Well, I can see how rabbit populations can get out of control in the wild. At this moment I have:
5 breeding adults
5 almost ready for the table
19 two month olds
4 month olds
and a litter due any day.
Phew. That makes 33 rabbits.
The litter due now will be the last born for this year so they can be cullable weight before Christmas. We want to go away camping over the holidays and it will be much easier to just have the breeding stock to sort out food and water for.
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| You can see at the right the 'mowed' grass where the cage was the day before. |
It's probably miles too much red tape to ever think of marketing them, but just for interest's sake, if your butcher or Farmer's Market carried rabbit;
a) would you buy it and eat it?
b) would you know how to cook it?
c) how much would you expect to pay?
Ha! I have visions of me at the Farmer's Market getting pelted with fruit by bunny lovers! Yikes!
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| Sam's waiting for me to move the cage. She's almost drooling - but it's for the the rabbit poop not the rabbits! Gross. |
PS. I do love my bunnies. I stroke and talk to them and feed them special vege scraps. I just eat them too. Gotta be better than intensively raised poultry or pork from a sow crate.
PPS. I'll send a little rabbity artist's trading card off to one lucky commenter. Go on, I'd love to know what people think about eating rabbit! (I'll close off the giveaway on Monday evening, NZ time).
Hi, Yes I would buy rabbit if available. I'd have to look up how to cook, but dont see that as a problem. I admire how you are trying to run your life. I love to grow my own veggies and flowers, we are getting 3 or 4 chooks soon, but I'm not sure either of us could kill even a chicken to eat (dammit!). I'll just have to find someone to barter meat for eggs and veg.
ReplyDeleteLove your blog.
Cheers, Faye in Pinjarra W.Aussie.
Hi ms lottie
ReplyDeleteYes, I eat rabbits and I also buy them sometimes. We can buy them in supermarket here in Switzerland. But they are quite expensive. If I had the possibility to breed them myself, I would do it and eat more rabbits.
My uncle was a breeder. He showed me how to prepare rabbits and also how to cook them. I used to eat more rabbits 15 years ago. Today he has no more rabbits, unfortunately.
It tastes fine and its soft meat is easy to eat also for elderly people. With a good sauce and spices like rosemariy or thyme you can give it a special taste. If you cook it long enough, the meat goes off from bones very well. Then you don't need a knife only a fork. I really like rabbits.
Greetings
Tamara
Well...I have bunnies (two) as pets...I'm vegetarian so would NEVER eat my girls..I have them and 4 piggies for pooping purposes. And they make great pets for the kids...teaching responsibily and all that.
ReplyDeleteI think your nunnies to are SO sweet! I'just can not imagine how you'd want to kill/eat them...but that's just me :-D
Hey girly, I would probably not buy and eat rabbit, mainly beacause I don't know how to cook it. And for me to buy it, it would need to be pretty un-rabbity looking, I'm a bit squeamish about all that crap. I'm sure there are people that would though, do you have to jump through any hoops to set up at a farmer's market?
ReplyDeleteI do eat rabbit - when the men have been bunny hunting. Not recently unfortunately :(
ReplyDeleteI would buy it too although I might have a few problems killing any I brought up individually. I suspect I could if I had to though. Comes of being brought up in a farming region I suppose.
viv in Dunedin
My grandmother used to raise rabbits...for the table. I think they taste like chicken, omg, everything tastes like chicken! Ok, seriously now.
ReplyDeleteI love rabbit, it's all dark meat and has FOUR legs as opposed to two on a chock.
I don't know what you pay for meat there, but in the US, I can buy whole chickens for 79 cents a pound on sale, or 99cents a pound not on sale. You know that I just offed 8 roosters @ 4 months old. Not the chubby chickens you see in the store, not much fat either. But...their skin was so clean, no bugs, just nice healthy roosters. I had a young lady call, in a round about way, for a rooster to butcher. She came by and I gave her a frozen rooster. She said she pays @ $16.00 A PIECE for free range organic chickens. I am ibn the wrong business.
So, take into consideration the organic free range options you have. Do you have online grocery coupons to look at? I think you oought to hit the farmers market with a big pot of rabbit stew, ready to hand out in little dixie cups with little wooden spoons. Yummo, oh, and put me in your giveaway, wahoooooo, I love free stuff! Hugs from Texas, Elaine
well my hubby shoots them! We have in the freezer! So yes I eat them. First time I ate one I was tricked! Someone told me it was 'wild chicken' pie.
ReplyDeleteThey are still pretty commonly eaten here in Tasmania. I really like strong meat and I am surprised that I only sort of like it, especially not the hind leg and I thought that was what I would like the best.
ReplyDeleteI think rabbit is best cooked in the slow cooker with wine, tomatoes thyme and olives.