23 and done!

JessiL · Dec 9, 2013

Well, we spent our afternoon on Saturday having a huge harvest day. We had procrastinated due to the holiday, and ended up having 3 good-sized litters and a few culls to send to freezer camp. One of those was a big one - one of my first purchased does who just hasn't managed to birth or raise a litter for months, even though she is the prettiest doe in the barn. Four strikes (I was too generous) and she was out. Luckily, we had a friend interested in helping out. He went from having never butchered anything to being almost as fast as me by the end of the day. And we found out that my husband's natural dispatch tool was the blunt end of a hatchet that he really loves for killing poultry. It never got above freezing, but with the sun and calm conditions, the warmth of the rabbits made it bearable.

It was necessary, but I am still surprised to go into the rabbit barn and among the pasture cages and see so few rabbits. Back to 6 breeders and 2 large litters still in boxes.

Final weight of dressed rabbits - 63.25 pounds total. And we just ate the last one of the previous batch tonight - mustard rabbit, a great traditional French recipe. http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/ra ... ard_sauce/

- Jessi in Reno, NV

AmysMacdog · Dec 9, 2013

Congrats! Sounds like you guys had a very productive day!

It keeps raining here, I want to do some things outside besides get wet! LOL

MamaSheepdog · Dec 9, 2013

JessiL":1tzn21qe said:
Well, we spent our afternoon on Saturday having a huge harvest day.

Wow, good for you!

JessiL":1tzn21qe said:
Final weight of dressed rabbits - 63.25 pounds total.

That's a lot of meat!

JessiL":1tzn21qe said:
Luckily, we had a friend interested in helping out.

It is so much nicer to process with a group, isn't it?

I have some friends that process with me sometimes. We would usually do about twenty at a time. Unfortunately they aren't raising rabbits anymore since the wife had to go back to work, but they are still willing to help when she has days off. It hasn't happened yet, though. :roll:

JessiL":1tzn21qe said:
It never got above freezing, but with the sun and calm conditions, the warmth of the rabbits made it bearable.

I did six by myself the other day. You are right about the warmth of the rabbits- it was so cold out, I couldn't wait to skin and gut them to warm my hands up! :shock: :lol:

JessiL":1tzn21qe said:
It was necessary, but I am still surprised to go into the rabbit barn and among the pasture cages and see so few rabbits.

I still have about 15 to do. I am looking forward to not having to feed so many mouths, and instead have them feed US!

GBov · Dec 9, 2013

Great job!

Having all that meat in the freezer is a wonderful feeling, isn't it.

We have run out due to reluctant does but with three litter growing out, my mouth is watering at your recipe.

nvstickbow · Dec 9, 2013

Nice job on the VERY productive day. If you ever need a hand I am only an hour away and would certainly come up and give you a hand processing, though I don't know much yet. My first litter is just over a week old, so I still have a while before I get to process any of my own.

Desert Rose Rabbits · Dec 10, 2013

Yay!! Loads of meat! It looks like I'll be processing the last of the buns until these final two litters are ready to go. Need cage space and getting really tired of pork and beef. Never thought I'd say that! I was quite surprised by what we got off of one of our buns. I made a very basic stew from one of our growouts and it turned out amazing ( http://allrecipes.co.uk/recipe/13034/pe ... px?o_is=LV ). I didn't cook the dumplings enough, but it still turned out wonderfully. Only used one rabbit and we got three meals out of it. I was stoked! Wish I knew what my final dress out weight was, but my scale didn't want to give me an accurate reading. Need a new one!