Raising Rabbits as a Survival Food?

With the added bonus that goats can range and eat almost anything, can be trained to pack, and while packing don't require feed unless there absolutely no vegetation around
 
Critters are about the same to butcher, only difference being a matter of scale. As to the coons, this is what I meant about predators being another meat source. A live trap can be set and there is a lot of meat on a grown raccoon. Weasels, possums, foxes, and coons are but a few of the predators to watch out for. Owls and hawks will also kill chickens if given the chance. Some snakes are fond of eggs, but neighbors' dogs can be the worst. My own dogs kept most of the predators away and knew better than to mess with my chickens.
 
I do raise Rabbits. I do eat them too. Raising them as a food source for occasional food is fine, but you will want other meat as well. I have what is called here California Meat Rabbits. Good size and good amount of meat. I also raise French Lops. They are very large and fatty (my buck is 20#) it is my understanding they are for fur. I have eaten a french and it does taste different but still edible, and they do have more fat on them than the meat rabbits.

As for pigeons I have a funny story. When I was in college I was broke (like most students). I had asked a girl on a date and realized I had no money. I racked my brain how I was going to pull this off. When sitting on the back porch I saw about a dozen pigeons sitting on the power line. Having grown up eating dove I figured they couldn't be that different. I got my trusty B-B gun and shot one. A while went by and I got another, and then another, and about an hour later I had 6 pigeons. I cooked them up and called them cornish hens and she thought I must be a super chef. I don't think I would do it again and I understand that it was against the law to do that, but I was desperate and not really thinking with the right brain. The date went great and the food wasn't bad. In a survival situation I would eat pigeons, but I sure wouldn't want that as my sole source for meat.
Dan
 
In the far north of here during fall and winter the grouse and ptarmigan are everywhere. The ptarmigan stay pretty much all winter and have a great chunk of breast meat. That's Indian survival food I suppose. Their main food source was Caribou and fish. I'd kill city pigeon with an air rifle it it all crashed. I did grouse\ptarmigan with one..177 pointed pellets and a little 4X scope. Head\neck shots. The native kids shot basket loads of them.
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Caribou skull
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havent raised rabbits as such .. my grandfather did teach me how to trap rabbit warrens so you didnt trap them out .. always had some left to breed more , and how to make a kinda of loop where you trap a few here outa this one , and then outa that one , then the next etc .. he learned it during the depression when he was trapping for furs to sell to one buyer and the carcasses to another buyer for the freezing works .

He used to say that it was way better to let the rabbits raise themselves than to try doing that for them .

I have raised guineapigs for food and fun , and tried pigeons quail and doves ... rabbit is as small a critter as I want to have to live off , my hands are too bg to clean and skin much smaller

rabbits tho are not good as a sole meat source .. as an extender tho , awesome , many a family survived the depression here because they had rabbits to add to their diet .

I failed trying to raise my own rabbits .. first my dog ate them , got more , the neighbours who let their dogs roam all night for exersize ... their dogs got them , then the next lot got myxi and I euthanized them and decided to stick to making use of the wild ones instead


dont be relying on one sole meatsource tho .. use rabbits as an extender for your food , but not the sole source of it , it can make problems if you do .
 
I'm giving away a DVD this week on my blog that goes pretty in depth into raising rabbits for food. Check it out.
 
My dad throws out all his apple, cheese and veggie leftovers behind the woodpile. There's a large rabbit family that lives in there. Not a bad sustainability strategy-don't have to clean up the poop, aren't responsible for the majority of the food, but at the same time they are familiar enough with him that he could easily take them on whim, and they've been eating a well-rounded diet to boot.
 
About the insects. Some of them (Grasshoppers) are mostly protein. So I would assume you could still die from rabbit starvation if you tried to live off of them with no other source of nutrition. From what I understand about rabbit starvation, fat or carbohydrates in conjunction with rabbit can keep your body alive. But a very high protein diet alone can cause death. I guess that's a big :thumbup: for those of us who can identify edible plants. Not all insects are mostly protein. Grubs and insect larva are very high in fat. This is an interesting topic, but disturbing. It could be a fun episode of 1000 ways to day. A magician, stranded on an inland, with only a top hat to pull rabbits out of, and nothing else to eat. :eek:
 
K Williams said:
Suburbs...I'll pass on chickens or goats. LOL
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Check your local laws before starting. The last place I lived had an ordinance that prohibited having more then X number of bunnies. It was a low number too. I wanna say you couldn't have more then 3.
 
I think insects would be even easier, but what insects can you reliably keep as a source of protein? I don't know of any, but i'd like to learn if anyone does know

Flightless roaches and mealworms.- I raised both for my reptiles. I would rather not count them as food on a regular basis but I have eaten both.

Many cities allow Chickens as long as there are no roosters and the number is low- 6 in my case. I want to build a coop next Spring and set up a couple of supers of bees.

Bill
 
cool post. I myself was thinking about starting to raise rabbits for food. Ive only had wild caught before, and enjoyed them. Farm raised could only be better right?
Here is the link to a good site I found if anyone is interested in some information on raising, processing, and setting up. http://therabbitrevolution.com
 
Shotgun said:
Check your local laws before starting. The last place I lived had an ordinance that prohibited having more then X number of bunnies. It was a low number too. I wanna say you couldn't have more then 3.
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Good point. I'll have to check into that. Maybe I should just keep the local squirrel population healthy and well fed. ;)
 
lmalterna said:
I think insects would be even easier, but what insects can you reliably keep as a source of protein? I don't know of any, but i'd like to learn if anyone does know

Flightless roaches and mealworms.- I raised both for my reptiles. I would rather not count them as food on a regular basis but I have eaten both.

Many cities allow Chickens as long as there are no roosters and the number is low- 6 in my case. I want to build a coop next Spring and set up a couple of supers of bees.

Bill
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I guess they don't want neighbors complaining about the rooster waking them up at sunrise. LOL
 
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