Getting sentimental...

[skysthelimit]

A couple of weeks ago, my mom made a statement to some friends I thought was very interesting, she told them I commune with my rabbits before I dispatch them. Hmm...

I guess I do. Breeders and kits alike. I keep my nest boxes inside. I kiss kits, carry them around, rub them on my face. Kits get more interaction with me than adults, because it becomes hard to drag a 9lb rabbit out of a cage on a regular basis, my guys are homebodies, lol, and pretty much don't like to be taken out of their cages. Kits are always being handled, posed, groomed, right until the time they are either chosen to stay, or dispatched. Here you are either a breeder or a feeder, lol.

I kiss them, hold them, and tell them they are good bunnies, I'm sorry this has to happen, but they won't be disrespected in death, they will feed my big fuzzies, and then they get bopped.

Every once in a while, there is one or two I feel like I've murdered, when there is one that could have gone on and been productive, and was dispatched for no other reason than I did not need it. But there is very little market for rabbits here, especially big ones. But they will be used, both meat and fur.

 

[Kyle@theWintertime]

I'm late to the party BUT...

My first meat litter was so cute. SO CUTE OMG. I started to have this sense that maybe I couldn't do it, they're too cute, and I love them all. Then they grew up enough to start running away from me, one was a screaming freak (seriously, it'd scream EVERY TIME I TOUCHED IT, sometimes it would stamp and scream at it's littermates, freaking them out to no end!) and one of the suckers finally went too far and bit me. :evil: I stopped calling them my cute baby bunnies that day and began muttering about the horde spawn of Satan in the grow-out pen. I did that screaming brute FIRST so it would SHUT THE HECK UP!!!!

They outgrow cute, don't worry. I ended up eventually culling that whole line because they were awful both in terms of production AND temperament.

It's easy to get past the baby doll factor when you have 9 kits in the grow out cage that sit there and run from you because one of them decided to stamp it's feet since it decided it didn't like you. Plus they grow out of that cute phase. On top of that, when they sit there and attack you it makes it much easier or they attack each other or you've eaten on of them and found out how delicious they are.

:yeahthat: I tell my friends (when they ask how I could kill and eat something so CUTE) that they do actually outgrow the cuteness factor.

Once the food bill starts adding up...

__________ Fri May 16, 2014 6:32 am __________

Another thing that got me through it, is if I don't breeding is over. I cannot have any more, I'd be out of room.

That too. If I want more cute wee little popples, gotta eat the older ones first!!! I like the little popples a lot, and rabbit is tasty, soooo...

You've been given several very good reasons. LOL.

Mean rabbits......they're easy.

Justifying the expense of keeping them. (not all can be pets)

Knowing your food source. To me, that's what so unique about rabbits. You
KNOW they're the best to grow your family. With no "spooky-things" being
added to their diet to make them grow quicker, faster, bigger, or better.
They are your safest, most reliable source of protein you can obtain.

Look back to the "original" reason you got started in them and don't deviate
from your intended path. Regardless of "cuteness" they're meant to feed your
family.

grumpy.

In a nutshell, that's perfect.

A couple of weeks ago, my mom made a statement to some friends I thought was very interesting, she told them I commune with my rabbits before I dispatch them. Hmm...

I guess I do. Breeders and kits alike. I keep my nest boxes inside. I kiss kits, carry them around, rub them on my face. Kits get more interaction with me than adults, because it becomes hard to drag a 9lb rabbit out of a cage on a regular basis, my guys are homebodies, lol, and pretty much don't like to be taken out of their cages. Kits are always being handled, posed, groomed, right until the time they are either chosen to stay, or dispatched. Here you are either a breeder or a feeder, lol.

I kiss them, hold them, and tell them they are good bunnies, I'm sorry this has to happen, but they won't be disrespected in death, they will feed my big fuzzies, and then they get bopped.

Every once in a while, there is one or two I feel like I've murdered, when there is one that could have gone on and been productive, and was dispatched for no other reason than I did not need it. But there is very little market for rabbits here, especially big ones. But they will be used, both meat and fur.

I do that, too...it helps I think. My dad laughs at me because I can't keep my hands off my kits...whenever I have a litter, there's often a kit or three to be found napping in the pockets of my cargo pants or shirt pocket. I name them ALL, I handle them daily, and I thank them before I dispatch. Sometimes having a bond with them makes it harder for ME, but it makes their dispatch easier for THEM, and that's what matters to me!

I also agree with the feelings like your rabbit was murdered, too...my old breeding stock, when they decline, I cull and eat them. It's so much harder for me to do that to a rabbit I didn't intend to make into a meal...but I found that what helps, is to make a special dish out of them to honor them.

 

[MewsicLovr]

I processed our first rabbits yesterday. It was a little tougher than I thought it would be. I didn't get emotional or anything, I just keep having these second thoughts. Obviously I know that the meat I buy in the store was also alive once, but it's still hard for me to get past the fact they only had a short life, and they were doomed from the start, and that *I* was the one who did it. At least it was quick and painless and they never wanted for anything. I didn't come from a farm life, this is just something I kind of fell into, so I'm wondering if that's part of why it seemed a little harder.

We give actual names to our breeding adults and we treat them like working pets, but obviously we don't name the little ones we plan to process later. Still, we do socialize a little with them because we don't want them being mean, and also we don't want them bored either - plus they are so darned cute! I love baby bunnies a lot.

 

[Miss M]

I didn't come from a farm life, this is just something I kind of fell into, so I'm wondering if that's part of why it seemed a little harder.

That's probably a large factor. I didn't come from a farm life, either, and the first litter especially was a little hard. I've just kept in front of my mind the cheaper cost of my rabbit meat as opposed to meat at the store, the conditions our rabbits are given to live in, the attention they get, the fact that every rabbit butchered here is one meal closer to self-sufficiency... it helps immensely.

Our breeding stock all have names and get special attention. They don't get pulled out a lot, because most of them don't like it. Pharaoh, our buck, is a little different. Either he's okay with us pulling him out, or he fakes it well. :lol:

Babies get played with a lot. Especially when they fur out and are perfect for tucking into pockets . Ones with special characteristics that make them stand out get nicknames. We are currently growing out a doe in Squeak's litter that we hope will eventually replace Squeak, while Squeak lives out retirement in the cage with her. We'll see. She's what I think is called a "frosty"... a black-eyed white with smut. She's nicknamed "Wave" right now, for the shape the smut makes on her side. One of her siblings is called "Redbun". She's red. Sort-of. More like creamcicle.

 

[skysthelimit]

I didn't come from a farm life, this is just something I kind of fell into, so I'm wondering if that's part of why it seemed a little harder.

That's probably a large factor. I didn't come from a farm life, either, and the first litter especially was a little hard. I've just kept in front of my mind the cheaper cost of my rabbit meat as opposed to meat at the store, the conditions our rabbits are given to live in, the attention they get, the fact that every rabbit butchered here is one meal closer to self-sufficiency... it helps immensely.

I didn't come from a farm life either. I grew up in the city, I still live in the big city, 10 minutes from downtown. I went to the zoo once before I reached adulthood, had cats and dogs, never met any farm animals till I was in college, and only a cow and goat in passing (and a horse). I never visited a real farm until several years ago when I started sheep herding. The idea of raising meat just popped into my head and I started raising chickens. I wish this had come to me sooner, then I would have taken a whole other direction in life while at college.

Dispatch is relatively easier, eating is the hard part for me. I still cannot eat the meat. I think I'm getting closer every time I do the deed.

 

[Ramjet]

It is true, right around the time they're big enough to butcher, they grow out of being so blasted cute.

One thing that makes it easier around here is the fact that as long as we keep sending the older growouts to freezer camp, we can continue having those killer-cute, cuddly babies.

Kinda like puppies , they are cute when they are small , then they grow up and struggle , scratch , kick & sometimes bite ..... Its easy to butcher them when they grow beyond the cute phase , hell some of them pretty much deserve their fate!!

My son tells me "don't pet the food dad".