A few questions from a new guy

[dewey]

150# seems a pretty conservative number should be fine. I prsonally wouldnt breed more agressivly than that. You need to give the doe time to wean the kitts and gain her health back for a couple weeks before kindling again. Rabbit meat is IMO better than chicken it will absorb the flavors of the spices that you use better than chicken. I also prefer butchuring rabbits to chickens, for me it is quicker and cleaner. Dont worry about those cute little ears you cannot eat them anyway LOL. It took me 10 Yrs to convince my wife to get chickens, But now she acts like it was her idea. We have had rabbits for several years but are just starting into meat rabbits. I have butchered twice and it gets easier and faster everytime, there really is not much of a learning curve to it. Go for it I say.

So true about the ears, lol, and couldn't agree more on how easy, clean, and quick rabbits are to process, especially compared to chickens. I'm pretty sure my days of processing chickens/turkeys are over...never did care for the mess.

I'd always figured roughly around 200# a year produced per doe, around 100 pounds dressed per doe, 5 litters per doe yearly, 39 day breedback schedule, so their not weaned, they're with the doe until processing. Some others aim for more litters per year but I'm happy with 5.

Myke, I hope your SO comes around. Funny how some can eventually come around to the point of not even being able to imagine life before raising your own.

 

[dewey]

Meat processed past the point of fryer age (beyond 8-12 weeks old) will have somewhat darker, coarser, less tender meat...but they're still delicious. Anything over 12 weeks old was a stewer.

 

[tortoise]

Meat processed past the point of fryer age (beyond 8-12 weeks old) will have somewhat darker, coarser, less tender meat...but they're still delicious. Anything over 12 weeks old was a stewer.

My breed is slower growing and I butcher more like 20 weeks. The meat is very tender, but the connective tissue can be tough.

I did cull one that was almost 2 years old - she went in the crockpot!

 

[dewey]

Meat processed past the point of fryer age (beyond 8-12 weeks old) will have somewhat darker, coarser, less tender meat...but they're still delicious. Anything over 12 weeks old was a stewer.

My breed is slower growing and I butcher more like 20 weeks. The meat is very tender, but the connective tissue can be tough.

I did cull one that was almost 2 years old - she went in the crockpot!

Yep! Can't beat crocks and pressure cookers for stewers. With lots of onion and garlic.

 

[Myke]

Thanks for all the help. Butchering for me isn't a problem, I've got to where I can field dress a cottontail in under a minute, skinned, gutted, rinsed and in the cooler. I think I may try tanning a few hides so it will take a bit longer. I will check the grocery store and see if they carry rabbit, never seen it, but never looked either. It will be tough to get them to eat anything I cook, I've come home with deer, cottontail, wild pig, and snapping turtle, and planning to try rattlesnake this summer. I will give the store bought a try and hopefully I can cook ok, then I just need to make sure nobody starts naming them.
Myke

 

[wYs Ranch]

Do you do any gardening? Flower or food? The rabbit droppings are cold compost, they can be put right on the plants. And they don't smell. So lots of free fertilizer!! (pee is definatly the culprit for odors) I currently have 10 mature rabbits and 9, 8 wk old kits in an enclosed shed. It doesn't smell (although it is winter). We pull out the trays and clean every saturday.
Go ahead and let them name the breeding adults. You'll have them around for a while!
I think the dom. rabbit has a very mild flavor. Wild is far different.
Try a local butcher shop, they may have rabbit. Most of the resturants or shops get rabbit shipped in from overseas. You could also find someone else who raises meat rabbits and buy one local... either live or processed.
You can also tell your SO that rabbit is very lean and healty! It won't be injected with hormones or chemicals! And, they'll know it was raised with care and humainly processed.

 

[hoodat]

Rabbit is raised completely different from any other meat animal. You don't have the large unnatural and inhumane conditions of cattle feed lots or overcrowding such as in large chicken and pig operations. Rabbits cannot be overcrowded or force fed. They just up and die if it's tried. Those who try to make a big operation out of it almost invariably go broke.
Most rabbits are raised in small operations of ten or less breeding does by people that do it partly as a hobby and partly to make money. A buyer makes the rounds collecting the rabbits where they are taken to processing plants that are also smaller than slaughter houses for other animals. The result is a humane, clean operation that yields healthier and cleaner meat.

 

[tortoise]

then I just need to make sure nobody starts naming them.
Myke

I label mine with the rabbit's name. That way I can track the breeding and date of birth.

My son is 3. Every once in a while when I ask him what he wants for dinner, he will say a rabbit's name. Usually a rabbit we have already eaten, lol.

We like to know our food. We'll even name the deer in the freezer. We ate from a mule deer for most of a year. The head is mounted in my son's room. After we would eat, he would run down the hall and say, "Thank you for dinner B.B.!"

 

[dewey]

The head is mounted in my son's room. After we would eat, he would run down the hall and say, "Thank you for dinner B.B.!"

That's precious, lol.

 

[Mitransplant]

Question(s) from another newby.

I have heard that you can not breed siblings. Is this right? If so, how do you keep your "herds" going when the original two are two old?

By this I mean Say I got three rabbits. Two does and one buck. Breed then for ? amount of time and then they either die or are to old, I can't breed and start over with any of the kits, so would I have to get another few rabbits in a few years to replace these? I have so many questions about raising rabbits that I am unsure if I can do it.
My sister raised them in her garage in MI for years but I didn't care about it at the time. Now years later I am trying to find ways to add to the food supply so thought about raising rabbits to go along with the 40 chickens I have. I didn't think they would be that hard to raise and breed and don't take up much room.

The hardest part for me right now if finding someone around me that raises and sells them cheaply. Checked one rabbitry and she would sell me a rabbit for 45 bucks. I think that is rather high for a meat rabbit.
Can I just get some of the ones they will have in the farm stores in a few weeks and use those? Is it alright if they are related? I don't want any defects so need to know what I need to do.

Thanks for letting me ask these dumb questions but I really need to know some of the answers before getting rabbits.