Jason and I bought meat rabbits last week. Buying rabbits to raise for meat has been on our list for a few years. Our 4 year old daughter, Julz, had also made it very clear us she wanted a black bunny for her 5th birthday…which is in May.
The original plan was to start meat rabbits in May, to coincide with her birthday. But then one of our friends tagged us in a Facebook post that one of their rodeo friends were selling their rabbits on Facebook. Long story short we bought three of her rabbits.
We checked with her on their bloodlines and how close they were and we need one more male rabbit and we can start breeding.
The entire process was really very easy and simple and felt right. We are even in contact with the seller for other animals in the future. It is nice to purchase from someone on Facebook who is referred to you from a friend you trust. It is also wonderful living in a smaller community because people will guide you to who you can and cannot really depend or rely on. We have lived in this community for 3 years, but in smaller town America it can take a few years to gain the trust of the community people were born into for generations.
So what type of meat rabbits did we buy?
We purchased one male and two females.
As We have a white buck and a chestnut rabbit. These two rabbits are half siblings and we will not breed them together. They have different moms and the same dad. The kit we purchased is a 6 week old New Zealand as of December 17th.The third is a black doe which is 9 months old and is a rabbit which is half New Zealand and half Checkered Giant. Their names are Carrots, Nina, and Big Mama. These rabbits will be the main breeders, so name and attachment for them and the girls is ok with us. They aren’t pets, but are part of the farm.
We are currently looking for another buck with a completely different bloodline. We need to spread their bloodlines out further. Currently, there is nothing near us for meat rabbits being sold. However, I think as we get closer to Spring and away from the Holidays, I think we will see a lot more animals for sale around us.
We are pretty excited about starting this process. Jason is going to be working on building rabbit tractors. Once he has a solid build we will share his design and sell the plans in my Etsy shop if you would be interested in them as well. If you read my previous post on Rabbits and Dumplings then you know we have already tasted rabbit and really fell in love with it.
Have you ever thought about breeding your own meat rabbits? Sometimes you have to just say yes to an opportunity. As they say there is never a right time to have baby and sometimes there is never the right time to add to your small homestead…you just have to say YES when opportunity knocks on your door.
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For fun I thought I would share this video of our old goat, Mike D. He is no longer living, he didn’t survive the freeze we got earlier this year. But, sometimes it is so much fun to look back on these hilarious memories like a goat sitting on my front steps.