baby bunnies

So when I said we gave the rooster away, I should say we actually kind of "exchanged" him for a pair of grey rabbits.  They were from a friend of the friend who took the rooster off out hands, and were about 4 months old when we got them.  About that same time, a completely different friend of a friend offered to give us his two rabbits (both California giants, one white, and one black and white spotted) and two rabbit hutches as well.  So all of the sudden we had four rabbits and two hutches...for free!  I summoned up all my past 4-H knowledge and attempted to decipher the sex of all of them, and as far as I could tell, we had one buck and three does.  We left the two grey ones in together (one of which was the buck). Sure enough I came outside to feed them one day and they were doing their thing...except the buck had the poor doe's front confused with her back...I got a good chuckle out of that, let me tell you.

Apparently they got everything figured out, because about 2 1/2 weeks ago she had a bunch of baby bunnies.

This doe has proved to be a much better mama then our first, and the 6 babies are looking plump and healthy and stinkin' adorable.  One of them is a little crippled, we're not really sure what happened to him, but we think that he somehow got out of the nesting box and the chickens pecked at his legs from under the hutch...just one more reason to put them in their coop.

My husband has already bred another doe (a really big white one who already looks pregnant) and is going ahead with the rabbit raising/eating plan.  I'm still not sold on the idea, especially because these baby  bunnies are so dang cute, but fortunately it's his enterprise and I just get to hold baby bunnies.

I'm enjoying the cuteness while it lasts, anyway.

jen g.

rabbit fail {or} what to do when your food has a face

I couldn't decide on a title for this post because it's very complex...so I gave it two.

It is also NOT for the faint of heart.

We have some friends who raise rabbits to sell and eat and, about a month ago, they were kind enough to gift us a pregnant doe. Our intent is to practice sustainability by raising rabbits as a food source. This was primarily Kevin's idea, and really a good one, at that. But, I must admit I have mixed feelings about this, as I have never raised anything for the sole purpose of eating it. This is very strange, because I have eaten meat my whole life.  It is a curious thing that, in a society where meat is literally at the center of every meal, there is such a disconnect between meat and the animals it comes from.

But I'm getting ahead of myself.

Last Saturday, the doe began "nesting". She pulled a ridiculous amount of her fur out and lined the nesting box Dan made for her a few weeks ago.  I recognized this behavior from some articles I had read online about rabbits giving birth (which is called kindling...betcha didn't know that).

Sure enough, Sunday morning before church I went out to check on her and she had given birth to 9 babies (kits).

Now,  I must tell you that this particular doe is quite young (5 months) and had already given birth to one litter that did not survive, so I was quite concerned about these little ones.

Because someday I'll eat them.

Do you see how weird this is?

Anyway, as the day went on, I discovered, to my dismay, that the doe did not seem to be spending any time in the box with her kits, and was concerned that she may not be feeding them. So I called our friends up and asked them if this was normal, and they said yes, it is very normal.  Rabbits, it turns out, are not very nurturing mothers.  They feed their kits and then they get as far away from them as possible... I guess I can empathize. Nevertheless, I told that mama doe she'd better take care of her babies, or I would eat her.

It seemed that we had an understanding.

Alas, Tuesday night I came home from work, to find 9 dead kits strewn about the rabbit hutch.  The doe had dumped over the nesting box and killed them all. I will not attempt to tell you how horrified I was.  Every maternal instinct in me revolted at the thought that a mother would do this to her offspring, even if she was just an animal.

Apparently this is a very common thing for rabbits to do, and no one knows exactly why they do it.  There are many theories, and the conclusion is that the doe does it to somehow protect her young, either from predators, or from starvation if she feels there is not enough food to sustain them.

It doesn't make it any easier.

The next morning, having deemed the doe unfit for breeding, Kevin and our friend Joe, butchered her and fried her up for lunch.  As disgusted as I was with her postpartum massacre (and despite my promise to eat her if her kits died), I was still very reticent to partake in the meal.  But I tried a few bites...in the hope that I'll get used to it.

She tasted just like chicken.

jen g.