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For those of you who don’t know, we are raising rabbits. We are raising a breed of meat rabbits called Californians. Our reason for doing this is to put some high quality meat on our table. There ya go, plain and simple.
We have our breeders. What they produce will be butchered by my hubby and my sons. I will cook it and serve it to the family.
Now, I am not a “really and truly” farm girl, but I don’t have any hesitation about this whole proccess. When I was a kid my dad and brother hunted and we ate what they killed. What we’re doin’ is not so different from that, just that this will be tastier due to the controlled diet of my rabbits, and more tender because they’ll be younger.
Our rabbits will be table ready at about 8 – 10 weeks old. That is the part of the plan that makes this financially feasable for the backyard. We don’t have to have a lot of growing cages.
The actual slaughter and dressing out will be done in our garage. While raising and breeding rabbits is very easy, this will be the most difficult task in the whole process.
I have gotten many “raised eyebrows” about this. I think the reason is that we don’t live on a farm or even in the country. We live in a regular house, in a regular subdivision, in the big city. Folks just don’t expect city slickers like us to be raising food in our backyard. If we did live on a farm then this would be a “normal” part of the stereotypical daily farm-life.
I’m kind of surprised at how far the “eyebrows raised” questions usually go. I understand that there will be some curiosity.
Friend: ”WHAT??? People EAT rabbits?!?!?
Me: ”??? Um, yeah.” (I really thought all adults knew this.)
Friend: “Will y’all do the deed, or take ‘em to a place for that?”
Me: “Hubs will teach the boys how to do that. No need to pay someone for something we can do.”
That much curiosity I understand, but so far, it has gone much further, every time.
Friend: ”Really? That doesn’t bother you?”
Me: ”Nope, not a bit. Why should it? It’s a valuable skill. I’m thrilled for the boys to have the opportunity to learn.”
Friend: ”But the rabbits… they’re cute. Doesn’t that bother you?”
Me: ”Well, I also think chickens are cute, but I don’t enjoy any food more than I enjoy BBQ chicken.” (losing grip on my charming demeanor just a bit)
Friend: ”But, this is different than hunting. They’ll actually have to .. you know… kill them.”
Me: (starting to wonder if I’m really insensitive or if there’s something about me that screams “I am not cut out for farm life!”) ”I don’t expect them to enjoy it. I would have a real problem with that. I do expect them to be able to put food on the table in the event that their adult lives aren’t as cushy as ours have been.”
I’m gonna have hubs teach me, too.
Friend: ” Yeah, but when you’re hunting the animal is already dead by the time you get up close to it. This is gonna be a live animal that they have to kill with their hands.”
Me: (In my head only.) “Well, shooting them in the cage is just gonna make a mess, and it would be really loud, and it would scare the other rabbits to death. Well then, that would solve that little problem with one shot, huh?” (and in real life) “Yeah, this will be harder, but we’re raising them to be capable men.”
I just never realized how many puzzled questions there would be. Doing this makes perfect sense to me and mine. Our gov’t is in the car business already, what will we do if the Obomanation decides to get into the grocery business?
What do you think? Do you raise food at your place? Do you wish you could raise more food at your place? (I’d have some laying hens or some dual-purpose hens.) (And a dairy goat.)
Could you slaughter an animal to put food on the table if you had to? Squirrels are a dime a dozen ’round here, wait, I mean they’re free for the shootin’. I’d eat that. Would you?
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I don’t have meat animals at my house, but I buy chicks with a friend who has an acre. She raises them and I help slaughter all of them. All of the children who are old enough help with the work. We have 15 between us and everyone 6 and older helps, even with the chopping, if they are strong enough to have a decent swing.
We don’t do meat rabbits. It’s so hot here they are not able to live through the summer without special accommodations we don’t have. It is something we will consider in the future.
Folks who don’t know how to raise food won’t eat very well pretty soon.
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My parents raised chickens and rabbits when I was a kid. I wasn’t damaged by the experience. I didn’t help with the butchering of the rabbits, but did help with cleaning of the chickens. I don’t know if I would opt to do that now but don’t see anything wrong with it at all.
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I have no problem with with this. Not sure I could do it but if we get a few acres it will be something to think about. I’m open to it. My dad says rabbits taste like chicken
We’ll have to learn how to do the slautering though. Maybe they have classes somewhere.
Blessings,
Linda<
We have, and will continue to raise as much of our own food as possible. We have raised and/or slaughtered quite a variety – from smallest to largest they are: quail, chickens, ducks, geese, guinea fowl, turkeys, emu (delicious!), rabbits, goats, and pigs. Wanted to process our cow but sent that out to a butcher because of time and lack of proper equipment. All the children who wish to are allowed to help with nearly everything. We conduct biology lessons and all sorts of other homeschooling topics. We’ve had some of the greatest times with everyone deboning meat, chunking it, grinding it and making our own fresh sausage.
As far as my slaughtering skills go, I usually do not do the “killing” part – although I will watch. I could do it if I had to. My husband and boys usually take care of that, and they make sure it is quick and painless – not only for the animal’s sake – but also for the flavor of the meat. Everything from there on out I’ve helped with. Perhaps it helped that my father raised meat rabbits on the mission field and I always helped him with that.
I think the problem with people’s reactions is that we’ve become desensitized about food, like the previous commenter stated. Food comes in a package, and you cook it. I’ve heard of some children amazed that poultry comes from chickens, that eggs come from chickens, that beef is actually from cows, etc. This wasn’t the case not too long ago when the US was more of an agrarian society. AND there is far too much emphasis on pets, I think. Pets are fine and good, but I see that pets are almost replacing children – and I wonder if that doesn’t contribute somewhat to people not viewing children as the blessings that God’s Word calls them…
Oh, and yes, we hunt the squirrels on our property and we do eat them. They are delicious baked with BBQ sauce over them at 400 degrees for about 45 minutes!
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Oh, I agree, Jess. I just don’t really know why folks are so amazed and confounded by this. I guess most folks just don’t think about such things as the conditions the animals are raised in and the medications and hormones that are pumped into them their whole lives, which, by the way, end up on our plates and consequently in our bodies. Ew!
We’re tryin’ hard to figure ways to raise enough food for our whole family year round. What a lot of work that’ll be, so much to learn, but we’ll never get there if we don’t start where we are.
I guess the reason folks are so sensitive about animal death is that we are blind about it, in our culture. We don’t have to see it. It’s hidden, and out of sight-out of mind. Lots of folks go their whole lives without giving a thought to just what their food was and how it came about before it was on the shelf in the grocery. Maybe folks don’t wanna know, I wish I didn’t.
Don’t at the moment but did as a kid and will do as soon as we can build the chook pen.
I believe it is FAR more humane to raise an animal with love and the best comfort we can then kill it quickly ourselves at home. It also gives me inexpensive, organic meat. I’d prefer to control it ourselves, rather than just letting someone else do the ‘dirty work’. When we get some land it will be cattle, sheep and goats too as well as hunting wallabies. All up, our dogs will eat better than some people do once it is all up and running and we will know we are eating happy critters rather than closing our eyes and hoping (i.e. we will be being good stewards). I think it shows MORE care and respect toward animals, not less.
Other people used to have a similar attitude when they found out that I worked at the RSPCA as a teen and assisted with euthanasia. Yes, I love animals. Yes, putting down 52 kittens in one day/dealing with animal cruelty and neglect/putting down a dog I have come to love just because I can’t find it a home is horrible. The thought of what would happen to them if it wasn’t done is worse.
Hmmm, off topic rant there sorry!
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Preach it, Aimee!!!
Rabbits are much easier to kill/clean than chickens. We have done both, and rabbits much easier, though not as much meat.
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We have meat rabbits (and chickens) too, and I have also gotten alot of the same comments. People can’t actually believe that we kill and eat our own food. I think it is benifical for the children to raise and care for and eventually eat the food they raise (as much as possible, I too am on a little suburban lot so we are a tad limited).
As a society we are a bunch of sissies!
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I agree, Cyndi. I’m sure the landlord would not think it through if you don’t mention it. What they don’t know won’t hurt ‘em!
I was just thinking the other night… the landlords won’t have a problem with the raising of the rabbits but I’m not sure they’d be okay with us dispatching. I guess we just won’t share that detail. I’m sure that I’d not enjoy killing but it beats starving and it is a very valuable skill. I hope we don’t really need the skill but I don’t trust were the world is headed. The ablility to raise our own food is invaluable to freedom.
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Some of the artificial, arbitrary limitations we place on ourselves are rather inconsistent, huh?
I know some people who raise animals and kill them for food, but I don’t think I could ever do it myself. I tend to view all animals as pets and once you do that, it’s close to impossible to kill them. But I would eat what someone else killed lol
Lois commented by email:
We live in Grand Rapids, Michigan, two miles from downtown, and we currently have eight 4-week-old chickens on our screened-in front porch. We hatched them from eggs. We had 30 eggs, and got 27 chickens! We gave most of the chickens to our friends that have a farm, and wanted them for laying and eating.
We have no idea how long we will get away with this in the city, but we hope it is long enough to eat the roosters, and see the hens laying eggs.
I think chickens are very cute, and very delicious, and I think you are perfectly sensible.
I would love to supplement our food with chickens and a goat. City won’t let us. The rabbits on the other hand I have thought long and hard about. The family (DH & girls) are completely opposed to the idea of eating them. I can get them to shear and spin the wool from. But the eatin part is a no go for right now. I might still get my way. Depends on how the economy goes in the near future.
I loved this! We are out in the country, but have a very small lot. No one would blink at us killing our own food. They don’t understand why we don’t just live off of welfare since we have so many kids… go figure.
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