Rabbits are beautiful. Whether it is the sensibility they bring to the suburban farm, the companionship of being a pet, or the lore and mystery that surround them, they are truly a blessing to Nature. I fell in love with rabbits when I read
Watership Down. When Carly bought me two rabbits for my birthday in 2011 our thought was that they would be pets. When we were surprised with a litter from what we thought were two bucks we didn't know what to do. Eventually it came to us that we had a supplement to the farm. Rabbits. Rabbits for meat and for compost. We let them breed again. Eventually we had five rabbits that were ready to harvest.
Today we harvested two. In the above picture Carly is making her first cuts to begin the skinning process. Until today I had never killed anything. Never hunted, never even killed a squirrel. I am so grateful to have the help and support of our friend Paul, an experienced hunter that had never killed farmed rabbits before. I explained the research I had done for humane killing and he told me that it made sense so we went with that plan. Paul helped me keep my nerve and prevent the rabbit from suffering. Adrenaline and shock coursed through me as we followed through on the promise Carly and I had made ourselves, that we would love and care for rabbits and they, in turn, would give their lives for our benefit.
We almost chickened out. The mixture of running into the unknown and following through on an ideal clashed. I'd talked to Paul about helping us before. When I mentioned to him a few weeks ago that the rabbits were ready he was excited to help immediately. The problem was that we neither had the nerve nor the space. I set a date for the future and then I started cleaning the garage.
Part of making a kill area included making a start area. With a florescent light and a heat pad we hope to see these plants growing in the garden this spring, fertilized by the super fuel of rabbit manure. Rabbit manure is arguably the best fertilizer that could be found. Nature is beautiful. In order for rabbits to maintain their diets of plants it is necessary for them to be able to perpetuate more plants. A pesky rabbit will destroy a garden, but a well kept rabbit will make a garden thrive. It will be rewarded with carrot tops, broccoli stems, and an abundance of greens from the yard.
It doesn't take much space to harvest, skin, and gut a rabbit. A card table in the garage was more than sufficient.
After Paul helped me with the kill and helped Carly with the basics of skinning the first rabbit was prepared. Carly and Paul worked on both sides of the rabbit skinning carefully. Once the rabbit was dead it was easy for Carly to see it as a piece of meat to work with, similar to preparing a chicken that was purchased at a grocery store. The actual skinning was more difficult than she thought it would be, but time and practice will help her develop this never-used skill.
Rabbit is one of the leanest meats that can be consumed. It has less cholesterol than beef, pork, and chicken, and requires less feed and land. Not only is it good for the garden, it is good for the body and has less negative environmental impact in comparison to other meat protein.
This one rabbit will add a generous amount of nutrition and flavor to a numerous amount of dishes. Rabbit stew is common, but rabbit meat can be shredded into meat for tacos and cooked as a pastor, hindquarters can be grilled, or it can be used in a stir fry. Furthermore we kept the heart, liver, kidney, and lungs. Eventually we will combine several of these to make a pate or terrine that is excellent with dijon mustard, a few nice cheeses, and crackers.
The usefulness of the rabbit doesn't stop at the meat. Right now the skins being preserved in salt. Eventually they will be tanned and meet a number of uses. Tanned skins, bones, ears, and feet will all be incorporated into jewelry, hair accessories, decorations, and other undiscovered uses to get the most out of our rabbits.
Even the heads have been used to cook into stock that we will use for chili later on this week. We love our rabbits dearly. I had no pleasure in harvesting the rabbits. Killing didn't feel good and I don't want to lose the respect for life we have gained from this experience. I respect the rabbit. I want it to be healthy. I want it to be well fed so it can help me grow my garden. I want it to be protected from predators so it can grow large. I want to take care of it. I'm so glad that when it comes time for harvest it too will take care of me.
