Terrabyte Farm

In the US, rabbits are primarily thought of as pets, not as a food source.  In the rest of the world, rabbits make up a large portion of the meat consumed by people.  They are very easy to raise, can subsist on garden scraps and trimmings, and breed like, well, rabbits.  Additionally, their manure is “cold” meaning it can be applied directly to plants without being composted.  And, their outer covering (the fur) is also a very valuable item, unlike chicken feathers.  For all of these reasons, keeping a trio of rabbits to raise for meat consumption and fur is something almost anyone can do, even in a small living space with limited outdoor access.

We have a trio (two does and a buck) of Silver Fox rabbits, an American breed that is critically endangered.  They were bred earlier this spring and on Sunday, we finished processing all of the rabbits from this first litter (17 minus one we gave as a gift to our lovely neighbors).  We did five last week just to see how it would go.  It was very easy.  Mike used an air gun to stun them in the head, rendering them unconscious and then I cut off the heads and let them breed out before skinning and gutting them.  Near the end, we were able to do a rabbit from start to finish in about five minutes.

I cured five of the pelts from last week using instructions found here.  They are currently hanging in the basement drying.  I hope to make them into fur hats for winter.

We used the meat to make rabbit satay, bunny burgers, and bunny tacos.  The first two dishes were based on recipes found in the River Cottage Book by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, our bible on how to cook the animals we raise.  The meat was lovely, very delicate and tender.  It does not have much of a flavor on its own, so is the  perfect foundation for flavorful dishes like satay and tacos.  For the burgers, we ground in some pork fat and herbs from the garden for extra moistness and taste.  We used the satay leftovers to make wraps with shredded carrot, kohlrabi, and cucumbers.  I crumbled the leftover burgers into our weekly garden pasta medley.  The rest of the rabbits were pieced and put in the freezer.  I plan to use the bones to make this amazing stock.  Each rabbit weighed about 4-5 lbs live and we got about 2 lbs once dressed per rabbit, plus the pelt.

Our rabbits have been re-bred and are due at the beginning of next week.  Hopefully we will get another two large litters, raising rabbits for meat is something we will be doing more of for sure.  I will try to post a cost analysis, but I know they will end up being a very inexpensive source of high quality lean protein for our family to eat.  Once I finish this batch of tanning, I will post an update on how they came out.  Wish me luck.

Also, check out all the pics from our garden here, Mike did an amazing job capturing the true beauty of the plants.