Raising Rabbits for Meat
By KellyGwen
@KellyGwen (193)
United States
June 21, 2010 1:10pm CST
I know this discussion is going to get a lot of negative responses... but I wondered how many of you have considered raising rabbits for consumption?
I have raised rabbits in the past for meat, and plan on doing it again. I eat meat. I am not a vegetarian. My dogs aren't vegetarians. Just because the meat at the market is neatly wrapped in plastic and doesn't *look* like an animal.. it was. Just because dog food comes in neat little kibbles doesn't mean it isn't made from animals. It was alive, it had feelings... and since it probably came from a commercial "farm" it probably had a less than happy life. (Not to mention all of the antibiotics they have to feed "feed lot" animals to keep them alive in those crowded and unnatural conditions!)
When I raised my rabbits I made sure that they had a nice home, treats, "free range" play time in a grassy fenced area and wanted for nothing. I researched the most humane methods to kill them and tried to make it as quick and painless as possible. I made sure to use every part that I could (meat, pelt, etc).
I felt sad when "the time came" but I reasoned that they had lived a happy, comfortable life AND that by eating these properly raised animals I wasn't supporting the "factories" that produce most of the meat in this country. No to mention that rabbit meat is MUCH healthier than beef (especially when the beef is full of antibiotics, steroids and other chemicals)
For me to have a nice stew somewhere SOMEONE had to die. I much preferred that it be an animal that was happy and healthy than give my money to some organization that profited from suffering animals.
Please don't say "be a vegetarian" or "it is awful" without really thinking about and reading my reasons. I know it isn't politically correct or popular to kill and eat your own animals... but for the "greater good" I think it makes sense. What are your feelings on this subject?
4 people like this
9 responses
@cloudwatcher (6861)
• Australia
23 Jun 10
Hi Kelly - great discussion.
I can easily align with your reasons for growing your own meat. Today's food, whether meat, fruit or vegetable, is contaminated in so many ways. It is the reason I only buy free range eggs and prefer to buy organic produce.
The concept of breeding rabbits for food wouldn't apply here because it is illegal to keep rabbits. The closest would be people killing their own chooks (sorry, chickens) and I suppose in America, the Thanksgiving turkey would be a common incident, but somehow I can't see chooks as having the same "pet" effect as rabbits.
When we owned a sugar cane farm we sometimes kept a pig for meat and often sold a calf for meat, receiving some of the meat for ourselves, but these were never pets.
On the whole, I agree with Holly's reply: "I wouldn't want to meet my meat first." I suppose I could "meet" my meat, but NOT to have that meat as a pet and then eat it. I have no objections to anyone who grows their own meat and I admire anyone who does, but I'll stick to trying to obtain meat and produce that has been produced in better circumstances and where possible, without chemicals.
@KellyGwen (193)
• United States
24 Jun 10
It's illegal to keep rabbits? Weird...
I used to keep chickens (for eggs) too.. and a few of them were "pet-ish".. but I didn't eat them, I just ate their eggs (i.e. children!)
I do want to eventually branch out and raise meat goats too... but I need more land so they have a nice pasture to play in. I am planning on having 2 or 3 females and a male and "harvesting" their babies. The only difference with the goats is that I would be taking them to a slaughterhouse... I think a goat would be too big to kill... and if I tried I might make a mistake and they would suffer. I'd rather have a "professional" handle the bigger animals.
I don't know if I could raise my own pigs for meat. They smell horribly... and they are SO SMART. Even though fresh pork is DELICIOUS and nothing like the pork you buy at the store... I'd have to think long and hard before I took on raising a pig.
I never did enjoy "meeting my meat"... but I just kept reminding myself of the supermarket steaks that I was sparing... It was a conscious decision, and one that I had to keep consciously reminding myself of.
@cloudwatcher (6861)
• Australia
24 Jun 10
Yes, keeping rabbits is illegal. Rabbits were a major pest many years ago and Queensland has a "rabbit proof fence" along its border.
I'm not sure about the laws on slaughtering here but I do know that meat from animals slaughtered on the farm cannot be sold but I believe it can be used by the owners.
@KellyGwen (193)
• United States
25 Jun 10
Oh! You're in Australia! So many isolated continents have problems with introduced species. (Especially those without many natural predetors). Your country has issues with house cats, dogs, foxes and toads too doesn't it? I understand how that could be a real problem, especially with an animal like the rabbit who escapes so easily and reproduces so quickly! The poor kangaroos and wallabies wouldn't have a chance!
They have laws about selling home raised meat here too... That's why I'd only be interested in filling my own freezer, or selling the occasional live animal at auction. They have some regulations for the selling of eggs too... but if you sell the eggs directly to the consumer (and bypass a middleman) they are pretty lax.
@stephiequalsgrr (283)
• United States
21 Jun 10
You shouldn't kill the rabbit and eat it. Personally I think its wrong and cruel.
@Seppy1984 (2145)
• United States
21 Jun 10
Stephiequalsgrr,
I would like to know the same thing do you eat meat? Because whether or not you do people who eats meat gets the meat from ANIMALS and that includes that little fussy cute Rabbits. Sorry I just had to put in my 2 cents.
Happy Mylotting
@KellyGwen (193)
• United States
21 Jun 10
You're right Seppy. I would much rather know exactly how my meal was born and raised than close my eyes and pretend that my hamburger didn't have a mother.
@youless (112562)
• Guangzhou, China
22 Jun 10
It is nothing wrong with it. Not everybody is a vegetarian. I am also not a vegetarian. I do eat meats everyday. So it has no difference even if I eat beef, pork, fish, rabbit etc. It is the same. But I just can't eat the creatures which are raised by us. They are like the pets rather than the meats.
I love China
@lattebreak (62)
•
22 Jun 10
Gross. They're such lovely creatures. I guess if you're into meat then up to you, but not for me!
@KellyGwen (193)
• United States
22 Jun 10
Thank you both for commenting!!
Youless: It's very hard to teach yourself to view those animals as more of a garden vegetable than a cute little pet... It was REALLY hard.
Latte: I agree, they are lovely creatures. Did you know that the closest animal to a rabbit on the evolutionary scale is a horse? The thing is, I do eat meat... and cows, chickens and pigs are lovely creatures too... I raised my meat rabbits knowing that by eating them I would be cutting down on the need for factory farmed, commercially produced animals, who are treated very cruelly (usually).
@3SnuggleBunnies (16374)
• United States
24 Jun 10
My Grandfather used to raise them in a shed in his back yard when I was a kid. I didn't realize til I was older that they were not his pets rather a meal in the making! Seeing he named all of them after family memebers one thought as a child they were pets.
I would have no problem raising them. And my hubby is looking into small game more so seeing we have plenty of rabbits mess'n in our garden and flower beds to turn them into a meal. However, I am not a brave soul like you I can't kill one... or gut it. I guess I'm too much of a city girl! So I told him I would be all for him hunting the wild ones provided he did the butchering and such. Just leave me the meat and I'll cook it up. So we'll see if any of this pans out... as my hubby is a deer hunter and I have yet to have a deer on my plate!
@dawnald (85146)
• Shingle Springs, California
21 Jun 10
I couldn't do it myself, but I completely agree with your reasoning.
@KellyGwen (193)
• United States
21 Jun 10
It was really hard the first time... a little less hard the next... Especially after seeing them born and raising them. I loved them... but this was WHY they were born.. I knew from the start what their purpose was... So after a few days of procrastination I just steeled myself and did it... It was hard (and I admit, I cried) but I wasn't sorry. It was very Lion King.
1 person likes this
@dawnald (85146)
• Shingle Springs, California
21 Jun 10
Actually, I suppose I could do it. If there were no more supermarkets and we were back to raising our own food or starving, I could. But I wouldn't like it very much...
@KellyGwen (193)
• United States
21 Jun 10
Yeah, I didn't like it either... but I'm GLAD I didn't like it... If I did there would be something very wrong with my head!
1 person likes this
@topffer (42156)
• France
21 Jun 10
If there are some pet rabbits in my country, rabbits are mainly bred for food. I am not sure that a rabbit from a "commercial" farm has a less happy life than a rabbit from a "normal" farm (giving them antibiotics is forbidden since 20 years here) : bull breeders for bullfights in Spain are also praising the happy life of these bulls 
. Personally I am not eating rabbits, but I don't think that it is politically incorrect to grow them for food.
. Personally I am not eating rabbits, but I don't think that it is politically incorrect to grow them for food.@topffer (42156)
• France
21 Jun 10
I agree with you for the chicken ranches : what an horrible life for these animals ! People buy them because they are cheaper than farm chickens bred in fields... You can't raise rabbits like that. The main difference is that mass producers manage to produce rabbits during all seasons : it is a matter of artificial light, but these rabbits eat the same food than farm rabbits. There is only a quality label for rabbit meat in France -- there is many for chickens --, and it is the same for a farm or a mass produced rabbit.
I don't know why, but rabbits are eaten during cold days in France and not in summer.
@KellyGwen (193)
• United States
22 Jun 10
I know that when I raised my rabbits it was much different than a factory farm. My rabbits had larger than "recommended" hutches and were allowed into a fenced area with access to grass and dirt to dig in at least once a week each. (I buried the fence so they couldn't dig out and escape). They also got treats every day (a slice of apple, dandelion greens, clover, bread, carrots, etc). But, it is easy to treat them well when you only have 4 or 5 adults and 3-6 litters at a time... It is much different if you are raising hundreds of them! I also only bred my females two or three times a year (not during the winter). The books say you can breed them six times a year if you want! I tried to give my girls nice rest periods in between litters (and during the winter).
@KellyGwen (193)
• United States
21 Jun 10
Rabbit has become a pretty uncommon food item in this country (since the 1970's). America has really latched on to beef, which is too bad since mass production of beef has really hurt the environment! I don't think there are many "mass producers" of rabbit over here... but if there were I could see them being as terrible as the chicken ranches they have here. If we all raised rabbits to replace the beef and chicken we eat now we could really help the state of our country's land.
1 person likes this
@sjlskl (3382)
• Singapore
22 Jun 10
If I started off keeping them as pets, I don't think I will be able to do so. But if I have the intention of keeping them for meat, not too sure if I will thou. High chance I won't. I remember having to kill a live crab which I have bought from the supermarket. I felt guilty and din't really enjoy the meal thereafter.
@KellyGwen (193)
• United States
22 Jun 10
It is hard. I guess it's more of a farming mentality. I grew up on the east coast and I remember, as a child, watching someone boil a lobster LIVE! I felt so bad for "him"... what a terrible way to die. It's even worse when they put the lobster in the pot tail first. The air rushes out of their shell and it sounds like they are screaming... It's bad luck for them that they are so delicious!
@2004cqui (2812)
• United States
22 Jun 10
Having been practically raised on a farm I know I will never raise anything for public consumption. I've seen what it takes to produce anything for the sale to the public. You eat, sleep, and worry about your business. In the states you have to pay your business taxes, your social security and your employers half of social security on your earnings. People think if they zero out every year that that's a good thing. If you ever have to tap unemployment, Social security Disability, or retirement benefits they will not be there. Hire yourself a good attorney and CPA. Good luck on your venture.
@KellyGwen (193)
• United States
22 Jun 10
Hi 2004 cqui! Thanks for commenting!
The closest I've ever come to producing anything for sale to the public was when I sold my extra chicken eggs to my neighbors. I am not interested in all the work, and the number of animals needed, to do that. Not to mention all of the laws involved with food safety, etc. I was asking more about producing them for your own use.
Producing animals for sale is NOT a money making business! Be it for meat or pets (puppies, etc). Actually, it is a lot cheaper to just buy your meat from the market.. but it isn't as good... and it isn't as humane.
