Difference in amt of fat on Winter Fryer vs Summer Fryers?

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Katduck

Katduck

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This last batch of fryers we butchered had much more fat around the kidneys and elsewhere. I mean A LOT! But they are also the first batch we have butchered during winter. Is it normal for fryers to have more body fat in the winter? We fed them oats, but we always feed the fryers a snack of oats in the evening when the other rabbits get a snack of Oats, Barley,& Boss. The fat worked to my favor in this instance because I used it to mix in with the meat that I ground up and it made great burgers! But in the future I would like the weight they put on to be meat and not fat, unless it is a seasonal thing.

Kat
 
It could be a seasonal thing... It is certainly nature's way to try to provide a cushion of fat going into winter, as protection against cold weather and scanty food.

On the other hand, perhaps that batch of fryers were little piggies. :1pig: :1pig: :1pig:

What do you feed them besides the oats?
 
I free feed pellets just like all my other fryers. I don't think I gave them more oats than I gave other fryers. I usually put 1 scoop (a coffee scoop around 1 tbs) per fryer in a bowl and set it in the middle of the cage and they all gather round and it's every bunny for himself. I did that each evening.

Kat
 
Free-feeding is the norm for fryers, but IME some litters seem to eat more than others. If they are consuming more than they need, they are going to have more fat. I would think overall feed consumption was the reason rather than the oats you were giving them.

There may be an instinctive urge to eat more in the shorter days of late fall and winter.

One other possibility... Were these rabbits perhaps a little older at butchering time than previous litters? From what I remember from when I was feeding pellets, the major growth spurt is over by about 12 weeks. They still grow after that, but not at the previous rate. But they still eat the same... This could result in more fat. Just a thought and my recollection may not be 100% accurate. Rabbits raised on alfalfa hay, grain and greens tend to grow more slowly and take longer to reach butchering weight, but the growth rate seems to me to be more even throughout.
 

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