The Barn
Freesteading group focused on the discussion of livestock.
Organizer:
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Meat rabbits
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Meat rabbits
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I had 8 kits today! Yay! I’m so excited. Her first litter and she did great so far. Trying not to peek at them but at least they are in an enclosed section of shelter and she couldn’t see me looking earlier. I just wanted to say I keep a large tub under my cages. I drag it out and haul it to the garden when it gets full. Works so beautifully! Keeps everything nice and tidy, clean and easy to use.
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Congratulations good litter, our Nana also her first and 9 little ones. She has become so sweet and wants to be petted.
Good luck with them, are you keeping one we do only keep the breeding trio. All non related and everyone has a different siamesische color.
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Way to go Nana!! Nice litter. Can’t wait to see what they look like! Glad Nana has gotten more loving & likes to be petted now. This is so exciting!!!
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Pictures are a bit up, posted it already specially for you.
She is a sweet rabbit mama now, we have become friends now. She really wants to be petted and not just tolerate it.
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Thanks 😊 we do not keep any so far but in the future possibly. Since it is just my husband and I we are only in need of one doe and buck for now.
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So was I doubting if 3 was not one to much, but we have a son who eats like a adult. And we have made a deal with a butcher, private not for the shop. But it will help us out doing the butchering together and cutting and cooling the meat in the butchers place.
Can count 9, tomorrow I can take them out and make pictures. Clean the cage and Nana can enjoy her bit a quiet time.
Today another 80 liters fertilizer for the compost, they are paying there rent. Do you use there fertilizer right away or also compost first?
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Anyone with experience doing sprouts/microgreens as a feed source for their rabbits? I know there are tons of videos about it and the process and concept are simple enough. My question I’m having a hard time finding a good answer to is HOW MUCH should I try to grow for a given amount of rabbits?
My first thought was to use 5 gallon buckets stacked to make a “sprout tower” but I only plan on having 3 rabbits (for now; would be breeding later in the year, hopefully 2 litters). So maybe doing that amount would be way too much? A 5 gallon bucket has quite a bit of base surface area. Of course I realize I will need to see how my buns respond, how well I can keep a microgreen cycle going, etc., and make adjustments, but if anyone has a general baseline advice for me as a starting point, I would really appreciate it!
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Nana anher young are doing fine, she is a good mama rabbit. Kids are drinking and eating so no more fresh feed for Nana with young in the cage.
A month old now so 2 more weeks and than Nana back to Silver, or do you wean earlier? Reading 7 to 8 weeks? And the males and females apart, 2 cages are ready and 1 extra but maybe can use that one for the chicks.
Putting another round eggs in the incubator and let the second batch hatch in the other machine. Otherwise have to wait another 1,5 week, but my feeling says to incubate now and hatch in other. So I can put weekly eggs in, sooner ready and more eggs for us. Or more rounds for breeding and meat, wait and see.
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try some to fry potatoes. Thats kind of my benchmark to see how it gets along with my palette. Like bacon grease or duck fat
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Feeling a little nervous tonight. Tomorrow is my first “harvest” of adorable little bunnies. I’ve got a litter of six at 11 weeks and it’s time to process them.
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It is good to stay human with butchering, respect from the start true finish and with preparing and consuming.
Think it is cood we do it all our self with respect and humble, so we realize the offer and gift we are receiving.
Good look you can do it, believe in yourself.
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I calmed myself as much as I could before getting the rabbits so they wouldn’t be unsettled by my nervous energy. Once I got started, I was so focused on the task I forgot to be nervous. The hardest part (of course) is taking their life. After the life is gone then it’s just a piece of meat.
I feel you are correct that it is respectful to do the deed ourselves. I raised those rabbits (with the help of their mom, of course) so it is right that I harvest them also.
When I took the rabbits away, one of my livestock guardian dogs whined at the gate. I felt bad. It’s the first time any of “their” animals had been removed from them.
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You did good, nice to read how you got the deed done.
Youre dog will learn to, will get some feed from the harvest rabbits.
It is hard I know, my husband does nit want to have anything to do with butchering so I do it myself and together with a butcher and share with his family. Our son can only give the breeders chickens and rabbits a name and knows the none breeders are food for us. I think he will be able to do the job when he is big enough.
Do not feel bad you did good, you know you got the job done fast and respectful.
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Cider fried rabbit with onions.
Part the rabbit out, dredge in scrambled egg, then in flour salt and pepper. Place in a heavy skillet to brown in your fat of choice. Once browned place in a dutch oven witha whole sliced sweet onion (Texas sweet or Vidalia) and a cup of cider and bake for 45 min at 325°.
A recipe from my childhood that is just unbeatable. Bon appetit!
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I grew up on cider fried rabbit with onions. Oh my it was good like you can’t get anywhere else. I hope your trio has been productive!
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Sounds delicious!
The trio is doing well, next month it is Silver’s turn our first nest from her. And then beginning summer Nana, they are still inside were it is cool, so no heat stress for them.
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Realy well in the wurst case they get meat faster than planning. Thanks for the warning, how was there meat and fur?.
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Yeah lol – just be late one second with Annies food and she starts kickin the cage – then she turns her back on me – cold shoulder – women 😊
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Old for rabbits is it not? We definitely want It all, but it will take time, before the rabbits can come.
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May I ask what you did with the rabbit fat you said you processed? I had over 30 OLD obese, non-productive rabbits I had dispatched last spring and replaced with NEW breeding stock…for hard times coming. Yes, I breed meat rabbits on my homestead but can’t bear to put them down. I have to have someone else do that for me. I had not dispatched them after they became sterile & non-productive as I had wanted to tan the hides to make a beautiful cape or blanket. Most were steel blue/gray colored Californians with super thick, soft fur. (Also wanted to thank you for the tip about wetting them prior to dispatch. It is maddening to try to remove all that super fine fur when processing them for canning!)
I saved all of the fat and ended up with over 2 gallons. I washed it up well then actually rendered it down like you would any other animal fat. It turned out beautiful and remained in a liquid oil state. It never solidified. Wasn’t sure if it could be used for anything humans would consume but figured it would be an OIL that could be used somewhere for something around the homestead. I strained it after rendering it down & put it in half-gallon mason jars which sealed themselves. Never know what you may need oil for in the coming hard times we face.
Has anyone ever rendered down rabbit fat to use later? If so, what were your intended uses, and did you can it after rendering?
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Ya know GRITS, I just make stock with the carcass and use it , fat & all , in stock that I can and add to stews, soups etc – nothin major
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Bacon flavored rabbit….I’m in 😉
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I’m going to go down a different “RABBIT HOLE” (no pun intended 😉) with rabbit meat so those needing to know this very important info can be aware of health issues, including possible death, that can arise from eating just rabbit meat with no additional fat, especially in a survival or SHTF scenario.
I raise meat rabbits and always wrap my rabbit meat with BACON to grill/bake, etc. I not only LOVE the taste but do it for health benefits as well. Not sure what I’m going to do if I ever run out of a source for BACON, but will cross that bridge when I get to it.
What lots of people that raise meat rabbits (newbies mostly) don’t know is that you can starve to death or have many health problems eating just rabbit meat. Yes, it is one of the healthiest, leanest meats you can eat, rabbits produce rapidly so they COULD feed a family of 4 easily with just a breeding pair BUT…you need FAT in your diet to survive. How many times do those survivalists on ALONE or in real life tell you THEY NEED FAT, PROTEIN & CARBS, but mainly FAT, in order to survive?
1. Your cells need fat.
Normal cell growth and repair require fat. Fatty acids make up the membrane that surrounds every cell in the body. For cell types that continue to grow and divide as you age, like red blood cells, fat is a requirement. Your skin cells weaken when you don’t have enough fat, causing dry, itchy, and irritated skin.2. You need fat for healthy brain function.
Omega-3 fatty acids, in particular, Your body cannot make these fats, so you must take them in through foods or supplements. They play a big role in the functioning of the central nervous system and the retinas in the eyes.3. Fat is an important source of energy.
Your body uses glucose first for energy, but when that runs low, it needs fat to keep going. This is especially important for people who are active or in a survival situation.4. You need fat to absorb vitamins.
Fat-soluble vitamins—A, D, E, and K—require fat for absorption. Your body cannot use these essential nutrients if you consume them with no fat. Vitamin deficiencies cause a range of health problems.5. You need fat to produce certain hormones.
Fat molecules are necessary to produce some hormones, including estrogen and testosterone. If you’re not consuming enough fat, it can lead to unhealthy hormone imbalances.There may be other health issues from lack of fat in the diet but these are the ones I have in my notes as to why FAT is a vital source needed in your diet, especially in a survival scenario.
Thankfully I’m in an area where feral hogs are a problem, we have an open season with no bag limits to help eradicate their ever-growing population that is destroying farmland & farmers’ crops. Trapping them is also legal and I’ve been lucky to be a recipient of several of those trapped on a friends hunting club property.
When deer hunting season is over in mid-February, they will begin trapping feral hogs again. I’ve offered to go help dispatch, skin & process (yes, I’ve done this many times being an avid hunter) so I can get all I want (including the organs & fat from what others process). I render down the fat (of those not too old/big where the meat/fat is tainted with hormones) and I pressure can the organs to feed my farm dogs in hard times coming.I’ll be calling Squeal Team 6 to help with my BACON preps!🙃
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It is so funny that stupid people infesting in good breeding stock, to breed good breeders for many generations and have food to harvest (milk, eggs, meat and so on). They keep the good genes for the future and become fertilizer, the stupidly in people is amazing.
They pay for their cost and earn themselves back, yes verry bad choice to pay a bit more. And o my the joy they give with petting is horrible, my son wants nothing to do with them, just wants to go pet them and watch.
Now I know why I am a crazy chicken and rabbit lady, must work on that and lurn my lesson buying cheap critters just good enough for meat and keep on buying till you can not buy anymore.
Thanks for the great advice and good laugh, you sure thought me a lesson.
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This reply was modified 1 year, 2 months ago by JerseyGiantChick.
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This reply was modified 1 year, 2 months ago by
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Now you lost me, going out to play in the garden and sowing som flowers.
Afterward locking up our expensive chickens from USA, UK, Netherlands and France.
Also the meat group, who are going in freezer camp soon.
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Thank you but you did not, before I start something I check it out read watch ask. Otherwise I will not start and finish, we may think differently but that is ok.
You think it is speding to mutch money like a spoiled brat, I see it as a infestation for the future.
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Now I understand were you are coming from, if I can not afford it I work and save till I can pay up front for it. That is for breeders, for just meat I would not infesting just see cheap to get. Meat rabbits you can find for free, but can not be picky.
Pigs I have no idea, do not eat pig meat and so more. But I know farmers are not getting what they need or should.
The future is unsure although we know what is coming, prepare and make decisions what you want to do how. If breeding is one of the planning, also if it is for growing your own greens. Do you need hybrids or heirloom, not talking about papers but good breeders. Or just bring up for eating and stay dependent on who can sell to you.
On my wish list are turkeys, and then we have to trade for the rest. Can not have all, have to take good care and gardening.
You do what is best for you, you know what is best for you. I understand you better now, make sense know.
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