I take pride in my rabbits and raise them for show, pets, and yes even for meat. Rabbits that do not meet show quality still serve a purpose providing a nourishing meal to our family. Even my meat rabbits, however, are raised in a caring and humane setting, handled from birth and provided a loving environment. I see no reason that rabbits that will be culled should not enjoy a rich life and lots of love.
My meat rabbits feed my family with lean, nutritious meat. I know that some people think it's weird to eat rabbit. It used to be that eating rabbit was almost as common in the United States as it still is today in Europe and Canada where it is still easy to find in grocery stores. Not only is the meat delicious, it is very nutritious as well!
Rabbit Meat Calculator: Useful to calculate out how many rabbits you need to feed your family.
--Rabbits have been used for meat as far back as 1500 BC --Rabbits breed and grow quickly; two healthy 10 pound does can produce more than 600 pounds of meat a year (an average dressed yield for a year-old beef steer is only 400 pounds). --Rabbits are quiet and easy to keep in sanitary conditions so they work well even in small or urban areas. --Rabbit meat can be used in almost all recipes that call for chicken, since it has a similar flavor (but is a bit more complex... mmm....). --Rabbits are both a smart economical choice and ecological choice; using the same amount of food and water that a steer needs to produce 1 pound of meat, a rabbit can produce 6 pounds. --Rabbits are efficient feeders, needing only 4 pounds of feed to make 1 pound of meat. --Rabbit contains less cholesterol than turkey or chicken, and has a very low percentage of fat and a very high percentage of easily digestible protein. --Rabbit has a higher meat to bone ratio than chicken, meaning there is less more and more edible meat on the same size carcass. --Rabbit has a low calorie value and is more filling and easier to digest than other meats, meaning less is needed per meal. A 3 ounce serving of rabbit meat contains 167.5 calories as opposed to the same sized portion of: beef 259.3, pork 180.2. --Rabbit processing is fairly easy and can be done at home; in addition, rabbits can be processed year-round since they do not have a specific breeding season. --Raising your own rabbits means you control what goes into your meat, so no added hormones or antibiotics. --Rabbit is suitable for special diets such as those for heart disease patients, diets for the aged, low sodium diets, weight reduction diets, etc. --A 3 ounce serving of rabbit provides 117.6% of your recommended B-12, 35.8% of your recommended B3, 46.8% of your recommended selenium, and 22.4% of your recommended phosphorus. --Rabbit is all white meat.
All in all, raising rabbits for meat seems like a wise choice. Plus rabbit is quite tasty!