Heartbased Homestead
Well-known member
Hi all!
Many grand adventures and lessons learned since my last post here. To update that last kindling post, I believe it was very likely a false pregnancy.
The lady who sold me the breeding pair admitted that the buck was old. She claimed more than three, less than five. I had them together for almost 6 months since, but the babies never came, and the black parts of his fur began to gray. So we fed him a last meal of sprouted rye and he went peacefully using the broomstick cervical dislocation method. My husband cried, he didn't expect to be so effected but it was a good buck and the first time is always shocking.
There is just no sportsmanship in dispatching, no way to cut it fairly (unless factoring in the superb life and respect we provide these majestic critters prior to harvesting them), it just feels like theres a helpless, loving pet in your arms who trusts you and then you do them dirty. That's how it feels, but pragmatism wins at the end of the day, so feelings aren't going to stop us from harvesting quality meat.
We chose to dispatch him the day we got our new breeding stock, this time from a more professional breeder who provided papers of his records for each maternal lines of the buck and doe.
When we put the 2 new buns in, the new buck took the old buck's crate in the center of the colony, the does stayed together freely, and the old buck was moved to the freezer. Besides the tough old skin (it's no joke! I plan on harvesting fryers for this reason) cleaning went smoothly, the kids and I have been watching rabbit dispatch and cleaning videos since last autumn to prepare ourselves and it helped a lot. Similar to when we did the chicken, once the head and skin was off, my spirit was less sensitive about scraping out the guts and clipping off the feet.
The meat was incredible - the flavor - because the meat even slow stewed for 6 hrs it was tough. I don't think I did rigor appropriately, as the skin took too long to come off before I dealt with the meat. I did let it sit in the fridge for about 35ish hours and it was flexible whenever I put it in the pot so maybe it was just his age. But the flavor was pristine, I can see why rabbit meat is considered a delicacy.
Now we have arrived at the plot twist, I couldn't believe it...
Buck actually WAS doing his job just fine and dandy (oops, big apology Mr buck) because a week later our original doe gave birth to 7 healthy babies. I only realized because her milk was bulging and the hair around the nipples was rubbed away as if there had been suckling. Flustered, I searched the colony and found a nest in the back between the hay bucket and the wall, only a little fur because she had moved the 7 live babies away from the main nest with 3 dead babies and all the fur. I kept the new spot but moved the live babies into a cardboard box, which she seemed to appreciate since they were wiggling everywhere. I had planned for nests to fit under the pallet as it's more protected and simulates underground, but she still picked a safe spot from the chickens. Yes, I had the chickens in there since I had no idea there would be babies! She still did it brilliantly despite these changes and stressors. On top of this, she's being a great mom. She is feeding them, cleaning them, and seems in general very underwhelmed and unbothered. She lets me open and peak at the nest every day, and nurse the runt while she gets her massage. The other doe (Zea) is being respectful towards the kits and mom (Cali).
I have to say... I'm very proud of her. Proud of my kids, husband, and myself. We're really doing this!
I'm also grateful for two different lines: the new buck is half Florida White half NZ, the new doe is pure NZ. The OG buck and doe were both Californian/NZs siblings from separate litters - years seperate - hopefully that counts for something. I plan to keep a buck from this litter to breed back to Cali since their dispositions are much more mild than the pure NZ, any qualms? I know I'm super newb but I'm trying to share my experience and gain insight into others' experiences as I go along!
Thanks for reading!
Many grand adventures and lessons learned since my last post here. To update that last kindling post, I believe it was very likely a false pregnancy.
The lady who sold me the breeding pair admitted that the buck was old. She claimed more than three, less than five. I had them together for almost 6 months since, but the babies never came, and the black parts of his fur began to gray. So we fed him a last meal of sprouted rye and he went peacefully using the broomstick cervical dislocation method. My husband cried, he didn't expect to be so effected but it was a good buck and the first time is always shocking.
There is just no sportsmanship in dispatching, no way to cut it fairly (unless factoring in the superb life and respect we provide these majestic critters prior to harvesting them), it just feels like theres a helpless, loving pet in your arms who trusts you and then you do them dirty. That's how it feels, but pragmatism wins at the end of the day, so feelings aren't going to stop us from harvesting quality meat.
We chose to dispatch him the day we got our new breeding stock, this time from a more professional breeder who provided papers of his records for each maternal lines of the buck and doe.
When we put the 2 new buns in, the new buck took the old buck's crate in the center of the colony, the does stayed together freely, and the old buck was moved to the freezer. Besides the tough old skin (it's no joke! I plan on harvesting fryers for this reason) cleaning went smoothly, the kids and I have been watching rabbit dispatch and cleaning videos since last autumn to prepare ourselves and it helped a lot. Similar to when we did the chicken, once the head and skin was off, my spirit was less sensitive about scraping out the guts and clipping off the feet.
The meat was incredible - the flavor - because the meat even slow stewed for 6 hrs it was tough. I don't think I did rigor appropriately, as the skin took too long to come off before I dealt with the meat. I did let it sit in the fridge for about 35ish hours and it was flexible whenever I put it in the pot so maybe it was just his age. But the flavor was pristine, I can see why rabbit meat is considered a delicacy.
Now we have arrived at the plot twist, I couldn't believe it...
Buck actually WAS doing his job just fine and dandy (oops, big apology Mr buck) because a week later our original doe gave birth to 7 healthy babies. I only realized because her milk was bulging and the hair around the nipples was rubbed away as if there had been suckling. Flustered, I searched the colony and found a nest in the back between the hay bucket and the wall, only a little fur because she had moved the 7 live babies away from the main nest with 3 dead babies and all the fur. I kept the new spot but moved the live babies into a cardboard box, which she seemed to appreciate since they were wiggling everywhere. I had planned for nests to fit under the pallet as it's more protected and simulates underground, but she still picked a safe spot from the chickens. Yes, I had the chickens in there since I had no idea there would be babies! She still did it brilliantly despite these changes and stressors. On top of this, she's being a great mom. She is feeding them, cleaning them, and seems in general very underwhelmed and unbothered. She lets me open and peak at the nest every day, and nurse the runt while she gets her massage. The other doe (Zea) is being respectful towards the kits and mom (Cali).
I have to say... I'm very proud of her. Proud of my kids, husband, and myself. We're really doing this!
I'm also grateful for two different lines: the new buck is half Florida White half NZ, the new doe is pure NZ. The OG buck and doe were both Californian/NZs siblings from separate litters - years seperate - hopefully that counts for something. I plan to keep a buck from this litter to breed back to Cali since their dispositions are much more mild than the pure NZ, any qualms? I know I'm super newb but I'm trying to share my experience and gain insight into others' experiences as I go along!
Thanks for reading!
