Taste the Rainbow Rabbitry – My Story
Hi, my name is Abbie Lee, I’m 13 years old and I live in Sweet home Alabama! For as long as I can remember, I have loved animals to death. I remember the first time I got a close look at a sweet litter of newborn kittens; I was around 3 years old then. My sister was holding my hands steady, while a plump black ball of warmth lay peacefully in my tiny hands, I then realized what I wanted to do in life. Since that day, all I do is study animals; their behavior, the way they walk. The noises they make. They amaze me every day of my life, they are my life. I honestly couldn’t image life without them. All animals have formed me into what I am today and nothing could change that. The older I got, the more animals I got. It started with a dog, then another dog. Then a cat, another cat, and another..
December 23, 2012, I got my first flock of chickens. I had begged for over a year!! I don’t know why I wanted them; I just know I was so amazed by them. They became a part of my family. I truly loved each and every one of them with all my heart. I loved watching them grow from tiny little cotton balls into these big beautiful birds. I believe I see the world in a different way from other people. I can sit outside and watch my chickens for hours and hours without getting bored. I sit and study each part of them. I even ask myself questions, why do they have scales on their legs? Why do they have feathers? Why do they look for funny? Why are there so many different shapes and sizes in the chicken world? Some of these questions I can’t answer. Though I do know I can make an educated guess on what I believe and my opinions on it. Like I said earlier, I see the world differently to others, to me the world is black and white, and the only color there is each individual animal. It’s like walking in a field of dead grass and randomly finding a beautiful red rose.
The point of this story is to allow you to really know me, inside and out. As you probably know now, inside I’m an animal lover that couldn’t survive without the unconditional love from an animal, on the outside I’m just a girl with brown hair and greenish eyes. So may we continue with my story?
Let’s get to when I became an ethical omnivore, shall we? It was spring of 2013, I hated the way animals where treated in meat and egg factories!! I decided to start raising my own healthy meat from now on. I didn’t want to eat store bought meat ever again. I ended up getting a pet bunny late in 2013. His name was Pipin and he was a mini Rex. I did lots of research to find out rabbit meat is the healthiest meat on the planet. I wanted to raise my own to feed my family and me. In the summer of 2014 I got two more rabbits, this time meat breeds. They grew so fast it was crazy! As time passed I got another rabbit and another. The meat rabbit buck wasn’t breeding with the does; I thought he was sterile so he was my first butcher. I go by “three strikes, you’re out” that was the case with my meat buck. As a huge surprised, one month after my first butcher, my meat doe kindled 8 pure meat rabbits, that buck wasn’t sterile after all!! Rabbits are very fun to raise for meat, to show, and as pets. It’s like little grains of sand that turn into these amazing creatures! It’s a blessing just to get to watched them grow every day. Currently I have 10 rabbits with more due on January 13th.
Now that you have read my short story, and you understand me, you can start raising meat rabbits for your family, if you don’t want rabbits for meat, that’s okay! There are rabbit shows you could breed for or just breed them as pets and sell them, which is fun too! I hope you enjoyed my short story and decide to raise your own meat as well.
Thank you for reading and I can’t wait to continue telling my story!
Abbie Lee
7 Comments
Great job,’Bama girl! Wishing you much success in all future endeavors.
Great job Abbie! I really enjoyed your blog. I have not eaten rabbit since I was a kid and now you have me thinking about trying it again. Keep up the good work!
Abbie Lee,
I really enjoyed getting to know you through your story. You are an inspiration to young & not-so young people worldwide! Keep up your great work & keep those stories coming!!
A wonderful story told beautifully.
Well written blog Abbie Lee, love your work. I had a rabbit when I was growing up and he lived for six years. He was my best friend. I absolutely understand what you mean about being so fascinated with animals. I too am in awe of them and only wish that people would be more respectful and compassionate towards them. May I ask, do you name the bunnies? How do you seperate your love for the bunnies from the fact that you are raising them to eat? Did it take a while to get to the stage you could do the dispatching? It really is a great thing to do, raising and killing them yourself that is. That way you can ensure everything was done the most humane and ethical way possible. Well done.
Abbie, I know you love animals but I did not know you are such an excellent writer. I am so very proud of you on both accounts. Thank you for posting. With much love and admiration, Cindy
Well done Abbie! I also love the skinning picture. Seems like skin should just pull right off, but it takes some major effort. People should give up going to the gym and just process a few animals. 🙂