Summer Update #4 - Rabbits - White, Red, Black & Broken New Zealands

[@anthonyjones5061]

I love your set up!

[@patrickinottawa27]

Wow.. Was it long winded, no. I quite enjoyed learning a little bit. Loved seeing the black and white rabbit, and the various colors that can be bred. All I have ever seen was the typical white bunny. Till a few months ago, I never knew there was a difference between a pet sized bunny, and one you would raise for meat. I have to ask, cause I'm curious. What does a rabbit taste like, and is there a difference in taste between the breeds? Pat

[@tacticalhomesteader]

P McAuley There all kinds of rabbits - lots of folks around here breeding the toy sized pet rabbits. Those obviously don't interest us. Mrs. Tactical Homesteader is enjoying getting into the showing of rabbits and having pedigreed lines, and the kids love. Bonus for me, the better rabbits are for show of the New Zealand the variety, the larger they are and thus the more meat they have. Being new at this ourselves (less than a 2 years), we were raising our rabbits out to 12-13 weeks before slaughter. The New Zealand's we have now are much larger, and their offspring should be able to harvested legitimately in 8 weeks. We've had different varieties in our learning phase - Palomino, California mix, a couple of Satins, and a couple of unknown varieties. Honestly, they all taste the same. It's easy to say it tastes like chicken because that's as close to a "industrial" meat as you can get, but it's got a much better taste than chicken from the store. We substitute our rabbit meat in just about any meal you could think of that you would use chicken - we've grilled it, fried it (breaded & unbreaded), baked it, made fajitas, tacos & quesadillas with it. We haven't smoked any yet, but that's on the list. It's good - between the culled cockerels from the spring, our half cow, and the rabbits, we generally don't buy meat at the store anymore.

[@carebearhotwheels1]

waiting on the freezer?

[@tacticalhomesteader]

carebearhotwheels1 If they are not sold, they will be slaughtered at 12 weeks and either cooked or stored in the freezer.