thoughts on keeping as pet and for meat?

As you all know.. I'm new to this.

I was speaking with a few other families in my tiny community that raise rabbits for meat (some are actually related to the rabbits I'm getting, so have to keep track of who has who in case i need to breed new bloodlines into my rabbits) and the first thing out of thier mouths was "do not make any rabbit your pet!!" meaning.. do not get a pet rabbit at all.. because then you will see all of your rabbits as pets and theoretically you will have a hard time differentiating between the two (Meaties vs. pet)

I would really like to eventually have a line of rabbits that are for pets (show) only...but now I'm 2nd guessing that choice.

I dunno....! We will still have the rabbits for meat... my friends told me not to even name them.. they are livestock only.

Thoughts?

Do you have pet rabbits and meat rabbits... do you have an issue at all? I feel like i could differentiate between "Bunnychops" and Miss Maggie Sue sweetie Pie" you know?

I guess it depends on the breeder. Quite a few members here (myself included) have meat rabbits and pet rabbits. Now, I don't breed for pets, I just have some pet rabbits. One is a buck who ended up with wry neck, so he's a house rabbit now. Another buck, a little lionhead, was given to us, and he's a house bunny as well. They don't run across each other.

Then we do have a retired doe in the rabbitry, who would be a house bunny if we didn't already have two bucks in here.

All of our breeders have names and get treated like pets... even the ones who will eventually be replaced by offspring and end up in the freezer.

My kids even name some of the standout meat bunnies. Snack was a runt, Piglet was a fat one, Blaze had a stripe on her forehead. Even so, we've had no trouble putting them in the freezer. It got to my husband a little, but now he does the gutting, so by the time it gets to him it has no fur and no name.

Well, I can but I was raised on a farm and had show animals that we ate. I think it will vary from person to person and you just have to learn your own limits.

I think it should be fine, for me it would at least. Do you have chickens that you have butchered?

There is no shame in having feelings towards one animal and not the other next to it. We have a buck that would be better suited as a pet rather than a breeder. And if we can't find a home for him, he will be sent to freezer camp.

I grew up with both pets and some livestock, and all had names. Frankly it comes down to what you and your family can emotionally handle. Not everyone can eat what they raise and that is not a fault.

My Father raised rex rabbits as a kid and he has no idea what rabbits taste like

I can only share my own feelings on the subject, as each person is different.

I have house rabbit pets, and meat/pet/show stock.
All brood stock gets a name, petting, toys, and treats. Kits intended for freezer camp get petting too.

Basically, the meat rabbits never get less respect or consideration than my pet rabbits do. If anything, I feel that having the pets here helps us be more aware of how to keep the meat stock happy too.

Yes, there have been some meat buns that I have become very attached to. I was genuinely heartbroken when I lost my favorite girl, Pancake. We had to euthanize her for health reasons.
It was probably one the hardest things I've ever had to do as an adult.
I know that might sounds silly to some, but I don't care. You love who you love.
I do get more attached to some of my rabbits than others, but all of them are precious to me.

I think, having the pet rabbits here to dote on probably helps keep me from growing too attached to the rabbitry buns.
I can't say I ever feel happy about ending the meat rabbit's lives, But... I didn't get into this for a warm fuzzy feeling.
I wanted to take responsibility for the lives of the animal that my family consumes.

And after a few years of this, I can say that I do feel content taking my meat from animals that I know had the best life and end that I could manage, so, I do not need to dissociate from them.

I loved the meat line I produced even though I decided it wasn't what I wanted to raise (really I can't find anything specific I do want to raise long term). I actually butchered a lot of the "pet" breeds such as mini rex, dutch, and even netherland dwarf because I was using them partially as dog food and my dogs only need 1/2 to 2lbs for a meal. I watched movies with my breeders and I played with my kits while I loved every color produced. You can only keep so many though. If they don't sell and you don't have a space/purpose for them the decision becomes a lot easier to butcher them. I think it would be harder if you maintained a very small number instead of having several rabbits you enjoy making it a bit easier to part with one of those.

There have been some that I don't know what I would have done if they hadn't died while still being productive. I don't think I could have parted with Kido or Amako. I regretted when I parted with Kido's remaining son Enki because he was not useful for a purebred Netherland breeding program. Of course then I got attached to Kuwa and Kumo and would have kept them forever despite Kuwa being a failure as a breeder if I didn't end up having to keep my rabbits inside and finding they were way too messy for me to keep up with. I have guinea pigs now.

I've had laying birds that I grew exceptionally attached to and then had to dispatch. (illness or injury usually.. but had some cockerels that were just annoying and used them for stew)

I was really attached to my twin lambs i had last year (helped my ewe birth them, the first was stuck because of a positioning issue) the ram lamb was attacked and once we were finally able to get him into a pen to take a look at him, he had been partially disemboweled with a hole the size of my fist in his abdomen. there was no way to save him... he was bleeding to death. so we quickly put him down. (it literally took seconds, from all his blood loss) and we were able to salvage a good portion of his carcass. We actually had a shoulder roast from him last week. (pretty damn tasty!) But These were livestock... i was attached and we did share a bond (I helped that ram lamb take his first breath) they were always meant to be livestock. To me a pet is like a cat or a dog... where you would never eat it, and is apart of your family...

I think I'd be fine with the differentiation honestly. and I think my kids would be too.... we've done enough of our own personal butchering in the past (getting ready to do our Pig, NomNom, in next month) to have a clear line in the sand so to speak.

I wont have a pet bunny right now... let's just do one step at a time here... get my meaties... learn, breed, raise, freezer camp the kits... then consider a pet... and maybe breed for pets.....

I have pet and meat rabbits too. I name all my adults, some I do end up butchering if plans change. It seems like once I make up my mind then I can eat the rabbit with no problem. I have a few who have been with me a long time and I won't be eating them. I see no reason to eat a tough old bun either, since I could have tender rabbit instead :lol: I don't name my litters that are bred specifically for meat, nor do I handle them beyond getting them used to my presence. The pets become pets because some of them sort of grow on you....Fair warning lol.

MoonSpiritMom":yd68cfzg said:

As you all know.. I'm new to this.

I was speaking with a few other families in my tiny community that raise rabbits for meat (some are actually related to the rabbits I'm getting, so have to keep track of who has who in case i need to breed new bloodlines into my rabbits) and the first thing out of thier mouths was "do not make any rabbit your pet!!" meaning.. do not get a pet rabbit at all.. because then you will see all of your rabbits as pets and theoretically you will have a hard time differentiating between the two (Meaties vs. pet)

I would really like to eventually have a line of rabbits that are for pets (show) only...but now I'm 2nd guessing that choice.

I dunno....! We will still have the rabbits for meat... my friends told me not to even name them.. they are livestock only.

Thoughts?

Do you have pet rabbits and meat rabbits... do you have an issue at all? I feel like i could differentiate between "Bunnychops" and Miss Maggie Sue sweetie Pie" you know?

Click to expand...

In your show line , you aren't going to show or sell everything you produce. Some just wont make the grade , the pet market isn't always going to be able to absorb your excess and you are always limited by space.

I have a lot of trouble with them. I keep making excuses not processing them even though I have in my mind decided which ones to eat. It's also been months since I ate my last rabbit even though I enjoyed it. It's even hard for me to take them to the pet shop. I guess it's just separation anxiety because it doesn't bother me to butcher them after they are killed.

Well...

I'm in some problems there, I have rabbits for 4 years now. My breeding stock are like pets for me, espacially my black Fury who lived for half a year in my kitchen.

I have no big problem dispatching the offspring, but I'm really happy about every single one I can sell. But the rabbits I care for every day for years now - that'll be hard .

Two weeks ago my Fury quit eating and pooping, I took her indoors (kept the temp at 10C to avoid respiratory problems), rushed to the vet, force fed her for 3 days...
I really don't want to lose her. She has pet status.

Also, the second doe I bought, the Gray, has serious watery eyes now, most likely dental prblems, didn't breed her last year because of that, and fed her through the winter because it seem's much better in the cold, she's of no use anymore, but I'm postponing the inevitable for a year now...

I really mourned my buck last year, who died of shock after a fox attack, he had pet status too.

In the short term, it doesn't matter if you make your keepers pets, but the time will come when difficult decisions are to be made (or have many retirement cages and enough resources to do the extra work)
Can be easier if you can delegate the processing of rabbits rabbits you grew too attached to to someone alse.

I don't see any problem keeping a dedicated pet rabbit parallel to meat rabbits. Just mixing that categories up is somewhat difficult.