No,not a wedding,not that kind of big day...
The day finally arrived to take our ten little furry critters to the meat processor....while I am somewhat sad at this event,at the same time,this little project has given us a renewed sense of respect for where at least some of our food comes from.
I've bought beef and pork direct from farmers,and honestly,you can't get a better cut of meat than that from farm direct animals....well,except maybe venison....
I have not,until now,raised my own meat animals,so this is an entirely new adventure for us on our little somewhat urban homestead.
We got them 6 weeks ago,at 6 weeks of age,we didn't raise these litters,but that's our next step in the whole process,as soon as we get a tad bit more organized.
How am I going to feel when we sit down to a meal in which one of these is the main course?I'm not really sure yet.I mean,I've had rabbit meat before,and it's quite enjoyable.However,taking the live animals in to meet their doom is a first for me.
I'm going to quote what our vet said a while back... "You have to have a certain amount of respect for the fact that the animal is going to give it's life to feed you." I think he was spot on when he said that.It doesn't matter if it's a rabbit,or a beef cow...we owe it to them to treat them with respect.
I think that is where we are right now.We've taken good care of them,kept them fed,watered,given them treats,kept them clean....that's about the best you can do for an animal that is destined for your dinner plate.
As I am writing this,we're waiting for the phone call to come pick up the freezer ready rabbit meat.....
So what do you think about raising your own?Could you do it? Would you be able to do the deed yourself,or would you take them in and let someone else do it?(Did I mention my husband chickened out on that part,hence why we took them in to a pro?)
I HAVE done the slaughtering and butchering myself. It isn't easy.It's not fun. But it is necessary if you want to raise your own livestock.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy your rabbit! Let your husband know slaughtering and butchering out rabbit is the EASIEST home raised meat to do...easier than chicken (no plucking, YAY!), easier than lamb or goat or beef or swine.
When we first got them he was all "rabbit is easy,I can do that,no problem" This coming from a guy who hunts....so I figured,ok,we can do this.....
ReplyDeleteFor whatever reason(they are darn cute) he decided he would rather not do it himself....
We just got back from picking them up,about a 50% dress out weight,not too shabby...although these were not cost effective at all,since we purchased them rather than from our own rabbit liters,I'm not at all unhappy with the results.
The place we took them too is fairly new,but the owners have raised rabbits and other livestock for many years and are well known in the area...for the extra cost,if my husband is unwilling,I guess it's still worth it to take them in...
Since we are in town,that might be an issue too,since we don't really want to draw too much attention from the local zoning police....we are technically breaking zoning ordinances here.... (((rolls eyes)))....
My Country Grandma had us kids killing our dinner since we were like four and five. We would hold the chicken and she would use the knife, then we would get to chase the thing all over the yard until it finally stopped. We had to remove the feathers also. :) Darn good eatin' those chickens were!
ReplyDeleteI grew up very citified,in case you didn't already know that.We never had anything as far as meat animals around,since,well,we lived in the city.Heck,I had never even gone fishing until I was in high school.
ReplyDeleteMy Dad was all excited about the idea of having a rabbit dinner....so taking one to them on my way to work tomorrow.LOL....He likes to tell stories about how things were when he was growing up...I guess they had rabbits and goats,etc,etc....Dad told me a story once about their big tom cat getting into a rabbit hutch and killing all the babies....he was a top rate mouser,and probably thought he was just doing his job killing rodents..I guess his Step-Dad was so mad at the cat he wanted to shoot it,but his Mom wouldn't let him.
We have a young tom hanging around here,that's getting quite good at hunting,and my Dad keeps telling me to not let the cat near the rabbits....LOL....I don't think will be a problem,any time he gets to close,the big doe stomps at his nose with he paws... :)
Leera, how much a pound does the rabbit work out to be after rasing and paying someone else to butcher them?
ReplyDeleteI didn't figure it out this time around since there was a vet bill in there to make sure that one with a bad eye was not contagious to my other rabbits.....
ReplyDeleteHowever,in the 6 weeks we had them here they went through 2 50lbs bags of food at $14.00 each,they cost me $5.00 each to purchase per bunny,and then $4.00 each to butcher...and the total dress our for them ended up being about 30lbs of meat....Next time around the costs will be lower due to raising them ourselves,having pasture available.and only having to buy a little feed and then the butchering cost if we go that route again.