I watched an episode of a UK tv programme I like called 'QI'. It's a quiz show without really being a quiz show, based on peoples general ignorance! Here I found an odd piece of information but worthy of sharing. The topic which dominated the show was 'If you eat only Rabbit you will die'. This was taken as a huge joke at first until fully explained. Rabbit contains protein. Protein = good in most people's opinion. However, rabbit does not contain anything else the body needs, no fat which the body can use and no vitamins or other nutrients useful to survival. A diet of only rabbit can lead to starvation/death. The joke during the show was to make sure you eat Rabbit with peas and carrots. Rabbit meat actually also draws vitamins out of your body so I think you would be much better off not eating Rabbit at all. Not to mention how adorable Rabbits are, and lambs, and calve, and chicks, ducklings and piglets.....
I did find some research to back up these claims and as usual found lots of other things that really got my back up. Below is one of them. So dignified. Let them sniff life, then kill them, aren't we such a humane species....
If you have to buy meat, or if you'd like to earn some extra money, think about raising rabbits. Rabbits are popular because they have lots of babies that grow quickly into big rabbits that you can eat. One healthy doe, can produce five litters of six rabbits each year. That is about 30 kilograms of meat a year. The meat, when cooked, tastes like poultry meat: rabbit curry and chicken curry taste just the same.
When your buck and your does are living in clean, dry, safe hutches, you are ready to think about breeding your rabbits. To breed the doe, put her into the cage with the buck in the early morning or evening when it is cool. Watch her carefully to make sure she mates. It should take only two or three minutes. If she does not mate, you can try again later. After she has mated, put her back in her own cage.
Thirty one days after mating, her litter will be born. Three days before the baby rabbits are due, give the mother a nest box where she can give birth. Put a little soft, dry grass in the box and the mother will mix it with her own fur. The nest is also a warm, dry place for the young rabbits. There are usually 6 to 10 babies in a litter. The baby rabbits will not open their eyes for about two weeks. Do not touch any of the baby rabbits until they are 7 days old. If you touch them, you will change the way they smell, and the mother won't feed them. If you must touch them, rub your hands over the mother first. That way, you won't change the way the babies smell. The rabbits will be ready to eat in only four months. You can wean them at 2 months of age. When the baby rabbits are weaned, it's time to breed the doe again. Feed them for 2 more months and, when they weigh 2 kilos, they're big enough to eat.
(Info from farmradio.org)
(Rabbit image courtesy of Jeff Clow)
