*canning in the cupboards, meat in the freezer

This past week Eric and I started our day off with the duties of a homesteader at the top of our list.  When you raise rabbits for meat that means there has to be a butchering day, or that you load them up and take them to a processor.  We do it all from the breeding to the freezing right her at Erilyn.  We have had our feeder pens full for a little while now, but time has just not presented itself for a butcher date as we might have liked.

We started our morning off with prepping.  Cutting instruments, clean towels, hot pots of water, trash can lined, with holding food from the ones who would be butchered on this day.. etc. I am sure you don't want all the details.   I must tell you though, that Eric and I operate as a fantastic team. He kills and I butcher. We rocked it and killed, butchered, prepared for freezer - 20 rabbits which dressed out at approximately 32 pounds of meat.  Thirty-Two pounds of the leanest cleanest white meat you will find!  It has been dubbed as "cute meat".  So if you are at my house and we are eating cute meat AKA rabbit, enjoy!

We have 5 more fryers that are finishing out which will likely take a month or so, then we will be able to butcher them too.  Other that that we are down to our two does (breeding stock) and our buck (breeding stock) and one new litter of 6 that was born just this past week.   We are so grateful for the opportunity to raise our own healthy lean meat for our table!

*last litter for Athena until the fall

Last week our one year old New Zealand mix, Athena, kindled her last litter of the spring. Athena's maternal instincts are very good and she has taken good care of each litter she has given birth to. It seems her magic number is 9, she had 5 light colored babies and 4 dark ones. They grow so very fast, one day they are completely naked and a few days later they have fur coming in like crazy. If you have been reading my blog for a while you have caught on that we are all about providing good food sources for our family. Unfortunately over the years the food industry has gone wacko if you ask me. A lot of the food we buy from the grocer isn't really food at all but genetically engineered filler. If you haven't already watched Food Inc, I encourage you to do so. It will open your eyes to some interesting facts that you might otherwise know.

One of my friends asked me a while back if we were "preppers". It was the first time I had heard this term. I have learned quite a bit about "preppers" since and I would have to answer no, we are not preppers, but sustainers. We are looking for a sustainable food source and living conditions for our family. As others has said regarding the food industry that we currently have, it is not sustainable.

All of that to say this, rabbit meat is an excellent lean white meat for your dinner table. I know, I know you have heard this from me before, but lets go a bit further. You know that chicken that you bought from the grocer last week and are planning to make a tasty meal from.. it is chocked full of antibiotics, hormones, pesticides and herbicides, and on top of that they were grown as mass production in cramped conditions which stresses them out. What about that beef that came from the grocer which was grown on a feed lot? Don't get me wrong we do eat some beef and some other meats from the grocer. We just think that if we can provide more meat from the safety of our barn and property to our table we avoid the toxicity of what commerically produced meats now carry.

Many folks don't always understand why we are doing what we are doing and may think us strange. This is a little peek into our minds. Sustainability is what it is about for us. We do our best to educate and share the enthusiasm with as many that are interested who are in our sphere of influence. What we do here on a small scale is what the meat industry is doing to provide you with meat. Except our meat is clean, antibiotic free, hormone free and kindly raised. No different end result, meat.

*kindle, the rabbit kind

Three of our does were bred about 60+ days ago, the allotted time passed, no kits (babies).  So, we put them back in the bucks den to try it again. Thirty days pass and the does did indeed kindle this time.  All three of them, unfortunately I misread one of the does and did not put her nest box back in based on some of her actions or lack of and we lost all 5 of her babies.  Anyone that says this life is simple and easy has not lived it.   Our other two does, Athena and Isis provided us with a total of 16 precious little ones. Two of Athena's died during the birthing process.

Athena started pulling out her fur several days before the babies were due and make a nice warn nest for the coming babies!

Isis is our one of our Californian does who gave birth to 12 little ones in the summer and she has done it again.  This winter she has birthed 11 babies. I was not surprised. Athena only had 5 and two died, I was surprised by this low number but grateful that I could let her foster some of Isis's babies to increase the possibilities of raising a larger number when it is all said and done. You see if a doe is bred alone and she has more than she and feed , the weakest one likely will not make it past the first few days. The runts, or smaller ones have a harder time getting their feedings in and they continue to get weaker and weaker and no longer fight to feed. So, with this in mind, Athena now has 7 babies to nurse each night and Isis has 7 as well.

As I mentioned before, this lifestyle we have chosen is refreshing, rewarding and thrilling. It really is. But I know that it too can be hard and painful. You can read, research and try to be prepared but often the education comes only through hands on experience. Some experiences you might wish to opt out of, like the recent kindling of Nirn (our other doe who lost all of her babies).  I, the keeper, failed her. I did not provide her with the nesting box because she did not show any signs of maternity. She was not doing the normal things the other does do when birthing time is arriving.  I assumed wrongly that her mating did not "take".   In the future, if any of our does were bred, they will be getting a nesting box no matter what their behavior might be.   Many of you might ask why I am effected by this since we are killing them for meat anyway. Let me just say it is a totally different situation. I am sad when any of the animals die or are needlessly killed by a predator.  I am saddened by the sickness that might cause a death in any of our animals, meat animals or providers either one.  As I said to my sister the other day, it is what we have chosen, and by faith I will walk it out. 

OH, and for those who are interested in rabbit care etc, check this out, but DON'T tell our rabbits!  Our rabbits are well cared for  but not on this level.

~Lynnie

*observe the cuteness

OH MY GOODNESS. WOW. These little critter are so adorable. They are some of the softest, sweetest things you have laid eyes on. We are going to keep eat every one of them at some point. Well not every one, we will be keeping a buck and doe for a dear friend of mine who wishes to start breeding for meat purposes as well.  We are also selling one as a pet and we will likely be keeping one or two does for breeding stock. 

I am not getting a thing done around here. I sit for hours watching them in their cuteness. Just kidding, as if I could sit still that long!  I love the way the two have their hands on the one in front of them. 

 Don't you want to come over to the nursery? Feeding time is only once a day, so visiting hours are wide open.  I find it amazing that the mother only has to feed her babies once a day, usually in the night. She hops in the nesting box, gets herself ready, stands over the babies while they lay on their back and nurse.  Her milk is so potent (if I can say that), that only one feeding per day is necessary.

Go ahead and sign me up, cause I know I am going to need help of the psychological kind when butchering time comes.  Oh.. for you readers who said no more discussions on what  happens at week 11, I am sorry. Guilty as charged, again. 

On a serious note, we started out initially with a total of 20 kits (baby rabbits).  Shortly after the two does kindled (had their babies), we checked both litters and found that Isis had lost 3 in the birthing process. A few days later we found 2 more that didn't make it, we chalked that up to heat.  We ended up taking every last bit of bedding out of the nesting boxes. Both Isis and Athena continued to pull their fur out to make a nest for their babies and covering them up all the while.  They have finally stopped and no longer seem to be worried about their young being fully covered. This past week we watched 4 more slowly lose the life that was once in them. Firstly, I was surprised that Isis had 12 young kits and was not taken by surprise when finding that 3 did not make it past the birthing, but I was a bit taken back by the others.  The other ones we lost may be due to heat or being the runts of the bunch. We do not know the exact reason, but one thing we have learned from these litters - we will not breed our does again in the month of May, June, July or early August due to heat issues.