Symbiosis around the homestead....... part 1

Websters dictionary defines symbiosis as, "the living together in more or less intimate association or close union of two dissimilar organisms, a cooperative relationship." We are finding that the more symbiotic relationships that we can build between the different components of our homestead the more harmony we have, the healthier the livestock/garden/system is and the more money we save.

As I loaded old hay in the back of the truck this week I started thinking about all the ways we are integrating and building symbiotic relationships and thought "what a great idea for a blog series" so here we are.

Doesn't everyone butcher roosters when school is cancelled?

Happiness is finding out your peds class is cancelled on a day it is sunny and warm enough to butcher those extra roosters that really need to be relocated to the freezer. I am in my last semester of RN school and homesteading tends to take a back seat to school these days. Having a whole day to devote to the farm is extra special.

**** Advance warning, there are actual butchering day photos to follow. If this bothers you hit the back arrow now.......

Before pictures..... AKA the cute and fuzzy side of rabbit farming........

These are our current cuties. There is just something adorable and sumo wrestleresk about fat baby bunnies. These three are extra special because they are the last litter from Blossom one of our two founding does. The other founding doe and our founding buck were retired a week ago and after this litter is weened Blossom will retire as well.

Rabbit Rabbit Everywhere...........

This is a continuation of rabbit processing day. In the past we have cut up and frozen our rabbit meat the same day it was harvested but this time we are trying something different. This time we let the carcasses chill in the fridge for a couple of days until they were past the rigor stage. This is supposed to make the meat more tender.

I debone the backs and most of the hind legs (I leave a few hind legs whole). The forelegs, rib cages backbones and hind leg bones all go in the stock pot.

Rabbit Processing Day.......

With the move to our new home I have gotten way behind on butchering rabbits. My old butcher station was a porcelain sink on two saw horses, thanks to my husband Rick, my setup has had a makeover.

My new butchering station is between two sheds. This gave me a wall to mount things on, access to water and shade. The two shelf brackets mounted to the wall are my rabbit station and the orange cone is my chicken station.