Why aren't rabbits on the menu more places?

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When I was a kid, the old timers remembered rabbit meat fondly. Many restaurants served it during WW2 since rabbit meat was not rationed. As a boy I remember one sort of rural place still had it on the menu. It was quite tasty fried up, like chicken only tastier. Back in Michigan the Meijers stores even stocked boxes of Pelfreeze frozen rabbit pieces in the frozen food aisle.

So why did the commercial raising and serving of chickens take off so explosively in the post war years, yet McDonalds does not serve a McRabbit sandwich? Back around WW2, chicken was a once a week Sunday meal for most of the nation, if they were lucky, with fried chicken being a regional southern dish to a certain extent. Now chicken is ubiquitous and rabbit virtually forgotten.

Why is that?
 
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Yes. Bunny lovers.

There was a squirrel shoot recently that went viral on facebook with folks getting deeply upset over cute innocent creatures killed for sport.

Folks kill snakes and spiders on the regular and I don't see anyone raising a stink about it.
 
I agree it should still be sold as I like it a whole lot. My wife though being a city girl won't have anything to do with those I've shot. I think they're many like her around and rabbit has gone by the wayside but too bad.
I worked for Meijer but never saw it for sale there or might have bought some when my hunting trips weren't successful.
I once spent a week in Columbus, Ohio when I worked for Amana years ago. The motel I stayed in had a restaurant out front where I could eat for free on Amana's dime. They specialized in game foods and I explored their menu that week and had all sorts of good stuff. I believe they did have rabbit too but the only place I remember it or much of their other game.
 
Although I put 22 years in the Navy, my first 3 years was aboard ship sailing in the Tokin Gulf. Every now and then, they would serve rabbit in the chow line. Being a young kid from Detroit, I tried it. "Never Again". FYI, I don't think I would try squirrel neither if offered!
 
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arjay said:
I blame the urban female boomers of my generation.When they learned I was hunting rabbits,they all said "ewww,but they are so cute,what's wrong with you?" [emoji57]
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I showed a highly-educated, conservative woman who I had seen wearing coyote, mink and other furs a picture of a fox my son shot varmit hunting after she asked what we had been hunting that morning. She went ballistic. I said "wait a damn minute, where do you think the furbearers came from that made your coats!?" Answer--"the fur store." Aldo Leopold said, “There are two spiritual dangers in not owning a farm. One is the danger of supposing that breakfast comes from the grocery, and the other that heat comes from the furnace.”

He should have added that "fur comes from the fur store."
 
The Tractor Supply Company and Big R both have their tubs of young chickens, ducks and turkeys in. People buy them to raise as yard chickens. I made a boy to show them to my children. Baby chickens are all cute and fuzzy. Naturally I also told them that this is where McNuggets come from. I am not sure if they believe me...

I used to find frozen rabbit at the Lansing area Meijers and also around Midland. Maybe they quit carrying as the old timers passed away. I vaguely recall the A&P having it too.

Come to think of it...cows can be cute too, but we eat them....
 
A google search indicates that fresh or frozen rabbit meat is readily available, but *very* expensive - $8/lb and up. Plus it is difficult to ship in small quantities.

Sample:
Rabbit Meat, Whole Natural Rabbit Fryer, Buy Fresh Natural and Organic Gourmet Meat Online

On the other hand, rabbit meat is much denser than chicken, so less of it is needed to make a serving.

Whole Foods sells rabbit meat, but only in certain parts of the country. See
Rabbit | Whole Foods Market

Some of the reasons - commercial rabbit feed is much more expensive than chicken feed, rabbits are usually harvested at 6 months of age, there is constant interference from the wackos, etc.

Most people who are "into" rabbit meat simply raise their own.
 
Hunter8282 said:
I just started raising meat rabbits. My first litters are due on the 31st! They are New Zeeland breed and I have two does and 1 buck. 8 weeks after birth the dinner bell will chime! :p
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How much time and trouble are they to raise? I would love to raise rabbits, but 8 or 9 times a year I have to be away from home for 3 to 6 days at a time. So I can’t raise anything that can not be put on auto for at least 5 days at a time.
 
Hunter8282 said:
I just started raising meat rabbits. My first litters are due on the 31st! They are New Zeeland breed and I have two does and 1 buck. 8 weeks after birth the dinner bell will chime! :p
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In 3 or 4 months repost about your rabbits thread & see if u still feel the same way about those loving creatures.:) I cant wait.
 
There is a LOT...

There's a lot of meat that could be raised domestically that you never see.

PS: I googled something like "meat that can be raised domestically" and all I got were pages and pages of why it's immoral to eat meat. I had to adjust my search a little.:mad:
 
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You all are making me hungry, love rabbit and haven't had it in years.
My mother used to bait trap them to keep the rascals out of her garden.
The groceries stores here sold them at one time but haven't seen any in years
 
finesse_r said:
How much time and trouble are they to raise? I would love to raise rabbits, but 8 or 9 times a year I have to be away from home for 3 to 6 days at a time. So I can’t raise anything that can not be put on auto for at least 5 days at a time.
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So far not too much work, but I do feed them every day and fill their water bottles when required. I think it would be hard to go full auto for a minimum of 5 days. You would need a very large hopper for food and then you'd have to watch that your breeding stock doesn't get fat. Keeping them cool in the heat is more of an issue that dealing with cold weather. Right now my bunny chores take me about 5 minutes daily and maybe 30 minutes weekly to "clean up."
 
4barrel said:
In 3 or 4 months repost about your rabbits thread & see if u still feel the same way about those loving creatures.:) I cant wait.
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Are you referring to killing and eating them, the taste, or the chores involved with keeping them?

We also have goats for milk and chickens for eggs so daily chores are just part of our life. I recently helped a friend kill and process some of her rabbits and I have no issues with it.
 
My wife is German,and what she does with a nice CottonTail is unbelievable .I have eaten the domestic types a time or two but prefer the wild ones.After a duck hunt I walked down the dikes that had been burned over and when the rice fields had been flooded the rabbits were so thick in the briars I had no trouble killing about 10 with a pre-27. A buddy's Lab retrieved them all and fried rabbit for lunch was uuuumm good!
 
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