Dec 17, 2023·edited Dec 17, 2023Liked by David B Lauterwasser
I am really, really enjoying my rabbit raising project and I am so glad you are too. One of the big reasons why is precisely as you said - it seems relatively easy to meet their requirements for a very pleasant existence.
9 out of 10 people I meet respond the same as the locals you mention, who "comment that they couldn’t bring themselves to butcher domesticated animals, because they “pity” them." I raise chickens as well and most people never say such a thing in response to the birds. But the rabbits because they are "cute" bring out this hypocrisy in the extreme. I always respond with "Oh. Are you a vegetarian?" and they always say "No" but that they prefer to get their meat at the store. And I say something like "Oh, you prefer it when they are tortured first with horrible lives?" Lol It would be annoying if I didn't truly enjoy the silver lining of making people examine their embarrassing hypocrisy. But yes there is definite taboo about rabbit meat here. And people dont seem to understand its a domesticated meat source. They think it will be "game-y" with stringy, sparse meat...
I anticipate that the ease of care, relatively low and economical energy inputs for feed, small space requirements and valuable utility as fertilizer producers is going to make rabbit meat popular in the coming years as the polycrisis continues. I think it's smart to be getting ahead of the game now!
Really excited to hear more! We have a lot of wild rabbits - I'm excited to see how this goes as I've always been intrigued by keeping rabbits. I'd love to learn about your chicken coop work as well
I got really good results with sweet potatoes by soaking it in a slurry of forest soil + water (just massage it to release the organisms into the water). I soaked the leaves for 15 minutes - I got nearly double the yield by soaking it.
Excited to see how you go with rabbits in the long run. Totally relate to caring for a herbivore completely changing the way you view "weedy" vegetation. Every plant is useful if you find a way to use it.
We are considering rabbits too, in addition to our already overwhelming zoo. Mostly for our daughter but i am also curious about a small meat animal that doesnt need any grain. The goats are great but too big to slaughter for a small family without adding to our already packed small fridge.
I have a neighbour that keeps some rabbits free ranging around the house. The cats often eat the babies and they say the males sometimes fight and kill each other. So the population is still small, despite the amount of space and vegetation they have access to.
I am really, really enjoying my rabbit raising project and I am so glad you are too. One of the big reasons why is precisely as you said - it seems relatively easy to meet their requirements for a very pleasant existence.
9 out of 10 people I meet respond the same as the locals you mention, who "comment that they couldn’t bring themselves to butcher domesticated animals, because they “pity” them." I raise chickens as well and most people never say such a thing in response to the birds. But the rabbits because they are "cute" bring out this hypocrisy in the extreme. I always respond with "Oh. Are you a vegetarian?" and they always say "No" but that they prefer to get their meat at the store. And I say something like "Oh, you prefer it when they are tortured first with horrible lives?" Lol It would be annoying if I didn't truly enjoy the silver lining of making people examine their embarrassing hypocrisy. But yes there is definite taboo about rabbit meat here. And people dont seem to understand its a domesticated meat source. They think it will be "game-y" with stringy, sparse meat...
I anticipate that the ease of care, relatively low and economical energy inputs for feed, small space requirements and valuable utility as fertilizer producers is going to make rabbit meat popular in the coming years as the polycrisis continues. I think it's smart to be getting ahead of the game now!
Really excited to hear more! We have a lot of wild rabbits - I'm excited to see how this goes as I've always been intrigued by keeping rabbits. I'd love to learn about your chicken coop work as well
I got really good results with sweet potatoes by soaking it in a slurry of forest soil + water (just massage it to release the organisms into the water). I soaked the leaves for 15 minutes - I got nearly double the yield by soaking it.
Excited to see how you go with rabbits in the long run. Totally relate to caring for a herbivore completely changing the way you view "weedy" vegetation. Every plant is useful if you find a way to use it.
We are considering rabbits too, in addition to our already overwhelming zoo. Mostly for our daughter but i am also curious about a small meat animal that doesnt need any grain. The goats are great but too big to slaughter for a small family without adding to our already packed small fridge.
I have a neighbour that keeps some rabbits free ranging around the house. The cats often eat the babies and they say the males sometimes fight and kill each other. So the population is still small, despite the amount of space and vegetation they have access to.