Recent content by lemonthyme

mountainrabbits: This was my first time canning rabbit but I have canned beef before so was not new to canning meat. It is very easy to use once canned. The meat is already cooked so you can use it in just about anything. Anyplace you might use chicken or pork is a good place to start since I...

No, I didn't use salt, BUT I did use some vegetable broth seasoning in the water when I pressure cooked them and that is the broth I used when canning them so it did have some salt content. You don't have to use salt but if you had no other seasoning you could use a little - sorry, not sure how...

When I did the canned rabbit, I cooked them all first in the pressure cooker (saves time as they cook faster) and pulled all the meat off the bones. I guess I could have de-boned them and packed the meat raw but I figured it would be more time consuming and it would be harder to get all the meat...

Thanks Maggie! I would have loved to spread it out but we have had so many rainy Saturdays that we decided we needed to get it done while we had a nice day. DH works nights so the only time he has is Friday after he gets off work or Saturday. Just glad it's done! LOL!

So, we butchered 25 rabbits last Saturday. We is DH and I. It was a LONG day! These were well past their butchering date so I decided to can them - plus I am short on freezer space. So I was pressure cooking at the same time as we were butchering. We took meat off bones that night but I chilled...

Update - so far, so good. The one who I thought was going to die seems to be recovering. It is eating and hopping around and the other 3 never did get sick. I guess I will never know for sure what it was but I am happy that whatever it was seems to have passed.

Thanks! They do get lots of hay and but I will get some tetracycline tomorrow when store opens.

I am stumped and need help. First a bit of background. I have a batch of 6 babies - they are 7 weeks old. About a week ago they (or probably their mother) managed to chew a hole through some wood in the back of their cage. Two of the babies fell out of the cage. I found them on the ground in the...

The lady I got my breeding stock from sold a lot of her rabbits to a lady who had a business making high end dog food (canned, I assume). She said she could get more money selling them that way then for human consumption.

WOW! That's a lot of babies! I thought when my NZ/Cal had 12 it was a large litter! Hang in there. I was very apprenhesive but my doe did manage to raise all 12 - they are about a week away from their butcher date and I can no longer tell which one's were the runts of the litter. I have to say...

Thanks so much for all the encouragement. I checked them this afternoon and they all looked good. She gets her nose right in the nest when I try to look at them. She's not aggressive but she is definitely telling me hands off my babies!

Maggie J; Thanks for the info. I do think I remember miner's lettuce be undiserable I just couldn't remember where! I will have to try the grain grasses in dishpans. Thanks! :) Karen

My Cal/NZ doe just gave birth to 12 kits! I am worried about this being to much for her. I only have one other doe with little ones and they are over a week old and she already has 8. The doe with 12 is a good mother but this is only her second live bunch (her first ever bunch she left to freeze...

I am wondering about a couple of salad greens. I grow greens all winter in an unheated greenhouse and hope to have enough for at least treats for the buns next winter. I will have Mache' (a.k.a. corn salad), mizuna (Asain green), Tatsoi (another Asain green), Claytonia (miner's lettuce), &...

Glad to know we are on track. Also, I am glad you told me about the aging in the refrigerator as I didn't know that! I will take your advice about only butchering a few the first day. I'm sure it will take a bit to get the hang of it. My husband and a friend have said they will do the killing...