Why did I choose rabbits?
I am asked on a regular basis why in the world I decided to breed rabbits. Who in their right mind would want to breed them, nurture them, keep them away from predators and then when they reach a predetermined age and weight, put them in the freezer or on the table for dinner? Its all much easier to explain than you would think.
I live on a half acre plot in a small town having houses all around me. We believe very strongly that we should be active in making our own way in the world. That means we have a 33X45 foot garden for raising some of our own veggies, a small area that is dedicated to our 8 to 15 chickens who supply us with eggs, and a growing area that is dedicated to the breeding and housing of rabbits. However, what we started out with and are still using is pictured above. Three 30"X30" cages with a water proof roof and tarps for walls. Total cost to get started, about $300. That included pedigreed New Zealand White rabbits because we wanted to show rabbits also. If you're not going to show your rabbits, any larger rabbit that has not been neutered will do fine.
We have tried raising chickens for meat and found them to be messy and smelly, both for us and our neighbors. The "butchering day" activities of getting chickens ready for the freezer is a really big deal due to killing, plucking, and preparing the meat for the freezer. Twenty to thirty chickens took most of the day to prepare with my son and his wife, my daughter and her husband, both of my daughters that are still at home and my wife and me working steadily and nobody, including me, enjoyed the work or the "family time." Everyone complained constantly, even my dear wife who rarely complains about anything! (Yes, I do have a nearly perfect wife. Be jealous.)
Rabbits, however, are almost odor free. They are pleasant to "hang out" with and even used for therapy animals for those having physical and mental challenges. The process of preparing a rabbit for the freezer is quick, easily handled by one or two people and there is a minimum of mess.
Let's take a look at some of the hard facts about rabbits, their meat and some of the by-products.
Nutrition
Here are the nutritional facts taken from USDA circular #549 that show you that rabbit is the best meat out there:
1. Rabbit has the highest percent protein of all meats at 20.8% vs pork which has 11.9%, based per pound of meat.
2. Rabbit is lowest in percent of fat than chicken, turkey, beef and pork. The list of meats range lowest percent fat to highest percent fat, so that means that rabbit has the lowest with 4.5% and pork has the highest with 45%.
3. Then if you further break down the fat into its components of saturated and unsaturated, 63% of rabbit's mere 4.5% fat is UNSATURATED, the "good" fat.
4. And lastly rabbit has 795 calories per pound of meat, chicken = 810, veal = 840, turkey = 1190, lamb = 1420, beef = 1440 and pork = 2050!
All of these nutritional facts make rabbit a "heart healthy" meat. In this day of many, many folks battling weight, heart, cholesterol and high blood pressure issues, these nutritional facts are something to seriously take into consideration.
Production
Rabbits will produce 6 pounds of meat on the same feed and water (amount) as a cow will produce 1 pound. This necessarily extrapolates out to mean that you'll get more bang for your buck if you raise rabbits to eat.
At the grocery store, you'll get more "meat" in a package of rabbit than in a package of chicken (bone-in for both of them). So in a 2 pound package of bone-in rabbit there is actually 50% more rabbit meat than in 2 pound package of bone-in chicken even though both packages weigh 2 pounds. That's because rabbit bone is smaller, thinner, and lighter in weight than chicken. Again more bang for your buck because we just don't eat the bones! In fact a 2 pound package of rabbit may actually end up being 2 meals for 2 people instead of the usual one meal for 2 that you get from a 2 pound package of chicken.
Preparation
Rabbit is extremely versatile, you can cook it ANY way that you would cook chicken, turkey or pork so you are not at all limited in recipes. You don't always have to prepare fried rabbit or rabbit stew, etc. You just have to remember the low percent of fat and that it is skinless. Therefore you need to cook it at a lower temperature than you would for your favorite chicken, turkey or pork recipes and for a bit longer time and you may have to add "fat" in the form of unsaturated cooking oils such as extra virgin olive oil. Rabbit loves to be marinated, too. And it pairs well with all kinds of veggies, and wines and beer!
By-Products
And lastly let's not forget that awesome fertilizer! Fresh rabbit manure has the highest percent nitrogen at 2.4% (1.4% Phosphorus, 0.6% Potassium) than any other animal fertilizer. Dry rabbit manure also has the highest percent nitrogen at 2.3% (1.4% Phosphorus and 0.8% Potassium) than any other animal fertilizer. It can be used directly from underneath the cages, meaning it does NOT have to be composted. It will not "burn", even if it's wet.
Of course if folks feed their rabbits any hay that has not been completely cured or raw oats or other seeds and those become mixed with the manure, it should be composted first so that any noxious weed seeds will be killed and not sprout and take over the veggie/flower garden.
And you can also make "tea". You'll need a 5 gallon bucket (or larger depending upon how much tea you want to make), some sort of permeable cloth to use for the "tea bag" (fine mesh cheesecloth, an old t-shirt, old pair of pantyhose etc) and either fresh or composted manure. For the 5 gal bucket method, add 2 good shovelfuls of manure to the "tea bag", put in the bottom of the bucket, cover with water to fill the bucket, cover the bucket and let "steep" for a couple of days. Remove the bag (it can be used again), if needed strain the liquid to remove any solids, dilute to the color of weak tea and voila! liquid fertilizer you can use for foliar feeding (put in a spray bottle and mist your plants) or for "watering" your house plants etc. Works just as well or maybe even better than commercially produced fertilizers. You can make several batches of tea from one "bag". The first batch will of course be the most potent therefore I recommend that if you plan to make several batches of tea that you save them all and mix them together before using and then dilute to the color of weak tea. The undiluted tea can also be put into a hose end sprayer (strain it well first!) and used on your outside garden if you prefer to use it that way also.
The leftover manure oosh goes into the compost pile or straight into the flower bed or garden. No waste!
In Conclusion
The buzz words these days in the sustainable agriculture business is "integrated farming", wherein crops and livestock are used together beneficially for the whole. Raising rabbits really fits that terminology. The meat goes on the table. The fur or wool can be made into clothing or even bedding. Any offal from the butchering process can be composted and further broken down into a product that can be incorporated into the soil for improvement to increase crop productivity/quality (aka making your own blood/bone meal). Raw and composted manure is "organic" fertilizer and can be used to produce more food for the table as well as soil improvement. And any of these things can be sold to consumers who do not raise rabbits themselves. It's just too bad they don't also lay eggs, then we could quit raising chickens!
I live on a half acre plot in a small town having houses all around me. We believe very strongly that we should be active in making our own way in the world. That means we have a 33X45 foot garden for raising some of our own veggies, a small area that is dedicated to our 8 to 15 chickens who supply us with eggs, and a growing area that is dedicated to the breeding and housing of rabbits. However, what we started out with and are still using is pictured above. Three 30"X30" cages with a water proof roof and tarps for walls. Total cost to get started, about $300. That included pedigreed New Zealand White rabbits because we wanted to show rabbits also. If you're not going to show your rabbits, any larger rabbit that has not been neutered will do fine.
We have tried raising chickens for meat and found them to be messy and smelly, both for us and our neighbors. The "butchering day" activities of getting chickens ready for the freezer is a really big deal due to killing, plucking, and preparing the meat for the freezer. Twenty to thirty chickens took most of the day to prepare with my son and his wife, my daughter and her husband, both of my daughters that are still at home and my wife and me working steadily and nobody, including me, enjoyed the work or the "family time." Everyone complained constantly, even my dear wife who rarely complains about anything! (Yes, I do have a nearly perfect wife. Be jealous.)
Rabbits, however, are almost odor free. They are pleasant to "hang out" with and even used for therapy animals for those having physical and mental challenges. The process of preparing a rabbit for the freezer is quick, easily handled by one or two people and there is a minimum of mess.
Let's take a look at some of the hard facts about rabbits, their meat and some of the by-products.
Nutrition
Here are the nutritional facts taken from USDA circular #549 that show you that rabbit is the best meat out there:
1. Rabbit has the highest percent protein of all meats at 20.8% vs pork which has 11.9%, based per pound of meat.
2. Rabbit is lowest in percent of fat than chicken, turkey, beef and pork. The list of meats range lowest percent fat to highest percent fat, so that means that rabbit has the lowest with 4.5% and pork has the highest with 45%.
3. Then if you further break down the fat into its components of saturated and unsaturated, 63% of rabbit's mere 4.5% fat is UNSATURATED, the "good" fat.
4. And lastly rabbit has 795 calories per pound of meat, chicken = 810, veal = 840, turkey = 1190, lamb = 1420, beef = 1440 and pork = 2050!
All of these nutritional facts make rabbit a "heart healthy" meat. In this day of many, many folks battling weight, heart, cholesterol and high blood pressure issues, these nutritional facts are something to seriously take into consideration.
Production
Rabbits will produce 6 pounds of meat on the same feed and water (amount) as a cow will produce 1 pound. This necessarily extrapolates out to mean that you'll get more bang for your buck if you raise rabbits to eat.
At the grocery store, you'll get more "meat" in a package of rabbit than in a package of chicken (bone-in for both of them). So in a 2 pound package of bone-in rabbit there is actually 50% more rabbit meat than in 2 pound package of bone-in chicken even though both packages weigh 2 pounds. That's because rabbit bone is smaller, thinner, and lighter in weight than chicken. Again more bang for your buck because we just don't eat the bones! In fact a 2 pound package of rabbit may actually end up being 2 meals for 2 people instead of the usual one meal for 2 that you get from a 2 pound package of chicken.
Preparation
Rabbit is extremely versatile, you can cook it ANY way that you would cook chicken, turkey or pork so you are not at all limited in recipes. You don't always have to prepare fried rabbit or rabbit stew, etc. You just have to remember the low percent of fat and that it is skinless. Therefore you need to cook it at a lower temperature than you would for your favorite chicken, turkey or pork recipes and for a bit longer time and you may have to add "fat" in the form of unsaturated cooking oils such as extra virgin olive oil. Rabbit loves to be marinated, too. And it pairs well with all kinds of veggies, and wines and beer!
By-Products
And lastly let's not forget that awesome fertilizer! Fresh rabbit manure has the highest percent nitrogen at 2.4% (1.4% Phosphorus, 0.6% Potassium) than any other animal fertilizer. Dry rabbit manure also has the highest percent nitrogen at 2.3% (1.4% Phosphorus and 0.8% Potassium) than any other animal fertilizer. It can be used directly from underneath the cages, meaning it does NOT have to be composted. It will not "burn", even if it's wet.
Of course if folks feed their rabbits any hay that has not been completely cured or raw oats or other seeds and those become mixed with the manure, it should be composted first so that any noxious weed seeds will be killed and not sprout and take over the veggie/flower garden.
And you can also make "tea". You'll need a 5 gallon bucket (or larger depending upon how much tea you want to make), some sort of permeable cloth to use for the "tea bag" (fine mesh cheesecloth, an old t-shirt, old pair of pantyhose etc) and either fresh or composted manure. For the 5 gal bucket method, add 2 good shovelfuls of manure to the "tea bag", put in the bottom of the bucket, cover with water to fill the bucket, cover the bucket and let "steep" for a couple of days. Remove the bag (it can be used again), if needed strain the liquid to remove any solids, dilute to the color of weak tea and voila! liquid fertilizer you can use for foliar feeding (put in a spray bottle and mist your plants) or for "watering" your house plants etc. Works just as well or maybe even better than commercially produced fertilizers. You can make several batches of tea from one "bag". The first batch will of course be the most potent therefore I recommend that if you plan to make several batches of tea that you save them all and mix them together before using and then dilute to the color of weak tea. The undiluted tea can also be put into a hose end sprayer (strain it well first!) and used on your outside garden if you prefer to use it that way also.
The leftover manure oosh goes into the compost pile or straight into the flower bed or garden. No waste!
In Conclusion
The buzz words these days in the sustainable agriculture business is "integrated farming", wherein crops and livestock are used together beneficially for the whole. Raising rabbits really fits that terminology. The meat goes on the table. The fur or wool can be made into clothing or even bedding. Any offal from the butchering process can be composted and further broken down into a product that can be incorporated into the soil for improvement to increase crop productivity/quality (aka making your own blood/bone meal). Raw and composted manure is "organic" fertilizer and can be used to produce more food for the table as well as soil improvement. And any of these things can be sold to consumers who do not raise rabbits themselves. It's just too bad they don't also lay eggs, then we could quit raising chickens!