One of our "investments"

Discussion in 'Back to Basics' started by Falcon15, May 28, 2011.


  1. Falcon15

    Falcon15 Falco Peregrinus

    Here you go...a picture of Stewie. It is eight days old today. Pure bred Californian. In just 6 or 7 weeks or so, it'll be sizzling over some hot coals basted with beer...
    [​IMG]
     
  2. VisuTrac

    VisuTrac Ваша мать носит военные ботинки Site Supporter+++

    wouldn't 'poached' or 'basted' or 'SHINER BOCK' be more appropriate names? [drooling]
    Stewie sounds like a tough cut of meat.
     
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  3. Seawolf1090

    Seawolf1090 Retired Curmudgeonly IT Monkey Founding Member

    I'dbet that little feller would sure enjoy a nice liesurely bath in some brown gravy, say 350 degrees for an hour or so......... so soothing...... [drooling]
     
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  4. Seacowboys

    Seacowboys Senior Member Founding Member

    They are absolutely delicious at about 4-5 weeks old on the grill. I have been raising bunnies for a while now and really enjoy sausage made from them. Bunny and dumplings is another favorite. Got Chip started raising wabbits and he helps process mine but when his had their first litter, momma and daughter made pets out of them; LOL!
    I warned him about letting them play with their food.
     
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  5. Falcon15

    Falcon15 Falco Peregrinus

    Every time my son sees the kits his first word is "yum". My wife is dry washing her hands making menus while looking at them.
     
  6. Hispeedal2

    Hispeedal2 Nay Sayer

    Have some heart you ba$tards!!!


    (Yum)
     
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  7. Falcon15

    Falcon15 Falco Peregrinus

    Oh, I have some heart, liver, kidneys, lungs, belly meat all ground into sausage.
     
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  8. asharpshooter

    asharpshooter Monkey+++

    I guess I'm getting soft in my old age, I would keep it for a pet. When I was young, I raised cows, chickens, quail, rabbits and guineas to eat. Now I just raise pets. :)
     
  9. Falcon15

    Falcon15 Falco Peregrinus

    Admittedly they are cute, but they are food.
     
  10. dragonfly

    dragonfly Monkey+++

    mmmmm Bacon stuffed rabbit!
     
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  11. Falcon15

    Falcon15 Falco Peregrinus

    Now that is a recipe I would like! Bacon & Bunny Oh, YUM!
     
  12. Falcon15

    Falcon15 Falco Peregrinus

    Our investments are maturing

    Just some updates. First, here is Stewie:
    [​IMG]
    A quick pic of Stewie, Fricassee, Braise, Crockpot:
    [​IMG]
    Stewie is the fat pig right in the front...
    Now a pic of a second litter. Momma was guarding the nest, so I could not open the door. I give you Grill, Rotisserie, Fried, and Baked:
    [​IMG]
    More updates to come...
     
  13. Seacowboys

    Seacowboys Senior Member Founding Member

    I have five does about to kindle. The does are a tri-mix New Zealand, Califorinian, and Giant Flemish. They weigh about 20 lbs each. My Buck is Californian, from a very heavy meat producing family. All five does are exceptional mothers and usually drop 6-8 bunnies with a very high survival rate. It has taken a couple of years to weed out the bad mothers, I usually just release them to mix with the wild rabbits or get eaten by something. I plan to can this batch of bunnies. I made sausage from the last batch and froze fryers from the one before that.
     
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  14. Falcon15

    Falcon15 Falco Peregrinus

    We are still "weeding" the problem does out. Two will go in the freezer this week. One dropped 9 and neglected them, and the other, no matter how many times she has been bred does not kindle, even when we verify she is in "season". We tried forced breeding once, and it did not take, and the wife and I talked about it. If the doe does not breed easily, or is a bad mother, she is not worth the feed, but can feed us.

    Our survival rate so far has been good, and we have some solid does that will be bred until they are too old. We'll replace does out of the "good" doe litters. Luckily we have bucks from three different lines, so with goo records we can avoid too much cross breeding.

    We average about 8-11 kits a litter with our current does. We lost a couple from cold earlier this year, and one of our does accidentally killed one kit (she broke its back jumping in the nest box, I had to put it down).
     
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  15. craneje

    craneje Monkey+

    I had goats for a while, up to 30 at one time. I did my best to keep them livestock, but my wife and daughters had to name them and make them pets. I never got a single goatburger out of them.
     
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  16. Falcon15

    Falcon15 Falco Peregrinus

    My kids LOVE rabbit meat. These are NOT pets. This is a very clear, unequivocal, "way things are". Period. My eldest daughter (7) helps me process them. What can I say? It is not cruel, they are not treated as pets, they are livestock. Period. If the kids do not want to eat rabbit when it is cooked, they don't eat. Period. My house is not a cafe with a menu. You eat what is cooked or not, your choice.
     
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  17. ghrit

    ghrit Bad company Administrator Founding Member

    Slightly off topic, but --
    I don't think I could eat rabbit, and here's why.

    We were leaving on a long patrol (no ports of call) and the supply officer and lead cook went over to procure the chow for the crew. In those days, the Army Quartermaster Corps was the sole source for chow for all services, and it was a rarity to buy food outside of that source unless in a port where fresh stuff could be had. Anyway, thinking to provide a mid patrol treat for the crew to break up the monotony of sorta decent roasts and spam, they got a few boxes of frozen meat other than the usual stuff for the change of pace.

    We were used to seeing the menu posted with the actual planned meal on it, and once in a while it would read "chef's special" which almost always indicated a treat of some kind, some different way of presenting an old standby. So it came as no great surprise when that appeared on the menu, anticipation was high since that cook was capable of plain and fancy cooking.

    Well, chow time approached, and this smell wafted thru the boat. Awful would be an understatement. I was back in the engine house, and wasn't overly impressed either since often mess deck smells mixed with engine room smells was not an assurance of reality. The first clue was when I was relieved early by a guy not noted for early reliefs. He was not complimentary about the meal, allowed as how it was NFG (to put it politely and understated.) He didn't know what it was, didn't care, but he'd been unable to swallow a bite. I went forward and found the shortest chow line I'd ever seen, and piles of uneaten whatever it was where normally there were only small scraps. (Gotta say, the smell was actually worse than what made it to the engine house.)

    As it turns out, the Quartermaster Corps had supplied us with grossly overage frozen rabbit. The few guys that had been able to swallow a bite or two came down sick. The petersmith wasn't able to diagnose it (was thinking tularemia), but their systems cleared out in a day or three, so nothing more came of it. EXCEPT; the cook was feeling guilty as hell over trying to poison the crew as he saw it, and went to the wall trying to make it up to the crew with baked goods. He was a good cook to start with, but his forte was baking. Damn, we had the best baked goods imaginable for quite a while.

    Some smells you don't forget.
     
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  18. Falcon15

    Falcon15 Falco Peregrinus

    Not at all off topic. Old rabbit is not preferable. Young and tender is the key.
     
  19. Falcon15

    Falcon15 Falco Peregrinus

    Alright...I have the dividends from my first batch of investments just about finished. 7 fryers yielded 7 pints of meat (canned) and also the carcasses yielded 12 quarts of very meaty broth (also canned). I will post pictures later tonight.
     
  20. chelloveck

    chelloveck Diabolus Causidicus

    Ah goat burger....

    Refuse to allow store bought meat to be brought into the house, and insist on a meatless diet...the only exception being home slaughtered goat....you may all be enjoying goat burger sooner than you think! ; )
     
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