Bunnies for meat.......

[Nikki28]

Quote:
Thank you soooooo much!!!!

That recipe sounds

I just looked up Satins and am pretty impressed.
Do you use their pelts?

How hard and with what do you thump them?
Sorry I have never butchered before.

I think I may take you up on the phone call when the time comes. Thanks again!

BTW I completely agree with the hormone issue with factory chickens.

 

[obsessed]

i also got meat rabbits for my daughter. My eldest is 12 and has looked like she was 17 since third grade. she became a woman at 10. my baby is 2 an hopefully she wont have to go through that.

Raising bunnies is fun. the kids don't play with them. I am nervous bout the heat thing. and they provide tons of fertilizer for the garden. It is not hot and so can be applied without composting.

I actually havent had to kill anyone yet. I am still waiting for babies.

 

[OPIE]

Man AK-Button-Momma that is an awsome recipe! I will also have to try that. I am just getting into meat rabbits. I am waiting for my first litter now.

 

[Nikki28]

Quote:
Ugh creepy...home raised chickens wouldn't have the hormone issue right?I really don't know

I can't wait to start growing and raising our own food. You'll have to let me know how your first butchering goes.

Me and my boyfriend are building rabbit and chicken tractors for the garden beds the bunnies for before planting and the chickens for after harvest so that it has 3 seasons to compost the chicken poop in the soil.

What kind of rabbits do you have?

 

[conny63malies]

http://www.alysion.org/euthanasia/index.html
here is a link on how to euthanize small animals at home by using baking soda and vinegar.

 

[obsessed]

Nikki, I don't have chickens yet for egg or for meat. But I do think that the hormones filled chicken from the market are a likely cause of my daughter's early puberty. It was not just her. Most of her friends and cousins have had the same issue.

This year we will do our first meat chickens as an experiment. I went with rabbits because the seem easier to clean than a chicken. like taking off a shirt vs the scaling and plucking of a chicken. I will see.

We live in the south and so the heat will be an issue where as with meat chickens they can be dispatched before the weather. If I find that the heat is too much to deal with then I might not continue...

 

[foxonfire]

I think heat has issues with all sorts of animals!

Rabbits do not do well with high levels of heat- you generally can not or should not I should say, breed in high levels of heat- bucks and does both are generally infertile during the hot summer- b/c of the heat!

I had 2 litters in late May- and almost lost all of litters b/c of how hot it got early in June- this was with the use of fans, ice water bottles, and pulling all the nesting material out of the boxes, that I saved half of them!

So be careful! Of course I'm anxiously awaiting the finishing of the building for the rabbits! Going to have large poultry fans in it to help with the Georgian heat! Hoping next summer not to have too many issues!

 

[AK-Bird-brain]

I received a couple of rabbits from AK button Momma last week, We had one for supper the next day. I'm not sure who its mom was so I don't know what the Giant Flemish dad mixed with but at 16 weeks old it weighed ~5 pounds and produced ~ 1.5 pounds of meat.
Here's a picture of the dad. AK Button momma you can show this to your hubby to let him know he's doing just fine and has taken up residency in our garage for the remainder of the winter. Tori is currently snuggling Cadbury (she gave him a stay of execution).

 

[Nikki28]

Obsessed: Yes it was my understanding that it was the hormones that they gave to the chickens that caused issues but I honestly am not sure , I had many friends that developed early and a few families that lived on farms (and grew their own meat)their daughters were between 13 - 15 before they began developing. Good luck with your meat bunnies and chickens Let me know how it all works out for you. I grew up in south Florida so I understand heat! Thankfully the heat here in Prescott doesn't get too bad.
I wish you luck and please keep me updated on your experience with the bunnies and eventually the chickens.

This year will be my first year growing anything for meat.

Fox on Fire : Thanks so much for your help on this, are there any books you would recommend? I already ordered Storeys guide to rabbits.

 

[Nikki28]

Quote:
LOL Cadbury is a very cute name. That is a big bunny. I suppose once I have everything else in order the next step is finding bunnies. I looked up rabbitry's but had little luck in any of the meat breeds for AZ. How did you all get started?