I was planning on repairing the rabbit hutch left on our property by the previous owners and raising New Zealand Whites for (another) meat. I'd had rabbit stew before and knew I liked it (which isn't remarkable - I think Spam is delicious) but thought I'd better fry up a storebought rabbit for the wife and kids and see how it goes.

Everyone liked it fine - but - the fryer was mostly bone and very little meat! My question is: Are meat rabbits skinny little things, best stewed and not well presented when fried? I suppose I had been expecting about as much meat as a similarly sized chicken (I think it was around 2 1/2 lbs or so).

This was a frozen, storebought rabbit; could that be part of the reason it was just not up to snuff? I expect the quality of a homestead-raised animal to be higher, but how about the quantity? Does a properly raised meat rabbit have a decent amount of flesh on it?

In about a decade, I'll have three teenage children and if that rabbit was representative of a typical yield, we'll be going through entire litters each Rabbit Meat night!

Thanks, Mark

-- Mark in West Central Ohio (mark@marksykes.net), January 03, 2002

Answers

You hit the nail on the head. Store bought anything is usually either too fatty or too skinny. We raised NZ's until we discovered Flemish Giants. We were losing two rabbits ata time when we butchered. One Flemish will feed the whole family, and they are very meaty.

-- Wendy A (phillips-anteswe@pendleton.usmc.mil), January 03, 2002.

For taste, production of healthy meat at the lowest possible cost, and ease of dressing, there is nothing better than rabbit. It does "taste like chicken", which I find greatly acceptable, but in my opinion much more delicate. I have never met a (homegrown) rabbit that I didn't like. If I had to limit myself to one animal I would raise for meat, it would be rabbit, although chickens aren't far behind. But while it takes me (by myself) about 20 minutes to take a meat, and I mean MEAT, chicken from clucking to cooling, a rabbit can be procesed by one person in less than half that time. Go for it! And, by the way, GL!

-- Brad (homefixer@SacoRiver.net), January 03, 2002.

If we're just making fried/bbq'd/roasted rabbit, we generally cook 2 for our family of five. If we're using the meat to make stew/soup/stir fry, etc., we just use one. We raise New Zealand does and breed them to a Californian buck. We've been very happy with the outcome!

Best of luck to you, and have fun with your bunnies.

-- Cheryl in KS (cherylmccoy@rocketmail.com), January 03, 2002.

Hi; I agree 100% with Brad. We raise White New Zealands and butcher at a live weight of about 3.5 lbs. My wife and I can each have 2 meals out of one.It costs us aprox $2.00 each to raise to butcher weight.I think if more people understood how easy and cheap it is and how little space it takes more people would raise them (even in the suburbs). regards Ourfarm

My rabbit web page

My hobby farm

-- Ourfarm (ourfarm@noaddr.com), January 03, 2002.

We raise New Zealands and butcher at 3 1/2 to 4 pounds. We have little cost at this weight. Rabbit meat is High in protien low in fat and low in colestrol. Very good meat. We sell to a buyer and get .60 to .85 a lb. live weight thats better than the Beef alot of times.

-- Don Amon (peacelane@certainty.net), January 03, 2002.

It sounds like you got some rabbit that wasn't well finished. Many breeds can be eaten but not all finish as nice as other breeds. I routinely butcher mine at 5-6 pounds and before 14 weeks of age. I want my fryers to be 5 pounds by 10 weeks so that I get a nice meaty fryer. As long as you butcher before 14 weeks they will tender enough to fry otherwise they can be better used where they are cooked slowly (soup, cassorole etc.) Also as they get past 14 weeks occasionally bucks can get a stronger flavor. I will butcher old does for soup, but usually save the old bucks for sausage or dog food. I would consider finding someone who raises them near you and can show you the difference in a well finished fryer and one that isn't. Good Luck Denise

-- Denise K. (Rabbitmom2@webbworks.com), January 03, 2002.

Denise, could you tell us how you "finish" a rabbit fryer? Do you put the rabbits on a different feed for the last few weeks? I butchered my first rabbit last week and it was very skinny under all the fur--seemed like not much more than bones. I sure would like the next one to be meatier, or it doesn't seem worth the trouble.

Thanks,

Elizabeth

-- Elizabeth in E TX (kimprice@peoplescom.net), January 03, 2002.

Thank you all for the info. The answer seems to be I bought a skinny rabbit which would have made fine stew but very skimpy fried rabbit. The trick, then, must be the finishing ration before butchering like Denise mentioned.

So, Denise or others, what's the key to juicy, plump fryer rabbits? I haven't done my homework on rabbit feed yet but I envision feeding them grain, hay, vegetable trimmings, vitamin/mineral supplement, small bit of kitchen leftovers - probably not commercial pellet feed. (No objection to pellet feed other than I want to run the rabbit operation off of a shoestring, and as I'll have alfalfa hay, corn, a garden and other foodstuffs around anyway there's no reason to buy what I essentially already have on hand. Typical homesteader.)

Do you bulk them up on grain the last two weeks or what?

Thank you all for your help,

Mark

-- Mark in West Central Ohio (mark@marksykes.net), January 04, 2002.