Raising rabbits for meat

[Eggscaping]

Does anyone raise rabbits to eat? I looked at the "rabbit'' section of the "other animals" section of the forums and it was about pet rabbits. I don't want to ask there for fear of offending someone...like I would be offended if someone posted about eating cats. I do realize that bunnies can be wonderful house pets - I baby-sat a friend's rabbit while she was on vacation. But I'd like to know if anyone has rabbits they raise to eat, so I can discuss the subject without making anyone unhappy. When we move, we do want to be as self-sufficient as possible...eggs, fishing, gardening, and the like, and if we get into a place where we have "close-by" neighbors who might complain if we try to keep more than the allowed 4 chickens, then we would probably raise rabbits.

 

[N F C]

When we had a little farm in north Florida, we raised meat rabbits. We had New Zealand and Californias. DH did most of the care of the rabbits (and all the processing) while I did the chickens.

Don't know if I can be of help or not, but you can give me a try if you want!

 

[Eggscaping]

"Don't know if I can be of help or not, but you can give me a try if you want![/QUOTE]
Hi, thanks! This, like the chickens, will be in a year or so when we sell our house, find the right lot (hoping it's the one we've put an offer on) and get a home put on it.
I guess I'm just curious as to how successful a person can be. We've kept pet rats, so I'm familiar with raising rodent-type critters...the hygiene and all. But I've never kept or raised a rabbit. How was your experience? What kind of rabbits did you keep? Did they "do well"? Did it seem to you like they were happy...or at least content...animals? Any random thoughts you'd share? Lots of questions, I know...but thanks for any wisdom you can impart.

 

[N F C]

We never went into the rabbits big time, just 2 does and 2 bucks. Some of the kits we kept for personal consumption and the rest we sold.

A guy we knew had 100's of rabbits. He had 3 (I think) restaurants that would buy the meat from him. When we sold the farm and moved, he got our rabbits.

A few random thoughts...
Don't overbreed them, they aren't machines (we kept their breeding down to 3 times a year)
Personality wise? Chickens have more personality than rabbits. At least that was our experience.
One of the bucks took a disliking to me so I learned real quick to keep a pair of long leather gloves close by for filling his food & water. Rabbit bites hurt!
They really are poop machines, so a big compost bin or pile will be necessary. We had a huge garden and rabbit poop is great for that.
Health-wise we didn't have any problems.
Make sure their cages are snake proof. We thought ours was and still lost 2 tiny kits to a snake (who then could not get out the way he came in).

Is that sort of what you're wondering about?

 

[drumstick diva]

sorry I never had rabbits how hoped to learn something from responses to your post.
Sometimes it takes awhile till folks notice them. Capricorn and Bunny Lady would have a lot of information for you.

 

[Eggscaping]

A few random thoughts...
Is that sort of what you're wondering about?"

Yes, pretty much! I had thought to get 2 does and a buck...to start with, anyway - until I see how it goes, and get a feel for it. No, I won't overbreed them. I want them to be happy rabbits, not just 'things to breed'. I like animals too much to abuse them. Thank you for your advice - what kind of snakes were they? (I like snakes, too!)

 

[N F C]

A few random thoughts...
Is that sort of what you're wondering about?"

Yes, pretty much! I had thought to get 2 does and a buck...to start with, anyway - until I see how it goes, and get a feel for it. No, I won't overbreed them. I want them to be happy rabbits, not just 'things to breed'. I like animals too much to abuse them. Thank you for your advice - what kind of snakes were they? (I like snakes, too!)

Funny, I think snakes are interesting too That happened about 4 years ago, I'll have to ask my husband what type of snake it was that got into the hutch, all I remember right now is that it wasn't poisonous. We had 1/2" hardware cloth on the hutches and that was enough for it to squeeze in. After that encounter, we ended up wrapping them with 1/4" hardware cloth.

We started with 2 does and 2 bucks (that were all unrelated to each other) so there would be more of a mix of bloodlines when their offspring mated. I'm not sure how much difference that makes but we were trying to get away from the possibility of problems.

One of the things we learned about their mating, after the buck mates with the doe, he kind of drops off into a stupor, it's almost like he passes out for a few seconds. We had read about that but it still surprised us when it happened!

Starting small is a good idea! Our does typically had 7-8 kits per litter. They're terribly cute when they're little but by the time they're about 8 weeks old, that's a lot of rabbits to feed and care for

Something else to mention...one of our bucks had a nasty habit of spraying urine (and not just occasionally). From what we'd read, that's a way of them marking their territory. Once we moved the 2 bucks hutches away from each other it helped reduce that. I've heard that's a hereditary trait (and trust me, not a desirable one) so some people don't want to breed those bucks.

Overall, we found the rabbits to be pretty easy to care for. They were easier than the chickens and goats we had. I prefer the poultry and goats personality-wise, but that was probably a good thing since ours were for meat.

Boy, chatting with you about rabbits is sure bringing back a lot of memories! Sorry for going on so long

 

[Eggscaping]

"Sorry for going on so long"

No no....that's great. I love hearing about this - or anything having to do with raising either chickens or rabbits. I really enjoy reading other people's experiences. I knew that bucks could spray, but NO idea you could breed for the trait. Huh! And...a snake that could get through 1/2 inch hardware cloth was actually big enough to eat a chicken? Wow. Live and learn. The albino corn snake I had once (got her as a hatchling...very tiny) could have eaten a chick, but by the time she was old enough to do that she couldn't have fit through a half-inch hole.
As far as the buck passing out after sex, well...hmmm...that reminds my of my first husband....

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

My husband recently butchered 2 of my pet rabbits because they became aggressive.

I think pet rabbits should be spayed and neutered, the rest are open for discussion.

I have always wondered why rabbit hasn't become more popular as a meat source. They grow quickly, breed a lot, and can live on grass without putting out methane like cattle do. Seems like the perfect meat animal to me, well except for those cute faces.

 

[Eggscaping]

They're cute and fluffy. People keep them inside and they sit on your lap. Probably too much like the family dog or kitty for many people. I feel like if folks could pet a calf and closely interact with it - and then find out how calves are raised for veal, they'd never eat another veal cutlet. I can't say I won't feel sad and unhappy at least a little bit when the time comes to butcher rabbits, but they WILL have a good, happy life up until then. If we want to raise our own meat we have to take ownership of killing another creature, but I can understand how there would be folks not able to kill fluffy little bunny foo-foo to eat.