As a homesteader, urban, suburban or rural, sooner or later the thought of how to raise your own meat will cross your mind.
(This series isn’t intended to debate the consumption of meat as a food source. The assumption is that the reader is interested in raising meat as a personal food choice.)
Rabbits are the perfect meat to raise when space is at a premium, making them the urban homesteader’s dream meat! Within the area of a queen sized bed, you can raise healthy rabbits!
Rabbits are easy to raise and they produce wonderful manure that doesn’t need to be aged before use! Urbanites can clean out the rabbit’s cage and fertilize your balcony plants the same day! How cool is that?
I think that rabbits are going to be in The Morristribe’s 2012 plan!
For this series about “How to Raise Your Own Meat“, I have consulted with experts in the field. Today, I will be interviewing both Jackie Davis from The Rocking K and the owner of “Rise and Shine Rabbitry“.
Due to the length of this interview, I have divided it into two parts for the next two days. Enjoy and share with others, will you??
What types of animals do you raise for meat? What breeds do you prefer and why?
Jackie Davis: I raise rabbits and sheep for meat. I prefer New Zealand and California rabbits, but also do a mix with New Zealand and Flemish Giant for my bucks. My California does produce well and are good mothers. The bucks I choose for conformation and weight gain. A good breeder will have information on the doe’s mother, her average litter size, breeding history etc. You get a pretty good idea from what the doe raised so her offspring should do as well.
Rise and Shine: We raise many meat breeds- New Zealand Whites, Californians, Hybrid crosses of NZW/CAL awesome bloodline great production rabbits, Creme d Argent, Chocolate Satins and other assorted colors, Silver Foxes and more available!
What is the name of your farm/business/blog?
Jackie Davis: The Rocking K.
Rise and Shine: Rise and Shine Rabbitry is small rabbitry in Mechanic Falls, Maine. We promote raising rabbits for homestead use.
How long have you been raising your own meat?
Jackie Davis: I have been raising animals that were butchered since my early years. Dad leased land to raise a steer, some chickens and later rabbits. As a young mother with three children to support, I raised rabbits and chickens in the back yard for extra food as well as having a large vegetable garden in stead of a ‘city back yard’.
Rise and Shine: I have collected all my knowledge from years of raising rabbits
What is your primary motivation for raising your own meat?
Jackie Davis: I moved from CA to IL 6 years ago when I retired from teaching, seeking an environment full of trees, flowers and green. Living in a small rural community has been eye opening. You cannot find rabbit or lamb in the grocery store, let alone organic foods of any type and I will not drive 90 miles to the city to seek those particular foods. And I really don’t trust meat from grocery stores any more. Thus I’ve become a ‘farmer woman’ living a very different lifestyle from that I was use to in CA.
Rise and Shine:
*Rabbits are quiet, No one will know you have a meat supply.
*Rabbits take up very little space, Easily hidden.
*Rabbits reproduce quickly. Fast sustaining meat supply.
*Rabbits can be butchered as needed so no need for refrigeration. You only need one buck for every 10 does, less mouths to feed. Each doe will have on average 40 kits per year- 100+ lbs meat.
*Rabbits have a very short gestation period (31 days). Can be re bred 2 weeks after giving birth.
*Rabbits sexually mature at about 5 to 6 months- Quick to add new breeding stock to up meat production.
*Rabbit manure is the best fertilizer. Needed for your high production survival gardens. Rabbits are herbivores. They do not compete with humans for a food source.
*Rabbits can handle many different climates, can be raised in a multitude of environments.
*Rabbits also produce pelts witch can be used for home or trade- Great for keeping warm by making hats, mittens, blankets,coats etc!
*Rabbit meat, pelts, manure and breeding pairs can be used for a good bartering item.
*Rabbits are inexpensive! A 50lb bag of food is about $13+, as of the date of this post, it will rise! An adult rabbit should be fed a cup a day.
Did I mention how tasty rabbit meat is?! You can cook it many ways bake it, fry it, roast it, smoke it, make jerky, can it and more!
Recipes here and Part 2 here!
Like this series? Share with your friends!
PDF 
About kmorris
Interesting! As I look out the window at my three buns. I’m probably one of the weird ones that raise rabbits as pets but support raising rabbits for meat. Look forward to the next post.
Sara,
I know you love your bunnies.
Oh, wow! I am always interested in how to raise my own meat. I consider hunting my own- but this sounds much more sustainable. Do you butcher your own? I live in NYC, so would at LEAST need to move to Brooklyn with a backyard to make this work
One day….
Caroline,
You really don’t need a backyard, just a hutch/cage of some kind. A couple of questions: Are you allowed to have pets? Do you have a balcony or corner of a room to spare? If you, you’re in business sister!
I do not raise rabbit (yet!) so I haven’t butchered, but I plan to. YouTube has plenty of vids on that topic.
Oh, BTW, hunting rabbit is fine but I think you’ll find them to be be thin and gamey. Raising your own will render larger animals and better meat.
Let me know what you decide to do, I love to hear what’s working for urban homesteaders!
You really do not want to have rabbits in the house. They do tend to stink even if you clean the cages every day. That’s been my experience anyway.
We’ve been talking about rabbits for about 6 months now. We were actually talking about the New Zealand, which they both mentioned. Thanks for this post, I’m going to share it with the fam! Looking forward to tomorrow.
Abigail,
That’s awesome! Seems like the timing was just right!
hi,
i am currently agonising over killing our roosters and lamb for meat but i feel so bad that i would kill these lovely animals just so we can eat a few meals……….. i grapple with this issue on a daily basis and so wondering how you came to terms with raising animals for meat.
I would utterly love a blog post on this issue as i know i am not the only one who struggles with this.
Many thanks,
trace
Trace,
You’re not the only one that struggles with that. Perhaps I’ll write something about that in the future, but for now I’ll say this.
As a former vegetarian and animals rights advocate, I have come to terms with the fact that my body is healthier consuming meat. I do not and have never considered eating meat a sin, however animal cruelty is another issue entirely (animal lab testing, etc).
The humane raising of animals for food is a beautiful thing in my mind. The animals are raised in a healthy and mostly free-range environment and have a wonderful life here. They are played with and talked to, enjoying the best of what their world offers them in terms of sunshine, fresh food and water as well as the opportunity to forage.
Some stay around longer (layers) than others (meat chickens) but they all serve their purpose. I never “enjoy” the processing part, but sadly, we are all so far removed from where food actually comes from that healthy food production can seem shocking. It shouldn’t, however, it’s part of my natural life on our farm.
I know people can get pretty defensive when this subject is discussed, but I hope that we can all appreciate each other’s decisions and respect them.
We love rabbit: It’s a delicious, low-fat, versatile meat. Two of my does just had litters and we’re waiting for the other two to kindle. Rabbit is easy to raise, and mostly inexpensive. Ours get pelleted feed supplemented with fresh grass/clover and hay daily. They are super cheap to feed if you can buy a big bale of hay ($4-$5 depending on where you live) and supplement the pelleted feed with the hay. I’m always shocked at the price of a bag of hay you can buy at the pet store when I’m getting a 60# bale of the same hay for the same price as that little bag!
Jenn,
That’s awesome! Go YOU!! Thanks for commenting!
Gosh, you are getting hay for a great price! Here, a bale of timothy is $8 and up, alfalfa is $13 and up. 50# of pellets, $16.50 and up.
I’m in the Midwest in the middle of hay country, so it tends to be a bit cheaper than out on the coasts, especially when I can go out to the field and pick it up right after baling. I just bought a 1,200# bale of beautiful timothy/orchardgrass/alfalfa hay for $75 (for my horses), which is a darn good price, even around here.
I picked up a 50# bag of pellets last night for $12.
Thanks so much and in the beginning i thought there is no way i could eat our own animals but the more i get into farming the more i realise that it is inevitable and coming to terms with it is getting a little easier altho i honestly dont know how i can cope with our lamb ending up on our table [i think he will be a pet for life lol]
My husband is very into the idea of growing our own healthy happy meat but i think he will also struggle big time with doing the killing deed.
I am sure we will get there in the end
Keep up the great work,
Trace
Trace,
Just a couple of more thoughts about handling this with children:
* We do not name “meat” animals or become close with them. It just hurts too much. We DO name the animals that will be spending a bit more time with us.
* Let it be known from the beginning “who is who” in terms of “pets” and “food”. My kiddos have been processing all of this in their little minds and after watching “Food Inc.”, they were glad that at least our “meat” animals are living happy little lives, not cooped up in dark buildings and never seeing the light of day, much less enjoying a juicy bug once in a while.
Kelly
thanks Kelly and that actually helps as in my mind i did think that the friendlier animals would stay and the ones we havent bonded with so much would be the ones that would end up on the table.
I am guessing i need to separate myself more from the animals and make sure they are very well looked after and happy whilst not getting quite so involved in making sure they get cuddles LOL
It will be a test in about a couple of months when it is time to slaughter the spare Roosters…. if we can manage that then i guess we can plan the next step in our farm journey
very many thanks for your help,
trace xo
I agree about the naming. None of ours intended for food ever get named. The ones that will be around for awhile are named and do become pets. The unnamed ones are never treated differently than the named ones, we just don’t get attached and it makes seeing them on the dinner table a whole lot easier for the kids.
As for slaughtering, it is hard emotionally, and it should be because you are taking a life. Before we kill an animal for our table, we thank it for its life (kind of in the Native American way), and it makes it a bit easier. We respect that animal all the way from birth through slaughtering and I’ve found that my entire family is more respectful of the meat on our plates since we’ve been raising/hunting our own. Nothing is wasted. We also eat a lot LESS meat than before, not only because raising your own takes more time and effort than just running to the store and grabbing prepackaged meat, but also because I think we have a lot more appreciation for what goes into our meals and for the life that was lost so we can eat.
We’ve raised our own meat for several years and it still isn’t easy come butcher time, eapecially with the animals we’ve had longer like the pigs. But at least I know what kind of life they’ve led and how the butchering is handled. Our 1st rabbit is due today. We do o.k. raising them but I’m sure there’s more I can learn. Isn’t there always? Great post. Thanks, Kelly!
My husband and I have been researching and talking about doing this for a few months now. I love reading and learning about others experiences. I’m very excited to start this!
We have been thinking for some time about raising rabbits for meat. We have done so much research about it and continue to enjoy learning more any where we can. Great post! I think if we do decide to do it we’ll be glad we did.
Lots of good information! I can always count on you for an educational, well-written experience.
I would love to find out more about using the pelts, how to process them and then make them into useful blankets and such.
Also, do you deal with allergies to your meat rabbits? We had some pet rabbits when I was a kid, but they made my eyes water. This is part of what is keeping me away from pursuing this. Any advice?
I have had a very different experience with raising rabbits. I made cages at first and didn’t like them so I broke down and bought some. ($$$) One of my does died right away. The one that was a proven mother. My second doe took a year to have a successful litter. The first she ignored completely. The second litter lasted three days before they all died. I bought two more does (more money for them, more money for cages) who did nothing. We butchered them. I bought a buck that was very mean and a biter. He was butchered. I finally got a hold a doe that is a proven mother and had a litter. Yay! We also acquired Angoras. The first two were brothers and one died shortly after I bred him. The doe to whom I mated him, pulled out almost all of her fur (she looked shaved), and is now very aggressive. My point is not to discourage anyone. It is simply to remind you that rabbits are not always as easy as one would think. But, do not be discouraged.
We just got our first bunnies for the purpose of raising meat. We have chickens and quail, as well, for the same purpose. People think we’re crazy, but I try to tell them they aren’t a PET, they’re a PURPOSE. I am excited to see how this all pans out!
I curently hAVE FOUR DOES AND ONE BUCK NEW ZEALAND i HAVE CAGES INSIDE OF OUR BARN. i HAD NO PROBLAM WITH THEM BREEDING IN THE SPRING BUT NOW THE DOES JUST LAY FLAT ON THEIR BELLEYS AND WONT LET THE BUCK BREED THEM. I HERD THAT WINTER BREEDING IS ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE WITHOUT 12HRS OF LIGHT. ANY SUGESTIONS ? THEY ARE AMAZING PETS THAT TASTE GOOD AS WELL!!
I enjoy having rabbits, but they are not as efficient as people make them sound. I was told to butcher them at 8-12 weeks, but they are tiny then! (Satin/ Flemish mix) It is not worth until they are about 5 months old. Our rabbits get 3 oz. of pellets a day plus hay. Much of our hay is free so I can’t really calculate that price. But 3 oz./day x 7 days a week x 4 weeks a month x 5 months = 420 oz. That is 26.25 lb. which is 52.3% of a bag of food. Each bag costs $18.20 so each rabbit costs $9.56 to feed up to weight not counting hay. We have a big family so we eat 2 rabbits at a time. $19.11 is way to much for just meat for one meal.
We keep our rabbits in an out building that is 6×8 and insulated. It has 3 windows. We live in Northern WI so we still had to heat (small electric heater) it to keep from freezing. Our electric bill almost doubled. I figured since we were heating it, I might as well breed them during the winter. After a few failed attempts, I was told rabbits need so many hours a day of light. I left a light on most of the day. Still nothing. It has to be natural sunlight, I learned later.
If money is not an issue, rabbits are a lot of fun. If money is an issue, I just don’t think it is worth it.
If anyone has any advice, I will be more than happy listen. I could really use it.