Too small to eat?

[Tiny homestead]

I have too many rabbits right now, but they are not meat rabbits at all. They are Dutch mix and they are about 3# at 10 weeks. I have been looking for raw pet food people, but haven't heard from anyone from my Craigslist post. Would you still eat them for human consumption when they are so dinky?

 

[ladysown]

Hey... I raise holland lops and eat them regularly. Three fit nicely in a crock pot and make good meat for use in a variety of recipes.

 

[hotzcatz]

There's always soup. Simmer or stew them until they're tender, cool them down. Pour the broth off, pick out the bones and finish making soup.

 

[KelleyBee]

I have too many rabbits right now, but they are not meat rabbits at all. They are Dutch mix and they are about 3# at 10 weeks. I have been looking for raw pet food people, but haven't heard from anyone from my Craigslist post. Would you still eat them for human consumption when they are so dinky?

All rabbits are edible.

 

[BuffBrahmaBantam]

They are not too small for eating. People eat all sorts of small animals - squirrel, dove, small fish, crustaceans. They should be delicious.

 

[MsTemeraire]

Historically, Dutch crosses have been used for meat due to their fast growth rate. Usually a Dutch buck is put over a larger breed. This was a common cross for meat in the UK before New Zealands were imported after WW2; a Dutch being used with a Belgian Hare, Flemish or Beveren doe.

 

[BuffBrahmaBantam]

Historically, Dutch crosses have been used for meat due to their fast growth rate. Usually a Dutch buck is put over a larger breed. This was a common cross for meat in the UK before New Zealands were imported after WW2; a Dutch being used with a Belgian Hare, Flemish or Beveren doe.

That is very interesting. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Tiny homestead]

Historically, Dutch crosses have been used for meat due to their fast growth rate. Usually a Dutch buck is put over a larger breed. This was a common cross for meat in the UK before New Zealands were imported after WW2; a Dutch being used with a Belgian Hare, Flemish or Beveren doe.

Thank you for that information. I have noticed that they are bigger than their dad was at this age by far (mom is the Dutch)

 

[Tiny homestead]

They are not too small for eating. People eat all sorts of small animals - squirrel, dove, small fish, crustaceans. They should be delicious.

Good point. Thanks for your help. Gearing myself up to do it.

 

[RabbitsOfTheCreek]

Hey... I raise holland lops and eat them regularly. Three fit nicely in a crock pot and make good meat for use in a variety of recipes.

Aren't Holland lops kinda big?

 

[ladysown]

no. They are at most four pounds... I eat dwarf bunnies too! I raise both.

 

[tambayo]

If quail are big enough to eat, then so are dwarf rabbits and bantam chickens.
I breed dwarf rex for meat. One per 3-5 servings pot of stew or whatever. Happy with size for handling, in relation to cage size, fits the pot & freezer. I hope to keep raising at least some of my own meat for decades yet, but not getting any younger i want a size that will work for me well into old age. Along with that, smaller means one multi servings pot (hot pack the rest for eating the days after) and no worries about freezers out of power, breaking or needing to buy extras (not that much room, so rather put stuff in my little freezer i cannot store otherwise). But i'm also not a fan of the imitate big producers on a homestead scale way of doing things. I rather pick smaller breeds and plenty of genetic variety to start, closing the rabbitry so i can stop buying rabbits for fresh genetics mostly at some point fairly soon (laws are changing here, not sure about the impact on rabbit keeping/breeding yet though), keeps disease out and the animals are selected to handle my setup. Using spiral mating system to keep genetics as wide as i can. Need another doe line for that though i suspect. (have 3 now).

 

[BuffBrahmaBantam]

If quail are big enough to eat, then so are dwarf rabbits and bantam chickens.
I breed dwarf rex for meat. One per 3-5 servings pot of stew or whatever. Happy with size for handling, in relation to cage size, fits the pot & freezer. I hope to keep raising at least some of my own meat for decades yet, but not getting any younger i want a size that will work for me well into old age. Along with that, smaller means one multi servings pot (hot pack the rest for eating the days after) and no worries about freezers out of power, breaking or needing to buy extras (not that much room, so rather put stuff in my little freezer i cannot store otherwise). But i'm also not a fan of the imitate big producers on a homestead scale way of doing things. I rather pick smaller breeds and plenty of genetic variety to start, closing the rabbitry so i can stop buying rabbits for fresh genetics mostly at some point fairly soon (laws are changing here, not sure about the impact on rabbit keeping/breeding yet though), keeps disease out and the animals are selected to handle my setup. Using spiral mating system to keep genetics as wide as i can. Need another doe line for that though i suspect. (have 3 now).

I like your reasoning. We are similar that we don't worry about size and weight. A carcass of 2-3 pounds is too much for us to eat in one sitting anyway. Weight, size, and litter size aren't things I plan to breed for compared to mothering ability and temperament. I don't want to have to fuss with my does because I work full time (need good mothering ability). Temperament is important because we let our rabbits graze as much as possible. Dealing with Houdini rabbits is too stressful (been there, done that). We like calm, laid-back, well-mannered rabbits who dig minimally and that is what I plan to select for.

Where are you from? I'm wondering about your sentence that "laws are changing here..." Can you elaborate on what you mean? Will it become difficult to purchase rabbits in the future because of changing laws?

 

[tambayo]

Dutch, EU laws are shifting on all kinds of pet/livestock things and my government makes a hash of the possible exclusions. Makes warranty for livestock and pets the same as electronic goods (2 years) and yes pretty much every other country invoked the exclusion clause for animals on that one. Makes buying and selling more of a risk. And there are more voices going up about mandatory spay and neuter (mainly cats so far) to contain breeding and animals being dumped/going feral. In the mean time the demand outstrips supply and whatever looks cute is sold via eastblock puppymills...

And while i agree with the intent, the solution is wide of the mark. Solution is education, not mandatory stuff or bans.

On top of that the registration of pets is getting more complicated, not that that has any impact on responsible owners, it does mean more time and cost for for instance breeding animals. Again there are plenty of other routes to get pets from outside. No law will ever replace common sense, but they keep trying none the less.

 

[BuffBrahmaBantam]

Dutch, EU laws are shifting on all kinds of pet/livestock things and my government makes a hash of the possible exclusions. Makes warranty for livestock and pets the same as electronic goods (2 years) and yes pretty much every other country invoked the exclusion clause for animals on that one. Makes buying and selling more of a risk. And there are more voices going up about mandatory spay and neuter (mainly cats so far) to contain breeding and animals being dumped/going feral. In the mean time the demand outstrips supply and whatever looks cute is sold via eastblock puppymills...

And while i agree with the intent, the solution is wide of the mark. Solution is education, not mandatory stuff or bans.

On top of that the registration of pets is getting more complicated, not that that has any impact on responsible owners, it does mean more time and cost for for instance breeding animals. Again there are plenty of other routes to get pets from outside. No law will ever replace common sense, but they keep trying none the less.

Wow. It sounds like you have a lot of laws and regulations. Dutch and EU laws on animal ownership are something I have no knowledge of. It would be interesting to hear details. Do these laws you mention currently apply to rabbits? It seems crazy to have laws regarding spay/neuter, registration and warranty for rabbits.

Here in the US, anyone can buy a rabbit on Craigslist and theoretically do whatever they want with it - and thank goodness avoid paying taxes on Craigslist. Do the laws you mention apply to personal sales of rabbits between people, or do they just apply to large pet stores?

 

[tambayo]

Belgium has spay and neuter laws already and plenty here think it is a good idea (to swap education and common sense for laws (that cannot be enforced anyway due to no people to check stuff).
Main problem warrenty applies to getting sued when animal turns out sick/dead most likely due to new owner mistake. Even though it is likely the judge dismisses the case, you'll still end up with a bill and a lot of hassle, bad reviews costing you possible future sales.

Yes i can do the same here when buying rabbits, and the law would apply. Mostly pet stores are phasing out selling live animals at least other than fish. Pet sales are via either shelters or breeders and then being considered commercial can land you in hot water with these laws (so if you sell X per year in numbers or amount, also why from shelters you adopt rather than buy). And while most of this is still more theory than practice, it is a consideration when wanting to sell or even start breeding pets. Dog breeders in some cases already have pretty lengthy sales contracts to cover their *****. Animals fall under goods i.e. things just like a bike or book, and that just doesn't work for something that is living. It needs its own category in law to start fixing many of these problems when the owner does something and either goods are seized, sold, lost/stolen (proof of ownership is wonky to doesn't exist for pets, at least livestock has linked ear tags), and so on.

Over all the intentions are good, but most of the solutions are thought up behind a desk listening to lobbists with rose tinted glasses dreaming of their ideal world rather than reality and practical applications.

 

[RabbitsOfTheCreek]

I don't really see a point in using smaller rabbits for meat when you can get bigger rabbits with more meat and more Kits

 

[tambayo]

1 person household, not getting any younger. And way beyond the bigger is always better ideals. For me this size works.

 

[dizzybumblebee]

I love to jokingly say Take two, they're snack sized. And if your breeding for improvement or show "I eat my mistakes"
I have a 12 pound doe and I find her difficult to get in and out of the cage. Being small and older (harder to get down low or on a stool) handling larger animals can be problematic. My geriatric buck (7+ years) at 9 pounds is MUCH easier to handle. Of course I do have stacked cages. It is what I can fit into a 12x14 rabbitry.
So I can see why smaller is sometimes better and bigger isn't always better.