Backyard Bunnies Are the New Urban Chickens
 

Backyard Bunnies Are the New Urban Chickens
March 2, 2010


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Why rabbit is the most sustainable meat for the city farmer.
(Plus: How to cook it, and how to raise your own.)



By now we all know that eating a lot of meat�especially factory-farmed meat�isn�t very good for the planet. Fortunately for meat eaters, some meats are more sustainable than others. And as it turns out, rabbit is one of the healthiest, leanest, and most environmentally friendly meats you can eat.

There are many reasons for this. Mark Pasternak of the famed Devil�s Gulch Ranch explains, �The biggest reason that rabbits are a sustainable meat choice is that they eat forage, which is not useful for humans. This means that rabbits don�t compete with us for food calories." Rabbits are also, as Meatpaper editor and co-founder Sasha Wizansky points out, an ideal choice for urban farmers. Rabbits are small and can easily be raised and butchered by the DIY homesteader. They are easy to fit in a small backyard, and are happy to help you compost your leftover food. �You can feed a rabbit on your kitchen scraps,� says Wizansky, and then use their waste as fertilizer. (Pasternak advises against feeding them too much fruit, however.)

Rabbits have a much smaller carbon footprint than other animals because they convert calories into pounds more efficiently. According to Slow Food USA, �Rabbit can produce six pounds of meat on the same amount of feed and water it takes a cow to produce just one pound.�

So, are rabbits poised to become the next American diet staple? �I don�t see rabbits taking over beef markets in the U.S.," says Wizansky, "but it wouldn�t be a bad thing if they did.� Unlike Europeans, she notes, Americans have displayed a resistance to the idea of rabbits as food, but that seems to be changing.

Michael Pollan is on the bandwagon. When I ran into him at a recent rabbit butchery class, he had this to say: �Rabbit makes more sense than chickens in a lot of ways, and if people ate more rabbit, I think they would see that instantly. Rabbits are easier to slaughter, quieter, and not as stinky as chickens. I think it�s a really good solution. We have rabbits and chickens in our neighbor�s backyard, and we aren�t aware of the rabbits. It�s a cultural thing, we aren�t as accustomed to eating rabbits, but rabbit is becoming a fashionable meat.�

Biologically, their fast reproductive cycles encourage rapid generational assimilation. Rabbits, unlike chickens, quickly replenish their own stock, a stock that�with each iteration�is better suited for its particular environment. Being able to reproduce quickly and quietly are clear advantages that rabbits have over chickens�especially in densely populated areas. Unlike roosters, which are famously enthusiastic for crowing about their fecundity, rabbit bucks are known for being doers, not talkers. This noiseless intimacy means you can have both male and females together without annoying your neighbors.

Wizansky sees raising rabbit as a natural extension of the �eat local� movement. �If you are talking about being a locavore then even if you live in a city, you need to grow your own food.� If you choose to eat meat, this is a way to do that in a responsible manner. If every time you wanted to enjoy some flesh you first had to slaughter and butcher an animal, it is likely that you would simultaneously eat less meat and appreciate it more when you did.

But are rabbits just too adorable to devour? Not for Wizansky, �I don�t have a prohibition against eating cute animals. I feel like if I�m eating animals I should eat all of them; If not, I should rethink my omnivorism."

So backyard bunnies sound nice, but how hard is it to actually slaughter and butcher one? �Rabbits are the easiest animals to slaughter," says Pasternak. "Mother Nature designed them to die: They are at the bottom of the food chain; you don�t have to pluck feathers; it�s easy to twist their necks; and skinning them is really fast and easy.�

Wizansky agrees. �Rabbit slaughters are quieter. Devil�s Gulch had a slaughter with the butcher and chef Ryan Farr. They broke their necks, using one arm as a vice to hold the rear legs, and the other arm to pop the neck. They call this cervical dislocation. I�ve also seen Novella Carpenter do it by putting the rabbit�s neck under a broom handle.�

But once butchered and cooked, does rabbit even taste good? According to a growing legion of acclaimed American chefs, the answer is "absolutely." Devil�s Gulch rabbits are featured at some of the country�s best restaurants, such as Chez Panisse and French Laundry. And chef Chris Kronner of San Francisco�s Bar Tartine explains that he likes to cook with rabbit because it evinces exoticism but comes with a familiar flavor profile. Rabbit tastes like chicken, he says, but �the meat is mild and generally sweet without any traces of gaminess.�Still, there is a complexity there. "Just like a pig, each portion of a rabbit has different muscle structures and flavor characteristics when cooked. The hind leg has a more developed flavor because the muscle is used more than the loin, which is leaner and composed of all white meat."

Chef Samin Nosrat, the teacher of the rabbit butchery class, adds that the novelty of rabbit meat seems to inspire chefs and diners alike: �People have been less creative with chicken. With rabbit, they are being much more mindful with how they cook it.�

The meat is also good for you. According to Pasternak, �rabbits are a healthier meat. The quality of their protein is very good, they are high in good fats, and because they are a pseudo-ruminant they have higher levels of CLAs [Conjugated Linoleic Acid] which are high in the Omega-3 fats that you find in grass fed-beef and lamb.�

How big will this rabbit renaissance get? The last time the nation was this invested in growing its own food was during the Victory Gardens of WWII. Then, like now, the White House had a vegetable garden. �Rabbit [may have] fallen out of favor, but you can still find a lot of rabbit dishes in your grandparent�s recipes," says Wizansky. She also notes that Keeping Poultry and Rabbits on Scraps, a book originally printed in the 1940s, has been recently reissued.

It�s still too soon to tell, but rabbits look like they may soon be ubiquitous. And, maybe that�s the best part about going down the rabbit hole: whenever you do, everything old becomes new again, and everything changes places.


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Chef Chris Kronner�s Easy Home Rabbit Recipe: Braised Rabbit with White Wine and Herbs.

If you haven�t got your own rabbits, bring home a fryer from your local farmer�s market or butcher and then cut the entire rabbit in half with a cleaver. Next, season both pieces with salt and pepper and allow to rest for several hours.

Give the meat a light sear in the pan. You can use oil or butter, or, if you are feeling more ambitious, first render the fat encasing the kidneys and use that as your cooking oil.

Next, remove the rabbit and add the onion, garlic, parsnip, and carrots. Saut� the veggies and then add the fennel, two sprigs of thyme, two bay leaves, and peppercorn and parsley. Wrap herbs in cheesecloth. Put the seared rabbit back in on top of the vegetables and then add enough chicken stock and 1 cup of white wine to covers the rabbit.

Cover and put in oven at 350� for 90 minutes. Serve over wide egg noodles, toasted bread, or roasted potatoes. Braised kale or chard are optional side dishes.

Ingredients:
1 rabbit
1 onion
1 small head of fennel
3-4 garlic cloves
1-2 parsnips
1-2 carrots
1 cup white wine
2 sprigs thyme
2 bay leaves
peppercorn and parsley to taste.



Rabbitry 101: Mark Pasternak on Raising Backyard Bunnies

�If you are already raising chickens�raising rabbits on a small-scale would be really easy,� he says. Pasternak suggests that the average DIY farmer should start out with one male (buck) and three does (female). He advises against having more than one male at a time because adult male rabbits are aggressive and territorial. A rabbit�s gestation period is extremely short, only 30 days from conception to birth. Consequently, if you mated one buck and three does, you could have up to six litters a year, but four litters is much more likely. Each doe should deliver anywhere from six to 10 bunnies. With three does, Pasternak reckons you could supply yourself with a substantial supply of meat over a year.

Pasternak has three basic rules for the urban homesteader:



1.Be careful not to have too many female rabbits breeding at the same time.


2.Dispatch the offspring before they are old enough to reproduce (three months).


3.Make sure you have a lot of rabbit recipes. (See Chris Kronner)

http://www.good.is/post/backyard-bun...T1=48001#part1

Re: Backyard Bunnies Are the New Urban Chickens
 

I can cook a hell of a rabbit stew. I've never made anything else with rabbit. I mean, is a rabbit burrito going to be good?

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Thanks for the article CG. I have been thinking about doing this for a while.
As soon as I get my coupe and chickens down pat I'm gonna try it.

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Sounds tasty to me!

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They can be dangerous!

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I keep both chickens and rabbits and for good meat rabbits win hands down
I can skin and clean a young rabbit in about 1 minute it takes me 10 to 20 to
do a chicken depending on wheather plucking or just skinning.

get to many roosters you need to eat a few but otherwise chickens would be
for eggs and any recipe that called for chicken meat i would use rabbit.

also free range chickens may be cool and make some nice eggs but they are
pretty disgusting as to what they eat (everything)that is why you must cook
chicken so well.Rabbits are a much cleaner meat being a straight herbavore.

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CHOOSING YOUR BREED OF RABBIT
http://www.essortment.com/all/raisingmeatrab_ripe.htm

I will be doing it soon.

Re: Backyard Bunnies Are the New Urban Chickens
 

I've been contemplating rabbits too.
I'm in the process of hatching Araucana chicks at the moment.
Once I am up and running I will give bunnies a try.

(For those that aren't familiar with Araucana chickens, here are a couple links)
http://www.araucanasonline.com/page2.html
http://www.skyblueegg.com/

Re: Backyard Bunnies Are the New Urban Chickens
 

I think we might start this year too. at least get a few.

My grandpa raised and sold rabbits to feed his family in the depression.

I figure it's another good way to be prep-ed.

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All these texts pushing the idea of raising mass numbers of rabbits make no mention of what to do with the pelts.

Any ideas?

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normally for food the rabbits are butchered at a young age and the pelts are very thin and hard to work without ripping and holing them im sure there is a way to do it but i havent found it.best i have found so far is just to flesh them gently as soon
as they are butchered. what i ended up with was paper thin and had little strength

mature rabbits are a different story and the pelts could be used to make many
things from clothing,rope,containers etc

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are they saying, rabbits are chickens with no fat or eggs,,,,how boring,,,,,,ate many rabbits,,,will take a chicken any day,,,,,,rabbits are best cooked down (stewed) with chicken or pork fat so as you can get a good gravy to give your tasteless rabbit some flavor. you get a sickness if you eat nothing but rabbits,,,,,not true with chickens.

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Don't forget the added revenue source of selling rabbit's feet at the flee market

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I live in a town house and was thinking rabbit would be a great suppliment to chicken. Im so sick of store bought chicken and beef, but dont really have space for chickens, as Im sure the neighbors wouldnt be too happy. But rabbits you can just say they are a pet, yadda yadda.

Theres a park around my area that is swarming with ferral rabbits, just swarming with em. Its in a slightly residential area though. I've wanted to go downt here adn grab a couple, but theres no way to tell what the hells going on in their bodies with all the poisons people use on their lawns and stuff in garbage, etc.

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Wild rabbit isn't in the same league as farm raised. The diet isn't controlled and the animal is much more active thus having tougher meat. I've eaten plenty of wild and raised rabbit and raised rabbit is way better.

Unfortunately, I just bounced the idea off my wife and she says she doesn't think she could raise rabbits for slaughter. Any pointers on convincing a woman that breaking the bunny's neck, ripping its skin off and tossing out entrails is perfectly normal and advisable to anyone who wishes to be self sufficient?

Re: Backyard Bunnies Are the New Urban Chickens
 

Where can I go to get some already butchered rabbits to see if I like the taste? I've never had rabbit, and I've never seen it in a store before!

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Just ask any butcher.

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Could the entrails also be used as a fertilizer of sorts, via compost or bury them?

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Good to know. Figured as much. Ive had rabbit, but not wild as far as I know, and it was when i was younger. I liked it then, should probably try some again just to be sure.

As far as the lady goes, thats a tough one for sure. My wife is on board with raising animals for eating, but not necessarily in our current residence. She would likley not want any part in the slaughtering of it though. Cant blame em too much for that.

I would tell her you wont do it in front of her or have her participate, at least not at first. If she sees you take a live bunny somewhere and you come back with a cleaned and prepared "thing" of meat it probably wont be as bad. Dont let her see the mess at first either(entrails, blood, etc).

It is really no different than a whole chicken from the store at that point. Just a carcass of meat. Itll still probably be a little bump since she actualy saw it alive at one point. Eventualy, she may warm to the idea and wish to take it a step further and watch the cleaning, maybe not the killing, but the cleaning and preparing.

This is jsut speculation though and the approach I would take. Dont know if it would work ot not. YMMV :beer:

Re: Backyard Bunnies Are the New Urban Chickens
 

I wouldn't mind so much. I just wouldn't want to do the actual killing, but I don't think I would have a problem skinning or dressing it.

Although looking at a dead animal's face does make me wanna throw up. I'll let you do that part honey! :36_3_16:

Re: Backyard Bunnies Are the New Urban Chickens
 

Alright, well I guess were getting a couple bunnies this weekend along with those curtains and trees.:ARMS1:

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I was thinking more on this and you bring up a good point. Considering the OP is directed at "urbanites", what exactly would one do with the left overs. Most of the organs are good to save and eat, like the hear, liver, kidneys, etc. But what does one do with the entrails, the skin, the head and all the rest.

I guess you could just throw it in the trash like with other meat by-products, but that seems wastefull of otherwise usefull waste. I imagine neighbors not liking you burying it if you live in a close proximity type of place as in apartments, townhouses, zero lot homes, etc. ANd that might attract other pests like rats or 'coons.

Also, saving the hide would be a good idea for resale or as gifts. I need to go read up on how to treat the hide to keeping.

Re: Backyard Bunnies Are the New Urban Chickens
 

If I recall correctly, you could just bury them under a load of grass clippings or otherwise get them underneath some regular compost. They should compost just fine; what you want is to get them covered to lessen the smell.

Re: Backyard Bunnies Are the New Urban Chickens
 

has anyone tried rabbit burgers? Or is the meat to lean to make a good burger patty?

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I've never had rabbit burgers, but if the meat is too lean (most likely it is), just add fat. If you are going to grind it yourself, buy some pork fatback from your butcher and grind it in with the rabbit meat.

Re: Backyard Bunnies Are the New Urban Chickens
 

Lean meat is typically used for beef jerky. I wonder how successful one might be making rabbit jerky?

Re: Backyard Bunnies Are the New Urban Chickens
 

I've been trying to talk my wife into backyard rabbit farming for the last year. This article may help. Thank you!

Re: Backyard Bunnies Are the New Urban Chickens
 

Thats exactly what I was thinking too, since thats what I do when we make sausage. Cut all the fat I can off and then add it back in to the desired amount. Burgers and sausage are supposed to be a little fatty anyways.

I too was thinking rabbit would be good for jerky because it is so lean. The leaner the better with jerky and Im sure the dehydrating will really condense the "rabbit" flavor in the meat and make it really tasty.

Re: Backyard Bunnies Are the New Urban Chickens
 

I'd really be interested in knowing how the burgers or the jerky come out if you end up trying it, Heimdhal.

Re: Backyard Bunnies Are the New Urban Chickens
 

My cousins own a small italian market here localy, so Im going to ask them if the butcher can get ahold of rabbit this weekend. If they cant, I guess I can search around for a farmers market. I'd love to experiment and that will likley lead to use getting a couple for future use.


Also, for anyone else with rabbit farming experience, how much space is needed? I dont really have a back yard to speak of, but I do have a screened in and protected patio thats probably about 10 feet by 20 feet (10x10 covered and shielded from the elements). Is is possible to build something into the corner, or do they need a significant amount of room?

I probably CANT get away with taking up my whole patio..might not go over so well:Surrender:

Re: Backyard Bunnies Are the New Urban Chickens
 

rabbit hutches don't require much space at all but rabbits do generate a lot of poop over time that has to be disposed of regularly or composted. If you have neighbors nearby they probably wouldn't appreciate the smell. I knew a girl that started out with 3 pet rabbits. Owing to her vegetarianism and PETA leanings, she soon got into the "rescuing business". Between that, and rabbits being what they are (horny little bast@rds) she soon ended up with 53 rabbits in assorted cages on her upstairs porch... she ended up "freeing them" all onto government property.

Re: Backyard Bunnies Are the New Urban Chickens
 

I think I would have to be pretty hungry to kill a rabbit that i raised from a baby
I know my wife would have to be starving.
Same goes for our chickens.
But I would not have a problem raising them for other folks to kill and eat.

And they would be good to have in case my family and I were ever that hungry.

Re: Backyard Bunnies Are the New Urban Chickens
 

dont get rabbits then because if you are not prepared to do the deed
and make use of them as food they will eat you out of house and home
literally if you breed them.

i made the same mistake ended up with an awfull lot of rabbits that i could hardly afford to feed.also if the females are not bred regular but fed as much as they want to eat they can get fat and become useless as breeders.

either they are pets or livestock

Re: Backyard Bunnies Are the New Urban Chickens
 

I've eaten my share of both domestic and wild rabbit, the domestic is far tastier. Usually, we have it fried like chicken, but it can get a bit dry sometimes.

There's no way my wife would go along with raising rabbits for slaughter. I wouldn't have a problem with it and they are far easier to prepare for the table than a chicken.

Re: Backyard Bunnies Are the New Urban Chickens
 

remember the bunny woman from the Michael Moore movie, "Roger & Me" ?

he's going around interviewing people in Flint Michigan. he interviews this one woman who raises rabbits to make ends meet.

she kills & skins the rabbit in one 3 minute section of the film.

Re: Backyard Bunnies Are the New Urban Chickens
 

Women and widdle bunny wabbits.... gaaahhhh!!

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Re: Backyard Bunnies Are the New Urban Chickens
 

we have had rabbits for about 5 years now. here are a few things we have learned.

domesticated rabbits are totally different from wild rabbits. you will read reports that say you can die from malnutrition from eating just rabbit because it is too lean. backyard rabbits have fat. depending on how long you let them go before you "MOVE" them. the older thay are the more fatty they get. it is a different kind of fat. its not in the meat like beef. it is in patches under the skin and around the kidneys.

we use the term "move" rabbits. this is our way of saying butchering. we move them from the cages to the freezer.

for those of you that dont know how your wives will react to butchering, try what i do. i do ALL of the butchering of rabbits and chickens. all my GF sees is the final product in a bucket or in the sink. i got a " wow that looks just like the meat when we get it from the store!" reply the first time i brought chickens in i had just butchered.

DONT NAME YOUR MEAT RABBITS!. we have pet rabbits. the pet rabbits are our breeding stock. they get names. we dont keep them for a couple of years and move them to the freezer. they live out their lives breeding and getting special care. call ALL rabbits for butchering meat.

killing the rabbits is somewhat hard for me. i dont like that part. once it is dead it is just an object that needs to be cleaned. that part is not hard. i normally pick the rabbit up by the hind legs and hit them in the back of the neck with a hammer handle. this sounds A LOT worse than it really is. like someone said above its like their anatomy is engineered to die. when preformed correctly the neck will break and sever the jugular veins and the rabbit will bleed out thru the nose. i hang the rabbit right away from the hind legs and cut the throat to bleed out.

rabbits compliment growing a garden or raised beds in a way you can not imagine until you have them. we call their droppings the "magic poo". if you grow tomatoes put the magic poo all around the base of the plants. you will NOT burn the plants. when you notice the poo balls getting small, kinda like time released fertilizer, add some more. a couple of years ago we grew a tommy toe tomato plant to a length of about 25'.

my rabbit cages are 2'wX2'hX4'l. for the meat rabbits i have a cage thats 2'wX2'hX8'l. they get moved from their mothers cage when they are weened. dont use the thin wire for tha bottoms of the cages thats 1/2"X1/2". the poo dont fall thru and it rusts out after about 3 or 4 years. get the 1/2"X1" welded wire.

rabbits do well in the cold weather but dont cope with hot weather well. i have never lost any to heat but i know breeders that have. here in western NC it dont get real cold. i keep a box in their cages with hay for them to hunker down into. i also put up some plaxiglass on the outside portions of their cages to keep the wind from blowing on them. dont be surprised when you go out to see if you rabbits are freezing because its 15 deg and the wind is blowing, only to find them stretched out on the wire bottom cages lovin life.

you are supposed to butcher around 10 to 11 weeks. this is before they get hormones and the meat is tougher. at this age the pelts are very small, thin and not much use. if you let the rabbits get full grown then butcher the hide is worth saving. i have about 40 in the freezer now. ill have them IF i ever get time to work them.

in the spring and summer i feed them a lot of grass. this offsets the feed bill. we dont buy fertilizer for the garden but we do buy feed. in the fall they love dried leaves. im not sure of the nutritional value but theyseem to really like it. they also eat corn stalks, husks and silks. the corn silks must be like candy because they eat them like mad.

i hope this helps someone out or has been somewhat informative. if anyone has any questions ill do my best to answer you from the exp. i have.

rm

Re: Backyard Bunnies Are the New Urban Chickens
 

There is a british woman that has a Youtube account, and she has a series of videos on how to skin, clean and butcher rabbit.

Very detailed, fantastic videos. I think there are 5 parts. I can't access Youtube from here, but if I remember later on I will post some links from home.

The butchering part is quite detailed, explaining how to get the best cuts, take off the tough outer skin sheath, prep for cooking, etc. Nice vids.

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this lady - FerretWhitehead ?

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Possibly. Her husband posts vids on "Ferreting on the Moors"

Amazing to watch. I've linked it here before.

Sorry CG, can't see the vid you posted.

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I've not had Rabbit or Squirell in Years!!! Infact, I think last time I had either I was in Grade School...

Would not mind trying either again...

My wife keeps wanting to do Chickens for Fresh eggs...

Myself, I don't think we (family of 3) consume enough eggs to make the investment (time or money) worth it... I may eat 2-3 eggs this week, then not eat any for months... I moslty eat them hardboiled on Salad...

I don't think mywife or I could butcher anything... IF thats how I had to eat to live, I'd try to learn, but as it stands... Just keeping it honest...

Re: Backyard Bunnies Are the New Urban Chickens
 

Earth Fare has rabbit. Don't know if there's one around you.

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We raise chickens and rabbits. I think chickens are by far the better choice on constant production (eggs). For meat though, Rabbit!!

I've butchered both and one day I made the mistake of doing both at the same time. I'll never butcher another chicken again. SOOOOOO nasty in comparison with rabbit.

Won't raise meat chickens any more. Will raise rabbits.

Re: Backyard Bunnies Are the New Urban Chickens
 

$10/lb :no_ma:

i'll go set some snares out in the bush

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How to make rabbit sausages and burgers

Rabbit in a Wine and Garlic Sauce
http://greekfood.about.com/od/maindi...neli_aspri.htm

Stuffed Roasted Rabbit with Olives & Capers
http://greekfood.about.com/od/maindi...li_yemisto.htm

Spanish Rabbit Stew Hunter-Style Recipe
http://spanishfood.about.com/od/feat...rabbitstew.htm

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You can get it for $5.44/lb here
http://www.ardengrabbit.com/buyrabbitmeat.html

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Pel-Freeze is a rabbit meat processor. They pay their rabbit producers $1.45 per pound of live weight for fryers between 4.75 to 5.75 pounds. That goes down to 25 cents per pound for rabbits over 5.75 pounds (roasters).

If a meat processor is paying rabbit producers $6.89 to $8.34 per live rabbit, it's hard to believe stores could sell the cleaned carcass for $10 per pound.

Re: Backyard Bunnies Are the New Urban Chickens
 

thanks, but even $5.44/lb is too much for me

by setting snares, i get

* FREE rabbit meat/organs

* more practice field dressing lil Thumper

* more practice with setting snares on different trails/remote locations

Re: Backyard Bunnies Are the New Urban Chickens
 

and all you need to do it beat all the local dogs and cats and other carnivores to the carcass. And the ants. A carcass full of ants is .... unpleasant.