smallfarmnation.com Today I’m speaking with Callene and Eric Rapp of Rare Hare Barn in Kansas. They raise a few types of heritage breed rabbits, including the American Chinchialla, which I’ve also raised quite a bit of. Now, I love this topic of raising rabbits for meat because our society has become very disconnected from our food—and what food is, right? Nowhere in the meat world is that more evidenced than with rabbits. Because, when I raised and sold them, we’d often get skittish consumers who claimed they had no idea what to do with a rabbit. So is cooking rabbit any different from cooking with chicken or other meats? You bet, and I discuss that and many other fascinating aspects of running a rabbit enterprise on a small farm. For those of you interested in raising rabbits either as a commercial enterprise or for your homestead, we discuss differences in breeds, growth rates and mistakes many people make with feeding and breeding. We also deep dive into the issue of production models. That is, we explore using cages versus pasture tractors versus colony raising rabbits. Doesn't matter if you’re a consumer, chef, homesteader or farmer, this is a thoroughly interesting discussion about the life (and death) of rabbits and of how one family is making a living in our small farm nation. Let’s get right to it with Callene and Eric Rapp of Rare Hare Barn.