Feed meat rabbits a high quality rabbit feed pellet  along with fresh timothy or alfalfa hay and other supplements. High quality does not always mean high priced but the pellets should contain at least 16% fiber to stimulate gut function and prevent diarrhea and hairballs. The major ingredient in rabbit feed should be legumous hay and is usually alfalfa.

To keep rabbit teeth worn down, supply your rabbit with twigs and branches for them to chew on. You might choose twigs from apple, fir, hazel, hawthorn, maple, pear, spruce or willow trees. You can also feed meat rabbits cuttings from blackberry and raspberry patches, including the leaves and fruit.

Don’t give your rabbits lots of cabbage and lettuce at once because it may disrupt the balance of good bacteria in the rabbit’s stomach, causing diarrhea. Corn, cauliflower and turnips should also be fed in moderation.

Meat rabbits can also be fed lots of different fruits and vegetables. Things which are good to feed them are: apples, bananas, blackberries, broccoli, carrots, celery, cucumbers, endive, kohlrabi, melons, pears, plantains, pok choi, parsnips, pumpkins, radish greens, raspberries, strawberries, Swiss chard, tomatoes, watercress and even watermelon.

Or try a a variety of different herbs like basil, borage, chamomile, caraway, celeriac, chervil, coriander, dill, horseradish, lavender, marjoram, parsley, peppermint, sage and savory.

This is only a small sampling of what meat rabbits eat. To learn more, sign up for our newsletter. You’ll get a complete list of common plants, vegetables, herbs, fruits, twigs, flowers and more which are safe to feed your meat rabbits absolutely free. A complete list of unsafe foods is also included.

Italian-style Rabbit Skewers

Ingredients

• 1 large Rabbit (about 3 1/2 pounds)
• Salt & pepper, to taste
• 1 parsley sprig, finely chopped
• 1 rosemary sprig, finely chopped
• 1/4 pound Parma ham, thinly sliced (12 slices)
• 12 sage leaves
• 6 small Italian sausages
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 6 skewers (If using wood be sure to soak them in water for 30 minutes before grilling)

Directions

1. Bone the rabbit carefully, keeping the pieces of meat as large as possible. Wipe down the rabbit meat with a damp cloth or rinse it then pat dry with paper towels. Cut rabbit meat into 12 even-sized pieces then lay them out and flatten them slightly.
2. Season rabbit with salt, pepper, parsley and rosemary. Put a slice of ham on each slice of rabbit and roll up tightly.
3. Thread 1 rabbit/ham roll, 1 sage leaf, 1 sausage, another rabbit roll and another sage leaf onto each skewer. Brush skewer ingredients with oil and place on charcoal grill. Rack should be as close as possible to the heat source. Turn the skewers occasionally, each time brushing with oil. Alternatively, the skewers can be baked in a slow oven at 350 degrees F for one hour.

Hope you have a wonderful Fourth of July weekend!

Rabbit Kabobs

INGREDIENTS

• Cooked rabbit meat, cut into chunks
• Bacon to wrap rabbit
• Cherry tomatoes
• Green bell peppers, cut into chunks
• Pineapple, cut into chunks
• Small whole mushrooms or large ones cut into chunks
• Pearl onions
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce
• 3 tablespoons vinegar
• 1 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper

DIRECTIONS

1. Prepare skewers one day ahead of time. Alternate meat chunks with vegetables on the skewers.
2. Combine sauce ingredients. Place skewers in a plastic container or resealable bag and pour marinade over them. Marinate in fridge overnight.
3. Grill rabbit skewers over hot coals for 15 minutes, turning periodically.

Slow Grilled Honey Rabbit

INGREDIENTS

• 2 tablespoons butter or margarine
• 3/4 cup vinegar (try out different kinds for new flavors – apple cider, white wine, tarragon, lime and chili, etc)
• 1 cup honey
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 fryer-sized rabbit, cut into portions

DIRECTIONS

1. Melt butter in a small saucepan. Stir in vinegar, honey, Worcestershire sauce and salt. Heat through until thoroughly combined.
2. Set grill rack to highest level for lowest heat. Place rabbit on rack. Turn rabbit frequently, basting with sauce often. Grill/smoke 1 to 1 1/2 hours until rabbit has a golden color and is tender.

Good places to start looking for meat rabbits:

• Classified ads in your local newspaper and free classifieds fliers
• Search Craigslist in your area
• Call your local feed store and ask if they know someone in the area
• The American Rabbit Breeder Association’s website (www.arba.net/Breeders.php). You can narrow your search to specific states and meat rabbit breeds.

A visit to the rabbit breeder’s facilities should tell you about their standards and if you want a bunny from them. A clean rabbitry is a healthy rabbitry. If the place seems dirty or smells, leave. No excuses are acceptable.

Steer clear of pet stores, flea markets and backyard breeders. Rescue organizations and animal shelters are a good source for a pet bunny, but not a place to start your breeding line.

When you do find a breeder you feel comfortable with and select your bunnies, make sure the breeder demonstrates how to sex rabbits (determine male from female.) Explaining it is harder than seeing it and the information will be vital when you’re trying to figure out which rabbits to breed, butcher or sell. Once the rabbits become more mature, some physical traits will give away their sex: medium and large breed does (females) have nipples and a dewlap (a large skin fold under their chin); bucks (males) have blockier heads, are usually a bit smaller than does and tent to have visible testicles after 3 months of age.

• Silver Fox
  Adult Size: Large (9-12 pounds/ 4.1-5.4 kilograms)
  The Silver Fox is considered the teddy bear of the commercial breed and is very well suited for meat breeding. It has a high dress out percentage (65%) with a small boned carcass, does are excellent mothers with large litters, they have plenty of milk and they make excellent foster mothers. They are also gentle, easy to handle, like attention and have beautiful long fur. Their fur resembles the pelt of an Arctic silver fox: coarse, extremely dense and 1 ½ to 2 inches long. Kits are born either solid black or blue and silvering will start at 4 weeks, taking about 4 months to complete. Unlike any other rabbit breed, when the fur is stroked backwards from tail to head, it will stand straight up until stroked in the opposite direction. The breed is considered critically endangered and is not recognized in outside the U.S., although in Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom there is a breed called Silver Fox, which is actually the same rabbit breed as the Silver Marten in America.
• Satin
  Adult Size: Large (8.5-12 pounds/ 3.9-5.4 kilograms)
  The Satin breed has translucent hair shafts that reflect light, giving the coat a very high sheen. Coat color ranges from black to copper to white…and many things in between. A high protein diet supplemented with sunflower seeds helps maintain good body tone and a healthy coat but no special care other than routine brushing is required. Satins have one of the best meat-to-bone ratios of the commercial breeds. Other characteristics which make them great for meat production are their good growth rates, their great motherly instincts and their ease of breeding.
• Champagne d’Argent
  Adult Size: Large (10-15 pounds/ 4.75-6.8 kilograms)
  The Champagne d’Argent is one of the oldest known rabbit breeds, existing in the Champagne province of France for over 400 years. Then called the French Silver for its silvery coat, it was once prized for its pelt despite being a common breed. Bunnies are born pure black, begin turning silver grey at about 3 weeks and are completely silver grey by 6 months. Champagnes are not so common in America today, but their popularity is increasing. The rabbit has a medium length with well-developed hind-quarters.
• Harlequin
  Adult Size: Medium (7-9 pounds/ 2.7-3.6 kilograms)
  Harlequins are usually pretty docile, make good mothers and foster kits well. The ideal age for a Harlequin doe to start breeding is 5 to 6 months old. There are two varieties of Harlequins: Japanese are golden orange with colored markings and the Magpie is white with colored markings. A well bred Harlequin will have white or orange on one side of the face with a straight, clean line dividing it from the other side of the face, which would be colored. The ear attached to the white or orange side would be colored, and the ear attached to the colored side would be white or orange. The body is alternately striped with white or orange and color.

In the last 5 months, the family has lost about $1500 worth of rabbits. This last heist took the rabbits that the family was planning to sell in just 10 days. Those profits would have allowed the family to break even for the year. But now they’re just shutting their doors, disheartened about everything that has happened and wondering why. Read the full article here

What can we learn from all this?

• Unless you’re selling show rabbits or expecting to sell to the public, don’t let your rabbitry become too publicly known.
  The Byers had this rabbitry in operation since 1987 with no troubles at all. Why they were hit so many times in the past 5 months is anyone’s guess. And because rabbits are generally very quiet animals, you can even raise them in the middle of the city without being noticed. It sure seems that someone was keeping a close watch on what was going on in this particular rabbitry and they even have had experience raising rabbits themselves.
• Keep your rabbits in a secure area that not only deters predators but also thieves.
  The family mentioned that they didn’t even have a lock on the barn door where the rabbits were housed. Perhaps they felt it just wasn’t necessary since they’d never had problems before, but unfortunately people are just not as trustworthy as they used to be.

According to reports on the Internet and other news sources, it is becoming more prevelant for animal rights activists to target breeders of all kinds. They may vandalize, terrorize and otherwise threaten your operation with hopes of driving you out of business. Plus you never know who might decide they are more worthy of your rabbits and their income – or who are just desperate to put food on the table.

• Californian
  Adult Size: Medium (7-10 pounds/ 3.5-4.75 kilograms)
  Californian rabbits were developed in the USA in the 1920’s to provide good meat and fur production. Californians are a cross of Himalayan, Standard Chinchilla and New Zealand white rabbits and are currently the second most popular meat producing rabbits in the world. The body is plump but fine-boned. Californian rabbits look very similar to the Himalayan rabbit with a predominantly white body and black on the feet, nose, ears and tail. Their average litter size is 6-8 bunnies.
• New Zealand
  Adult Size: Large (8-12 pounds/ 3.6-5.4 kilograms)
  Despite the name, New Zealand rabbits were first bred in America in 1916 for meat and fur production and are currently the number one meat rabbit in the United States. They come in several different colors (black, red and white) but the white rabbits are the most popular for meat production because of their large, broad, and muscular bodies. When mature, bucks weigh from 8-10 pounds and females from 9-12 pounds. New Zealand rabbits are ready to slaughter as fryers after just 2 months. Their average litter size is 8-10 bunnies.
• Florida White
  Adult Size: Small (4-6 pounds/ 1.8-2.7 kilograms)
  Although this rabbit is quite small, it was bred in Florida in the 1960’s as a meat rabbit which would also be functional for laboratory use. The fur is white with good density and texture, and they have a compact, meaty body, short neck, and small head.
• Palomino
  Adult Size: Large (8-11 pounds/ 3.6-5 kilograms)
  Palomino rabbits have a smaller bone structure than other meat rabbits which gives you a higher meat ratio. But they take a bit longer to grow. Bucks are 8-10 pounds and does usually range from 9-11 pounds. Litter size is usually 8 kits but can range from 6 to 12. Palominos come in two colors: Golden & Lynx. The Golden has an orange/brown golden color (as the name suggests) and the Lynx has a bit more grey or silver tone in the fur. They have a very docile and friendly temperament.
• Beveren
  Adult Size: Medium (8-11 pounds/ 3.6-5 kilograms)
  The Beveren is one of the oldest and largest breeds of fur rabbits, originating in Belgium. Their coats can be blue, white, black, brown and lilac. They are a rare breed but well tempered, clean, and smart. The fur is rather long (about 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 inches), dense and glossy. The breed is hardy and well suited for meat production because of large litter size, the young grow fairly fast, and the does are typically docile and make good mothers.