My new rabbit line.

[wsmoak]

I like the grey/brown color, like wild rabbits. That's one reason I'm not thrilled about New Zealands or Californians... mostly white, with red eyes.

How long do you wait to process them, and how much do yours weigh at that time?

I just did my first at 12 weeks. They are 3-4 lbs live, and I got 2 lbs of meat on the bone. The buck and doe are between 4 and 5 lbs, so I don't expect them to get huge.

-Wendy

 

[hoodat]

My growout cage is usually pretty full so I start butchering as soon as they are big enough to make it worthwhile, usually around 8 to 11 weeks. Those are fryers. When they get past that age I have plenty of recipes for moist cooking. You can follow the recipe for coq au vin and just substitute rabbit for chicken. In fact you can do that for virtually any chicken recipe. In many recipes you can sustitute rabbit for pork. Those I cull at a later age such as those I am watching for breeeders who don't make the grade are used for stew or soup meat. There are good recipes out there for rabbits of any size or age.