BroodCoop
Well-known member
I heard some advice that I will pass on for people who have a problem eating animals with names. Put the carcass in the freezer until you don't remember who it is.
First butchering
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TerriG
Well-known member
I know this thread is a few weeks old, but this was a thread I thoroughly enjoyed before I joined RT.
We have only been raising meat rabbits since August, butchered our first batch right around Thanksgiving, and ate our fist one on Saturday.
I agree with so many things said in this thread. I can't quote them all. Here's what I remember off the top of my head.
- We give our kits nicknames (usually based on color or size) just as a way to reference them. Our first litters had 5 total. Only a few got names from us, but the kids named more. We had Foster (turned out to be a doe, but the kit was a singleton and was fostered to another doe). There was Goliath (he was huge compared to the others. He was also the only buck). Our current litter that is in the grow out is Whitey, Marten, and Tan. I think the kids can tan "Fire". Those names are all based on coat color.
- The comment about your animals having the best life possible ... that's exactly what we try to do. From birth to death, we try to give them good lives. We pet them. We talk to them. We give them treats. We kill the way that works best for us and causes the least suffering. Currently, that is a gun.
- It is so refreshing to find a place that doesn't think we are some kind of demented murderous person for raising and butchering our own meat. We already garden, so my kids understand that, but I don't want them to think that meat only comes from a grocery store. I admit that eating that first rabbit was hard mentally. I know it will get easier with time. My 7 year old is really struggling with the whole killing and eating. We are working him through it. He doesn't have a problem with meat from the store, just with meat that he knew and saw alive.
That attitude and support here at RT is the main reason that I decided to join
We have only been raising meat rabbits since August, butchered our first batch right around Thanksgiving, and ate our fist one on Saturday.
I agree with so many things said in this thread. I can't quote them all. Here's what I remember off the top of my head.
- We give our kits nicknames (usually based on color or size) just as a way to reference them. Our first litters had 5 total. Only a few got names from us, but the kids named more. We had Foster (turned out to be a doe, but the kit was a singleton and was fostered to another doe). There was Goliath (he was huge compared to the others. He was also the only buck). Our current litter that is in the grow out is Whitey, Marten, and Tan. I think the kids can tan "Fire". Those names are all based on coat color.
- The comment about your animals having the best life possible ... that's exactly what we try to do. From birth to death, we try to give them good lives. We pet them. We talk to them. We give them treats. We kill the way that works best for us and causes the least suffering. Currently, that is a gun.
- It is so refreshing to find a place that doesn't think we are some kind of demented murderous person for raising and butchering our own meat. We already garden, so my kids understand that, but I don't want them to think that meat only comes from a grocery store. I admit that eating that first rabbit was hard mentally. I know it will get easier with time. My 7 year old is really struggling with the whole killing and eating. We are working him through it. He doesn't have a problem with meat from the store, just with meat that he knew and saw alive.
That attitude and support here at RT is the main reason that I decided to join
OneAcreFarm
Well-known member
TerriG":2vi4iuhf said:I know this thread is a few weeks old, but this was a thread I thoroughly enjoyed before I joined RT.
We have only been raising meat rabbits since August, butchered our first batch right around Thanksgiving, and ate our fist one on Saturday.
I agree with so many things said in this thread. I can't quote them all. Here's what I remember off the top of my head.
- We give our kits nicknames (usually based on color or size) just as a way to reference them. Our first litters had 5 total. Only a few got names from us, but the kids named more. We had Foster (turned out to be a doe, but the kit was a singleton and was fostered to another doe). There was Goliath (he was huge compared to the others. He was also the only buck). Our current litter that is in the grow out is Whitey, Marten, and Tan. I think the kids can tan "Fire". Those names are all based on coat color.
- The comment about your animals having the best life possible ... that's exactly what we try to do. From birth to death, we try to give them good lives. We pet them. We talk to them. We give them treats. We kill the way that works best for us and causes the least suffering. Currently, that is a gun.
- It is so refreshing to find a place that doesn't think we are some kind of demented murderous person for raising and butchering our own meat. We already garden, so my kids understand that, but I don't want them to think that meat only comes from a grocery store. I admit that eating that first rabbit was hard mentally. I know it will get easier with time. My 7 year old is really struggling with the whole killing and eating. We are working him through it. He doesn't have a problem with meat from the store, just with meat that he knew and saw alive.
That attitude and support here at RT is the main reason that I decided to join
This makes me very happy to hear....
We have only butchered one so far, our 1st buck we think had Pasteurella. Our 7 yr. old daughter was upset, but luckily that same day was a rabbit show an hour away, so I took her to go get a replacement buck while the boys took care of processing. Now that we have kits (17 between 2 does) I think it'll be even harder for her, but I plan on making sure there are newborn kits in the nestboxes before butchering day (at least at first) to make that easier. She says she doesn't want to eat rabbit ever again and I won't trick her or make her. She said the same thing about the buck we ate, then she tried it and loved it. I do worry that this may scar her in some way, I hope not.
TerriG
Well-known member
Yeah, I won't lie if directly asked. The kids just assumed it was chicken since we usually use chicken for that recipe. My older kids knew/figured it out quickly. It was them talking about how you couldn't tell that tipped off the 7 year old. His eyes got huge and he yelled "It's rabbit!" and ran from the table. We won't make him eat it. We'll just keep working him through it. Like I said, he doesn't have a problem with meat, just the fact that he knew the animals. He did like the meal until he found out it was rabbit.
So far we only name our breeding does and make sure our kids understand that the rabbits in the top cages (grow-out cages) are the rabbit we aren't keeping. Unfortunately we've had to cull, or the rabbit has culled itself, a few of the breeding rabbits but the kids haven't taken it hard thankfully. I actually think my wife takes it harder than my kids.
