Frequently asked questions

I'm a member of some rabbit groups on facebook, and due to the nature of the groups, and the way posts move down the feed, many of the same questions get asked over and over again.  That's fine, but I thought I'd start posting some of those questions, and my answers, here, for your enjoyment?  Entertainment?  Education?  Eh, however it works :)

I have a rabbit I don't want anymore.  Will you take it?

• While I'm happy to help you rehome your rabbit, it's important to understand that this is a farm, and everyone works around here.  If your rabbit fits into my breeding program, it'll get to stick around for as long as it's happy being a productive member of the crew.  If it doesn't, it'll either be rehomed to someone its more suited to, or it will be humanely dispatched to either feed me or my dogs.  

Where do I find cages?

• While you can buy cages at places like TSC or Rural King, they aren't a quality that I find acceptable. The wire is of a lighter gauge than I like, the welds aren't super, they require more clips than provided to go together securely, they rust pretty fast, the doors open into the cage (which freaks out the rabbits), and they cost too much for what they are.
• Used cages can sometimes be found on craigslist.
• Local cage builders
• Rabbit shows ~ rabbit shows often have a cage building vendor set up with cages, carriers, and rabbit raising supplies.  
• Build your own!  You can buy flat pack cages or wire by the foot to build your own from rabbit supply companies.  See below.  

Where do I find wire to build my own cages?

• NOT the feed store or big box hardware store.  I bought cage wire at TSC one time, and one time only.  One afternoon, my apparently bored Flemish Giant doe pulled her cage apart, one weld at a time.  That wire is fast and convenient when you didn't plan ahead and need a cage right now (bunny math victim!) but the cages you build with it will have a significantly shorter lifespan than if you used quality wire.  Consider also where that wire was made.  
• Klubertanz and Bass both sell quality USA made cage wire, although I only have direct experience with Klubertanz.  They're a smallish family business, so cut them some slack on the time needed to fill your order.  They are especially busy in the couple of months leading up to national convention.  
• ARBA National Convention - call ahead to Klubertanz, and ask them to bring your order to convention.  You could also ask them which shows they'll be attending, and have them bring your order to whichever show you're both going to be at.  To my knowledge, they only attend big shows.

How big do my cages need to be?

What's a heritage breed and do you raise them?

• Heritage breeds are breeds with character and history!  These are the colorful breeds that don't quite fit into most commercial meat operations.  They have that same potential, and back when there was a more robust market for hides/fur, and more of our food system was local instead of national or international, they were quite popular. These are the rabbits our grandparents raised.

Do I need pedigreed rabbits?

Where do I find rabbits?

What kind of feed do you use?

Do I need to feed hay?

What if I don't want to feed pellets?

How long do you wait in between breedings/litters?

Can you breed related rabbits to each other?

How old do rabbits need to be to be butchered?

What is the best way to humanely dispatch a rabbit?

How do you package meat for the freezer?

• I used to use my foodsaver, but I experienced too many seal failures due to moisture getting sucked into the part of the bag that gets melted to form the seal.  It would look sealed, but later in the freezer would come unsealed.  Now I use shrink bags from poultryshrinkbags.com (nci).  They ship crazy fast, and are really easy to use.  These are the same people with a great tutorial online on how to butcher meat chickens, and they also make the whizbang plucker.  There are other companies to buy shrink bags from, but I've only

What can I make with rabbit?

• Hasenpfeffer
• Coconut Curry Rabbit Stew
• Spaghetti
• Enchiladas
• Rabbit Salad
• Sweet Garlic Rabbit
• Pulled BBQ Rabbit
• Roast Rabbit
• Bacon wrapped Rabbit

Champagne d'Argent

I have added a trio of pedigreed Champagnes to my rabbitry.  Champagnes are a very nice, heavy, solid meat rabbit with fantastic pelts.  They're soft like my Americans, and have nice personalities.  This trio have been worked with quite a bit, as they were the agricultural science project of a young friend of mine.  I'll have wee ones available in August if you're looking to add a nice, solid meat rabbit to your home meat production projects, or looking for rabbits for show or 4H.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argente_rabbit

Willow Hedge Farms Tara

Miss Tara is the 3rd generation of Willow Hedge Farms' black American project. They're planning on taking out a COD in the next couple of years. Tara is going to help :)  She's a little pinched in the rear currently, but may fill in a bit as she grows up.  My goal with her offspring is to improve that rear.  When she's ready for her first litter, I'll pair her with Julius, both for his rear, and to test her for the recessive REW gene.  She's a sweet, pretty girl, and I'm so happy to finally have a black American in my herd.  They are, after all, what first hooked me on the breed.  Funny how it's been the hardest color to acquire.  

Tara when she was wee

Bribing Tara with greens

The realities of raising rabbits

Check out this great blog post about the realities of raising rabbits.  It's well written and concise.

http://rabbitranching.wordpress.com/2014/02/25/through-the-window/

Rabbit Skin Parchment

An interesting Turkey Day discussion about making parchment from rabbit hides led me to this link. If any of you creative people are interested in buying rabbit hides from me for parchment making, please let me know. 

http://www.kellswood.com/krafts/diy-parchment.htm

Focusing on Americans

I've downsized my rabbitry for the winter.  I've made the difficult decision to narrow my focus to Americans only for awhile.  They really are my favorite breed, and now I have both blues and whites in my barn.

I bred both of my white does today, so with any luck, there will be wigglers in the nestbox for Solstice.  The best of the best out of those litters will be available as breeding stock.  

Bickles Cleopatra BBGA4 (white) x Madson's Rain DMM13 (blue, carries white)

Bickles OD8 (white) x GMV B10 Julius (white)

If you're looking for Silver Foxes or American Chinchillas, I'm happy to connect you with a couple of breeders I know.  If things go well, I hope to branch back out into Silver Foxes sometime next spring.  

Defiance Rabbit Breeders Association Show

November 10, 2013 is the Defiance RBA show in Hicksville, OH.

I'm planning on bringing American Blues, American Whites, American Chinchillas and Black New Zealands both to show and sell.

I'm so excited!  This is the only show I attend so far, and last year was a lot of fun!  Please let me know if you are interested in juniors so I can be sure to bring what you want.

Is anyone else planning on attending the show?  I'd love to see more rare breeds shown.

See you there!

Smoky crockpot rabbit

This week's crockpot rabbit:

Half of a Stella blue Hokkaido squash, cubed (left over from winter storage)

Half of a big sweet onion, chopped

2 T hot pepper purée (from last year's end of the season peppers)

1 T prepared horseradish 

1 tsp dried minced garlic

Several splashes of hickory liquid smoke

2 C water

4# rabbit

I put the veggies in first, then the rabbit, (almost didn't fit), then the seasonings and finally the water. I may add more water as it cooks down. 

When it's all done, I'll serve it over a mess of cooked greens, or incorporate them a serving at a time like a stew. 

Black Swamp Local Food & Farm Co-op

I just joined the Black Swamp Local Food & Farm Co-op!  Shopping opens May 13th, with our first pick up May 22nd.  We're a work in progress!  Check us out when you have time!  http://blackswamplocalfood.org/

Eating the Easter Bunny ~ Hasenpfeffer

I remember the first time my family ate the Easter bunny for Easter dinner.  My Aunt Debbie wanted to make rabbit, but didn't want to be the only one to eat it.  I said I'd eat some.  Why not?  This was a long time before I raised rabbits, but my Dad hunted when I was little, and I remember my Great Uncle Bob used to raise rabbits.  Debbie made Hasenpfeffer.  Yummy sweet and sour goodness served over bunny shaped pasta. It was delicious!  

Years later, my Uncle taught me how to butcher my first rabbit.  I took it home and began my Hasenpfeffer preparations.  That rabbit's name was Pawless, because he only had 3 feet.  Pawless was yummy!

This Hasenpfeffer recipe is very basic.  There are some fancier versions online, and they look amazing.  I'll have to try one of those some other time.  This year though, I'm returning to the roots of my tradition of eating the Easter bunny.  

Start this 2 days before you want to eat.

Steeping liquid: 
1 onion, sliced
2 C vinegar
2 C water
1/2 - 1 C sugar
2 T mixed pickling spices, in spice bag
2 tsp lemon juice 

Simmer everything except the rabbit for 5 minutes in a heavy bottomed saucepan.  Pour steeping liquid over rabbit, soak in the refrigerator for 2 days.  Remove spice bag.  Cook rabbit in crockpot or stockpot until rabbit is tender and falling off the bones.  Serve over rice, pasta or spaghetti squash.

What's your favorite way to prepare rabbit?

Lunch and Learn - Wild Vitality, Adventures in Self-Sufficiency

Rabbit Bone Broth

Rabbit Bone Broth

*This mineral rich broth is a great way to get more out of each rabbit.  This recipe works for all bones, and you can mix bones from different animals in the same batch to vary the flavor of your broth.

Save the bones when you cook or debone rabbit.  They store nicely in a gallon ziplock bag in the freezer.  You can keep adding to the bag as you have more bones.  This is a good use for spines and ribs.  When you have enough bones to loosely fill your crockpot, you're ready to make bone broth.

Fill your crockpot with rabbit bones.  You can crack or nick leg bones with a heavy knife, which helps the goodness in the marrow extract into your broth.

Add garlic and onions (optional)

Add seasonally appropriate tonic soup herbs (optional)

Fill crock with filtered or spring water

Add a splash of vinegar.  The acid helps to draw the minerals out of the bones.

Cook on low for 24 hours, or until the bones become soft or crumbly.  This is how you know you've pulled out most of the minerals.  Watch the water level, and add more as needed.

I have cooked bone broth for days.  The broth will darken, but that's fine.  You can also dip out a serving of broth whenever you'd like, and add more water to the crockpot.  

When the bones have given up their goodness to your broth, strain out the solids.  

This broth can be drunk, or used in the liquid of any other recipe, including rice, beans, soups and casseroles.  Extra broth can be frozen in ice cube trays, then popped out of the trays and stored in ziplocks or freezer safe containers.  Pop a frozen cube into your soups and sauces for a boost of minerals.  

Slow Cooked Rabbit and Liver

More crockpot goodness.  I kept this one simple.


1 rabbit
1/2 pound grassfed lamb liver, sliced
1/2 of a large sweet potato/yam
heaping spoonful of chopped garlic
freshly ground poultry seasonings
1 can coconut milk
1 can water


Cook low and slow.  When close to serving time, remove what you won't be eating for this meal into glass pyrex storage containers.  Cool, cover and refrigerate.  


1 red bell pepper


Chop, dice, slice, however you like them, add to the stew in the crockpot, and cook until the peppers are done.  


I really liked this dish.  I like liver though, and that is the predominant flavor.  I think next time, I may puree the liver, and use that to thicken the stew.  I will also omit the can of water.

Curried Rabbit Stew

This has been the week of Curried Rabbit Stew in the crockpot.  Life has been busy, my routines are gone, and most of what I own is in storage.  I love my crockpot!  It keeps warm, nutritious food in my belly, which is a blessing.


Measurements are approximate, feel free to tweak proportions and ingredients to suit your tastes.


1/2 of a rabbit
Curry powder - I get mine from a local Indian Market
about 1/2 cup brown rice, preferably already soaked
1/2 of a large yellow onion, chopped
1/2 of a medium butternut squash, peeled, seeded and chopped
a spoonful of chopped garlic
1 can coconut milk
1 can water


Optional:
a spoonful of your favorite peanut butter stirred into your bowl when serving
Mushrooms, which I would have added if I had some on hand
Green Chilis, to kick up the heat


Put everything in the crockpot, starting with the rabbit and ending with the water.  Turn it on low, and leave it all day.  By dinnertime, you will have a hot meal, and the meat will be tender enough to be easily removed from the bone.  I pick out the little bones as I'm eating, but you could debone the rabbit before you put it in the crockpot.  The coconut milk adds the much needed healthy fats that rabbit meat lacks.

Why I eat the Easter Bunny

"You eat rabbits?  You can't eat those cute, fluffy bunnies!  It's mean!  You're a monster!"

I hear different versions of these statements when people find out I'm raising rabbits for meat.  Not everyone, but more people than I'd like.  You see, I am a practical and compassionate person.  I grew up knowing that food comes from animals.  My Dad hunted, we fished, and we had a big garden.  My Great Uncle Bob raised meat rabbits.  I know that everything dies for us to live, be it plant or animal.  I know that my food doesn't actually come from the grocery store.

Faced with that reality, considering plants to be as valuable as animals, and knowing that I need animal protein to be healthy, I was faced with a quandary.  How do I ensure that the food I eat has a good life, and a good death?  Factory farming is horrific, and not something I wish to support with my $$ vote.  I don't want GMOs in my food, either.  So for me, it comes down to either knowing my Farmer, or being my Farmer.  I didn't know anyone who raised rabbits, and they have always been part of my sustainability plan.  

Did I mention that they're cute, and a joy to interact with every day?  This makes boundaries very important.  My breeding stock have names, and everyone else is destined for freezer camp.  They get lots of terms of endearment, lots of love and affection.  Just no names.  I thank them sincerely for feeding me when the time comes to dispatch them.  I hate that chore, but it's the only way to ensure they have a good death.  Fearless, painless, and quick.  I owe them that.

For me, this is a lesson in learning to love what nourishes me. I'm not interested in faceless food.  I don't want to pretend that food comes from the grocery store, when it comes from living, breathing creatures.  For me, it feels cruel to spend my $, which I believe to be my most effective vote, in support of factory farming.  Nature created me as an omnivore, and so I'm doing the best I can to take care of myself and the planet.  I'll always strive to do better, and rabbits are a small step toward sustainability and walking lightly.

I hope to be able to raise all of my own food eventually.  Baby steps.  For now, I love raising rabbits, and am looking forward to planting an impossible garden this spring.  If I'm lucky, I'll be able to get some chickens, too.

   

We've made the move from Colorado's High Country to the fertile farmlands of Ohio!  Currently raising Satins, and eagerly awaiting the arrival of our new rare breed Americans!  A White Doe and a Blue Buck!  Watch for American breeding stock in the future!