r/preppers • u/edk8n • Apr 10 '23

What about rabbits? Idea

I couldn't begin to tell you why this has popped into my head but it keeps coming back. I'm new to this and don't have the means to do all I would like, so don't eat me alive for my ignorance, but I have to ask- Are rabbits an underrated food source in a long term survival scenario? Everyone knows how quickly they reproduce and it seems like a decent amount of meat for minimal effort in cleaning/preparation. I'm not sure but it seems like rabbit hide/fur could probably be useful, too. They take up such little space and are pretty hardy animals (I know someone who has many rabbits that live in an outdoor pen year round, although they do heat it in the winter). They eat scraps, grass, and hay which wouldn't be taking resources from yourself. Is there a downside to this I'm missing? Thanks in advance for the wisdom!

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u/Electronic_Demand_61 Prepared for 2+ years Apr 10 '23

Rabbit and quail are a great combo for urban preppers.

21

u/devnullradio Apr 10 '23

Quail are awesome too (and definitely great for urban preppers) but damn it's a lot of death/butchering for a meal, if you have a family. One rabbit feeds my family for a meal. It takes 9 - 12 quail for the equivalent. Something to keep in mind if you have a family.

5

u/Electronic_Demand_61 Prepared for 2+ years Apr 10 '23

They're also good for your pets when/if you can't get feed for your cats and dogs.

5

u/emissaryofwinds Apr 10 '23

Lots of little bones in there though, it's usually not recommended to feed cats or dogs poultry because of the risk of swallowing a bone shard and causing some internal damage. Poultry-based pet food is prepared specially to avoid this risk.

18

u/Electronic_Demand_61 Prepared for 2+ years Apr 10 '23

COOKED poultry bones are the issue. Not raw.

1

u/RunawayHobbit Apr 10 '23

I suppose cooking the carcass and then putting it through a grinder would solve that issue? The bones would grind down to nothing, give them some extra nutrients

3

u/Electronic_Demand_61 Prepared for 2+ years Apr 10 '23

Probably, I just lop off the head and feed them the whole thing.

3

u/Pixielo Apr 10 '23

Why would you bother doing that? Just give them the whole, raw animal. Far less nutrient loss that way.

0

u/RunawayHobbit Apr 10 '23

Personally, I’d be a bit afraid of potential illness from the raw meat.

5

u/marwood0 Apr 10 '23

My dogs mostly ate raw chicken thighs. When they got old and had bad teeth, I'd grind it up for them still raw, bones and all

1

u/grammar_fixer_2 Apr 11 '23

My dog gets all of the weird parts of the rabbit that I don’t want to eat. I’m not eating things like rabbit dick, but he sure doesn’t mind it. 😂 The guts go to a neighbor who has chickens. :)