Meat Project

It is no secret that I extreme downsized on my Mini Lops and filled those cages with Californians and a Satin. This is the lowest # of ML's I've had in 10 years. It hurts, like no other to see all those years of work practically go down the drain. I kept what I wanted, and will produce a few litters and just show here & there. That's what I like. I KNOW I can't be super competitive this way, but right now in my life -- it's only right. My paycheck only extends so far after bills and feed and since they aren't bringing in a lot of income, I have to keep things to a minimum.

On the upside, I've dabbled in meat rabbits here & there. I haven't really raised any since my last few years in 4-H where I got into market pens & fryers. We've replaced our diet with a lot more chicken and rarely any beef. Prices do affect this, but since my dad spent 5 months in the hospital, since he came home his diet has changed. He can't really process red meat and quite frankly, I'm ok with not eating it too. Chicken is expensive. I hate buying it from the store.

Rabbit meat is better for you. It tastes just as good. And in addition to having a puppy where dog food is insanely expensive, I'm hoping to meet two goals: produce enough rabbit to have stored to make use of a few times a week, and to feed my dog raw liver/lung/kidney & hearts & replace one of his meals with cooked rabbit. Plus I have an insane rabbit jerky recipe that is way healthier than any beef jerky you can get in the store.

I got my meat bunnies at the end of March. I had to buy them as babies. Watching them grow up is a painful process, but each day they are making the wait worth it. They are growing by leaps and bounds -- they are massive little creatures and are just coming up on 4 months. I had to get rid of the American chin lot, but the Satin doe did have 7 babies bred to a Champagne D Argent buck.

So I am tracking how much I have spent on the project and end of December I'll try to determine how it all adds up! :) Wish me luck.