Washingtonians Come Together! Washington Peeps

[Hinotori]

The 11 week old boys are getting pretty big. Only 2 out of 10 were girls (one is really nice looking). I actually wanted boys this time and got them.

You need to show, gal pal !!

I haven't been able to take a bird to show for the last year with all the stuff going on around here. Hopefully i can hit the November show. I have a couple partridge silkie hens to take. One of the baby girls looks like she will be really good and I'll try her at the spring show hopefully.

 

[Chickielady]

From what their previous owner said, they produce offspring that hit about 4 pounds at about 10 weeks old, so not much difference compared to raising batches of meat chickens. They don't poo or eat quite as much as meat chickens though. And poo can go straight in the veggie garden, no composting needed. 1 should be plenty to feed my family of 5 (2 adults and 3 kids under 10). Rabbit is similar in flavor to chicken, but much leaner. They are definitely easier than chickens. You don't have to make sure they are all closed back up in the coop at night, and they don't need let out each morning. Once a day, refill the water bottles, refill their hay mangers, and give them a small scoop of pellets. The does will produce about 7 to 10 kits per breeding. Each doe can have about 6 litters a year. That adds up to a whole lot of meat.

Butchering rabbits is "easier"...then chickens.............. once you learn to live with the screaming....you have to be fast, like hang them from a post, head down, and shoot them with a 22.or they scream, and I can't stand it, and the rest of the rabbits could hear it and it greatly upset them.

Once 'dispatched'..you can make a few surgical incisons and then pull the hide off in a tube, cut off at the neck.

 

[Chickielady]

I haven't been able to take a bird to show for the last year with all the stuff going on around here. Hopefully i can hit the November show. I have a couple partridge silkie hens to take. One of the baby girls looks like she will be really good and I'll try her at the spring show hopefully.

COOL ! I plan on going to that show, too!
Hopefully see you there !

 

[Chickielady]

sorry, couldn't resist !

I bet Penney has seen this before !

 

[pennyJo1960]

sorry, couldn't resist !

I bet Penney has seen this before !

Penny or Penney giggle still haven't seen anything

 

[pennyJo1960]

Did you hear about the restaurant on the moon? Great food... but no atmosphere.

Gufaws all around here maybe couple groans

 

[Duck Drover]

Butchering rabbits is "easier"...then chickens.............. once you learn to live with the screaming....you have to be fast, like hang them from a post, head down, and shoot them with a 22.or they scream, and I can't stand it, and the rest of the rabbits could hear it and it greatly upset them.

Once 'dispatched'..you can make a few surgical incisons and then pull the hide off in a tube, cut off at the neck.

I tried a few kill methods when we raised meat rabbits and I found it was actually pretty easy to break their neck without them screaming because it happened so quick. I could hold the rabbit so it was calm and then there is a way to grab the head so your thumb and little finger are on on each side with the middle finger between the ears and the pointer and ring fingers on each side of the ears. The palm of your hand rests on the back of the head. Then you push the head down and outward away from you in a quick motion that snaps the neck. There is a shiver and then the muscles relax so you know it worked plus you can check their pupils to mske sure they are gone. It always makes me sad to kill something but at least when they go peacefully it is not as terrible as when the kill is not fast enough that it causes too much stress.

I remember it being super easy to skin them and cleaning was not bad so it was a bit easier than plucking birds but the only way I could do it was to raise the New Zealand Whites specifically for meat and nothing else. We had pet rabbits and meat rabbits but the meat rabbits were not pets and the pet rabbits were not meat. I can kill to raise my own meat but I still don't eat as much meat as I do grains because I have an appreciation for meat knowing that it was living and died for my benefit.

I have an easier time eating chicken than rabbit and it is my favorite meat. Roosters have no other value, except the occasional lucky one used for breeding, so to me they are basically made to be eaten. Hens have more value alive than dead but roosters are just a feed bill that will become dinner in a matter of time. If my family was not so used to getting meat at the grocery like everyone else after we gave up our rural lifestlye to buy a house, we would be raising all our own meat. My husband is such a meat eater that it takes alot to feed him so we would need a ranch to keep him fed.

 

[Duck Drover]

Duplicate - deleted

 

[nuklee0]

The hardest part for raising rabbits, is they eat only alfalfa pellets.....and it is extremely expensive per pound of meat you get.
Even if you give them prime alfalfa flakes, they will eat the leaves, and poop on the rest.
And alfalfa is not cheap my friends !

The best/cheapest meat per pound is goats...rich, not much fat, and the goats eat just about anything...

Sheep are best if you have alot of grass.....lamb, (under 1 year old) is delicious !

But rabbits take alot of $ in special cages...and isolation as not to disturb does, and they just eat alfalfa pellets.

Now, if you could buy a pelletizer, and toss a bale of alfalfa in...and make your own, then YES it would be worth it.

Let's not forget that the bale of alfalfa is expensive in the first place !
I raised & showed purebred California meat rabbits for YEARS...

I butchered a few of mine...registered California herd that I had.
But mostly I sold alot to people who wanted to raise meat rabbits....
No, it was not worth it.
I still have some of the equipment & the ARBA standard if anyone wants it.

Thank you for the info. Really appreciate your insight. Do you think they can be penned up in a certain area kind of like a chicken run and just eat only the grass/weeds in that area? We have tons of wild rabbit around doing that.

 

[junebuggena]

Thank you for the info. Really appreciate your insight. Do you think they can be penned up in a certain area kind of like a chicken run and just eat only the grass/weeds in that area? We have tons of wild rabbit around doing that.

They don't just eat alfalfa. You can purchase a wide variety of rabbit pellet feeds. Most contain several types of grasses and hays. Pellets are needed for the minerals. Rabbits tend to ignore mineral blocks/licks. Grass and weeds aren't usually adequate for optimal health, growth, and development. Alfalfa pellets are best for pregnant/lactating does. Feed must be switched gradually. In addition to needing feed pellets, they need roughage, usually in the form of hay, to keep their digestive systems working and healthy. And they need chunks of wood to help keep their front teeth ground down. Most love the woody stems of rosemary or lavender bushes and apple twigs.
I do plan to pasture my kits, once weaned, in a tractor. But they will have access to a basic rabbit feed and all the hay they want.