Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    How to Raise Rabbits for Food and Fur
    How to Raise Rabbits for Food and Fur
    How to Raise Rabbits for Food and Fur
    Ebook222 pages1 hour

    How to Raise Rabbits for Food and Fur

    By Frank G. Ashbrook

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    This work first published during World War II for a readership facing meat shortages contains a wealth of information, much of which is still useful and practical today. Extensively illustrated by text and full page photographs, it forms a complete how-to guide that will appeal greatly to farming enthusiasts and historians alike. Contents Include: Rabbit Meat for the Family, Advice to Beginners, Location of the Rabbitry, Choosing a Breed, Breeding, Feeding, Prevention and Treatment of disease, General Management, Judging Rabbits, Preparing Rabbits for Market, Tanning Rabbit Skins, Marketing Meat and Fur and How to Cook Domestic Rabbit Meat. Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. We are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRead Books Ltd.
    Release dateMay 31, 2013
    ISBN9781473380684
    How to Raise Rabbits for Food and Fur

    Read more from Frank G. Ashbrook

    Related to How to Raise Rabbits for Food and Fur

    Related ebooks

    History For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Home-Raised PIG FEED

      Feb 21, 2020

      Home-Raised PIG FEED
      7 min read

    • Article

      Build Your Own Layens Hive

      Jul 13, 2018

      The Layens hive is the original horizontal hive with extra-deep frames, invented in the 19th century by Georges de Layens. More than 1 million hives of this model are in use today, and it’s the hive that I (and my bees) prefer. This style of hive is

      4 min read

    • Article

      Deep Litter MANAGEMENT

      Feb 7, 2020

      Repugnance for what comes out the far end of an animal is not merely cultural conditioning—our senses are warning us of potential danger: Feces can be a vector for disease. Joel’s quote above implicitly advises us to trust that repugnance: If it smel

      8 min read

    • Article

      Keep Shetland Sheep

      Nov 19, 2021

      Keep Shetland Sheep
      9 min read

    • Article

      Living In A Quonset Hut

      Nov 18, 2022

      Living In A Quonset Hut
      4 min read

    • Article

      Preparing Chickens for Winter

      Nov 18, 2022

      Preparing Chickens for Winter
      2 min read

    • Article

      Choosing a Cow

      Nov 18, 2022

      Choosing a Cow
      8 min read

    • Article

      Raise Roosters for Meat

      May 13, 2022

      Raise Roosters for Meat
      7 min read

    • Article

      Scrapple: Tasty Economy

      Jul 15, 2022

      Scrapple: Tasty Economy
      5 min read

    • Article

      Backyard Quail Basics

      Feb 8, 2019

      Backyard Quail Basics
      6 min read

    • Article

      Grow Green Manure

      Apr 10, 2020

      Grow Green Manure
      8 min read

    • Article

      Get The Soil To Do The Work

      Jun 13, 2018

      Get The Soil To Do The Work
      4 min read

    • Article

      5 Farm-to-Table Casualties

      Oct 17, 2016

      A week after Cultivate, I visit Polyface Farms in Swoope, Virginia, a three-hour drive from Washington, D.C. Polyface, which has been a Chipotle pork supplier since 2007, is one of the places that gives credence to Chipotle slogans like “Family Farme

      5 min read

    • Article

      Steven Rinella

      Dec 12, 2019

      Steven Rinella
      2 min read

    • Article

      Agroforestry for Your Property

      Jan 14, 2022

      Agroforestry for Your Property
      8 min read

    • Article

      How to Propagate Willow Shrubs

      Jan 15, 2021

      How to Propagate Willow Shrubs
      9 min read

    • Article

      A Market for Meat Birds

      Sep 13, 2019

      A Market for Meat Birds
      6 min read

    • Article

      Organize Your Homestead Stats

      Nov 9, 2018

      Organize Your Homestead Stats
      3 min read

    • Article

      DOGHOUSE Chicken Tractor

      Feb 8, 2019

      DOGHOUSE Chicken Tractor
      4 min read

    • Article

      Hardy Apples

      Jan 13, 2023

      Hardy Apples
      8 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for How to Raise Rabbits for Food and Fur

    0 ratings

    0 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      How to Raise Rabbits for Food and Fur - Frank G. Ashbrook

      HOW TO RAISE

      RABBITS FOR

      FOOD AND FUR

      BY

      FRANK G. ASHBROOK

      In Charge, Fur Resources,

      Fish and Wildlife Service

      United States Department of the Interior Chicago, Ill.

      ILLUSTRATED

      FIG. 1. HEADQUARTERS OF RABBIT EXPERIMENT STATION MAINTAINED BY THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT AT FONTANA, CALIFORNIA

      PREFACE

      THE eating habits of all Americans have been affected by World War II. Meatless days are spreading and radical changes in our menus are taking place. Domestic rabbits are becoming more important in supplying meat in restaurants and in homes. Their value in supplementing the family meat supply or adding to the farm income is widely recognized. This appetizing and nutritious meat is not only releasing other meat for the armed forces and for exportation to our allies, but is supplying variety to the family diet on the home front.

      Rabbit production has no objectionable features and requires little space. These animals may be kept in the backyard as well as on the farm. Their hutches can be made of scrap lumber, used poultry wire, crates and similar materials that are obtainable at little or no cost. And as for their food, clean table scraps, truck garden waste, refuse from green groceries, lawn clippings, palatable weeds and small limbs trimmed from fruit trees may be utilized to supplement their regular rations. Rabbit meat is quickly produced as only 90 days are required from the time the doe is bred until the young rabbits are ready for the table.

      I owe special acknowledgment to Charles E. Kellogg and George S. Templeton, who have contributed ideas and facts based on research. My debt to Edna N. Sater is noteworthy for suggestions of treatment and arrangement of subject matter, and especially in the chapter, How to Cook Rabbit.

      I have reason to be especially grateful to the Fish and Wildlife Service for data obtained from research and for permission to use photographs; and to the Bureau of Plant Industry, Soils, and Agricultural Engineering for working drawings and bills of materials, and to many practical breeders and their associations for supplying information; to the rabbit and fur trade journals for permission to use illustrations.

      One other sort of indebtedness calls for recording—the aid both intangible and in direct cooperation which I have had from Caroline McKinley Ash-brook. There are no words to express the ways and extent of my reliance upon her for help and advice.

      F. G. A.

      Chicago, Illinois.

      CONTENTS

      LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

      1. Headquarters of Rabbit Experiment Station maintained by the United States Government at Fontana, California

      2. A small backyard rabbitry can quickly supply meat for home consumption

      3. Many small well-arranged rabbitries similar to these are operated in California

      4. Cuts of a fryer rabbit and practical containers for displaying meat

      5. Sorting and grading rabbit skins in a raw-fur receiving house

      6. Rabbits are raised by many families both in the city and in the country

      7. (Above) Row of rabbit breeding houses, in each of which are numerous breeding hutches. (Below) Developing pens between buildings used in connection with breeding hutches

      8. A bird’s-eye view of a rabbitry in an orange grove in California

      9. Well constructed rabbitries. The hutches are so arranged as to reduce to a minimum the labor of feeding and handling; (above) exterior view; (below) interior view

      10. Construction Details of a Rabbit House

      11. All-metal hutches facilitate feeding, watering, and cleaning at U. S. Rabbit Experiment Station

      12. Construction Details for Rabbit-Hutch Shelter

      13. Additional Details for Rabbit-Hutch Shelter

      14. Hutches arranged on both sides of an alleyway in California, are protected from the direct rays of the sun by a lattice superstructure

      15. A type of hutch that facilitates feeding, watering, and cleaning. It is also well adapted to tier construction; the arrangement of one hutch over the other

      16. Details of Construction of a Two-Hutch Unit

      17. Details of Construction of a Four-Hutch Unit

      18. An All-Metal Sanitary Rabbit Hutch

      19. Construction Details for All-Metal Rabbit Hutch

      20. Additional Construction Details for All-Metal Rabbit Hutch

      21. Details of Construction of a Wooden Nest Box

      22. Construction Details for Nail-Keg Nest Box

      23. Construction Details for an All-Metal Rabbit Self-Feeder. End, Vertical, and Top Views

      24. All-Metal Rabbit Self-Feeder. Front and Horizontal Views

      25. All-Metal Rabbit Self-Feeder. Details of Installation

      26. Self-Feeder Made from a 5-Gallon Oil Can, 3/8-inch Wood Material, and Galvanized Iron

      27. Self-Feeder Shown in Figure 25 Made with Wood Instead of Galvanized Iron

      28. Young New Zealand Whites

      29. A fine doe and litter of New Zealand Reds

      30. Two handsome specimens of the Chinchilla breed

      31. A uniform family of New Zealand Whites

      32. A cheap and convenient device for cutting hay into short lengths

      33. A hay knife saves time and labor in cutting baled hay

      34. Rabbits feeding on rolled barley and oats supplemented with alfalfa hay

      35. Rabbit diseases are studied by Federal experts, to determine effective methods of prevention and cure

      36. (Above) The proper way to lift a fryer rabbit to prevent bruising the carcass or damaging the pelt. (Below) Proper way to lift a medium-weight rabbit

      37. (Above) Proper way to carry a heavy rabbit. (Below) Box for restraining rabbit that is being tattooed

      38. Construction Details of Adjustable Box for Tattooing Rabbits

      39. Various types of satisfactory and make-shift crates used to ship live rabbits

      40. Parts of a Rabbit

      41. Rabbit exhibitions stimulate developments in the industry and keep the general public informed

      42. A truckload of rabbits ready to be hauled to the slaughter house

      43. (Above) Method of holding rabbit for dislocating neck in slaughtering. (Below) Proper way to place a rabbit pelt on a shaper, or stretcher, with all the legs on the same side

      44. Steps (right to left) in skinning rabbits and removing internal organs. Small jets of water from pipe beneath rack wash blood from back panel and trough

      45. Home Made Wire Stretcher for Shaping and Drying Rabbit Pelts

      46. Dyed rabbit makes an inexpensive and flattering fur coat

      47. This handsome coat is made of sealine, seal-dyed rabbit

      48. (Above) Domestic rabbit meat is delicious anytime and can be served throughout the year. (Below) Left-over fried or broiled rabbit meat makes appetizing lunches

      49. Broiled rabbit and rabbit in casserole are delicious

      50. Rabbit chop suey and rabbit salad make excellent luncheon dishes

      HOW TO RAISE RABBITS FOR FOOD AND FUR

      I

      RABBIT MEAT FOR THE FAMILY

      Important Meat in Food for Freedom Program—Backyard Rabbitry for Home Consumption—Market for Rabbit Fur—United States Rabbit Experiment Station—Sections of the Country Adapted to Rabbit Raising

      HOW TO RAISE RABBITS

      FOR FOOD AND FUR

      I

      RABBIT MEAT FOR THE FAMILY

      WORLD WAR II has changed the eating habits of us all because it has brought about shortages of familiar foods. Radical changes in our menus are taking place. Foods that many of us never before considered eating are being featured now in the food columns of our daily newspaper. But, as we all know, to be assured of victory Americans must do without, so that our armed forces and our allies have the necessities to wage war. Rabbit raising is no longer a minor agricultural pursuit but a major project in our national food producing program.

      In many sections of the country the consumption of domestic rabbit meat has attained considerable proportions. Markets for the meat are becoming well established and motor trucks make regular trips to rabbitries to pick up animals and deliver them to central slaughter houses. Meat shortages are becoming very acute everywhere in the United States and people have discovered that domestic rabbit provides a most attractive and tasty variation to a meal that otherwise might be meatless.

      FIG. 2. A SMALL BACKYARD RABBITRY CAN QUICKLY SUPPLY MEAT FOR HOME CONSUMPTION

      A small backyard rabbitry of three or four does and a buck will supplement the family meat requirements and furnish

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1