"Louisiana "La-yers" Peeps"

[ssterling1776]

Yeah....like Mzstre!

 

[TerriLaChicks]

If you breed your does 5 times a year, as I do and have 10 does per litter, that is 50 offspring @ 3 1/2 # or more processed @12 weeks (fryers) so each doe produces 150 # of processed meat per year. That is counting bone, like you would buy in the store for $6 a #, when you can find it. I personally get 11 to 13 in most litters. I do not breed mine during the hottest part of the summer, Mid July to Mid September, when the temps can go into the triple digits here. Meat rabbits need to be raised in cages off the ground, so they do not get worms in hot weather. The are suppose to produce 1 # of meat for every 3 #s of feed, but I have never measured. I feed mine all the feed they want while they have young nursing and the young the same way until they are 12 weeks old. During the Winter months, I also give them a good quality horse hay which for me is Bahaya and Bermuda blend. This is for fiber. In the Spring, Summer and Fall, I also feed a lot of fresh green grass and veggies from our 100% organic garden. They need clean fresh water every day. I put 1 tablespoon Apple Cider Vinegar per gallon to help them develop probiotics in their lower gut for overall health. I had a lot of health issues before I started growing my own food, including uncontrolled blood pressure, heart problems and looking at possibly the big C, now no medication required. I no longer eat pork or shellfish, either. We mostly eat Chicken, Rabbit, turkey and occasionally beef and lamb. When I buy beef, I get a very lean roast, ask the butcher to trim all and dispose of all fat possible and grind it for me. Still the leanest beef is still 7% fat in the marbling, so the leanest it can be, according to the butchers is 93% lean ! Most people start out with 2 does and a buck and work from there. The buck will eat very little compared to the does and kits, and actually should not be allowed to get overweight. During the summer months, both does and bucks will lighten up weight wise with more fresh greens and veggies. I always have extra cucumbers which they find refreshing in hot weather. I find rabbits cost less per pound to raise than chickens or turkeys. Someone is at my door, but if you want more info, PM me anytime.

So do you, process your own rabbits? I know you gave us a good pep talk on processing chickens a while back -- but furry little bunnies -- whoa, I have a hard time wrapping my mind around that - do you do a bunch at one time (that would be easier to my way of thinking, you kind of 'numb' yourself to it). Are meat rabbits different from the white Easter-bunny types? I know nothing about them, sorry -- it's fascinating to think of actually eating one or even considering them as a food source. I had a pet white rabbit when I was a kid...

What's the best way to cook them? are they mostly white or dark meat or a mix?

 

[mzstre]

Seriously? I just got mine last week & I didn't see that ad. The online version right now is the 2-7 edition - they haven't updated it yet. Post that ad if you find it, please (not that I'm interested - I have enough peas & breeding season just around the corner; just curious as to who it is).

This is what was posted:

 

[TerriLaChicks]

This is what was posted:

Wow -- 50 of them? that's a LOT of peas! poor things, I hope they find good homes...

 

[mzstre]

Yeah....like Mzstre!

Lol! I just can't help it.

 

[sawyerashton]

My opinion on the meat is that it tastes like a mix of turkey and pork chops with that pork chop texture, but the last rabbits I had were wild rabbits. They tend to have a stronger flavor. Rabbits have a lighter meat.

We raised them when I was a kid. We used to cook them in spaghetti and smothered (rice and gravy).

I did find this excellent video on deboning a rabbit. This is what I plan to do if I do decide to start raising them. I'd like to grind most of the meat.

 

[JohnnyxRex]

I have to say that you have added really nice input to the thread. I'm happy you're here!

Thank You!!! I really appreciate that!

I'm very happy to be here. I have been reading and learning for a while thanks to Terri, but I waited till I got my own flock to join in. I was SUPER excited when I woke up on my birthday and realized I had eggs coming.


I'm enjoying the rabbit discussion. I was actually considering getting rabbits because of how fast they reproduce. (breeding to birth is what? around a month?) But my mom had rabbits when she was little (until one of them bit my grandma and she had to get a shot. Then they went in the pot). She doesn't want them.

Basically we are building soon and would like to get certain farm animals. I really want a goat (tried some goat cheese from Wesmar Farms down in Moreauville. OH MY GOSH. I had never had it before. Praline goat cheese + whole wheat bagel = best breakfast ever) I think my mom wants a cow, which is ironic because she can't drink milk. My dad also loves cattle. When he was around college age he worked on a ranch driving cattle and taking care of them. It still is what he wants to do.

For some reason the whole "lbs of feed to lbs of meat" thing interests me alot. I've looked at meat birds and rabbits, nothing really bigger. Whether trying to grow for meat or breeding for traits, I love the idea. I currently am working with hydroponics now because plants are easier than animals, especially on our current 1 acre of land, and I like learning which varieties have better roots/easiest to work with/most consistent.

Plus I love the animals.

I have one problem today. I noticed last night that the birds started peeping ALOT more and ALOT louder. Ok, its chickens, no big deal. But last night, I realized it was one chick in particular making most of the noise. It is one of the few I really notice because he's the fattest one. When they first hatched, several only had one eye open, but now it is down to just this one. I noticed this before of course, but I didn't start thinking much about it until he was the only one left. I decided to leave him another day last night, and there is no change today.

He will randomly cheep REALLY loudly, making the same call as when they are alone (when I take one out of the box and he realizes no one else is there). I open the door and come in, and he stops. I walk out and there he goes again. I don't think its me though. -I can hear him now-

I wonder if the eye is dried? a few came out of the shell and parts of their bodies never "fluffed up". Could it get dried shut?

Thanks all!

Edited to add: MUST start calling them she, not he!

 

[MS Rooster Cogb]

welcome I lived in Luling for many years & have a good friend in Harahan

 

[MicheleC]

Still looking for some Ameraucana or EE's. I want LF, chicks or hens. I'm in the Lake Charles area, don't really want to travel more than an hour. Thanks!!!

 

[Celie]

So do you, process your own rabbits? I know you gave us a good pep talk on processing chickens a while back -- but furry little bunnies -- whoa, I have a hard time wrapping my mind around that - do you do a bunch at one time (that would be easier to my way of thinking, you kind of 'numb' yourself to it). Are meat rabbits different from the white Easter-bunny types? I know nothing about them, sorry -- it's fascinating to think of actually eating one or even considering them as a food source. I had a pet white rabbit when I was a kid...

What's the best way to cook them? are they mostly white or dark meat or a mix?

Rabbits are all white meat and as far as cooking, they are considered a blank canvas, so there are a lot of ways to cook them. Any way you cook chicken, you can cook rabbit. They are a firmer texture than chicken and have no dark meat. Domestic rabbits do not taste wild and when processed at 12 weeks are quite tender. If you wait until later, say 16 weeks, they are larger, but would probably be better to stew. Yes, Terri, I process all of the food I raise myself. I give them the best life I can and all the comforts possible while they are with me, but I am not a vegetarian and they are being raised for meat. If not for food, they would not have been born in the first place. I do not name my food, not even my breeding stock, I go by cage numbers for the does and Buck A and Buck B for the bucks. I have cages back to back and at one end is Buck A and along that side, are the 5 does I breed with him, on opposite side is Buck B and the 5 does I breed with him. I keep very diverse genetics, because rabbits can get inbred fast if you expand and do not keep good records. All of my original breeding stock were bought from different genetic herds. When I wanted to increase from 8 to 10 does, I took an offspring from Buck A and one of his does and put her on the side of Buck B, and visa verse for the other one. I only sell genetically diverse breeding stock to help pay for the feed bill. At 12 weeks I process any rabbits not sold by then and so far, I have never had a doe reach that age, unsold. I processed 4 last week and will be processing another 6 next week. One of my does had 14 kits to her litter last night. I average 11 to 13 to a litter, usually. I breed for size of litters and finished weight at 12 weeks old. At 6 weeks the babies are taken away from their Mamas and each doe is bred 5 times a year at 2 month intervals, except during the hot summer months of July to September, it is too hard on the does, to be pregnant or nursing during triple digit temps and I won't do it. . My rabbits are treated well with fans in the summer, ceramic tiles to lay on in their cages, when it is hot and frozen gallon jugs of ice in triple digit temps. I say I feed my rabbits good and that is how they feed me! LOL They get fresh organic veggies and the best horse hay I can find. ACV in their water, throws more female offspring and they enjoy eating cucumbers daily during the summer. When the rabbits reach the 12 week mark and weigh 5 1/2 to 6 pounds, I tie their rear feet together with tie wraps, so I can hold them flat to the ground with my left hand and take a small 22 cal pistol and shoot them in the back of the head with 1 quick bullet straight into the brain. It is over in a split second. I then hang them, skin them and gut them, which takes me about 15 minutes each to process. they then get washed and quick frozen whole at minus 6 degrees in my freezers. I also give cleaned frozen rabbits to the hunters who have brought me deer meat when they go hunting. The first thing you ever kill or process is always going to be the hardest. The first extra rooster hung from a tree by his feet for a good 30 minutes, with me standing there, knife in hand, working up the courage, ton do the deed. My first rabbit wasn't any easier, but it has to be done and somebody has to do it. I know that SOMEONE had to kill the animals whose meat we eat from the grocery store, but I do not know how well they ate or how well they were treated, but with mine I know. I respect the animals I raise, as I know the rest of you do too, and give them the best natural life any animal can enjoy until it is their turn to go to freezer camp, and I thank God for them before we eat. I know you have all seen the videos of how commercial meat is raised and how they are treated while being processed, so I won't go there. It would have been a lot easier if I had someone with me to take over, in case I botched the job, when I was first learning, but I did not and I think that is the biggest fear we all have, that we will mess up and torture the poor animal instead of a fast clean kill. All I had were the videos we all find on Utube. I cannot hit any animal with a hammer or a pipe, like some do, and I am not judging them, but it would be like me beating it to death and I cannot stand to do it that way. I am not a violent person and can not hit anything or anyone. I have to do the deed, quickly with the least possible hurt and it is so quick, I really don't think they know what happened or had any time to suffer. I hang all my birds by the feet to cut the karrotic artery, because in that position, I feel, With their blood rushing to their head, they are dazed or go into shock, and the deed only takes about 5 seconds, a very quick death. If you have someone who is experienced with processing, and they could stand by with a knife to come to your rescue, if you had a problem, with the first few, it would make it a lot easier, just don't play with your food!!! I'll shut up now!