Anybody here raise meat rabbits??

WC145

WC145

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Would you care to share how you got started? I've been kicking the idea around for a couple of years, been reading up on it, and finally decided to give it a go. I bought cages and equipment from a guy that has recently decided to get out of it. Oddly, he let a bunch of Californians loose on his property so I've been live trapping them over the last couple of days. Got four so far, tomorrow I get to try and figure which ones are boys and which ones are girls.

Anyway, I'm interested in finding out how others got started - equipment, numbers of animals, breeds, how and where they were kept, etc.. And, of course, how things have turned out. Thanks!
 
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I haven't never raised them, BUT they are shure tasty! Theres a guy that used to raise, clean package them up about a hour from where I live. A few times a year I would go get some. My wife would fry them, the way chicken is fried, and the rabbit is sooooooo much better! She wont eat rabbit,lots people I know wont, but to me a chicken is the most gross animal alive and everyone likes chicken, I would think rabbit has to be clean as all they eat is veggies and pellets? I would like to have a big plateful of fried rabbit as I am here typing. regards Ernie
 
Watch out!! They breed like rabbits!! :)

They are very tasty.. I've never raised them but had a friend who did.
 
I've eaten cottontails and had rabbit in restaurants, and when I was in boot camp they fed us fried rabbit (yes, Ernie, it is delicious!!). I've never had home grown or small farm rabbit, which is one of the reasons I want to try them. I would think that like garden vegetables, fresh eggs from your own chickens, home grown meat chickens, and home grown pigs, home grown rabbits would taste better than store bought and be meatier, more tender, and more flavorful than wild, especially since you can manipulate their diet.
But, since I'm new to this, these are the kinds of things I'm trying to find out about.:)
 
Neighbor down the road had serious health problems. He is in
early 40s and goes about 400lbs. Doc had him on rabbit for low
colest. diet. He took turn for worse and is now in care center. His
family let remaining rabbits loose. A couple of them have taken
up residence in hollow behind my house. My wife feeds them
and performs over watch. Along with her knitting stuff has a 22
rifle. I pity anything that would go after rabbits. The yard is a
animal sanctuary and is under her protection. No predators are
welcome. The only thing I'm permitted to shoot is Starlings. You
don't mess with her birds either!
 
Grew up eating cottontail rabbits. Only harvested them after the first freeze until it warmed up in springtime. General rule was any month with an "R" in it was OK, but usually waited until after the first hard freeze. Also grew up eating pen raised rabbit since one of my granddad's raised them. I liked it all, but as redlevel mentioned, the pen raised stuff was not nearly as tasty as the wild ones. My sons grew up eating fried cottontails and biskits and gravy. They love it, but for some reason, neither of their wives will try it! The boys and I also raised a few rabbits for a while. The Californians are about the best and easiest ones to keep for butchering. We just bought some hanging wire cages to keep them in and got along just fine. My wife likes rabbit as well, but it took her a bit to get over eating those cute bunnies. She will not participate in the butchering, but if I bring her the clean carcasses and cut them up into pieces, she will gladly fry them up and fix a skillet of gravy and a pan of biskits. Mmmmmmm! Lots of good meat on a pen raised rabbit, but it only takes a few more cottontails to equal the amount of meat. Cottontail rabbit is probably my favorite wild game meat!
 
I had a pet rabbit named Hasenpfeffer. He spend all his time eating, pooping, and raping a stuffed toy rabbit that I put in there to keep him company. I got tired of him and went to club him to death with a tire thumper, but my wife stopped me and gave him away to a friend for her child to have a pet. Thus did my rabbit escape the frying pan.

Amazon should have a number of helpful books.

I believe in naming food animals, as it makes them taste better.

Oh and rabbits like to chew through electrical cords and electrocute themselves and start house fires. So watch out.

Harvest time, you can save on the cost of ammo by using a claw hammer or other club. It is considered a humane way to dispatch rabbits.
 
My grandfather raised rabbits for years, I know he had all breeds but one of the easiest and toughest were New Zealand whites. I know you need to make sure when breeding them, after the females give birth, get the bucks away from the does or they will kill the little ones just to get the females back in heat quicker. My grandfather used to get about 20 of them by the end of October and had a pretty fair lot of freezer meat. I know that man never had to buy steak or pork between his bunnies, venison, the occasional grouse and his fish during the summer. I wish I knew of anyone around here that did them but most people seem to raise them for pets. I know I got in trouble at the pet store recently when I told the wife I could get a decent couple of pound of meat off the rabbit they had for sale. The clerk gave me a pretty rough look.
 
GatorFarmer said:
I had a pet rabbit named Hasenpfeffer. He spend all his time eating, pooping, and raping a stuffed toy rabbit that I put in there to keep him company. I got tired of him and went to club him to death with a tire thumper, but my wife stopped me and gave him away to a friend for her child to have a pet. Thus did my rabbit escape the frying pan.

Amazon should have a number of helpful books.

I believe in naming food animals, as it makes them taste better.

Oh and rabbits like to chew through electrical cords and electrocute themselves and start house fires. So watch out.

Harvest time, you can save on the cost of ammo by using a claw hammer or other club. It is considered a humane way to dispatch rabbits.
Click to expand...

Whack them behind the back of the head and hang them feet first for a few minutes to drain the blood out also before butchering. When you do butcher them, dunk them in water for a few seconds completely, when the fur is wet it doesn't fly all over and get onto the meat as much.
 
I raised them as a kid, my kids did too. We ate them, as has been said they are delicious and relatively easy to butcher. To kill them we'd knock them on the back of the head/neck with a kid's wooden bat or anything similar.
I imagine like everything today you'll have to see if legal in your area, will neighbors complain, how to dispose of waste, they make a bunch!
If you live in a rural setting great, the waste is good fertilizer. Are you planning to sell the meat? If so I'm thinking tons more regulations.
Good luck!
Steve W
 
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Wish i could find a local rabbit meat guy around here. Sometimes the Amish sell them but you can't count on it.

I remember growing up and getting getting off the school bus and sometimes there would be a couple skinned rabbits in a pot of salt water on the front porch. Knew fried "chicken" was on the menu tonight.

Curious, Years back i remember seeing rabbit fur lined leather gloves for sale. Wonder if there is a market for the fur now in these PC ways lately.
 
Stevens said:
I raised them as a kid, my kids did too. We ate them, as has been said they are delicious and relatively easy to butcher. To kill them we'd knock them on the back of the head/neck with a kid's wooden bat or anything similar.
I imagine like everything today you'll have to see if legal in your area, will neighbors complain, how to dispose of waste, they make a bunch!
If you live in a rural setting great, the waste is good fertilizer. Are you planning to sell the meat? If so I'm thinking tons more regulations.
Good luck!
Steve W
Click to expand...
Thanks for the info. We live in the country, no worries about neighbors or regulations, and we're raising them for personal use. We'll also give some to family and friends and trade with people I know that raise meat chickens. The manure is going into compost and the garden.
 
The only rabbit's I've ever eaten were driven by a few good beagles.:)
 
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