long time) or from cardiac arrest from the panic. Me? I just lopped off the heads of three roosters this morning. They never knew what was coming.

[wayacoyote]

Sundance,

Here’s the link to the recipe that my wife has.

http://pan-am.uniserve.com/pg000062.htm

My wife also recommends feeding a hay/ alfalfa mix. She had to feed less pellet food when supplementing with the hay mix, and the rabbits remained quite healthy and strong.

On a side note, we use a ferret-iguana leash to walk our pet rabbits.

[wayacoyote]

Sundance,
Here's a book for you. It sets on my night stand for those sleepless nights when I want to be reading something good rather than staring at the walls:

(The Homeseteader's Handbook to) RAISING SMALL LIVESTOCK by Jerome D. Belanger. Rodale Press 1974.

It has a whole chapter on meat rabbits with good info. I'm sorry that it took so long to mention it. I forgot I owned is, as I've checked it out from the libraries a lot. Check your library.

[Sundance]

Sundance,
Here's a book for you. It sets on my night stand for those sleepless nights when I want to be reading something good rather than staring at the walls:

(The Homeseteader's Handbook to) RAISING SMALL LIVESTOCK by Jerome D. Belanger. Rodale Press 1974.

It has a whole chapter on meat rabbits with good info. I'm sorry that it took so long to mention it. I forgot I owned is, as I've checked it out from the libraries a lot. Check your library.

Thanks Waya.......... I'll look into it.

[Oldbee]

For those that don't get Bee Culture:

Honeyed Rabbit:
1 rabbit, cut into serving pieces
1 medium onion, sliced
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
3 tablespoons cooking oil
3-1/2 cups tomato juice and pulp
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup HONEY!! ******
1 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons cooking oil

Saute' the onion, garlic, parsley [didn't see that?] in the three tablespoons oil until onion is golden brown. Strain the tomato juice to obtain some pulp. Add pulp and 1/2 teaspoon salt to the pan. Simmer for ten minutes. Mix in milk and HONEY. Remove from heat. Dip rabbit in the mixture then roll in the flower, [ I mean FLOUR] seasoned with the salt and pepper. Brown, in the six tablespoons oil. Cover rabbit with sauce and tomato juice and simmer about 1-1/2 hours. Serves three to four.

This recipe is especially good if the rabbit is not young and tender. The long, slow simmering will tenderize it.

"Wild Game Cookbook", by L.W. "Bill" Johnson.

Checked and double checked the recipe; HOPE it's right! OB.

[power napper]

We raised meat rabbits for several years.
The best producing rabbit for our area of western Pennsylvania was the Californian rabbit. Every two weeks a "rabbit man" would stop and buy our fryers and deliver the feed at a price savings to us.
Our cages were home built with 1/2 x 1 wire bottoms and up the sides four inches--this kept the kits from climbing out through the wire at birth--it does happen.

The sides and the top were constructed from 1 x 2 wire and wire clips were used to attach the sides and bottoms together.

Wooden nesting boxes were installed into the floors of the cages where we wanted to place the bred does--filled with straw the front of the nest box was level with the floor so that any kits dragged out by mother could crawl back in.

We built frames out of inch and half pipe to support the wire cages--two tiers of cages--and had wheels on the bottom of the pipes held on with all thread between the pipes. The rabbit cages were set on top of 4 x 8 foot brick bins three feet deep--these were worm bins, what waste products the rabbits produced dropped into the worm bins and became vermicompost. These bins accumulated a lot of vermicompost that is great for the garden etc,

We enclosed the pole shed in plastic over winter to help keep warm--two layers like a green house.

Automatic waterers really help keep the labor hours down.

Hardwood blocks of wood soaked in salt water were good to keep in the cages for chewing.
Fresh apple limb or sassafrass limb were frequently put into the cages to allow the rabbits to peel off all tlhe bark with their teeth.

Fresh alfalfa hay was always available with a side of cage hay rack.

Fantastic meat--superb livers-but like several others stated I do not enjoy the killing part.

[Bizzybee]

Would be cool if you had any old pics of your setup napper. If you run across any, send em over to me if you don't mind?

I got the supplies I need a couple of days ago to get my watering system set up. Those critters can sure put away some water. Having a watering system will be easier to prevent freezing at night also.

The price to the packers as of about a month ago was ranging from about $.80 lb to $1.10 lb for fryers. So if you are seeing 9 bucks a pound at the market, it isn't a good indicator of the cost of raising it yourself. I have seen dressed rabbits being sold in my Market Bulletin recently for about $1 lb. Some sold as dog food, I'm sure to bypass state regs for food processing but some that sold as food. Guess it would behoove the buyer to get to know the person they are buying from.

Killing the critters???? That's something I've wrestled with myself. I'm breaking necks at the moment but considering a shot to the brain with a air pistol. I don't know? CO2 I'm not so sure of? Although it may seem humane from our perspective watching the whole process, they are basically suffocating. If you've never been in that situation before you have no idea how frightening that is! Although having their neck broken causes muscle contractions and quite violent most often, it is something that we see and have to process in our minds but the rabbit to my knowledge has no conception of whats happening. So I wonder often if what is considered humane is more for the executor or the executee?

Anyone willing to expand on the subject, it would be greatly appreciated!

[Sundance]

I am behind getting my hutch up.

Finally lined up some rabbits but seems like there
isn't enough time to set up. Hopefully the weather
will continue to be good.

I too like the idea of the watering system. Seems you
could use that water pipe tape/cord they use under
mobile homes coupled with a heated bucket??

Keep us posted Biz and PN I'd love to see some pics
of your set up too.

Killing is nasty....... period. I have heard that you can
get pretty scratched up too if you don't wear gloves
and sleeves.

[randydrivesabus]

Its the killing part that made me stop raising broilers. i would think that killing rabbits would be worse.

[Sundance]

Its the killing part that made me stop raising broilers. i would think that killing rabbits would be worse.

The killing....... probably worse. Cleaning for the freezer,
a lot easier. They say you can clean and package 3 or 4
rabbits in the time you'd do 1 chicken.

[iddee]

Killing rabbits is quick, easy, and bloodless.
Take a 2X4 18 inches long. Cut two triangles off one 2in. side, to make an edge. the edge should be about 3/8 in. wide, not sharp. The other end of the 2X4 can be cut down to fit the hand. Hold the rabbit by the scruff and strike just behind the head at a 45 degree swing. It breaks the neck instantly. The rabbit muscles tighten, then relax. It's over.


Most people then cut their throats and let drain, but for personal use, it isn't necessary.

PS. I can dress a rabbit in 2 to 3 minutes.

[Bizzybee]

I saw a video not long ago where a woman used a rig that may or may not have been set up for dispatching a rabbit. It looked to be two pieces of angle iron attached to a 4x4 post in a triangle. She carried the rabbit to the device and simply slipped the neck into the vee of the iron and pulled back against the body and legs in a quick motion. I can't find the link again but just as well. Would be rough for some folks to watch I'm sure.

I have one pet rabbit that will never see the chopping block, once they get a name they are off the menu! :)

That in mind the rest are never handled so they aren't happy to be handled and there natural instinct to freak out takes over when they are picked up. So if you have bee gloves they can save you a lot of pain from scratching if you use them. Hence my thinking about using an air pistol? I would like to spare them the trauma of being rough handled on their way to death. You could just walk up and give them one shot without their knowing what was coming or what ever happened.

Maybe I'm a little over the line, but I don't think any creature needs to endure undue suffering. That's the biggest reason I stopped hunting years ago. I'm not opposed to it and won't say that I'm not going to go tomorrow, but I would prefer not to.

[iddee]

Hey, Biz...Next time I'm in Ga. I'll be glad to change little mopsy's name to Ms. or Mr. Hassenpfeffer for you. Won't take long at all. :thumbsup:

Most meat rabbits can be lifted by the scruff with very little resistance, even if they haven't been handled more than 2 or 3 times.

[J-Bees]

PS. I can dress a rabbit in 2 to 3 minutes.

I can dress one in a minute: kill it in 10 seconds; grab by rear feet and make sure the ears are on the ground step on them an give a quick pull: neck cracks real easy you can cut thru the neck to bleed it if you wish too.

as for skinning it cut fur on the back in the -___|___-middle pull each way trim off the feet, innerds and it's done.

[Bizzybee]

Guess that would work iddee, that would be the one living next to the Welsh's and the Creole's :D

The little dutch girl that lives in the house with us and terrorizes my cats is called Flit. Cuz that's what she does best, flitting from one place to the next. I wouldn't trade her for anything, she's my cat payback!!! :D Blasted cats!!

[Zane]

J bee's pull a little harder and head comes off too bleeding is then in progress automatically! Quick and easy. Maybe not for everyone I''m sure but it works great.

[Bizzybee]

Sounds like we's about to schedule us the first annual Beesource Wabbit Whackin Contest!! Whoohoooooo!!! :)

[MapMan]

After reading these accounts, I am proud to say I eat only chocolate rabbits. Chew the ears off first.

MM

[Bizzybee]

Yeah but it takes so long for them to hatch and even longer before the are eating size. That is unless you want to eat them while they are still Kisses. Then the cost per pound is about the same! Not to mention they are so danged messy and almost impossible to roast in the oven without them falling apart! :)

[riverrat]

Sounds like we's about to schedule us the first annual Beesource Wabbit Whackin Contest!! Whoohoooooo!!! :)

yea haw a true redneck competion. Im in. You think PETA would be a co-sponsor along with Budweiser on this one:D

[Zane]

I didnt know them kisses was bunny ummm well you know? I'll never eat another chocolate kiss again


until next time!

This rabbit thing sounds interesting. Anyone reccomend winter housing for them? What dimensions should a shelter bee for one bunny(which we have now) and for say 10 bunny's
Thx

[Bizzybee]

2X2X2 is sufficient for a rabbit, and it is typically better to keep adult rabbits separated. They are not social animals and prefer their own space.

Mine are housed outside but I'm in the south with mild temps. My biggest concern is more shade from heat in the summer than cold in winter. Up north they should have better shelter or kept inside, like a barn maybe or at least covered.

[Mosherd1]

I was wondering if anyone who raises or used to raise meat rabbits could answer my question. I am considering getting a buck and 2 or 3 does and to utilize the kits for my own consumption. Ideally I would like to have this "hobby" pay for itself and make me some profit as well. In CT. I can slaughter a rabbit for a customer without a permit. If I were to sell the surplus rabbits for meat, pets, etc. can a small profit be turned? Again, not looking to get rich but kind of like with bees, give me some play money throughout the year. I just do not know if there is enough of a market for pets and rabbit meat and exactly what the market is willing to pay for a rabbit, as food or pet? Thanks,

[pascopol]

Mike,

Any reason I can't feed rabbits my own alfalfa??

.

By all means feed them all alfalfa, some hay, and some dried bread and if you want super quality meat NO COMMERCIAL RABBIT FEED.

That's all they need.



Here is my personal experience raising rabbit for meat.

In early nineties my wife brought few baby bunnies home, we put them in wire cages fed them with veggie scraps, carrots, some grass clippings, dried bread, cooked potato peels dusted with little bran.

They grew fast and healthy, we butchered them, meat was delicious cooked, fried any way you prepared it. So I bought a pair of Californians and a pair New Zealands, started to breed them. Soon I was buying bags of commercial pellets relatively cheap at the time since there was no way to obtain sufficient amount of veggie scraps and other good stuff I fed my first rabbits due to their numbers now.

Did not take long until I had 40 or 50. Then we butchered a few and big disappointment .... meat was much lower quality, woody, tasteless and tough unlike the meat of first rabbits raised 100 procent organic and natural way.

Commercial pellet feed was rseponsible for low quality meat now. Nobody in my family wanted to eat my rabbits anymore, I sold them all.

End of the story and my rabbit adventure, if I had a pasture and small farm I'd raise them again, but NO rabbit pellets.

[Mosherd1]

Did you ever attempt to sell them (before getting out of the hobby) or just for your own use?

[pascopol]

I raised them for my own use (meat) not for selling.

[Laurence Hope]

Mosherd1, I own a pet store and raise meat rabbits. Mostly the meat rabbits (NZ & Calis) don't sell the best for pets except when they are young and very small. Pet owners desire Dutch, Lops (preferably Holland lops) and other small breeds.

A good method is to sell baby 4-5 wk old NZ or Cali bunnies to a pet store and offer to trade them out when they get too big. Typically this is about 8 to 10 weeks of age. The pet store has raised them to this size for you. They are now about the size feed stores like to stock for their customers.

Sell the half raised bunnies picked up from the pet store to the feed store. Any that get too big, replace. This is about 12 or so weeks. Just about the time that bunnie is ready for the frying pan. Finish whatever bunnies are returned to you with a good alfalfa or timothy hay and enjoy
them yourself or sell them as fryers to whoever wants them.

This system can usually handle a lot of bunnies if you have several pet and feed stores. Sometimes the pet stores will keep them until they reach fryer size and you can trade them out
with only one stop. Meanwhile, many will have been sold as pets at both the pet store and the
feed store. You will have saved a bundle on feed. :)


Pascopol, All commercial feeds are not equal. We have access to some that make tremendous fryers and, I agree with you, some should be left on the shelf. If you have good alfalfa or timothy hay available and can give them a little ground grain - we used wheat - it was cheap-
you can produce some fine eating animals. Carrots are a wonderful addition to their diet, but can be expensive. Watery vegetables like lettuce and the such should only be fed in very small quantities because they can cause scouring which can be fatal.

I have just embarked on a new endeavor: I have some New Zealands which have been bred with a little Flemish Giant some generations ago. They run about 20% larger than straight N Z's. I will begin breeding soon. I hope to get some tremendous size meat carcasses from this mix. Time will
tell.

Laurence

P.S. Pascopol, did I ever tell you about the summer my brothers and I fished Orange Lake in NPR
and if the bass didn't weigh over 4 lbs, we threw them back. Over 4 lbs went to the frying pan.

[pascopol]

I agree the feeds are not equal, I was feeding Nutrena at the time and that was my first rabbit experience, I did not know to finish them with alfalfa and hay only.

Now I am raising game birds and other poultry for meat and eggs, perhaps I would try rabbits again but my grown kids would not eat "bunnies" , although I know rabbit meat is all white lean meat and very healthy diet.

[Fishman43]

...I am considering getting a buck and 2 or 3 does and to utilize the kits for my own consumption...

The recomended numbers is 1 buck to 5-8 does, otherwise you are feeding that male a lot for just a little "service"


...In CT. I can slaughter a rabbit for a customer without a permit. If I were to sell the surplus rabbits for meat, pets, etc. can a small profit be turned?

It is the same here in NH up to 1000/animals/year processed. Selling the rabbits for wholsale distribution you can get $10-12 per processed animal at 8-10 weeks which doesn't leave much margin when you consider labor and costs to raise and process. If you have enough of a market to sell retail you can about double that price in NH.

[Mosherd1]

I appreciate your feedback. I have started to ask around and there seems to be more people interested in rabbits than I thought? Some people seem to almost be ashamed or embarrassed that they like rabbit and are happy to know someone who could provide them with fresh rabbit meat.