We got our first rabbits months ago. We got a black NZ buck and a chinchilla mix doe. Why we got them is the controversial part, we got them for meat! I decided to wait to share this because I was worried about reactions honestly.
Many people view rabbits as pets, and would think of it as me eating a cat or dog. I have never had a pet rabbit so when I began researching urban homesteading I came across the idea of raising rabbits for meat. Apparantly raising meat rabbits was more of a thing back in the day (world war and depression time), since they could be raised cheaply and breed like, well rabbits!
In the last month I got two additional does.
My gray and my red have both had litters... unfortunately my gray lost her whole litter (common with first time mothers). My red just gave birth today, she was bred when I bought her so I may keep one of her does to breed.
I haven't ever tried rabbit meat yet, but with our investment we better like it! I have already searched for the fastest most humane way to dispatch any rabbit we are eating, and I decided on rabbits due to small space requirements, fast meat production (4 months from breeding to plate), and the fact that rabbit is a SUPER low fat meat!
Our rabbits are treated really well. The gray one is a little afraid of us, but is warming up. They frequently get treats in addition to their food, chew toys, and we let them out to play sometimes.
Anyway I just wanted to make this post to get other people to consider it. We live in an urban type environment so we don't have the acreage to raise big animals for meat, and we aren't planning on going vegetarian anytime soon. We are urban homesteaders now, and we are becoming self sufficient and my goal is to be able to provide our baby when we finally can have one the healthiest food.
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