We FORGOT to mention that cleanup after processing the chickens and rabbits looks VERY different! Cleaning up all of the equipment needed to process chickens and their FEATHERS is a very time consuming part of the whole process. With rabbits we either freeze the hides to deal with later or the hides easily drop into the refuse bucket that is fed to the pigs.
@@watchandpray8918 hay that hasn't been sprayed with herbicides and pesticides. Even if this hay appears to have no affect on our animals if we use the manure of animals that have eaten certain levels of herbicides on hay in the garden, the garden will not grow.
I raised rabbits...anyone who sees a psychiatric professional learns quickly to cover their arms during their first few visits. The rabbits tend to cause injuries that lead to a nasty diagnosis of someone who causes self harm, specifically " a cutter."
Terry I have a few scratches right now because I forgot to use our "bunny sleeves" while moving rabbits out of the heat. Look up chef's knife sleeves I think they are called! They work SO well to protect your arms!
The advantage with chicken is the (very) delicious skin. So I personally think doing both is the best option. :) And if you fail to raise chickens one year you still have the rabbits.
I had Buff Orpingtons for several years and loved them. About 3 or 4 years ago my son gave me about 4 dozen eggs to try out my new incubator. It will hold 123 eggs in 3 turners! Now, so you will understand the situation, his wife likes to get a variety of "cute" chickens and keep them all together! Well, If I remember right, all but 2 eggs hatched. Now I've got the darndest bunch of chickens you ever saw. Last summer one hen went broody. I found the nest in some weeds by the corner of my shop. She laid 16 eggs and hatched 15 of them! Now that was a sight to see her herding all those chicks around!
When our five children were elementary school ages, I served them and my husband rabbit but let them think it was chicken. All of them asked for seconds and cleared their plates :D
I'm planning on raising both. Chickens for eggs and meat and rabbits for meat. I like variety. Also plan on hunting deer and wild boar for meat choices as well.
I don’t have any chickens or turkeys anymore. I take my harvesting equipment to peoples house and harvest their chickens and turkeys. They pay me in meat and cash so I still get homegrown meat but didn’t have to raise it myself. I do have rabbits, quails, ducks and goats, however. The first time I harvested a rabbit, I was DONE raising chickens. Looks like chicken, tastes like chicken but the clean up after harvesting takes about 4 minutes, if that! The quail are for eggs and meat. The ducks are for eggs and pest control. The goats are for dairy and plant clean up. The rabbits have so many uses! Poop, meat, fur, selling kits to people to start their own meat rabbits. And they’re fun to have around! Great video!
I've discovered that those of us that raised chickens before and then ditched chickens once we realized how awesome rabbit is are few and far between!!! Glad to see there is another among us!! We sold our chicken processing equipment but I love your method! We live near a few large Amish and Mennonite communities and have access to farm raised chicken and turkey as wanted too, but our kids don't prefer eating it! They like turkey though!
Great video! Definitely prefer the cleanup after butchering rabbit as opposed to chicken! Something I've always wanted to try was to make sausage from the meat. Many years ago when I worked in a meat locker, there was an older gentleman who would butcher his rabbits & bone out all the meat. (can't imagine how much work that had to have been to bone out entire rabbits: many rabbits!!) He would bring in large tubs of meat & ask us to mix it with some fatty pork, then grind it. He would then take it home, season it & make his own sausage. He said it was by far his favorite meat! Looking back now, I wish I'd asked him for his seasoning recipe! 😊 Though I'm still not sure I'd have the patience to bone out all those small pieces, on enough rabbits to get enough to make it worth it!!!! 🙂 God bless to you all & the critters!
There's a channel called "Slightly Rednecked" and Mike has made sausage before with quail and rabbit mixed!! It was intriguing to me at the time too but definitely seems labor-intensive! I could see maybe taking the meat from the spine/backstrap only for sausage and maybe canning the legs? It's relatively straightforward to get the back meat off!
@@SageandStoneHomestead I agree, that area is the largest easily accessed piece of meat. Just seems it would take so many to have any amount! If you're going to invest that much time & labor, I'd want to do enough to be worthwhile! Mixing the rabbit & quail together does sound good!!
@@SageandStoneHomesteadI keep the backstrap/loin for quick cooking like chicken breast and the rest (legs etc) for mincing (with Pork fat from friend's piggies) to make sausages. Flavoured with mustard (from local farmer's market), home grown garlic and Italian herbs-Delicious! Sausages are a way to introduce folks to rabbit they might not be familiar with (a whole rabbit looks a bit like a skinned cat!)
So we were all prepared to have chickens added in this year but as it turns out, I have small auto immune issues and take tnf inhibitors. Apparently it can result in fungal infections in the lungs on these medications. We are repurposing our coup to be for rabbits. These videos are extremely helpful. I still hope to have chickens at some point. Can always trade meat for eggs 😀
I watched a video by a women who said she knew people who kept rabbits in their closet butchered them in their tub with none the wiser. Do the processing the day before trash day.
Great video! We are really looking at rabbits but need to figure out where to put them, and how to have people care for them when we travel. It just adds another layer to our Farm and trying to guarantee care. Thanks for a well thought video!! Cheers!
It depends on how long you're gone but there are watering systems that can be either hooked up to a hose or to a 5 gallon bucket to water for many days at a time (still check the nipples to make sure they are working), and cramming a box full of hay would feed for a while, filling up the feed cup all the way. You could do a weekend pretty comfortably with rabbits.
I looked into rabbits as an option for my urban situation, so I'm really curious to see your takes on a lot of these things as you go through all this. I'd be happy to see many various videos on all aspects of raising them. Only options I have where I live is rabbit and quail, so I have quail. Downsides to quail is they are messy eaters, rarely brood, and harder to cut back feed costs. I'm now raising mealworms and I grew fodder to supplement their diet, their feed is expensive with how much they try to waste. Now that I'm dealing with mealworms I'm hoping next year will be much, much cheaper food wise. But they love collards, lettuce, zucchini, and so much of my garden scraps, so that's a nice bonus. And I'm getting a lot of compost from their bedding as well!
I love quail but they sure do waste a lot of feed. You can soak it/ferment it to add nutrition to the feed and they fling a lot less of it when water is added. I haven't ever had one go broody! If you follow Living Traditions Homestead, Kevin has a quail feeder he makes out of a plastic show tote you may be interested in seeing! Reduces feed waste!
@@SageandStoneHomestead they can go broody if they have a more natural habitat. I've had 2 go broody regularly but I've not really had them be successful yet. But it is more my fault than theirs cause i keep disturbing them as I add bedding and gather eggs and they move to gather a new nest of eggs and restart the cycle, lol. I'm keeping those 2 broodies to see if they will be successful in spring if I support them properly. I have an outdoor run, fully enclosed with buried wire and all, about 10'x10'x3' so they have good space. I don't like keeping them in the small wire cages just from an ethical perspective. I kinda hope to build small tractors to put them in for half days during next year to get them chances to look for bugs and general enrichment. YA!!! I've seen their builds on better feeders, I even have most if the stuff for it i just haven't gotten around to building them yet bc health issues. Living traditions have a lot of good solutions and problem solving over there! That's why I'm curious for your rabbit playlist, to see if there are hidden gems i can use if i ever take the step towards rabbits, to which I'm tempted to. I'm a new sub, so I'm slowly working through older videos.
I looked up a recipe for buffalo chicken and it actually looks VERY adaptable to rabbit since it says to cook in the sauce with a foil tent overtop. The chicken recipe calls for 400 degrees for 20 min which is WAY too high and fast for rabbit. 325 for an hour is what I would do, or crockpot the sauce with the rabbit on low for 8 hours.
Just an observation here. The cost in regards to the chickens is a ONE-time investment, that gets pro-rated each time you use it. I have one girl who goes broody each year and this year I bought fertile eggs on eBay. I ordered 6 they sent 8 and I got 4 chickes. So instead of fighting nature, I use it to my advantage. While I haven't yet processed any chickens, I do have a camp stove and stock pot for scalding. I also have a plucker for when the time comes. The plucker was purchased because of the current inflation. These are just some of my thoughts, not to detract from the chicken/rabbit decision. Rabbits are on my list to explore and most likely to raise.
We couldn't get any chickens to reliably go broody so it wasn't a one time investment for us like our rabbits were. We bought breeders and they bred and have replaced themselves as needed.
I’m glad you mentioned the difference how the meat rabbit and the mix rabbit eat because I started off with the giant mix rabbit and he eats a lot which was normal to me and now I have a mini Rex and I put food in there and her nose in the air lol. I was thinking she’s a snot and what’s wrong with her lol. I’m glad now I know how they eat. 😊 Have a great weekend👍🏽
I absolutely agree with everything you said about chickens but I love my chickens. I do American bressee. They taste awesome and lay lots of eggs. We do rabbits and ducks for variety.
the idea of chickens for meat for smallholdings is pretty flawed. it wasn't until industrial farming practices around the mid 20th century developed in america that chicken even was thought of as a cheap meat. before then every family did keep chickens, but it was for eggs, not meat.
I am so glad I found your channel! I have thought of raising rabbit, but was a bit intimidated after I had some folks say that they made these high pitched screams. After watching your dispatching video, I am motived to make a plan to add rabbit to our homestead. I enjoy your videos so much!! :-)
I am so glad this video came across my feed! Hubs and I have gone back and forth about raising meat chickens or going with rabbits. We now have 5 Black Jersey Giant hens that are now laying, but we have no rooster. I am totally rethinking getting a rooster at all. Your video was so informative and has steered us back toward rabbits for meat, and we will enjoy the eggs from our hens. I look forward to watching more of your videos. Thanks so much!
In a nutshell for me since Ive had the best meat chicken a homesteader can have... The Hubard ja 757. Chickens are more work but only if you keep the rabbits in a colonie. The feed for chickens averages about 3€ when I butcher them at 3.5kg. The rabbits are near free since I harvest my own hay etc. Chickens have more nasty deceases. Harder to breed (good meat chickens are only buyable) with rabbits in a colony everything goes by itself. And the chicken sh*t is awfull and processing them is not good for my nose.
When we had rabbits back in my teen years, my parents would send my siblings and I out to collect fresh bags of grass and clover and other goodies from the roadside to give them. Mostly to supplement their pellet feed from the store, plus it was sometimes fun to give our rabbits any tastes treats we came home with… The only reason I would want chickens is for the eggs, I don’t eat a lot of chicken meat these days anyway and don’t mind but it if I get a craving…
@@SageandStoneHomestead- no problem, I am learning a lot from watching your various videos on goats and now rabbits. I have already chosen which breeds of goats, chickens and rabbits I am going to get once I have the money saved up for my acreage….
I actually pluck the fur of my rabbits, I like to spit roast them with skin like suckling pig. The skin becomes crispy. I use skinless rabbits for stews.
We keep different animals for different reasons. The chickens lay eggs, scratch under cages for grubs and larvae, and provide meat, too. Our Muscovy ducks give a LOT of meat, and are great mothers, hatching 3 and 4 clutches a year. They will hatch any egg you give them. I have one clutch that has 7 ducklings and 3 chicks, It's funny to watch them all together. We are among the group that worries that killing rabbits will either not happen, or give us nightmares. We have cats; soft fluffy ones. One of the main reasons I wanted rabbits was to shift our cats to a better diet. But birds aren't soft and cuddly like rabbits are, so we did birds instead.
My sister in law wants to do muscovy ducks!! I would like birds much more if I had more that would reliably lay and raise clutches. That is a big plus if you have birds that will do that reliably! ❤
Thank you for all this wonderful info. I'm definitely going to refer to all this info when i get ready to get my bunnies. God willing it will be in the spring. I'm excited to do this! Thank you! ❤️
Honestly? This was the most informative video on rabbits that I’ve found. A neighbor mentioned that he was turning his ppty into a tiny homestead (farmette?) with meat chickens and meat rabbits. Wha…. Meat rabbits? Next thing I know, I’ve got 3 cages and 3 young New Zealand rabbits (bought from a genuine homestead). Bred 1 doe once and she produced 9 healthy kits…..wow. Easy peasy! I’ve yet to harvest tho 😱 That neighbor? Ha, no rabbits and he had too much of a hassle with those Cornish Cross birds. You provided great detail here, even down to the meat texture, thank you!
I love raising rabbits. We also have solid white rabbits because they don't have any cute characteristics. Can't wait to meet you at the picnic. We will be watching your awesome channel. Your family is adorable.
Thanks for all the info. I've been watching a lot of your rabbit videos in prep for hopefully starting rabbits in the spring. They were "too cute" before but now we have experience raising ducks and quail so I think I can raise/butcher bunnies just fine. I butchered my first duck last November for Thanksgiving. It's going to be a tradition now. The only thing I'm worried about for rabbits is the heat in Arkansas and having to buy hay. 😂
When I was growing up on our farm in the 60's, we raised rabbits, and after our dad showed my brother and I how to do the butchering, my brother and I would "race", and we got to where we could butcher a rabbit in just under one minute per rabbit. That is from the time we got the rabbit hung up by it's back legs and got it skinned and gutted, ready to put into the ice water bath. Yeah, processing rabbits is far easier and faster than chickens. The raising rabbits was "on my brother and I" after dad showed us how to do it. (My brother and I started doing this when I was about 11 and my brother was 10.)
Agree, rabbits are easier than chooks for homegrown meat. Much easier, more reliable (& faster) control of breeding and processing. Sorry Dorking chickens didn't work so well for you. I only keep Silver Dorkings (they're considered a rare heritage breed) and I've found them to be a very broody breed and good mothers. Unfortunately, predators often eat them more often than I get to (We have carpet pythons, goannas and hawks in OZ) despite the best efforts of my guardian dog
But it's not. They compare to Cornish which are sickly and gross so that's on them for choosing such a crappy meat bird. And the money they spent on plucking is silly and not necessary. Her illusion of chickens raising chicks shows a lack of research as well. I get that you have to order them which makes them not viable should the market crash and transportation cease to exist, but STILL.
We feed are rabbits wide bladed fresh grass from the pasture and hay in the winter. We supplement with pellets. This saves money and the rabbits will eat any type of wide blade grass. You don't NEED Timothy although, I guess, they prefer it but I think that's marketing.
Do you have a more detailed instruction for cooking rabbits? Crockpot method which is better high/low heat? Also, the canned rabbit, I never heard, Could you explain in detail, please?
When I was young we raised rabbits and had up to 1000 at one time. I love rabbit meat and enjoyed raising them. My favorite way to cook rabbit is to dredge the pieces in flour salt and pepper then fry them to get the breading browned then put them in a Dutch oven lined with aluminum foil. Pour about a cup and half cups of water between the foil and pot. Put a cover on and put in oven 325 for 30 minutes. Most tender, moist, yummy meat full of protein. Rabbits have a higher protein ratio per pound than chicken. Interesting video. I wish I could find some rabbit to buy for my freezer. Do you all ship?
I largely have free ranged my chickens. I'll be honest their feed costs get quite low when they are free ranged. How do rabbits do when free ranging? Do they come when called? Are they good at surviving? Are they easy to catch like chickens?
We don't keep colony rabbits but some people do. We can cut feed costs with rabbits by feeding them foraged things from our land. But truthfully they don't need it. Each rabbit costs very little to raise up to butcher size by default.
I did a whole series on raising rabbits. We made the series based on how we have successfully raised them ourselves.. not sure what the scientific method has to do with how we raise rabbits?
I can’t do condensed soup cell have MSG or other ingredients I can’t have white dairy any other suggestions, onions and garlic in the usual suspects roast, veggies, and some broth I’ve honestly never cooked it, but I’m fixing to raise meat rabbits for the first time
I raised both meat rabbits and dwarf rabbits for pets. Rule # 1. Clip their nails or wear gloves. I had a dwarf rabbit lay my wrist open with one hind claw. I was alone and had to wrap a towel and head for the nearest nursing home for help. The nurses did an amazing job! It was my carelessness that got me into trouble with little Snowball. I would rather raise meat rabbits. So much easier to dress out. My Rock Cornish cross broke their legs when they became too heavy. My favorite all purpose chicken is Barred Rock for eggs. Great discussion. Thank you for covering all these topics. ~ Diane
Any chicken recipe can be traded out to rabbit ,but not the other way I've found , soooooo much cleaner to keep , cornish cross chickens, eat and crap period
WHAT FEED DO YOU USE? I KNOW IT NEEDS HIGH PROTEIN AND FIBER JUST NOT SURE WHAT TO GET. I HAVE TRIED TO GOOGLE IT AND TO ASK FB AND GOT WAY TO MANY ANSWERS!! PLEASE HELP
We feed Kalmbach rabbit pellets only. 15%. I've done quite a bit of research into it and found that we don't need to feed hay most of the time. I get more into that here: th-cam.com/video/WNZLo8_u0kg/w-d-xo.html
I raise rabbits and keep thinking about getting chickens for eggs plus I do like their meat better but I think you just pushed me over the line to heck no. I can barter rabbit poop for chicken eggs with a person who has chickens and a garden. I can buy chicken meat, and essentially pay some one else to do all that hard work. Rabbits are a must have even if it is just for the garden benefits. Rabbit poop is like crack for veggies. One thing you didn't touch on is selling rabbits for pet food. Especially if you invest in a grinder that can handle the bone. If you have a working farm dog or just a pet dog (or barn cat), even just the rabbit processing scraps can be a great food/treat source for them. Between us and our dogs, 100% of the rabbit is consumed. Either fresh right off the butchering table, or frozen, or dehydrated.If you are throwing away scraps during processing, look around. There might be some one in your area who would love to buy those for their dog.
I love Rabbit I started last year and I even like it more then Deer and I have hunted all my life lived off mostly Deer meat but Yes it's Hard to kill them That's my biggest problem I end up letting them go longer because I keep putting it off and yes chickens keep the Rabbit area clean and no smell but People say Rabbit meat is Dry that's not true its greasy like chicken I don't even add spices just baste them with vegetable oil and fry or bake
when i planted apple trees at my new house i didnt take into account that Juniper rust was endemic here- so i didnt pick resistant trees :( make sure you know what diseases of livestock are endemic or common where you are before you choose... especially RHDv2 for rabbits
Very interested in watching this series...We started off on our property trying to dive into raising Rabbits, but had a mishap of the female Rabbits. Now we are stuck with our Buck and he's mainly a Pet. I'm still considering looking into another breed of Rabbits to raise for meat, and am really curious as to the process ya'll take in processing your rabbits. I've processed my own Deer before and I know it can be a lengthy process, especially if one has to work and not just depend on getting the home chores done. Also interested in some cooking videos because the ONLY way I've had Rabbit was cooked in a pressure cooker and oven roasted. BOTH seemed a bit off. Was Good, but seemed a bit dry.
I'll link you to the whole playlist so you have it, there is at least one maybe 2 recipes in there. Never dry! Thank you so much for commenting and helping defend the channel earlier. Just a sec I'll get the link
just as a note: people often forget to consider if a different "meat animal" is an option for them, and thats pigeon. Rabbits certainly have some advantages over pigeon, but people usually dont consider them for some reason.
i raise racing homers (just started) which are NO WAY as much meat as a "meat pigeon" but watching how fast they grow up i can see why it works! @@SageandStoneHomestead
Here in Europe we use turkey or goose as a broody 2 hatch the chicken or duck eggs 4 centuries. Some advantages: the bird is bigger so U can put more eggs under it, about 20-30. Better parents than hens or ducks.
About the lack of cornish crosses available it probably has to do with the massive losses McMurray hatchery had to face because govt made them kill everything on the property over 2 cases of bird flu if I remember the specifics properly... so they are in a rebuilding phase, sadly. They were able to keep eggs and are doing their best to restart.
I hope that you all get this message. Try to get you some coachin chickens those are the most setting chickens I’ve ever seen. I have actually witnessed my brother-in-law, lay a handful of rocks in their nest, and they set them. I know I’m going to get some laughs and ha ha’s about it but that’s the Gods honest truth. Take care God bless you all. By the way you can order these usually through your local feed store that deals in live chicks they usually take orders in early spring. You could check with your local feed store. Good luck.
There's a few reasons we don't love raising chickens and I don't think having a sitting hen would help enough to make me want to raise chickens for meat ! We are in love with raising rabbits. ♥️🐇
@@SageandStoneHomestead yes I love raising rabbits to reason I mention about the chickens is you had said you had a problem getting some chicken and you had to set sorry I thought of a solution
Sometimes it takes 2 people but I like to do it with them sitting on my milk stand as they would normally be (laying sternal) and use cat nail clippers to snip each nail.
Thank you for this video. We have had meat rabbits (Californians and NZ) about 3 yrs. It has been mostly smooth except the lose of some kits nearly every delivery. What could we be doing wrong? Different moms, different times of the year. So defeating to feel Ive failed them in some way.
It's relatively normal to lose 1 or 2 kits out of larger litters. Usually Litters over 8 or 9 I expect a couple losses. If you're able to, see if you can breed 2 does 1 day apart and then when they kindle if they have uneven litters, (say one has 6 and the other has 10 or so) see if you can foster kits over to give them each 8. Something like that! Otherwise sometimes some kits just miss a feeding or 2 and get weak and behind and go downhill from there. In the first week of life I count the kits once a day and if one seems skinny I'll put it on mom to nurse. I have had this save kits before! Hope that helps! ♥
@@SageandStoneHomestead thank you for responding. Not big litters, 5 and 1 dies or 7 and 1 dies. We had a runt on wire yesterday, 2 days old and legs were missing, now baby is GONE, did mama eat it?
The ONE category (IMHO) where chickens outshine rabbits on the homestead is..........that chickens will gladly (and greedily) wolf down, and grow and prosper on things that a rabbit would starve to death before getting close to. IE table scraps, bugs and maggots, cleaning out your bug zapper or japanese beetle traps etc. Other than that, the rabbit is superior in every category!!!
im no chicken expert- but i highly recommend you get joel stalatins books on raising chickens- he has NONE, NONE.... of the issues you have- if they stink, you are doing it wrong- and there is no need for heat lamps and that has to do with deep beeding and adding to the bed- teh bed itself generates heat and keep teh waste and smells down.. and when you have a number of chicks they huddle together and according to him this makes a hardier bird. it worth checking him out-- you got know who he is by now... he raised millions of chickens and runs a professional humane farm, proffessional , i wouldnt say he is commercial. I THINK THE BOOK IS pastured poultry or 20k a month raising chickens--- and again he has none of your issues
What he does just doesn't work everywhere in every situation. One reason beyond stink (birds themselves stink even if their pen doesn't) that we hate raising chickens is our specific location and very wet and muddy ground most of the year. For us it's a lot easier to manage rabbits up off the ground. There is even more minimal management raising rabbits than the things you mentioned. Deep bedding and managing all of that... not necessary. Plus the raising of chickens is only one thing we don't like. We don't like processing chickens or eating them. We much prefer rabbit in all areas and have zero desire to raise meat chickens ever again. Could we break our backs to force chickens to work? Maybe? But why bother when rabbits are far more enjoyable for us to raise, butcher, and eat?
I remember having rabbit when we were kids but I remember my dad frying it like deep frying it it was delicious to me I love rabbit and I would love to get my hands on some meat rabbits. I'm trying to get a set up here on my garage nothing to be overwhelming right now I'd be happy if I could just get one female and one male at the moment but I'm trying to get their Waters and their feeders and their nesting boxes cuz I just got the cages plus I got some bigger cages that you move around in the yard if I were to put them out there during prettier weather. I think definitely chickens are good to have cuz of course with the eggs they come in handy but rabbit absolutely is one thing I would love to have. I haven't told my sister up north who lives in Wisconsin if we can get meat goats maybe raise a couple of sheep for meat only that would be awesome. My family hunts they hunt deer wild hog geese ducks so that part is okay that I'd love to have rabbit and goats and sheep on the menu.
I just did meat birds and found them the toughest meat I have ever had Yes they tasted good in soup and stew but I like the dark meat only and it was so tough and stringy I had to use my hand to pull well chewed was gonna try the Red Broilers but can't get them till Oct and that's to cold for me to do it then so I will just raise my Baarred Rocks and eat them I can wait and I like the chicken thys from Walmart better then meat birds any day
Our kids prefer rabbit at this point, instead of chicken for the same reasons! Part of it is the course grain on the meat. It's hard to get used to after having rabbit a lot!
Guys you use every thing just to bash chickens and make rabbits look awesome. Please don't go in sales thats a weak strategy. We understand chickens are not for you and move on. I selected the video to learn about rabbits and you took all the fun out
The video title helps illustrate the content of the video, and we truly do not like raising birds. It's our preference based on our experience and your experience may be different and that's fine. For us, rabbits make raising meat enjoyable while chickens were a lot of work, headache, money and stink. Illustrating our experience has given a lot of hope to folks who feel the same way as us, which isn't everyone and we are completely fine with that. If we were all the same the world would be really boring.
A point on the “pretty bunnies”… I breed Rex which are adorable and pretty but there are so many pet quality ones that it’s harder (but not impossible) to find good, fast growing genetics. Most of mine now grow out to 3+lbs by 10-12 weeks. Some of my 16 week olds were over 4lb carcasses
The main thing I know of for certain is the fat content. Rabbit is a leaner protein though it does contain some fat, at least my rabbits do. Rabbit is often cooked in a form of fat, here we use lard.
Have you folks ever tried raising the Silver Fox rabbits? My wife and I were eyeing those down for meat rabbits amd i was wonderingif you've ran into them
We tried those first and they are beautiful and great. Be careful because there's a lot of "silver fox" out there that are nothing more than a black rabbit with tick marks in their coat. We had a buck and a doe only and the doe was a bad mom and I had a rough time sourcing more in my area so we switched to what we could get!
U know pellets R made from alfalfa, we give them just alfalfa hay and kitchen scraps and weed what is enough. There R 3 classes depend on the adult weight Small 2-3 kg Middle 4-6 kg Giant over 6 kg The middle class is the perfect 4 meat production like Californian, New zealander and we have a bounch of other types from France or german speaking areas.
The pellets are more than just alfalfa, at least the ones we buy. They provide a complete nutrition where we don't often feed supplemental things from the kitchen etc.
Great job explaining. I think I'm sold. My hens always stay broody it's a bit annoying actually, i have buff orpingtons. I've down sized my flock to 18 hens and a rooster but I've been wanting to downsize again. We just don't eat that many eggs and they poop way to much and everywhere and in the places you gotta put your hands.. I'm like how did you guys even get a dumpling there. It's just alot more work to keep everything clean, and just like you said they are very loud all the time, the plus to them would be they don't ever stop laying even in winter or heat. I wonder if you could fix rabbit rolled in crumbs and baked or atleast in the air fryer without it being soggy due to the lower temp?
It's something I want to try to figure out. I know people here deep fry them, so breading and frying is likely an option but I'm not 100% sure about breading and baking.
@@SageandStoneHomestead i thought baking cause of the lower temp. I just asked my husband how they use to fix it and he said fried it up in a cast iron skillet just like you would chicken, so now I'm defiantly sold!
@@SageandStoneHomestead he says they soaked it in salt water for at least 8 hours or overnight. Then just rolled it seasoned flour and put it in the hot oil till crispy on both sides. I also found a recipe where you soak it in buttermilk for the same amount of time you don't have to dry it off or anything just take it out roll in flour and fry, I'm eager to try either way!
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We FORGOT to mention that cleanup after processing the chickens and rabbits looks VERY different! Cleaning up all of the equipment needed to process chickens and their FEATHERS is a very time consuming part of the whole process. With rabbits we either freeze the hides to deal with later or the hides easily drop into the refuse bucket that is fed to the pigs.
What is no spray hay???
@@watchandpray8918 hay that hasn't been sprayed with herbicides and pesticides. Even if this hay appears to have no affect on our animals if we use the manure of animals that have eaten certain levels of herbicides on hay in the garden, the garden will not grow.
@@SageandStoneHomestead thanks! I'm also going to look into organic pellets.
I raised rabbits...anyone who sees a psychiatric professional learns quickly to cover their arms during their first few visits. The rabbits tend to cause injuries that lead to a nasty diagnosis of someone who causes self harm, specifically " a cutter."
Terry I have a few scratches right now because I forgot to use our "bunny sleeves" while moving rabbits out of the heat. Look up chef's knife sleeves I think they are called! They work SO well to protect your arms!
The advantage with chicken is the (very) delicious skin. So I personally think doing both is the best option. :) And if you fail to raise chickens one year you still have the rabbits.
Our kids will eat the skin off and leave everything else just about!! LOL! We agree that the skin is the best part!
I had Buff Orpingtons for several years and loved them. About 3 or 4 years ago my son gave me about 4 dozen eggs to try out my new incubator. It will hold 123 eggs in 3 turners! Now, so you will understand the situation, his wife likes to get a variety of "cute" chickens and keep them all together! Well, If I remember right, all but 2 eggs hatched. Now I've got the darndest bunch of chickens you ever saw.
Last summer one hen went broody. I found the nest in some weeds by the corner of my shop. She laid 16 eggs and hatched 15 of them! Now that was a sight to see her herding all those chicks around!
WOW that's an amazing hatch rate!!
When our five children were elementary school ages, I served them and my husband rabbit but let them think it was chicken. All of them asked for seconds and cleared their plates :D
Haha sounds like what we did!
I'm planning on raising both. Chickens for eggs and meat and rabbits for meat. I like variety. Also plan on hunting deer and wild boar for meat choices as well.
Excellent!! I love that.
I don’t have any chickens or turkeys anymore. I take my harvesting equipment to peoples house and harvest their chickens and turkeys. They pay me in meat and cash so I still get homegrown meat but didn’t have to raise it myself.
I do have rabbits, quails, ducks and goats, however. The first time I harvested a rabbit, I was DONE raising chickens. Looks like chicken, tastes like chicken but the clean up after harvesting takes about 4 minutes, if that!
The quail are for eggs and meat. The ducks are for eggs and pest control. The goats are for dairy and plant clean up. The rabbits have so many uses! Poop, meat, fur, selling kits to people to start their own meat rabbits. And they’re fun to have around!
Great video!
I've discovered that those of us that raised chickens before and then ditched chickens once we realized how awesome rabbit is are few and far between!!! Glad to see there is another among us!! We sold our chicken processing equipment but I love your method! We live near a few large Amish and Mennonite communities and have access to farm raised chicken and turkey as wanted too, but our kids don't prefer eating it! They like turkey though!
Great video! Definitely prefer the cleanup after butchering rabbit as opposed to chicken! Something I've always wanted to try was to make sausage from the meat. Many years ago when I worked in a meat locker, there was an older gentleman who would butcher his rabbits & bone out all the meat. (can't imagine how much work that had to have been to bone out entire rabbits: many rabbits!!) He would bring in large tubs of meat & ask us to mix it with some fatty pork, then grind it. He would then take it home, season it & make his own sausage. He said it was by far his favorite meat! Looking back now, I wish I'd asked him for his seasoning recipe! 😊 Though I'm still not sure I'd have the patience to bone out all those small pieces, on enough rabbits to get enough to make it worth it!!!! 🙂
God bless to you all & the critters!
There's a channel called "Slightly Rednecked" and Mike has made sausage before with quail and rabbit mixed!! It was intriguing to me at the time too but definitely seems labor-intensive! I could see maybe taking the meat from the spine/backstrap only for sausage and maybe canning the legs? It's relatively straightforward to get the back meat off!
@@SageandStoneHomestead I agree, that area is the largest easily accessed piece of meat. Just seems it would take so many to have any amount! If you're going to invest that much time & labor, I'd want to do enough to be worthwhile! Mixing the rabbit & quail together does sound good!!
I agree! Maybe we will try it someday!
@@SageandStoneHomesteadI keep the backstrap/loin for quick cooking like chicken breast and the rest (legs etc) for mincing (with Pork fat from friend's piggies) to make sausages. Flavoured with mustard (from local farmer's market), home grown garlic and Italian herbs-Delicious! Sausages are a way to introduce folks to rabbit they might not be familiar with (a whole rabbit looks a bit like a skinned cat!)
@@stephseckold4324 you're right it does! Those are great ideas, thank you!!
I plan on getting rabbits and love your videos. I have raised chickens and sheep most my life, but looking for a smaller livestock now.
Thank you so much! Rabbits are an amazing livestock to add to a homestead!
So we were all prepared to have chickens added in this year but as it turns out, I have small auto immune issues and take tnf inhibitors. Apparently it can result in fungal infections in the lungs on these medications. We are repurposing our coup to be for rabbits. These videos are extremely helpful. I still hope to have chickens at some point. Can always trade meat for eggs 😀
I like the way you think!!! Thanks for watching!
I watched a video by a women who said she knew people who kept rabbits in their closet butchered them in their tub with none the wiser. Do the processing the day before trash day.
I've heard of that too!!
Yes! I have come across many people who raise rabbits for meat in apartments!
Great video! We are really looking at rabbits but need to figure out where to put them, and how to have people care for them when we travel. It just adds another layer to our Farm and trying to guarantee care. Thanks for a well thought video!! Cheers!
It depends on how long you're gone but there are watering systems that can be either hooked up to a hose or to a 5 gallon bucket to water for many days at a time (still check the nipples to make sure they are working), and cramming a box full of hay would feed for a while, filling up the feed cup all the way. You could do a weekend pretty comfortably with rabbits.
Good morning Heather and Levi. We would love watching any video you put up. It's all so interesting. Love you guys
Thank you, Nollie! ❤
I looked into rabbits as an option for my urban situation, so I'm really curious to see your takes on a lot of these things as you go through all this. I'd be happy to see many various videos on all aspects of raising them.
Only options I have where I live is rabbit and quail, so I have quail. Downsides to quail is they are messy eaters, rarely brood, and harder to cut back feed costs. I'm now raising mealworms and I grew fodder to supplement their diet, their feed is expensive with how much they try to waste. Now that I'm dealing with mealworms I'm hoping next year will be much, much cheaper food wise. But they love collards, lettuce, zucchini, and so much of my garden scraps, so that's a nice bonus. And I'm getting a lot of compost from their bedding as well!
I love quail but they sure do waste a lot of feed. You can soak it/ferment it to add nutrition to the feed and they fling a lot less of it when water is added. I haven't ever had one go broody! If you follow Living Traditions Homestead, Kevin has a quail feeder he makes out of a plastic show tote you may be interested in seeing! Reduces feed waste!
@@SageandStoneHomestead they can go broody if they have a more natural habitat. I've had 2 go broody regularly but I've not really had them be successful yet. But it is more my fault than theirs cause i keep disturbing them as I add bedding and gather eggs and they move to gather a new nest of eggs and restart the cycle, lol. I'm keeping those 2 broodies to see if they will be successful in spring if I support them properly.
I have an outdoor run, fully enclosed with buried wire and all, about 10'x10'x3' so they have good space. I don't like keeping them in the small wire cages just from an ethical perspective. I kinda hope to build small tractors to put them in for half days during next year to get them chances to look for bugs and general enrichment.
YA!!! I've seen their builds on better feeders, I even have most if the stuff for it i just haven't gotten around to building them yet bc health issues. Living traditions have a lot of good solutions and problem solving over there! That's why I'm curious for your rabbit playlist, to see if there are hidden gems i can use if i ever take the step towards rabbits, to which I'm tempted to. I'm a new sub, so I'm slowly working through older videos.
Awesome! I'm so glad you're here! Your quail habitat sounds so awesome, they must be happy birds!
Very well done! If someone can formulate a recipe for Buffalo-style rabbit hock I’m sold.
I looked up a recipe for buffalo chicken and it actually looks VERY adaptable to rabbit since it says to cook in the sauce with a foil tent overtop. The chicken recipe calls for 400 degrees for 20 min which is WAY too high and fast for rabbit. 325 for an hour is what I would do, or crockpot the sauce with the rabbit on low for 8 hours.
Mmmmmm
I have a banty hen every year I put her in a small coop and buy chicks for her 10 and she cares 4 them and protects them when they join the flock
That is so neat!
Yes! So happy to find you! Thanks for sharing! We raise American Blue meat rabbits....and standard Lamancha dairy goats.❤
A fellow MANCHA MAMA!! Hello and welcome to the channel!! ♥♥
Sold! Haha excited to fet rabbits now!
It's very exciting!!
Just an observation here. The cost in regards to the chickens is a ONE-time investment, that gets pro-rated each time you use it. I have one girl who goes broody each year and this year I bought fertile eggs on eBay. I ordered 6 they sent 8 and I got 4 chickes. So instead of fighting nature, I use it to my advantage. While I haven't yet processed any chickens, I do have a camp stove and stock pot for scalding. I also have a plucker for when the time comes. The plucker was purchased because of the current inflation. These are just some of my thoughts, not to detract from the chicken/rabbit decision. Rabbits are on my list to explore and most likely to raise.
We couldn't get any chickens to reliably go broody so it wasn't a one time investment for us like our rabbits were. We bought breeders and they bred and have replaced themselves as needed.
I’m glad you mentioned the difference how the meat rabbit and the mix rabbit eat because I started off with the giant mix rabbit and he eats a lot which was normal to me and now I have a mini Rex and I put food in there and her nose in the air lol. I was thinking she’s a snot and what’s wrong with her lol. I’m glad now I know how they eat. 😊
Have a great weekend👍🏽
We had rex in the beginning too and they were some of the biggest feed hogs we had!!
But, ours were standard rex. Minis I'm sure eat far less 😊
@@SageandStoneHomestead you to take care
I absolutely agree with everything you said about chickens but I love my chickens. I do American bressee. They taste awesome and lay lots of eggs. We do rabbits and ducks for variety.
I've heard great things about American Bressee!
Roosters are the only chickens I've processed on my own. Lol! So I say it counts, but I accept that challenge anyway.
Was there a challenge presented? I'm confused. 😅❤
Just that I like buying mugs 🤣
OH okay I had no idea what part of the 30 min you were referencing 🤣🤣
the idea of chickens for meat for smallholdings is pretty flawed. it wasn't until industrial farming practices around the mid 20th century developed in america that chicken even was thought of as a cheap meat.
before then every family did keep chickens, but it was for eggs, not meat.
If you want a broody hen that is dual purpose - get the Buff Orphington or Americana.
Thank you!! We have a silkie right now, just one. She can only fit about 6-8 eggs under her lol
I am so glad I found your channel! I have thought of raising rabbit, but was a bit intimidated after I had some folks say that they made these high pitched screams. After watching your dispatching video, I am motived to make a plan to add rabbit to our homestead. I enjoy your videos so much!! :-)
They can scream but usually do not. The most screams we hear are from babies when they are handled.
I love rabbit, but Roy doesn't. He said he likes beef best, but I'm definitely not raising a cow to process 🤣 Hopefully goat works for him.
I hope so too!!
I am so glad this video came across my feed! Hubs and I have gone back and forth about raising meat chickens or going with rabbits. We now have 5 Black Jersey Giant hens that are now laying, but we have no rooster. I am totally rethinking getting a rooster at all. Your video was so informative and has steered us back toward rabbits for meat, and we will enjoy the eggs from our hens. I look forward to watching more of your videos. Thanks so much!
You are so welcome! I'll be starting the Raising Meat Rabbits series soon!!
In a nutshell for me since Ive had the best meat chicken a homesteader can have... The Hubard ja 757.
Chickens are more work but only if you keep the rabbits in a colonie. The feed for chickens averages about 3€ when I butcher them at 3.5kg. The rabbits are near free since I harvest my own hay etc. Chickens have more nasty deceases. Harder to breed (good meat chickens are only buyable) with rabbits in a colony everything goes by itself.
And the chicken sh*t is awfull and processing them is not good for my nose.
When we had rabbits back in my teen years, my parents would send my siblings and I out to collect fresh bags of grass and clover and other goodies from the roadside to give them.
Mostly to supplement their pellet feed from the store, plus it was sometimes fun to give our rabbits any tastes treats we came home with…
The only reason I would want chickens is for the eggs, I don’t eat a lot of chicken meat these days anyway and don’t mind but it if I get a craving…
That's why we keep chickens is their lovely eggs! We also will put old laying hens up in cans. Thanks so much for stopping by! ♥
@@SageandStoneHomestead- no problem, I am learning a lot from watching your various videos on goats and now rabbits.
I have already chosen which breeds of goats, chickens and rabbits I am going to get once I have the money saved up for my acreage….
I actually pluck the fur of my rabbits, I like to spit roast them with skin like suckling pig. The skin becomes crispy. I use skinless rabbits for stews.
Do you scald them first? I've never heard of anyone doing that! What's the skin like?
You guys are great! Just happened upon your channel tonight. Good stuff!
Welcome to the channel!♡
Reptile heat bulbs do not burn out and do not emit light, just radiate heat.
Great idea!
I agree completely with what y’all are saying! I talk about this on my channel as well. Rabbits are so much easier, cleaner and cheaper then chickens.
Totally!! Thanks for watching!
We keep different animals for different reasons. The chickens lay eggs, scratch under cages for grubs and larvae, and provide meat, too. Our Muscovy ducks give a LOT of meat, and are great mothers, hatching 3 and 4 clutches a year. They will hatch any egg you give them. I have one clutch that has 7 ducklings and 3 chicks, It's funny to watch them all together. We are among the group that worries that killing rabbits will either not happen, or give us nightmares. We have cats; soft fluffy ones. One of the main reasons I wanted rabbits was to shift our cats to a better diet. But birds aren't soft and cuddly like rabbits are, so we did birds instead.
My sister in law wants to do muscovy ducks!! I would like birds much more if I had more that would reliably lay and raise clutches. That is a big plus if you have birds that will do that reliably! ❤
My hat's off to you for eating your anmails 😊
Thank you for all this wonderful info. I'm definitely going to refer to all this info when i get ready to get my bunnies. God willing it will be in the spring. I'm excited to do this! Thank you! ❤️
You're so welcome!!
Honestly? This was the most informative video on rabbits that I’ve found. A neighbor mentioned that he was turning his ppty into a tiny homestead (farmette?) with meat chickens and meat rabbits. Wha…. Meat rabbits? Next thing I know, I’ve got 3 cages and 3 young New Zealand rabbits (bought from a genuine homestead). Bred 1 doe once and she produced 9 healthy kits…..wow. Easy peasy! I’ve yet to harvest tho 😱 That neighbor? Ha, no rabbits and he had too much of a hassle with those Cornish Cross birds. You provided great detail here, even down to the meat texture, thank you!
You're SO welcome!! Enjoy your rabbits!!
I love raising rabbits. We also have solid white rabbits because they don't have any cute characteristics. Can't wait to meet you at the picnic. We will be watching your awesome channel. Your family is adorable.
Thanks so much!! The picnic is only an hour away and we are very excited to come.
10:54 😂no thank you! I completely agree!!
I will always have chickens, but I've been thinking about adding rabbits!
Could you share the recipe for the rabbit dinner you show at the end?
It was rabbit pieces in the crockpot with gravy and spices for 4 hours on high
Thanks for all the info. I've been watching a lot of your rabbit videos in prep for hopefully starting rabbits in the spring. They were "too cute" before but now we have experience raising ducks and quail so I think I can raise/butcher bunnies just fine. I butchered my first duck last November for Thanksgiving. It's going to be a tradition now. The only thing I'm worried about for rabbits is the heat in Arkansas and having to buy hay. 😂
It gets hot here too for sure. We don’t breed in summer
When I was growing up on our farm in the 60's, we raised rabbits, and after our dad showed my brother and I how to do the butchering, my brother and I would "race", and we got to where we could butcher a rabbit in just under one minute per rabbit.
That is from the time we got the rabbit hung up by it's back legs and got it skinned and gutted, ready to put into the ice water bath. Yeah, processing rabbits is far easier and faster than chickens. The raising rabbits was "on my brother and I" after dad showed us how to do it. (My brother and I started doing this when I was about 11 and my brother was 10.)
That's amazing!!! Our kids just really started getting interested in doing the butchering and they each processed one rabbit last weekend!
Agree, rabbits are easier than chooks for homegrown meat. Much easier, more reliable (& faster) control of breeding and processing. Sorry Dorking chickens didn't work so well for you. I only keep Silver Dorkings (they're considered a rare heritage breed) and I've found them to be a very broody breed and good mothers. Unfortunately, predators often eat them more often than I get to (We have carpet pythons, goannas and hawks in OZ) despite the best efforts of my guardian dog
We found our Dorkings to be more prone to predation as well! And not super hardy for severe weather.
I want rabbits. I just can’t convince hubby. I was raised eating rabbit. Thanks for video!
Thanks so much for watching!
Great comparison of rabbit to chicken. I’m hooked and will watch the entire series. Thanks very much!
You're so welcome and I'm glad you found us!! Let me know if you have any questions! I try hard to answer every comment.
But it's not. They compare to Cornish which are sickly and gross so that's on them for choosing such a crappy meat bird. And the money they spent on plucking is silly and not necessary.
Her illusion of chickens raising chicks shows a lack of research as well.
I get that you have to order them which makes them not viable should the market crash and transportation cease to exist, but STILL.
We feed are rabbits wide bladed fresh grass from the pasture and hay in the winter. We supplement with pellets. This saves money and the rabbits will eat any type of wide blade grass. You don't NEED Timothy although, I guess, they prefer it but I think that's marketing.
That's great!! I really would love to get into the habit of collecting forage for my rabbits!
Do you have a more detailed instruction for cooking rabbits? Crockpot method which is better high/low heat? Also, the canned rabbit, I never heard, Could you explain in detail, please?
Here is the link to the playlist with recipes and information on canning rabbit! th-cam.com/play/PLXrP3tEiJQU7Ai6CPabijbJeulMtaccgx.html
When I was young we raised rabbits and had up to 1000 at one time. I love rabbit meat and enjoyed raising them. My favorite way to cook rabbit is to dredge the pieces in flour salt and pepper then fry them to get the breading browned then put them in a Dutch oven lined with aluminum foil. Pour about a cup and half cups of water between the foil and pot. Put a cover on and put in oven 325 for 30 minutes. Most tender, moist, yummy meat full of protein. Rabbits have a higher protein ratio per pound than chicken. Interesting video. I wish I could find some rabbit to buy for my freezer. Do you all ship?
We do not ship yet but have entertained the idea! We just need to see what we can do legally. 1000 rabbits!! That's amazing and a lot of fertilizer!
I largely have free ranged my chickens. I'll be honest their feed costs get quite low when they are free ranged.
How do rabbits do when free ranging? Do they come when called? Are they good at surviving? Are they easy to catch like chickens?
We don't keep colony rabbits but some people do. We can cut feed costs with rabbits by feeding them foraged things from our land. But truthfully they don't need it. Each rabbit costs very little to raise up to butcher size by default.
If you do a comprehensive video on raising rabbits, Do The Science: The Scientific Method...PLEASE!
I did a whole series on raising rabbits. We made the series based on how we have successfully raised them ourselves.. not sure what the scientific method has to do with how we raise rabbits?
I can’t do condensed soup cell have MSG or other ingredients I can’t have white dairy any other suggestions, onions and garlic in the usual suspects roast, veggies, and some broth I’ve honestly never cooked it, but I’m fixing to raise meat rabbits for the first time
Oh you can make a gravy from bone broth and whatever flour or Starch you can have and your favorite herbs! Wonderful gravy to cook rabbit in!!
I finally got a Dutch buck and a beautiful black Mini-Rex doe! I'm so excited! And scratched .....
Congratulations!! They sell arm sleeves for chefs, those are awesome to prevent many scratches!
I raised both meat rabbits and dwarf rabbits for pets. Rule # 1. Clip their nails or wear gloves. I had a dwarf rabbit lay my wrist open with one hind claw. I was alone and had to wrap a towel and head for the nearest nursing home for help. The nurses did an amazing job! It was my carelessness that got me into trouble with little Snowball. I would rather raise meat rabbits. So much easier to dress out. My Rock Cornish cross broke their legs when they became too heavy. My favorite all purpose chicken is Barred Rock for eggs. Great discussion. Thank you for covering all these topics. ~ Diane
Thanks so much Diane!! That's really scary about that scratch!!
Any chicken recipe can be traded out to rabbit ,but not the other way I've found , soooooo much cleaner to keep , cornish cross chickens, eat and crap period
We agree!!!
WHAT FEED DO YOU USE? I KNOW IT NEEDS HIGH PROTEIN AND FIBER JUST NOT SURE WHAT TO GET. I HAVE TRIED TO GOOGLE IT AND TO ASK FB AND GOT WAY TO MANY ANSWERS!! PLEASE HELP
We feed Kalmbach rabbit pellets only. 15%. I've done quite a bit of research into it and found that we don't need to feed hay most of the time. I get more into that here: th-cam.com/video/WNZLo8_u0kg/w-d-xo.html
Buff Orpington chickens are great broody birds.
Great to know! The one we had go broody was a Barred Rock.
I raise a100 baby rabbits a month and I raise about 500 chickens a year can I make more off chickens
Probably because they are a popular meat source. A lot of people can't get past the cuteness of rabbit.
Chickens still good for eggs. Rabbit double plus better for meat.
Yes we love chickens for their eggs and ability to keep certain pests down like ticks!
I raise rabbits and keep thinking about getting chickens for eggs plus I do like their meat better but I think you just pushed me over the line to heck no. I can barter rabbit poop for chicken eggs with a person who has chickens and a garden. I can buy chicken meat, and essentially pay some one else to do all that hard work.
Rabbits are a must have even if it is just for the garden benefits. Rabbit poop is like crack for veggies.
One thing you didn't touch on is selling rabbits for pet food. Especially if you invest in a grinder that can handle the bone. If you have a working farm dog or just a pet dog (or barn cat), even just the rabbit processing scraps can be a great food/treat source for them. Between us and our dogs, 100% of the rabbit is consumed. Either fresh right off the butchering table, or frozen, or dehydrated.If you are throwing away scraps during processing, look around. There might be some one in your area who would love to buy those for their dog.
Great advice, thank you! When we have pigs that's how we handle our refuse most of the time!
I love Rabbit I started last year and I even like it more then Deer and I have hunted all my life lived off mostly Deer meat but Yes it's Hard to kill them That's my biggest problem I end up letting them go longer because I keep putting it off and yes chickens keep the Rabbit area clean and no smell but People say Rabbit meat is Dry that's not true its greasy like chicken I don't even add spices just baste them with vegetable oil and fry or bake
I'm so glad you love them, we do too! I am tempted to try the fat on the rabbit. I heard it's not tasty but I haven't really tried it!
Living Traditions homestead has a video on an easy, humane way to kill chickens.
Awesome thank you!!!
Yes, my kids ask for the skin every time I roast rabbit. Every. Time.
Sorry! 😬😬 maybe keep a pelt on the back of the couch to throw at them when they ask 🤣
@@SageandStoneHomestead genius 🤣🤣🤣
when i planted apple trees at my new house i didnt take into account that Juniper rust was endemic here- so i didnt pick resistant trees :( make sure you know what diseases of livestock are endemic or common where you are before you choose... especially RHDv2 for rabbits
Very interested in watching this series...We started off on our property trying to dive into raising Rabbits, but had a mishap of the female Rabbits. Now we are stuck with our Buck and he's mainly a Pet. I'm still considering looking into another breed of Rabbits to raise for meat, and am really curious as to the process ya'll take in processing your rabbits. I've processed my own Deer before and I know it can be a lengthy process, especially if one has to work and not just depend on getting the home chores done.
Also interested in some cooking videos because the ONLY way I've had Rabbit was cooked in a pressure cooker and oven roasted. BOTH seemed a bit off. Was Good, but seemed a bit dry.
I'll link you to the whole playlist so you have it, there is at least one maybe 2 recipes in there. Never dry! Thank you so much for commenting and helping defend the channel earlier. Just a sec I'll get the link
The playlist: Raising Meat Rabbits Series: th-cam.com/play/PLXrP3tEiJQU7Ai6CPabijbJeulMtaccgx.html
Here is a recipe not in the playlist: th-cam.com/video/M9NBKoy_wsU/w-d-xo.html
I Love Levi's sweatshirt
If you can find a sawmill by you to get sawdust works better than hay
In the nest box? We have a sawmill near!
Put your chicken eggs underneath the turkeys that is what weed them @ reap does😊
That's smart! We did away with the turkeys because for what we got out of them they ate an insane amount off feed.
just as a note: people often forget to consider if a different "meat animal" is an option for them, and thats pigeon. Rabbits certainly have some advantages over pigeon, but people usually dont consider them for some reason.
You are SO right! A lot of Amish raise those around here!
i raise racing homers (just started) which are NO WAY as much meat as a "meat pigeon" but watching how fast they grow up i can see why it works! @@SageandStoneHomestead
I really love this video... I would love to see more about raising rabbits so that I could decide.
Excellent! I'm making plans for the playlist!
Here in Europe we use turkey or goose as a broody 2 hatch the chicken or duck eggs 4 centuries. Some advantages: the bird is bigger so U can put more eggs under it, about 20-30. Better parents than hens or ducks.
I never tasted rabbit, but these videos make me wish to raise them for food!
It's delicious!
How did you get in with your farm stores for selling kits?
They had a sign up!
I have a problem with the urine smell. What do you do? Their flooring is dirt.
Add in straw on top intermittently and the organic material will help with the smell. If bit you can dust barn lime underneath!
About the lack of cornish crosses available it probably has to do with the massive losses McMurray hatchery had to face because govt made them kill everything on the property over 2 cases of bird flu if I remember the specifics properly... so they are in a rebuilding phase, sadly. They were able to keep eggs and are doing their best to restart.
The farm store near us uses Hoover Hatchery. But bird flu could still play a role!
We use Cackle Hatchery in Missouri and they have a huge waitlist because of EVERYone Has decided to get chicks ???
We went with Welp Hatchery this year. We tried many others but they were sold out of the breeds we wanted for layers.
I would like to see how you can rabbit.please.
There's a video in the raising rabbits playlist on my page ❤️
Great information
I hope that you all get this message. Try to get you some coachin chickens those are the most setting chickens I’ve ever seen. I have actually witnessed my brother-in-law, lay a handful of rocks in their nest, and they set them. I know I’m going to get some laughs and ha ha’s about it but that’s the Gods honest truth. Take care God bless you all. By the way you can order these usually through your local feed store that deals in live chicks they usually take orders in early spring. You could check with your local feed store. Good luck.
There's a few reasons we don't love raising chickens and I don't think having a sitting hen would help enough to make me want to raise chickens for meat ! We are in love with raising rabbits. ♥️🐇
@@SageandStoneHomestead yes I love raising rabbits to reason I mention about the chickens is you had said you had a problem getting some chicken and you had to set sorry I thought of a solution
How do you clip their nails?
Sometimes it takes 2 people but I like to do it with them sitting on my milk stand as they would normally be (laying sternal) and use cat nail clippers to snip each nail.
Thank you for this video. We have had meat rabbits (Californians and NZ) about 3 yrs. It has been mostly smooth except the lose of some kits nearly every delivery. What could we be doing wrong? Different moms, different times of the year. So defeating to feel Ive failed them in some way.
It's relatively normal to lose 1 or 2 kits out of larger litters. Usually Litters over 8 or 9 I expect a couple losses. If you're able to, see if you can breed 2 does 1 day apart and then when they kindle if they have uneven litters, (say one has 6 and the other has 10 or so) see if you can foster kits over to give them each 8. Something like that! Otherwise sometimes some kits just miss a feeding or 2 and get weak and behind and go downhill from there. In the first week of life I count the kits once a day and if one seems skinny I'll put it on mom to nurse. I have had this save kits before! Hope that helps! ♥
@@SageandStoneHomestead thank you for responding. Not big litters, 5 and 1 dies or 7 and 1 dies. We had a runt on wire yesterday, 2 days old and legs were missing, now baby is GONE, did mama eat it?
do u mince the caucus for pet food
or make blood bone out of it ?
That would be a great use for it! We fed it to the hogs when we had them but now our pigs are in the freezer so we plan to compost the refuse!
The ONE category (IMHO) where chickens outshine rabbits on the homestead is..........that chickens will gladly (and greedily) wolf down, and grow and prosper on things that a rabbit would starve to death before getting close to. IE table scraps, bugs and maggots, cleaning out your bug zapper or japanese beetle traps etc. Other than that, the rabbit is superior in every category!!!
You are right there!!! I love them for eggs and we happily use them to convert kitchen scraps into eggs regularly! Thanks for watching! ♥
turkeys can hatch chicken eggs
They can, but they are honestly not worth their feed to keep even worse than chickens. They lay only seasonally and their eggs are bland imo.
im no chicken expert- but i highly recommend you get joel stalatins books on raising chickens- he has NONE, NONE.... of the issues you have-
if they stink, you are doing it wrong- and there is no need for heat lamps and that has to do with deep beeding and adding to the bed- teh bed itself generates heat and keep teh waste and smells down.. and when you have a number of chicks they huddle together and according to him this makes a hardier bird. it worth checking him out-- you got know who he is by now... he raised millions of chickens and runs a professional humane farm, proffessional , i wouldnt say he is commercial. I THINK THE BOOK IS pastured poultry or 20k a month raising chickens--- and again he has none of your issues
What he does just doesn't work everywhere in every situation. One reason beyond stink (birds themselves stink even if their pen doesn't) that we hate raising chickens is our specific location and very wet and muddy ground most of the year. For us it's a lot easier to manage rabbits up off the ground. There is even more minimal management raising rabbits than the things you mentioned. Deep bedding and managing all of that... not necessary. Plus the raising of chickens is only one thing we don't like. We don't like processing chickens or eating them. We much prefer rabbit in all areas and have zero desire to raise meat chickens ever again.
Could we break our backs to force chickens to work? Maybe? But why bother when rabbits are far more enjoyable for us to raise, butcher, and eat?
I remember having rabbit when we were kids but I remember my dad frying it like deep frying it it was delicious to me I love rabbit and I would love to get my hands on some meat rabbits. I'm trying to get a set up here on my garage nothing to be overwhelming right now I'd be happy if I could just get one female and one male at the moment but I'm trying to get their Waters and their feeders and their nesting boxes cuz I just got the cages plus I got some bigger cages that you move around in the yard if I were to put them out there during prettier weather. I think definitely chickens are good to have cuz of course with the eggs they come in handy but rabbit absolutely is one thing I would love to have. I haven't told my sister up north who lives in Wisconsin if we can get meat goats maybe raise a couple of sheep for meat only that would be awesome. My family hunts they hunt deer wild hog geese ducks so that part is okay that I'd love to have rabbit and goats and sheep on the menu.
People love to deep-fry them around here and we have yet to try that!!
Best 😹👌
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Thank you for this video and sharing your views and experiences on this subject. Gives one a lot to think about. Enjoy your day. Catherine
Thank you for watching, Catharine! You have a good day as well!
I agree on all points. Not to mention how horribly chickens are kept in masses for consumption for the public.
Rabbits easy peasy.
Very easy!! Thank you!
I just did meat birds and found them the toughest meat I have ever had Yes they tasted good in soup and stew but I like the dark meat only and it was so tough and stringy I had to use my hand to pull well chewed was gonna try the Red Broilers but can't get them till Oct and that's to cold for me to do it then so I will just raise my Baarred Rocks and eat them I can wait and I like the chicken thys from Walmart better then meat birds any day
Our kids prefer rabbit at this point, instead of chicken for the same reasons! Part of it is the course grain on the meat. It's hard to get used to after having rabbit a lot!
Guys you use every thing just to bash chickens and make rabbits look awesome. Please don't go in sales thats a weak strategy. We understand chickens are not for you and move on. I selected the video to learn about rabbits and you took all the fun out
The video title helps illustrate the content of the video, and we truly do not like raising birds. It's our preference based on our experience and your experience may be different and that's fine. For us, rabbits make raising meat enjoyable while chickens were a lot of work, headache, money and stink. Illustrating our experience has given a lot of hope to folks who feel the same way as us, which isn't everyone and we are completely fine with that. If we were all the same the world would be really boring.
A point on the “pretty bunnies”… I breed Rex which are adorable and pretty but there are so many pet quality ones that it’s harder (but not impossible) to find good, fast growing genetics. Most of mine now grow out to 3+lbs by 10-12 weeks. Some of my 16 week olds were over 4lb carcasses
That's amazing! We had some show quality Rex genetics that didn't grow out that fast, for sure!!
Wow I learned so much in under 4 minutes, and I'm a seasoned meat rabbit breeder - I guess pun intended. LoL
Seasoned meat hahah! I love it!!
I am interested
The series on how to raise rabbits is up on the playlist tab on our channel ❤️
You have a very nice channel , Glad to see your work 👍👍👍🙋+ full
Thank you so much!
Whoa, larger rabbit bones are a bad thing? Unused asset maybe?
Not bad really just less meat to eat. You can totally do bone broth with them, but you can do that with the thinner bones too.
what are the nutritional differences for a human eating a rabbit compared to chicken?
The main thing I know of for certain is the fat content. Rabbit is a leaner protein though it does contain some fat, at least my rabbits do. Rabbit is often cooked in a form of fat, here we use lard.
Have you folks ever tried raising the Silver Fox rabbits? My wife and I were eyeing those down for meat rabbits amd i was wonderingif you've ran into them
We tried those first and they are beautiful and great. Be careful because there's a lot of "silver fox" out there that are nothing more than a black rabbit with tick marks in their coat. We had a buck and a doe only and the doe was a bad mom and I had a rough time sourcing more in my area so we switched to what we could get!
@@SageandStoneHomestead Thank you!!!
U know pellets R made from alfalfa, we give them just alfalfa hay and kitchen scraps and weed what is enough.
There R 3 classes depend on the adult weight
Small 2-3 kg
Middle 4-6 kg
Giant over 6 kg
The middle class is the perfect 4 meat production like Californian, New zealander and we have a bounch of other types from France or german speaking areas.
The pellets are more than just alfalfa, at least the ones we buy. They provide a complete nutrition where we don't often feed supplemental things from the kitchen etc.
If I had the land, I would have both haha. Easy solution there.
I like chickens for eggs and then when they are old they get skinned and go up in cans. But for regular meat, no. Not me.
Great job explaining. I think I'm sold. My hens always stay broody it's a bit annoying actually, i have buff orpingtons. I've down sized my flock to 18 hens and a rooster but I've been wanting to downsize again. We just don't eat that many eggs and they poop way to much and everywhere and in the places you gotta put your hands.. I'm like how did you guys even get a dumpling there. It's just alot more work to keep everything clean, and just like you said they are very loud all the time, the plus to them would be they don't ever stop laying even in winter or heat. I wonder if you could fix rabbit rolled in crumbs and baked or atleast in the air fryer without it being soggy due to the lower temp?
It's something I want to try to figure out. I know people here deep fry them, so breading and frying is likely an option but I'm not 100% sure about breading and baking.
@@SageandStoneHomestead i thought baking cause of the lower temp. I just asked my husband how they use to fix it and he said fried it up in a cast iron skillet just like you would chicken, so now I'm defiantly sold!
I'd love to hear his method so I can try it out!!
@@SageandStoneHomestead he says they soaked it in salt water for at least 8 hours or overnight. Then just rolled it seasoned flour and put it in the hot oil till crispy on both sides. I also found a recipe where you soak it in buttermilk for the same amount of time you don't have to dry it off or anything just take it out roll in flour and fry, I'm eager to try either way!
I pressure cook it in a little white wine 20 minutes and done
Very nice!!