Meat Rabbit Intro
If you are new to raising animals for food, the first big question you should answer is whether you can bring yourself to go through with butchering. From the outset, you must regard the rabbits and the entire enterprise for what it is, a food-growing operation. If possible, learn to butcher a rabbit yourself, or at least be shown the process before purchasing breeding stock. It is easier with an unknown rabbit than kits you have raised from birth. Once you have processed one, it will give you the confidence you need to follow through with future litters.
Raising meat rabbits is fun! It is easy to get attached to cute little bunnies. But remember, you are raising rabbits to feed your family not pets. Avoid giving names to the kits. We choose to name our breeders for ease of discussing rabbitry chores with family members. 'Make sure Fern has a nest box' is much easier to remember than 'Make sure C38 has a nest box'. We tattoo all of our rabbits for identification. We refer to them as kits, fryers, grow-outs, and breeders. Pick an age to butcher and follow through with it. If not, your growing rabbit herd will become a major consumer of your tome and money. The usual slaughter age for fryer rabbits is 10-16 weeks old. Remember, one of the reasons you may have decided to raise meat rabbits was to save money and grow healthier food!
Many people wonder how we can kill an animal that we raised and lovingly cared for. The question I would pose to you is this: Wouldn’t you rather know how your meat was raised, what conditions the animal lived in, what it ate, and whether it was slaughtered in a humanely, without suffering? Buying meat in a store is easier, because you can pretend not to know what really happens on factory farms and commercial slaughterhouses, but it sure isn’t easier on the animal or your health. We know that for the time our animals are on earth, it lived in a veritable pig paradise, especially compared to the animals raised on factory farms. Think about that the next time you have a piece of bacon, or buy ham from the deli.
Separate genders by 10 weeks. Junior bucks should be separated from each other by 16 weeks or they may fight. Junior does can be housed together until breeding age (6 months) if they have plenty of space. Adult rabbits each get their own 2'x3' cage.
Raising meat rabbits is fun! It is easy to get attached to cute little bunnies. But remember, you are raising rabbits to feed your family not pets. Avoid giving names to the kits. We choose to name our breeders for ease of discussing rabbitry chores with family members. 'Make sure Fern has a nest box' is much easier to remember than 'Make sure C38 has a nest box'. We tattoo all of our rabbits for identification. We refer to them as kits, fryers, grow-outs, and breeders. Pick an age to butcher and follow through with it. If not, your growing rabbit herd will become a major consumer of your tome and money. The usual slaughter age for fryer rabbits is 10-16 weeks old. Remember, one of the reasons you may have decided to raise meat rabbits was to save money and grow healthier food!
Many people wonder how we can kill an animal that we raised and lovingly cared for. The question I would pose to you is this: Wouldn’t you rather know how your meat was raised, what conditions the animal lived in, what it ate, and whether it was slaughtered in a humanely, without suffering? Buying meat in a store is easier, because you can pretend not to know what really happens on factory farms and commercial slaughterhouses, but it sure isn’t easier on the animal or your health. We know that for the time our animals are on earth, it lived in a veritable pig paradise, especially compared to the animals raised on factory farms. Think about that the next time you have a piece of bacon, or buy ham from the deli.
Separate genders by 10 weeks. Junior bucks should be separated from each other by 16 weeks or they may fight. Junior does can be housed together until breeding age (6 months) if they have plenty of space. Adult rabbits each get their own 2'x3' cage.
Brick House Acres Rabbitry - Frankfort, NY 13340 - (315) 737-5635
