Why did you decide to raise meat rabbits?

[Miss M]

We raise rabbits to be more self-sufficient. It's a way to produce our own protein-rich meat right here. Come Wiemar Republic, zombies, etc., we will have meat on our table.

It costs less for us to produce per pound than most meat in the store.

It's a way to reconnect with our roots, as livestock was always a big thing on my mother's side. She's having a ball with the rabbits and now with chickens, and is chomping at the bit to start goats. We like that our children know that meat is not made by a store.

(I learned of Temple Grandin some years ago. My mom recently listened to one of her audiobooks, and it was fascinating. I remember when I first heard of her, I read how her mother would constantly pull her out of her little autistic world, not allowing her to shut herself off. It made me glad to know I had been doing the right thing with my daughter. When she would space out and envelope herself in herself, I wouldn't let her stay there. I'd shake her to snap her out of it if I needed to. )

 

[MamaSheepdog]

I love Temple Grandin's books too! She is an amazing success story considering that at the time children with disabilities were routinely institutionalized. Her parents were very brave to face the social stigma of having a child that was different... at the time it was a shameful thing to have a child that was not "perfect in every way". As if anyone is. :?

 

[Tegan]

Well, I couldn't have chickens, and I like to know WHERE my food is coming from (I tend to buy direct from the farm, from guys I call by their first name....). I also think EVERY child should be raised on a farm.....and since we live in the city....well...this is the best I could do for my kid. She knows exactly where the food on her table comes from, and is not afraid to be part of the food chain. While she hasn't partaken in a meal of rabbit yet (she's 5 and picky...) she has no issues with us eating them, as long as we don't eat the little babies LOL. (When they get old and "fat" it's ok.)

 

[BlueLove16]

no one said cause baby bunnies are cute and cuddly!!!

i am for health reasons and economical plus keeps any unshowables from ending up in the pet side where i do not want to do business in

 

[Zab]

Because I like to kill stuff.
Just kidding, that will be the worst part :3 But I want to eat meat and I don't want to eat pigs and chickens from the meat industry due to how they're treated.(I find that cow and sheep are most commonly living outdoors, and free range is getting more and more common for them all year through. I don't care for the milk industry, having seen how the cows look - too skinny and just not healthy even f the barn has been good ones. Then I'm intolerant to milk so it's easy for me to not buy it ) Rabbit seemed like a good choice and very healthy meat as well.
I also like rabbits, I used to compete in rabbit jumping when I was younger
My reasons are more for animal care than for GMO reasons, but it's an upside that I now what they're fed.

The only animals you can legally kill at home without special licenses are rabbits and poultry. I don't like chickens so I don't want to work with keeping them. I already get eggs from a neighbour with chickens.

 

[KKRabbitry]

For some yummy, nutritious, lean, protein packed meat, that we know has not been stuffed full of hormones, and antibiotics, or that the animal has been treated poorly.
I'm working on learning how to tan the hides to, and perhaps make some useful things out that as well.

 

[Frecs]

Sorry if this question has already been asked. I didn't search to see if it had b/c I didn't want to resurrect a *really* old thread.

For us, there were a bunch of reasons. The main reason was that my dh gets kidney stones. When they analyzed them, they found that they were uric acid kidney stones. They put him on meds, but also suggested that he watch his intake of things with uric acid in them. We started researching and that is when my dh discovered that rabbit meat is the only meat that doesn't contain uric acid. Up until this, we were eating a fair amount of beans and rice. That was our plan for food storage. Beans contain uric acid. I was also always stressed about how I could store enough protein for my family (5 kids, plus me and dh) if we actually had to completely provide for ourselves without going to the store. It took my dh a year to finally talk me into raising rabbits.

We just moved this summer, and that is when I built our hutches and we got our stock. I feel so much better knowing that not only is this healthier for us now, but in a survival situation, we can provide for ourselves and others if necessary. That brings me a lot of peace, and that peace is priceless.

So that I know that the meat me and my family eat was humanely raised and humanely killed.

Oh, and be sure to include good quality oils/fats in your food stores. Rabbit is very low fat and if that is your husband's primary protein source (or only protein source) he will need fat from somewhere. I know that goes against the national obcession with removing fat from our diets but good fats are necessary for the absorption of fat-soluble vitamins, the making of vitamin D (via cholesterol), and for energy.

 

[Diamond]

My husband and I have always been the self-sufficient type. I raised rabbits in my early 20's but gave them up when I had to move, now that I own my own farm getting back into rabbits was a natural step.

Clean to raise and butcher, healthy meat, quiet, and there's something about rabbits that simply infatuates me. And I absolutely love the taste and texture of rabbit meat.

Higher yield per pound of feed than chickens and most other livestock, take very little space to raise, multiple harvest per year (and very easy to control your production rate)

Butchering is very clean compared to other animals. Almost no waste. I feed the entire organ contents (save for giblets which I personally relish) to the dogs or pigs. Rabbit organs and the digestive contents are highly beneficial to the inner workings of canines. Hides get sold frozen fresh for $1.00 a pelt. Bones go to chickens.

They pay their own feed bill. I have enough does in production to sell breeding stock and dressed rabbits on the side. There is a strong local market for rabbit meat and breeding meat rabbits.

They are a quick study in animal science and genetics. Fun to experiment and learn about desirable vs undesirable traits, alternative feeding programs, etc.

 

[6riversfarms]

This is a great thread.

My family started raising rabbits as an excercise in sustainability and self-sufficency. The idea of a rabbitry seemed to perfectly compliment our vegetable growing operation with it's production of top-notch fertilizer and a healthy sustainable source of meat.

As the rabbitry developed we also became interested in showing rabbits as an alternative to some of the larger show animals that I showed when I was younger. Rabbits are much cheaper to feed and easier to care for as show animals go. Not to mention they are pretty darn cute and some are very personable. Hope I didn't violate man code with that last one lol

 

[3mina]

Don't worry 6rivers, we won't tell.
At least, not til we NEED something :twisted:

I started raising meat rabbits again because I wanted to supplement my raw fed dogs and ferrets diet as well as my own. I love the taste and texture, more than any other meat I've had and I can't raise anything else in the space I have. In short, they fit my needs the best.

 

[GBov]

I was given two unwanted "pet" rabbits for dinner. When I got back to their cages with my .22 my hubby threw himself between the rabbits and me saying "You cant eat THESE rabbits, they are REALLY NICE! Look, he said petting them, they are really friendly!"

So they went into the chicken pen and made babies instead of being dinner.

:lol:

We are now up to 30ish rabbits.

LOVE the meat and the fun of having them.

 

[AnnClaire]

LOL GBov, I have one of those old men too ... he couldn't believe that I was going to "butcher the poor bunny and that poor bunny had better hope someone came and adopted him before it was time for freezer camp" ... that bunny has a 4 week old litter that the old man is currently spoiling absolutely rotten with petting and treats and such. I take care of the seniors outside, but he has practically taken over the inside care of the babies :cheesysmile:

I started with angoras for wool and a satin to cross for meat mutts, and recently acquired Silver Fox and one doe had 7 babies yesterday! Food prices are going through the roof and I am doing all I can to produce as much food off this city lot as I possibly can to try and offset those rising costs.

 

[Miss M]

Too funny, GBov and AnnClaire!!! :lol:

 

[Frosted Rabbits]

I LIKE raising animals-- observing behaviour,integrating them into my life. I chose my meat breed based on, oddly, color!!top it off with being a 'heritage' breed is icing on the cake, And through SkysTheLimit, I got also the breed I first fell really in love with at the Alaska State Fair in 1978-- A BLUE REX!!

Rabbit has fir nicely in my apartment, and now my mobile home. Ohio is a right to farm state, so if anyone comes after me for having 'too many pets'-- hey, they are livestock---

 

[coffeenutdesigns]

I don't like the direction big agriculture has taken. I grew up eating mostly food we raised ourselves. I come from a farming family. My grandparents fed 8 kids during the depression with no other job than farming and raising livestock. It was natural for me to try to raise a garden (still working on doing that well in the desert) and I LOVE chickens, they are great. We just use ours for eggs so far, but I will be getting some meat chickens this spring. I just want to feed my family natural foods that I know was raised as humanely as possible with no unnecessary antibiotics or growth hormones and that wasn't packaged with all kinds unpronounceable chemicals. We raised rabbits when I was kid. We ate wild cottontail sometimes. It just seems like rabbit is the next logical step in my goal for raising natural foods.