66 replies to this topic

[calmoriah]

Rabbit pelts can be very soft is tanned properly if an example my husband has is typical (he also had one he sort of tanned himself as a kid, that one is hard as a rock and ugly as sin).  If one raises rabbits, I suppose you could make a nice warm throw out of them.  Whether it is worth it I would think depends on the breed's coat.  Not sure how easy it would be, but you would have a lot of practice material.  Here is one blog that talks about it:

http://www.motherear...bbit-Hides.aspx

[LeSellers]

LDSToronto, on 28 January 2012 - 08:08 AM, said:

Do you do anything with the rabbit pelts? And, how do you slaughter a rabbit? I've hunted rabbits before, but never slaughtered them.

How to Tan Rabbit Hides
Go down about ⅔ of the way through the page to see how to butcher them, and the whole article (including follow-on pages) is about using rabbit hides ("skins", technically: hides are very much thicker) for a variety of clothing and other items.

We have used them, but it's never been a big thing with us. However, I do like the Indian way" never waste anything (I know it's just a White Man's fantasy, the "noble Savage" kind of thing, but it's nice to fantasize once in a while). So this time, we'll be more conservative. The Lord has said that He'll require the blood of every beast at our hands.

LDSToronto said:

Currently, my home production consists of under 100sq feet of 'square foot gardening' boxes. They are very productive.

Good for you, and all the best for this summer, too.

Lehi

[Pa Pa]

LeSellers, on 29 January 2012 - 07:31 PM, said:

How to Tan Rabbit Hides
Go down about ⅔ of the way through the page to see how to butcher them,

Lehi

Butcher "Tumpper"? Have ye no soul! Next it will be "Christopher Robin", oh the agony!

Edited by Pa Pa, 30 January 2012 - 05:14 AM.

[LeSellers]

Pa Pa, on 30 January 2012 - 05:13 AM, said:

Butcher "Tumpper"? Have ye no soul! Next it will be "Christopher Robin", oh the agony!

When we name our animals (not usual with rabbits, but it happens) we give them names like "T-Bone", "Porter(house)", "Hamburger", "Fillet o' fish" "Quarter-pounder". No Thumpers.

We raise food, and our children knew it. Our grandchildren know it now, too.

Lehi

[Pa Pa]

LeSellers, on 30 January 2012 - 07:55 AM, said:

When we name our animals (not usual with rabbits, but it happens) we give them names like "T-Bone", "Porter(house)", "Hamburger", "Fillet o' fish" "Quarter-pounder". No Thumpers.

We raise food, and our children knew it. Our grandchildren know it now, too.

Lehi

[calmoriah]

Honestly, I think it would be wise to take all teenagers to slaughterhouses so they can see the reality of the nicely packaged meat that gets placed on the dinner table.  I am not promoting vegetarianism here, but I think people should have a greater appreciation of what they are eating for both the animals' sake as well as the workers who have to do such distasteful work all day long.

Edited by calmoriah, 30 January 2012 - 01:28 PM.

[LeSellers]

calmoriah, on 30 January 2012 - 01:22 PM, said:

Honestly, I think it would be wise to take all teenagers to slaughterhouses so they can see the reality of the nicely packaged meat that gets placed on the dinner table.  I am not promoting vegetarianism here, but I think people should have a greater appreciation of what they are eating for both the animals' sake as well as the workers who have to do such distasteful work all day long.

At the risk of being labeled "judgmental" (or just "mental", I don't know which), I'd like to see everyone who has ever eaten meat kill and butcher his own meat at least once a year. People who eat any kind of meat, but who refuse to kill and dress their own food, are moral cowards, in my opinion. They don't have to do all their own slaughtering, but they need to understand. It's more than how "distasteful" the work is, it's a matter of respecting the animal that becomes your dinner.

Our children know what it takes to feed themselves: something had to die (even if it's a grain of wheat—there's scripture on that).

Lehi

Edited by LeSellers, 31 January 2012 - 07:41 AM.

[thesometimesaint]

calmoriah:

All that I ask is that if we are going to eat animals is that when we do kill them that it be done quickly and humanely as possible.

[calmoriah]

thesometimesaint, on 30 January 2012 - 03:04 PM, said:

calmoriah:

All that I ask is that if we are going to eat animals is that when we do kill them that it be done quickly and humanely as possible.

And I would hope that they have a comfortable life as well.  We have a dairy farm that is squeezed in between two roads on the way to our house and it looks so filthy and crowded though obviously they have to clean them up well before they take them in for milking.  They probably don't have enough brains to care about the environment enough as long as they are warm and fed, but I can't help but wonder.

[Pa Pa]

calmoriah, on 30 January 2012 - 01:22 PM, said:

Honestly, I think it would be wise to take all teenagers to slaughterhouses so they can see the reality of the nicely packaged meat that gets placed on the dinner table.  I am not promoting vegetarianism here, but I think people should have a greater appreciation of what they are eating for both the animals' sake as well as the workers who have to do such distasteful work all day long.

Have you even seen the movie about Temple Gradin?

[rpn]

If what you are doing is trying to teach where food comes from, you don't need to go to a slaughterhouse.  You can go to a butcher.

[LeSellers]

rpn, on 31 January 2012 - 02:30 PM, said:

If what you are doing is trying to teach where food comes from, you don't need to go to a slaughterhouse.  You can go to a butcher.

There's something almost sacred about slaughtering one's own food. No vicarious experience gives the closeness that makes this point.

It's more than knowing where food comes from (although I disagree that going to a butchershop, if any still exists outside Safeway^®, answers that question). It's understanding that, for me to live, something had to die.

Lehi

Edited by LeSellers, 31 January 2012 - 02:35 PM.

[LeSellers]

We're making progress on the greenhouse. Last night we moved another couple of tons of dirt around the "basement" back into the "pit" we dug two years ago. I installed the form for the base of the solar panel support and the conduit for the electrical cables. We had to quit when it got so dark we couldn't safely use shovels and picks.

It was cold, too. We're scheduled to have up to 18" of snow tonight and tomorrow, so that may be the last work we do out there for a week or so until it melts. Still, I hope to have the greenhouse itself on the foundation by the middle of the month. Then we can start to waterproof the fish tank, install the grow beds, hang the rabbit hutches and invent, create, and install the worm/larvae bins.

The rabbits themselves are reproducing nicely. We're expecting to wake up in the morning to another 6~8 bunnies. We should be able to slaughter the first three in two weeks, just as their siblings are ready to take away from their mother. We will be harvesting (and buying replacements for) a dozen tilapia in a week, too.

'Xciting times in Eden.

Lehi

[calmoriah]

How large is the fish tank?

[LeSellers]

calmoriah, on 02 February 2012 - 03:30 PM, said:

How large is the fish tank?

About 9½ feet square and 2½ ft deep.

Lehi

[calmoriah]

Hmmm.....since I have found that warm water swimming/aerobics is the ideal exercise for my movement disorder, there must be some way to come up with a combo fish tank/swimming pool to really make this an efficient effort, just making it about a foot deeper would do.

[LeSellers]

calmoriah, on 02 February 2012 - 03:57 PM, said:

Hmmm.....since I have found that warm water swimming/aerobics is the ideal exercise for my movement disorder, there must be some way to come up with a combo fish tank/swimming pool to really make this an efficient effort, just making it about a foot deeper would do.

We limited it because there is, essentially, a 1:1 ratio between the volume of water and that of the grow beds. The bacteria in the grow beds must be sufficient to convert the amonia from the fish into nitrites and then nitrates for the plants (making the water habitable again for the fish).

If you don't have the concentration of fish we will have, your plan could work. However, tilapia are "thorny" fish. Their fins are sharp, and while they probably would never attack you, you could easily brush against one and get a few serious scratches. They also jump. One hit me in the face while trying to get out of our experimental tank. No harm, but a major startle. My Jacquie, not yet used to catching fish flopping on the floor, took a long time to grab it and return it to the tank. I was still fighting the pump I was trying to clean.

Lehi

Edited by LeSellers, 02 February 2012 - 04:09 PM.

[calmoriah]

Honestly, if I had the energy to create and care for such a project, I wouldn't need a swimming pool in my backyard.  As it is, I can only dream about having either.

[ERayR]

rpn, on 31 January 2012 - 02:30 PM, said:

If what you are doing is trying to teach where food comes from, you don't need to go to a slaughterhouse.  You can go to a butcher.

Not the same.  A butcher mearly cuts up the carcasses.  It is clean and sterile.  Dead carcases come in and cut up steaks go out.  In the slaughterhouse the killing is done the life is taken so that our lives may be given sustenance.  One can never get the reverence for the process from the sterile butcher shop that can be gotten from a slaughter house kill floor or from killing your own animals.

Edited by ERayR, 02 February 2012 - 05:19 PM.

[Matthew J. Tandy]

Lehi,

So your post has led me to reading a ton about aquaponics for the last week. In doing so, I was reading about fish choices. Trout vs Tilapia vs Catfish, etc. It appears the pros of tilapia are that they of course are easy to care for and breed easily. The downside is that they apparently are the least nutritious of the choices and have a Omega fatty acid ratio that removes a lot of the benefit of eating fish. Have you read about this? If so, do you plan on trying other fish species later? Just curious.

Also, what are you using to contain the fish? Is it glass, a "tote" container type thing that's been reinforced externally, or something else? Just trying to get ideas!