We bought some new four legged friends on Sunday. Coinin which means rabbit in Irish to be precise.
I am on the look out for Dandelion leaves at the moment. I leave Dandelions flowers because there is not a lot of pollen about for the bees at the moment.
My neighbour leaves us a bag of vegetables peelings on their garden wall every few days and texts us when they are ready for collection. I have been giving them to the pigs but now the rabbits are the recipients.
They are making 45 Euros a piece in the pet shop/superstores. When I was young you could buy them for a few quid.
Hopefully they will make us a few quid/Euros when they produce their big eared offspring.
Some people keep rabbits for meat but we are keeping them for breeding and for pets.
Rabbit anecdote:
I once worked on a building site converting an old hospital into luxury apartments and this lad I worked with told me he lived next to a posh housing estate. He would sell a young rabbit to some posh kid and say: " I will swap you your rabbit for a baby one when it gets big". Mrs posh mum would pay to fatten his rabbits for free!
Any one else keep rabbits or thinking of getting some?
Ooh, if you end up with too many, can I have one please? A nice fat one that will fit into my stewpot would be good.
ReplyDeleteWould you kill one and eat it JayCee? Apparently many people especially from overseas keep rabbit for meat. Domino our chief mouser is particularly fond of rabbit flavoured cat food. I don't think I have ever ate it. I will be singing "Run rabbit, run rabbit, run, run, run. Don't let JayCee have fun with her gun".
DeleteWe used to buy locally caught rabbit from the local butcher for the pot. None around these days though.
DeleteThere's ple nty of rabbit meat for sale online JayCee. I remember butchers shops use to have pheasants and rabbits and Hare hung outside their shops. There are wild ones living here but not like the numbers when I was young I'm always seeing dead ones on the rural roads of West Cork and Kerry.
DeleteWe had pet rabbits when I was a child. Never since. They were scratchers.
ReplyDeleteHi Debby. I remember the bunny boiler in Fatal Attraction. Do you remember Art Garfunkel singing "Bright Eyes" for the Watership Down film theme?
ReplyDeleteWe kept rabbits for meat for a few years but then we had more space and pigs and lambs were much more useful!
ReplyDeleteHi Sue. We keep poultry and pigs for eggs and meat. I think rabbits won't take up much room and they eat very little. They are also making good money for the pet industry. We might even make a profit for a change?
ReplyDeleteOne F and I agree on - rabbit is very tasty. In 1930's Depression years in NZ families used survive on rabbit and one lady we knew who had been a servant in a posh house had some way of trussing a rabbit carcass to try and pass it off as chicken because the house wasn't as posh or as wealthy as they liked the neighbourhood to believe.
ReplyDeleteRural Ireland was the same Tigger. My grandad and his children use to fish off the rocks and they set snares for rabbits. No doubt they foraged for food like Nettles and Blackberries. A good cook can make a delicious meal out of the cheapest cuts of meat. Slow cooking certainly helps.
ReplyDeleteWe have a few rabbits in the freezer. They're given to us by neighbours now and again. Greek husband loves the meat. Here they eat lots of carob pods. People eat the dandelion leaves. We have a pot of dandelion leaves steaming on the stove right now. Others eat them in salads. Not me, boiled or raw.
ReplyDeleteI believe a lot of Chinese and Muslim people eat rabbit meat Linda. Dandelions are one of the many common plants/wildflowers that have so many herbal benefits like helping with stomach problems and they are also a diuretic. You can buy teas from health shops or look up the recipes online and brew your own Dandelion tea.
ReplyDelete45 euros for a rabbit? I will talk to anyone for free.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if you would make more money selling rabbit feet as lucky charms? ...Do rabbit feet regenerate like the tails of some lizards?
ReplyDeleteChameleons regenerate. Carrots are very good for rabbits eye sight because you never see a rabbit wearing glasses.
ReplyDeleteWe never kept rabbits but we did eat a few back when I was very young. Money was short and meat was expensive do dad went out "rabbiting" with mates and we'd have roasted rabbit or rabbit stew for dinner.
ReplyDeleteMy grandfather in Germany used to raise Show Rabbits and mum said he won a few prizes for them but that was before my time.
Hi River. I use to know friends who went out "Lamping" for rabbits at night. I kept Dutch and New Zealand rabbits when I was young. I have seen Flemish Giants at shows and they are magnificent creatures.
ReplyDelete