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Raising rabbits for meat.
- Thread starter eca7891
- Start date
No experience, but it did not end well for Lennie.
My wife used to raise meat rabbits in FFA. She has been trying to get me to start raising them. I would rather eat a chicken.
I was just talking to the wife last night about this very thing. She thinks we have enough wild rabbits that it wouldn't be necessary. She does have a point, but if a few other neighbors were to hunt them as well, I'm not sure how long we'd have them around.
Early this morning I found a web page that is helpful.
commonsensehome.com
Early this morning I found a web page that is helpful.
Meat Rabbits - What You Need to Know
If you want to raise your own meat, consider rabbits. We'll walk you through rabbit hutches, watering and feeding, best meat rabbit breeds, and basic care.
commonsensehome.com
They are delicious. They are cute.
I got tired of butchering them so I quit raising rabbits.
It's really not hard if you have the time and cages. We even saved the turds to user as fertilizer
I got tired of butchering them so I quit raising rabbits.
It's really not hard if you have the time and cages. We even saved the turds to user as fertilizer
I do not currently raise rabbits. I have chickens for egg production. I have been researching other things to raise like hogs, meat chickens, goats, etc. Looking far ahead, my main concern is having a long term food supply for anything I raise. The what if is this: Suppose animal food gets in short supply? The solution would be to raise enough animal food to sustain the animals on the homestead.
I raised meat rabbits for a bit and I agree with this assessment. They are pretty low maintenance. Before I had a good buck I took some doe’s to get bred. I’d never been around breeding rabbits. The owner wasn’t there and told me to put them in the cage with the award winning buck. I did and he went right to work...5 seconds and he fell over squealing like he was being murdered. I thought I killed the bastard.
Growing up we had over two hundred meat rabbits, Rabbit is a bit tougher than chicken but have a great flavor.
Years ago, wife and daughter started raising rabbits for 4H. Grew into a business of raising and selling show Rex rabbits. Keeping only the best quality rabbits meant butchering those that didn't make the grade. Did this for about 13 years until the feed we were using poisoned the rabbits (more on that later). If you have the time, location and are willing to put forth the work, rabbits are a good meat source.
Some observations. Get good quality breed stock. You want rabbits that will grow quickly and have good body type, i.e. fill out quickly. This lets you butcher sooner using less feed to get them to that size and they are more tender. You can go to ARBA.net to find a breeder close to you. Talk to them about what to look for in breed stock.
Your cages need to be in a location where the wind won't blow directly on the rabbits. They can handle cold really well as long as they have feed and water which generally means tending them twice a day or more unless you have them in an insulated building. Excessive heat will kill them. We had cages suspended about 3 feet off the ground, letting their droppings fall underneath. You will need to clean this out every few weeks. Rabbit manure is great for gardens. It doesn't burn plants like fresh horse or cow manure. Flies can be a problem so having chickens that can feed under the cages helps a lot and you can get chicken eggs that way.
Butchering is very straight forward and easy. Most people break their necks but that leaves a lot of blood coagulated in the neck. We used a .22 pistol with CB caps to shoot them, faster and easier. Shoot one, hang it by a back leg and let it bleed out. When dressing out one, have the next one hanging. Lots of videos on how to dress them out. Tube the hide off, gut them, and then place into a big bowl of water to cool them off. I got to where I could dress one out in about 90 seconds. Our butcher days were a family event as we would usually process 50 to 100 rabbits. Did this generally twice a year. Side note, they do not stink like chickens when butchering and no scalding to remove feathers is needed.
Young rabbit fryers (8 to 12 weeks of age based on how quickly they grow) are tender and easy to cook. You can cook them whole or bone them out (our favorite way). Lots of recipes online. Keep in mind rabbit is very, very lean and will quickly dry out if you try to cook it like chicken using high heat. Older rabbits are tough. We would debone them and then grind them. Use the ground meat for tacos, sausage, etc. but you do have to add oil/fat when cooking them.
We got out of the rabbit business when the feed company changed their formulation and started using a vitamin supplement from China. Turned out the amount of vitamin D was excessive and caused the rabbits to retain too much calcium. Those rabbits that didn't die outright couldn't reproduce and we couldn't eat the meat. Ended up settling with the feed company's insurance for a decent 5 figure sum. Unfortunately the 13 years of genetics my wife had developed that was producing national championship quality rabbits was erased. Decided it wasn't worth the effort to start over.
Some observations. Get good quality breed stock. You want rabbits that will grow quickly and have good body type, i.e. fill out quickly. This lets you butcher sooner using less feed to get them to that size and they are more tender. You can go to ARBA.net to find a breeder close to you. Talk to them about what to look for in breed stock.
Your cages need to be in a location where the wind won't blow directly on the rabbits. They can handle cold really well as long as they have feed and water which generally means tending them twice a day or more unless you have them in an insulated building. Excessive heat will kill them. We had cages suspended about 3 feet off the ground, letting their droppings fall underneath. You will need to clean this out every few weeks. Rabbit manure is great for gardens. It doesn't burn plants like fresh horse or cow manure. Flies can be a problem so having chickens that can feed under the cages helps a lot and you can get chicken eggs that way.
Butchering is very straight forward and easy. Most people break their necks but that leaves a lot of blood coagulated in the neck. We used a .22 pistol with CB caps to shoot them, faster and easier. Shoot one, hang it by a back leg and let it bleed out. When dressing out one, have the next one hanging. Lots of videos on how to dress them out. Tube the hide off, gut them, and then place into a big bowl of water to cool them off. I got to where I could dress one out in about 90 seconds. Our butcher days were a family event as we would usually process 50 to 100 rabbits. Did this generally twice a year. Side note, they do not stink like chickens when butchering and no scalding to remove feathers is needed.
Young rabbit fryers (8 to 12 weeks of age based on how quickly they grow) are tender and easy to cook. You can cook them whole or bone them out (our favorite way). Lots of recipes online. Keep in mind rabbit is very, very lean and will quickly dry out if you try to cook it like chicken using high heat. Older rabbits are tough. We would debone them and then grind them. Use the ground meat for tacos, sausage, etc. but you do have to add oil/fat when cooking them.
We got out of the rabbit business when the feed company changed their formulation and started using a vitamin supplement from China. Turned out the amount of vitamin D was excessive and caused the rabbits to retain too much calcium. Those rabbits that didn't die outright couldn't reproduce and we couldn't eat the meat. Ended up settling with the feed company's insurance for a decent 5 figure sum. Unfortunately the 13 years of genetics my wife had developed that was producing national championship quality rabbits was erased. Decided it wasn't worth the effort to start over.
My brother has done it for years. About the most efficent/cost effective protien you can raise. Sells them for about $5/lb which not only pays for all his costs but provides some profit on top of a large portion of his families protein needs.
rabbit cooked wrong is a nightmare. rabbit cooked right is incredible.
brown in a pan, then transfer to the slow cooker. add mushrooms, a cup of water, and cover the pile of meat in bacon strips. let it go about 6 hours, then have at it.
brown in a pan, then transfer to the slow cooker. add mushrooms, a cup of water, and cover the pile of meat in bacon strips. let it go about 6 hours, then have at it.
Only thing is you still need calories. So little fat on a rabbit you can eat it all and still not process much of the protein.
Hogs are easy if you have the space and food.
Wife has had several pet rabbits and they have all died from getting scared to death.
Hogs are easy if you have the space and food.
Wife has had several pet rabbits and they have all died from getting scared to death.
My wife and I raise rabbits. Like any homesteading skill, start now before you need it because having to learn when you count on it sucks.
We have had a few failures along the way, mostly pertaining to bucks or does that won't breed.
We have had a few failures along the way, mostly pertaining to bucks or does that won't breed.
No experience raising them but my understand is that they shouldn't be your only source of meat. Protein poisoning aka rabbit starvation.
We have been raising rabbits for about two years. In our experience there wasn't much of a learning curve, but we did improve processes over time.
Housing:
We use commercially available cages from Fleet Farm. 24 x 24 for bucks and 30 x 36 for does. After the does kindle (stupid term for having babies) and the mother gets annoyed with them, babies get moved to some larger cages we acquired from a local former mink breeder.
Feed:
We feed them Timothy hay we get locally from a nearby farm. Give them as much hay as they can eat. We also feed them pellets to get them protein. I think we give them about 1/2 or 3/4 cup per day. Overfeeding pellets can make them fat. Apparently fat rabbits don't like to breed. Haven't had this issue, so can't speak to it.
Breeding:
Take a doe and stick it in the bucks cage. They'll do what rabbits do (usually). Once the buck falls off 2 or 3 times you can assume you have a successful breeding. Once you see it, you'll know what falling off means.
Males can/will go temporarily sterile for a few months if they get too hot (80+ temps). Rabbits do better in cold temps. Prefer sub zero temps to 80+.
Processing:
Choose your method of dispatching. There are pros and cons to each. This is how I do it; good video but not me:
Housing:
We use commercially available cages from Fleet Farm. 24 x 24 for bucks and 30 x 36 for does. After the does kindle (stupid term for having babies) and the mother gets annoyed with them, babies get moved to some larger cages we acquired from a local former mink breeder.
Feed:
We feed them Timothy hay we get locally from a nearby farm. Give them as much hay as they can eat. We also feed them pellets to get them protein. I think we give them about 1/2 or 3/4 cup per day. Overfeeding pellets can make them fat. Apparently fat rabbits don't like to breed. Haven't had this issue, so can't speak to it.
Breeding:
Take a doe and stick it in the bucks cage. They'll do what rabbits do (usually). Once the buck falls off 2 or 3 times you can assume you have a successful breeding. Once you see it, you'll know what falling off means.
Males can/will go temporarily sterile for a few months if they get too hot (80+ temps). Rabbits do better in cold temps. Prefer sub zero temps to 80+.
Processing:
Choose your method of dispatching. There are pros and cons to each. This is how I do it; good video but not me:
God, I wish that were me.......
Not sure how long it takes for Pigeons to get it done but bunnies dont waste time with forplay or afterglow. Straight to the nap!
i knew a girl or two that would put it on you so hard the reaction was similar. the trick was getting in, and getting out without getting stabbed.
I have some property that is perfect for rabbits to run on. Plenty of cover and piles to make burrows in. I have no issues with letting them go as I dont have a garden but would very much like to have free range rabbits. Does anyone know of a breed that is hearty and easily goes wild? Cottontails do well here but I cant find anywhere that sells them.
Thanks
Thanks
Yeah that’s if you are in a survival situation and all you eat is rabbit. Does not apply to everyday life.
I'm sure that applies to anything. There are certain vitamins that our bodies need to survive that don't exist in all foods.
- Nov 3, 2010
- 9,702
- 20,402
I’d do some researching first. Some states it is illegal to purposely release domesticated animals to start a “wild” group
- Nov 3, 2010
- 9,702
- 20,402
Rabbit would sustain you for quite a while, but probably not forever. A 1 ounce serving supposedly has 39 calories and just shy of 6 grams of protein. Use that on a standardized diet and a 6-8 ounce portion of meat and do the math for caloric intake.
cats are easier open a can of food or call them and they will come a running like a less smart dog it's the virtual picnic basket that comes when you call it now how it taste if you have had Chinese food you should already be familiar with it leaning towards stringy old chicken lol the only thing about a lot of rabbits that get me they have some weird diseases you can't cook out of them and would not know unless you test them that could make you really sick pasteurellosis, ringworm, mycobacteriosis, cryptosporidiosis and external parasites maybe you can cook some of them out .
best of luck and tell us how you like it or what you disliked . mixing chickens in could help break up the rabbit everyday blues throw in a goat here and there and a lamb with some sides maybe some mint jelly or those tiny potatos a bottle of wine and gravy mmm bahhh
trained attack lambs
except rabbits 50 ft tall rabbits
best of luck and tell us how you like it or what you disliked . mixing chickens in could help break up the rabbit everyday blues throw in a goat here and there and a lamb with some sides maybe some mint jelly or those tiny potatos a bottle of wine and gravy mmm bahhh
trained attack lambs
except rabbits 50 ft tall rabbits
Stew is my favorite rabbit meal. That along with some homemade bread and that's about the perfect meal.
May be a dumb question but what is the pro of this over compared to keeping a couple head of cattle?
- Nov 3, 2010
- 9,702
- 20,402
You’ve not had the pleasure of meeting this smart little beeeeeatch. Makes some dogs look like full tards
I think the OP is wanting to raise rabbits in case of economic collapse or apocalypse type scenario. A large animal is hard to butcher and even harder to store (no freezer/ refrigeration) for as long as the meat would last you. A rabbit could be butchered and eaten with no waste.
Space and time. Plus, many don't have the space for a few heads of cattle. I'd rather have a few pigs too but who wants that mess?
Yep. That's the same reason I want to find a breed I can release on my property and shoot/snare as I want.
People have raised them in a colony setting. You can fence in an area if you have the proper conditions to support it. ( This is very generalized so I encourage researching it in depth before attempting it. )
Oh I don’t know as far as going to economic collapse but it would be handy to have in place if it did.
I loved eating rabbit when I was younger and there are very few running wild in my AO. Add to that it seems once you are set up there is minimal cost for a rather large return in the amount of meat that one can harvest. If you don’t mind a little work, which I don’t , it seems it may be viable.
I found some cages locally for 10.00 a piece ( 5.00 if I buy 20 )Didn’t seem too bad to me.
Steak and bacon are not exactly cheap right now. Looks to be nothing but going higher in the foreseeable future.
Hmm the storage is a good point. I’ve looked into smoking and salting meat but I haven’t seen a good consensus on how long that would actually stay unrefridgerated. It would suck to butcher a cow and have 3/4 of it go bad before it could get ate. A lot easier to keep them fresh if they are breathing right up until meal time for sure.
I would think canning them would allow some to last for a year or two, but i do not have much experience in that. Gonna try it though. Prob with wild rabbit
I raised them for meat for a few years, got out of it after the freezers kept staying full because my wife didnt want to eat them any more. It was fun and rewarding and I'd get into it again if I didn't have 19dozen other things going on right now.
Building a convenient and easy to manage cage/housing system is a must. You can throw them in any ol tractor supply cage, but if you want to be successful, you need to easily manage the physical environment for watering/feeding/waste management/breeding. This will require building a setup that works for YOUR situation and layout.
Your first few that you purchase for breeding stock is typically where you will have a high frustration/failure rate. I wouldn't recommend single-source for these. Find multiple, quality breeders and get a few from each. Rabbit genetics isn't rocket science but you do want to put some thought into who is fucking who.
You will have some that are temperamental, won't want to do sex, fight with others, etc. Rabbits have a low tolerance to stress and it can stunt their productivity or even kill them (keep dogs away, etc.)
You will have deaths that you can't explain, preggo bitches that die while carrying, kits that are fine in the morning and dead when you get home at night, males that fuck themselves to death, and other fun things of the sort.
Take real good notes, keep real good track of who fucked who and get on a rigid schedule. If you reload, you can (likely) successfully raise rabbits.
I built a number of moveable yard pens with mesh bottoms that I would keep them in during warmer months, moving them around once a day. They would keep the grass "mowed" and it made a noticeable difference in the quality of meat from when they were just on commercial feed.
Give them numbers to make your tracking/breeding more detailed and organized. Don't name them. You're going to be killing and cutting their heads off. Names attached to this is just not a good idea.
Building a convenient and easy to manage cage/housing system is a must. You can throw them in any ol tractor supply cage, but if you want to be successful, you need to easily manage the physical environment for watering/feeding/waste management/breeding. This will require building a setup that works for YOUR situation and layout.
Your first few that you purchase for breeding stock is typically where you will have a high frustration/failure rate. I wouldn't recommend single-source for these. Find multiple, quality breeders and get a few from each. Rabbit genetics isn't rocket science but you do want to put some thought into who is fucking who.
You will have some that are temperamental, won't want to do sex, fight with others, etc. Rabbits have a low tolerance to stress and it can stunt their productivity or even kill them (keep dogs away, etc.)
You will have deaths that you can't explain, preggo bitches that die while carrying, kits that are fine in the morning and dead when you get home at night, males that fuck themselves to death, and other fun things of the sort.
Take real good notes, keep real good track of who fucked who and get on a rigid schedule. If you reload, you can (likely) successfully raise rabbits.
I built a number of moveable yard pens with mesh bottoms that I would keep them in during warmer months, moving them around once a day. They would keep the grass "mowed" and it made a noticeable difference in the quality of meat from when they were just on commercial feed.
Give them numbers to make your tracking/breeding more detailed and organized. Don't name them. You're going to be killing and cutting their heads off. Names attached to this is just not a good idea.
We breed meat rabbits and meat/egg quail.
Rabbits are pretty easy. Hatch to table in about 10-12 weeks. Poop is great for the garden.
Jumbo brown quail are better meat animals. Hatch to table in 8 weeks and need less room. Plus the eggs are incredible. Poop good for the garden once it is rested. No eggs in the winter though, but chickens were the same.
I keep the rabbits and quail in identical cages and it works well.
We’ve tried chickens twice. They are disgusting animals and attract rats.
Rabbits are pretty easy. Hatch to table in about 10-12 weeks. Poop is great for the garden.
Jumbo brown quail are better meat animals. Hatch to table in 8 weeks and need less room. Plus the eggs are incredible. Poop good for the garden once it is rested. No eggs in the winter though, but chickens were the same.
I keep the rabbits and quail in identical cages and it works well.
We’ve tried chickens twice. They are disgusting animals and attract rats.
Interesting…
Do you need baby saver bottoms for the quail or do you use non-traditional hutches?
All the cages are 1/2x1 bottom wire 14ga. I do buy baby saver wire sides. It’s got 1/2x1 up about 6” then. 1x2 above that. The quail are brooded in a water tub in the shop until they’re big enough to go in the cages.
