Feel like crying :(

Just watched the video of poor little Magic and after it had finished, a video came up of a rabbit meat breeder in the US.
I feel sick They were in around 2fx3f (mum and babies together) cages with wire bottoms (imagine their poor little feet) and there wasn't even enough room for them to periscope
They weren't allowed any hay what so ever but he was claiming to be a good breeder because he let the babies stay with mum till 8weeks.
Makes me sick...
It's battery bunnies! How is it battery hens have been made public and the horrendous conditions shown but not battery bunnies??? I know it was the US but it's not going to be much different in the UK.
Not posting the video because I don't believe you should all see it, it's too horrid.

It poses the question though as to why rabbit welfare isn't looked upon, even those bred for meat? Is it only farm animals that should get their welfare taken care of?

Eurgh, feel so sad and ill now

It is vastly different in the UK. The UK is an entirely different world compared to animal production in the US. Battery farm production has come leaps and bounds in recent years in the UK and hens are now required to be allowed a certain amount of space and daylight, where in the US many of them never see natural light.

It is awful but the US cannot be compared to the UK in terms of farming.

mattyp said:

It is vastly different in the UK. The UK is an entirely different world compared to animal production in the US. Battery farm production has come leaps and bounds in recent years in the UK and hens are now required to be allowed a certain amount of space and daylight, where in the US many of them never see natural light.

It is awful but the US cannot be compared to the UK in terms of farming.

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Even bunnies???? :S It's just that you never hear much about rabbit meat production but alot about battery hens, which is why the law on them changed so much.
I don't have a clue about bunny farming but if it was anything like that, I feel so sick

Somebun fell off a lorry that was rescued by an RU member. That lorry was a meat lorry apparently.

Bunny was a soft cuddly domestic looking bunny.

:roll:

So i'd say, from that, that it goes on, who knows where it was before the lorry...

'Does have a use-life of about 18 months in which they will have 10-12 litters. Litter sizes average 8-10 and 6-8 should be successfully fattened.'

Land:
Minimal.

Buildings:
Draft free, well ventilated, insulated buildings required. Capacity 10 - 12 sq ft/cage for flat deck system. Artificial light to maintain 14 - 16 hrs of day length required for breeding.

Special equipment:
Wire mesh cages, drinker systems, nesting boxes, feed hoppers, processing and freezing storage depending on outlet.

Labour:
One man required per 300 does full time.

Don't know how up to date that is but :'(

Sounds awful. I'm guessing that because chicken is more popular people want to know the meat is fairly looked after, whereas because rabbit is quite obscure on the supermarket shelves that people are less likely to be as fussy in it's production as the majority of people will just say 'well i don't eat it anyway'.

I think most people are ignorant to rabbit meat production and assume it's game meat, which of course it very rarely, if ever, is.

Rabbit meat being far less popular than chicken, the conditions are most likely better as it is done on a smaller scale. The reason animal farming in America is so disgusting is because it is done on huge scales.

I did write some information on the treatment of meat animals here but considered it maybe a little too upsetting to share. I regard chickens worse treated.

The only way to boycott it is to not eat the meat that is produced in this way but opt for organic instead.

It may interest you to know that an American company is trying to get permission for a mega-dairy that is zero-grazing in England, I think it is called something like Nocton Dairies? You can help by supporting CIWF (Compassion in World Farming). It is no doubt on their website along with what you can do to help other animals too.

You can kid yourself into believing that it's "vastly different" if you want but that isn't true. Come on, how many threads have their been of how horrible farmers keep rabbits in the UK? and then it's like that's all forgotten whenever you're talking about another country.

There isn't that big of a difference from what I've seen. Warning: This is quite disgusting and I only watched about a minute... dead birds everywhere, 30,000 chickens in each shed on a typical British farm... http://www.animalaid.org.uk/h/f/CAMPAIGNS/blog//4//?be_id=116

I said this on a thread the other day, but will repeat the question for this one.
Does this really happen in the UK? With rabbits?

I have never seen rabbit for sale in a supermarket here. We have one butcher who sells it on occasion, but you'll pay about £4 for it, which if this is intensive farming isn't alot for supply and demand. Intesive farming = huge supply, but there isn't huge demand. So pointless really. Not like chickens, everyone wants a chicken on their table on a sunday (well, most!) and despite what most say, we all want the cheapest one. So demand for cheap hens is in huge.

The cost of running a farm, employing someone, feeding etc etc (plus the defra rules and regs which must be in place) would outweigh the income from this meat which hardly anyone wants. Let's face it, the only people who really eat rabbit tend to be gamekeepers and the such who just shoot wild.

I might be being completely niave here, but in this day and age, does intensive rabbit farming, for meat, really exist? If so, what's it for? Pet food or human food?

I have never seen rabbit for sale in a supermarket here.

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Neither have I, in the US.

William said:

Neither have I, in the US.

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How can you say you've never seen rabbit meat for sale in the US??? It's humongous!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Zahirre said:

How can you say you've never seen rabbit meat for sale in the US??? It's humongous!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Are you sure? I have never seen any at all. I saw quail for the first time about 6 months ago and was shocked. I never see that either. A room mate of my sister's wanted to cook rabbit and he could only find a whole rabbit so he didnt get any (my sister doesn't agree with it and didn't want to see a dead bunny in the freezer). And he lives in New York... I'm pretty sure most people here if asked if they eat rabbit would say 'ewww no'. :? I always thought it was common in the UK because of how people on here say friends make 'rabbit stew' comments about their buns. I can't imagine anyone here saying that about rabbits- they're viewed like cats and dogs.

William said:

Are you sure? I have never seen any at all. I meant that the US is huge so how can you say you don't think it's available on a large scale? I saw quail for the first time about 6 months ago and was shocked. I never see that either. A room mate of my sister's wanted to cook rabbit and he could only find a whole rabbit so he didnt get any (my sister doesn't agree with it and didn't want to see a dead bunny in the freezer). And he lives in New York... I'm pretty sure most people here if asked if they eat rabbit would say 'ewww no'. :? I always thought it was common in the UK because of how people on here say friends make 'rabbit stew' comments about their buns. I can't imagine anyone here saying that about rabbits- they're viewed like cats and dogs.

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I wouldn't go as far as that tbh. My dad lived in Houston for over 10 years and rabbit was pretty common. Britain has always eaten game animals as they've always been available... way before cows/pigs/sheep etc.
I don't think buns are seen as the same as cats and dogs at all.
Google US rabbit meat farms, they're plenty available as they are in other countries, including the UK.
The US is humongous and if the UK is producing rabbit on a steady scale, the US sure as heck are too.

True, but it's at least true for the state I live in. I would imagine it's more common to eat rabbits in rural areas.

William said:

True, but it's at least true for the state I live in. I would imagine it's more common to eat rabbits in rural areas.

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Yer, I suppose... same could be said for the UK. But even so... it's really sad that their welfare isn't a priority