where are all the rabbit butchers

[CWD]

MSD I hopful get my e-mail addie to you.
I tryed the pm. if you do not get it. I will e-mail it to you

 

[MamaSheepdog]

Thanks msd

Thanks for getting it in the first place, Demamma!

MSD I hopful get my e-mail addie to you.

CWD, I sent the file to you. If you don't get it, let me know.

 

[CWD]

MSD Thank you for the flyer.
after reading it, I believe the Guy at my ag office. Is saying. If the restarunts or markets want to buy rabbit meat
and they come to the farmers market or your farm/home. you will not have any problems from this office.
because they are allowed to buy their fresh veggies. at farmers markets and private farms.
I will be making another visit to his office soon. I want to know if this is just his take on this.
I also need to find out if I can sell live rabbits to a meat market. I have one that wants to buy live rabbits, and they will process them.

 

[mwtrees]

regulations can vary from state to state and even from county to county. In WA you can get a WSDA license and sell most anywhere in the state except King County which requires a USDA. I was able to sell at farmers markets in KC but with a special permit only and it had to be processed with a WSDA license which we had access to at that time.

I may be applying for a variance to my county as they require meat processing plants be in industrial zones...really???? I am in one of the largest ag counties in the state...very frustrating

 

[Demamma]

I called more butchers and still can't find one for rabbits. I sent off a message to the fella who bought my cream kits from me to see if he can direct me to where his butcher is. Also I want to pick his brain :thinking: about setting up a rabbitry as his is successful. I also am going to contact some labs to see about selling to them. I am determined to make this happen.

 

[rabbitguy]

Cant you just kill and butcher your own rabbit? I grew up hunting and eating squirrel and rabbit and its not too bad cleaning them.

 

[CWD]

Rabbitguy, she is looking for a butcher in her area, so she can sell the meat commerically
and not have to worry about getting in to trouble.

 

[Demamma]

Cant you just kill and butcher your own rabbit? I grew up hunting and eating squirrel and rabbit and its not too bad cleaning them.

I butcher and do sell rabbit meat but only to the consumer. I can not sell to restaurants or stores.

 

[mfletch7]

Did you ever find a rabbit butcher? I am also looking for a rabbit butcher in southern California (LA area). If you found one in this area, please let me know.

 

[Demamma]

I found a butcher in Turlock who I plan on trying in the future. It will cost $3. Per rabbit but will be sealed and store ready. I was told it would be good in refrigerator for 20 days. If you want in cheaper bag it will cost $2.50 each.

 

[mfletch7]

I am aware of the butcher in Turlock; thanks for posting the information though. Are you (or anyone) aware of a meat processor in Southern California that processes rabbit?

 

[CWD]

I thought I had posted a request already, I guess it did not make it.
could you please give me the information on the butcher in Turlock.

I have found out all the information I got from the guy at my county Ag office is not very good information.
I need to find a butcher to solve my problems.

 

[annie]

Hey Dayna, let me know anything you find out, I am trying to find out the laws here too. I would love to sell to a restaurant, store, or have a farmer's market booth or a co op or whatever. If we figure it out we could both sell rabbits at a booth or to a restaurant so they have enough. I know that there are two chicken farms here that sell directly to consumers on their farm, they buy the animal live technically and the butchering is a courtesy, Joel Salatin style. So I would assume that that at least would be ok for rabbits? I have asked a million rabbit people around here and everyone gives me a different answer, that's Big island for ya.

 

[mfletch7]

ARBA has some information on processors (though I have only found 1 in Washington that was not on their list) here https://www.arba.net/processors.htm. The place in Turlock is called The Rabbit Barn. The address is 630 W Clausen Turlock, CA 95380 and their phone number is 209-632-1123. If anyone knows of a processor in Southern California that does Rabbit processing, please let me know.

 

[Fire-Man]

I am trying to find out the laws here too.

Here in SC---You can sell a live rabbit to a person, but in order to sell rabbit meat to anyone/any place---I would have to have a De-Hec approved--inspected often---processing/packing set-up/place, each pack properly labeled. Lic and registered with the State. Probably the same with you!

 

[CWD]

Thank you for the information.
I will be calling them today or tomorrow.

 

[tank333]

Wow, there seems to be a lot of speculation on this subject! Lol.


I have worked with our local ag and health departments over the last two years, and it was very simple for me to get answers from my inspectors. In my particular county (Benton county in S. Washington), rabbits are lumped into poultry regulations. For farm to table sales, selling the live animal and butchering as a free service is allowed. To sell anywhere else, a WSDA poultry processors license is required. Up to 10, 000 birds a year, or unlimited rabbits is the threshold before needin USDA inspected licensing. With this license I can sell to restaurants, stores, and to consumers directly at farmers markets.

I would recommend emailing your local ag and heath departments aski for clarification. They are usually pretty helpful with that sort of thing. At least, they are really helpful here!

 

[Muwanga Dennis]

I'm in Uganda I have Rabbits iam looking for the market

 

[Preitler]

Welcome

This thread mostly is about the legal situation in the US, which seems to be very complicated, wiered and seems to change a lot from place to place.

If I were to sell rabbit meat I would ask local farmers that already do that, since regulations differ a lot in different countries. Or visit a market where rabbit meat ais sold and have a talk with the vendors.

Here, I wouldn't know where to start, I could sell meat directly to customers if I wanted to, but not officially on a market or to restaurants. There are a lot of regulations regarding butchering here, I think I would have a talk with local sheep farmers about the laws to get the basics.

 

[anuttyfarm]

When I went to try and sell my meats directly to customers, I got a lot of nonsense. I finally contacted the government and found out the correct answer. In the USA the laws vary depending on the state that you live. What I found out that the laws governing rabbits are lumped together with poultry. I live in Missouri. here we can butcher and sell up to 10,000 birds or rabbits without inspection. Over that amount you will have to have a HASAP plan at the building in which you will be slaughtering the rabbits and will have to pay for the meat inspector from your state or a federal USDA inspector. The problem. Most slaughterhouses won't process because not enough rabbits at one time to cover the cost of the inspectors. It doesn't make it worthwhile. Unless you have a huge number of rabbits to process, and a slaughterhouse needs the business. In this day and age, we have a waiting list for two years to get into butcher any livestock. However: anyone In the US can butcher any meat for their own family to eat. If you want to go into business, you might look into investing in a slaughterhouse to butcher rabbits. Good luck with your search.