Restaurant Wants Local Meat Rabbits

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Cspr

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Eleven is my lucky number, clearly. :lol:

As it is, a restaurant with three local locations is interested in buying from me rather than out of state. They're interested in rabbit and quail, two on my list of Want. I only have pet/show rabbits right now, but I saw they had rabbit pot pie on the menu and I got to talking with the staff and they're very interested. :p

As you can imagine, I'm bouncy as all get out. The family was there with me and they were so impressed by my entrepreneur spirit they're willing to let me get some meat/show rabbits as well. :D

Of course, I'd like to do more research on meat rabbits now. So I'll read through my books and this forum subsection, but anybody have some information they'd like to share up front? The only rule is I have to only have red-eyed whites, so my mother doesn't get attached (she's terrified of REWs). :lol: I'm thinking New Zealand, American, Satin, or Rex. Of course, I'll go with whatever proven, meaty animals I can find. Strange nobody else has jumped on the restaurant wanting rabbit and quail meat, but, then again, most city folk have Bambi Syndrome, which I most certainly don't have. ;)

I suppose I'll go to HT with my quail questions, but that would be another easier thing to try. I've done research on them, after all. Rabbit cages, wheat grass for them to hide in, water bottles, and feed crocks (with game bird feed to go in 'em)... Hear they don't produce well in winter, but I could get some heat lamps?

-bounces about-

EDIT NOTE: Am considering REW French Angoras as well. I hear they made a decent meat rabbit and you'd get the extra income off the wool.
 
Congrats on finding a local contact. I hope it works out. NZ and Satin are probably your best bet. Americans and Rex are a bit hard to find, and you will probably not have an easy time finding Rex that are actually growing at the speed of meat rabbits, by far a better dress out is NZ anyway.

Same for French. If you want to raise them for meat, at the age you are raising them, you won't really have the added wool, off of 8 week olds it's not very good quality. Quite a few people throw away the first coat before 6 mos. I shear baby coats at 8 weeks and keep the next coat to spin. Also, there are also two types of French, you have to find someone raising them for meat, they range in 7-9lbs, you could wind up with French that are smaller than the Rex, I had two, or as large as Silver Fox (I had two). A lot of variation in the breed.
 
I know an American breeder, it's why my brain went to them, but you're right. True Rex and meat-type Frenchies are hard to find. Maybe an NZW pair and an other breed doe (Satin or American) for REWs, some purebred and some with hybrid vigor?
 
Check out the growth rates from the American breeder. I am partial to Satins just because they come in so many colors. Any of those breeds can throw REWs for you, get some colors you like and make sure REW is on the ped (or REW parents). Then you can get a whole rainbow from just a few animals.
 
I used to sell a lot of meat rabbits.
Fastest growth was with the NZ and the californians.

I have some white NZ does and a trio of young pure californians.
I am debating on getting a NZ buck, as I do have a broken color one
I am waiting on to see how he matures.

My goal is to keep 2 breeds for meat rabbits.
I have several mutt does. Their babies will be sold for animal food.
I have 2 breeds for my pet lines.

I know from years of selling meat rabbits, that you will be better
to keep a closed rabbitry. If you bring home more animals, keep them
in qaurantine for the correct amount of time.

Only time I ran into any problems, was when I bought other people's
rabbits for meat. I needed certain numbers to make my trip worthwhile,
when I took mine.
 
@Sky: Will do!

@TAD: Yeah. Would be good if I could get all my meat rabbits at one place. Will have to look into that. How do you go about selling animal food, by the way? Need to look into more FDA laws.

@Northwinds: Thanks.
 
Oh yes, that would be a problem. Legally, if I butcher my own meat here, I cannot sell that meat to anyone for human consumption.
 
I'd probably go for something like the NZW or Californians :)

In Ga, you can process and sell without USDA license as long as you don't go over x amount of head ( it was some ridiculous number with rabbits. Myself and a few other breeders are working to take culls,get them processed, and sell the meat/fur/etc off of them. For us to sell at our local farmers market, it requires going through a USDA Licenced processor. So I'd find out what the rules are in your state. You will also need to plan out a lot if rabbit takes off in your area so it can be kept in stock regularly. Im noticing it to be a trend with chefs to go get their food local. Which is great!
 
I have NZW and Californians. So far, my Californians are better producers, but I've had them longer and have bred up. This is my first round of NZWs, so I'm just breeding the stock I bought. I would get both breeds and see which one is going to work best to meet your demands. And definitely check state laws for selling rabbit meat. You want to make sure you go through all the red tape appropriately.
 
First off, it would help a lot if we knew which state you are in.
I will try to edit my stats, but if I can't, I am in NY.

If I want to sell meat rabbits, I will have to sell them live.
My direction to go, is to sell breeding animals.
If someone is to buy from me and want to butcher the animals for
eating, then that person can butcher the animal/s here but I could
not help them in the process. Preferably they would take the
animal/s home and do it there. If I want the rabbit for my own
household, then I can kill and dress the rabbits here for ourselves.
In order to sell to a restaurant, the animals would have to be
USDA inspected.

So if a customer wants a rabbit already butchered, I would have to
find a USDA inspected meat plant to do that for me. That would
up the cost for the meat per pound. And they would also have to weigh
that meat for me. The weight would have to be placed on the package.
All scales used for selling packaged meat have to be inspected and
then have a sticker placed on them, by weights and measures department.

I will do a second post of what information I have from online.

__________ Tue Nov 12, 2013 9:54 am __________

NYS Requirements for Farm Raised Rabbits
The most commonly “farmed” small game animal in theUnited Statesis the domesticated meat rabbit. Although rabbit processing is similar to that of chickens, rabbits are not included in either the Federal Meat Inspection Act or the Poultry Products Inspection Act and thus, none of the exemptions that apply to amenable poultry apply to rabbits. In addition, just like larger non-amenable species, federal tax dollars cannot be used for their inspection.

The FDA has jurisdiction over shipment of rabbit meat in interstate commerce, and inNew Yorkthe Department of Agriculture and Markets regulates intrastate sales of exotic animals under 5-A. Other states that operates a “USDA equivalent” inspection program may mandate rabbit inspection. States vary widely in their slaughter, processing, and inspection regulations for rabbits.

If the exotic meat is to enter commerce and be sold for resale to wholesalers in interstate trade, then the producer must pay the voluntary inspection fee for live animal and carcass inspection at a USDA facility. Under voluntary inspection, each rabbit and its internal organs are inspected for signs of disease. The “Inspected for Wholesomeness by USDA” mark of inspection ensures the rabbit is wholesome and free from disease. Inspected rabbits are stamped with a circular mark and may even be graded.

Voluntary inspection for rabbits is covered in Title 9 of the Federal Code under Section 354.

Rabbit meat products, that are to be offered for sale in NY State, may be slaughtered either under USDA voluntary inspection or at a NYSDAM 5-A establishment. Whole rabbit carcasses and rabbit cuts which have been slaughtered at a 5-A slaughterhouse may be sold direct, (this includes sales of rabbit at farmers’ markets), to retail outlets, and to distributors.

As of May 2006, NYSDAM allowed rabbit carcasses slaughtered at either a USDA facility or a 5-A facility to be further broken down into whole muscle meats at either a 5-A or 20-C establishment. (Note: Before using a 5-A plant to process rabbit, NYSDAM should be contacted to ensure that the plant’s particular license allows them to process rabbit.)

A restaurant that is located right on a rabbit farm, may slaughter their own rabbits and then process them in their own 5-A facility for serving at the restaurant or for sale in their own farm stand. A 20-C license is not acceptable for the slaughtering of any species.

InNew York, rabbits may be purchased live from the farm by a consumer and processed under custom inspection for the new owner’s personal use. Alternatively, rabbits can be sold live from the farm direct to the consumer and butchered on-farm by the consumer with the farmer’s permission. Even though rabbits are not listed in the NY regulations, the farmer cannot actually do that slaughtering for an on-farm customer, as is done in some other states.

Because rabbits are easy to handle – unlike large non-amenable game animals – there are no special provisions permitting on-farm slaughter or rabbit meat or field harvesting of rabbits that is/are entering commerce.

http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/usda/usdahome
USDA


http://smallfarms.cornell.edu/2012/07/0 ... rocessing/
Click to expand...
 
Reminds me of The multi-million dollar phone index market isn't something usually the center of suits. A Bar-B-Q restaurant has sued Dex for its placement of their restaurant. The "carcass removal" listing has cost the company a lot of money. More here, Match Financial.
 

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