By RAY WYCHE
Staff Writer

Jeff Gore’s meat producing farm would fit in an oversized living room but for turning out a healthy, tasty product in relatively large quantities at low cost, his operation is hard to beat.

Gore, a Williams Township School teacher, and his high school freshman son Canyon are in the meat rabbit business. It’s an enjoyable pastime that does not require a huge financial investment or large acreage. Equipment is simple; wire mesh cages (they can be homemade), waterers, plain feeding bowls, and a few heat lamps for use when litters are born in cold weather.

Gore looks at his rabbit raising as an entertaining hobby as well as a potential moneymaker. He and Canyon just enjoying watching their rabbits, and handling the young ones.

“We try to get back part of our feed bill but basically it’s just for enjoyment,” he says of his “farming.”

The Gores currently have 10 does (females) and two bucks as their breeding “herd,” which is all the production capabilities they need until their market expands. The old belief about rabbits being experts at multiplying is true, Gore says. The gestation period is about 31 days and does can be re-bred within days of giving birth. Litter sizes ranged from seven to 12. But until he finds more marketing opportunities, Gore is not interested in increasing production.

“You can breed does every 32 days but you’ll burn out your rabbit” by having her produce litters so quickly, he says.

Thus far, the Gores’ market is limited mostly to local consumers; Hispanics in the area seem to prefer rabbit more than the native residents, Gore says.

Many locals have eaten native wild rabbits on occasions, such as during the Great Depression of the 1930s, and were not carried away with the gamy taste of native rabbits. The Gores’ animals produce a much more flavorable meat, he says. Few locals have tried a rabbit bred specifically for table use.

“Rabbits haven’t been readily accessible,” Gore says.

The Gores’ rabbits are all white meat with a taste similar to that of chicken.

Farm-raised rabbit meat has lower cholesterol and less fat than chicken, turkey, beef or pork. Per pound, rabbit has 795 calories compared to 1,190 for chicken and 2,050 for pork.

“It’s a healthy meat,” Gore says.

Gore says rabbits are best for table fare when they weigh from 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 pounds, although many breeders allow their animals to grow larger before selling. The Gores sell their animals “on the hoof,” with the buyer handling the job of dressing the animal.

Rabbits are fast growers. A baby rabbit will double its birth weight in six days, compared to 14 days for a pig and 47 days for a calf.

There are several breeds of pure blooded rabbits available but the Gores prefer mixed breeds.

“Mixed breeds seem to be healthier,” Gore says. “We don’t have any purebreds.”

The Gores’ rabbits are mixtures of Flemish Giants, Black and White New Zealands, and Rexes.

Colors range from pure white and pure black to mottled black and white and soft, reddish hues.

“We like different colors,” Gore says.

The way the Gores raise rabbits, disease is not a problem; their animals never touch the ground, the source of many illnesses wild rabbits encounter. The Gores clean and disinfect each nesting box after each litter.

“We don’t medicate; we just keep them off the ground,” Gore says.

The Gores pay close attention to what they feed their rabbits, using only top-of-the-line commercial, high protein feed in pelletized form.

“The more protein you can get in them, the faster they gain weight.”

In the winter months, the feed contains more fat to help the animals handle colder weather, Gore says.

Each adult animal has its own cage. Rabbits are territorial and mixing sexes and ages could lead to trouble. The bucks in particular are aggressive.

The cages with wire mesh bottoms are hung off the ground by wires to avoid waste in the animals’ living areas.

Since the structure housing the cages is roofed over and the rabbits are in cages, predators are not a problem.

The Gores place nesting boxes, about a cubic foot in size, in the cages of expecting females.

This is all the preparation required for the babies; does pull hair from their bodies and fill each box with about three inches of soft fur.

The babies are born hairless and blind but with the instinct to burrow into the soft fur for warmth.

Heat lamps are aimed at the nesting boxes if the young are born in the winter months.

Some breeders remove the babies from the mother as soon as possible in order to breed the doe again but the Gores allow their does to be mothers for longer periods.

“We let them keep their babies for six weeks,” Gore says.

The rabbits are housed in an open-sided shed with curtains that can be closed in cold weather to keep the chill away.

“We keep the curtains rolled up in the summer to help cool them,” Canyon Gore says.

Does the Gore household serve rabbit for dinner?

“We eat some rabbit. You can fix it any way you fix chicken,” Gore says.