Carnival Cruise Lines & Rabbits...

[Jason]

Cruise deal gets rabbit farms hoppin'

THOMAS SPENCER, News staff writer

LEIGHTON -- Hundreds of white rabbits lounge in elevated cages in J.C. Holt's barn. Their assignment: do what they are known for doing, and in the process give birth to a whole new industry.

Rabbit: It's the other, other white meat; low in fat, low in cholesterol and high in protein, Holt says. They aren't fed hormones or antibiotics - everything in rabbit food is all natural.

And the Tri-State Rabbit Co-op, of which Holt is president, has a contract with a broker to supply Carnival Cruise Lines to supply more than 4,000 rabbits a month.

Carnival chefs apparently have made rabbit into a popular gourmet dinner item on their ships, creating a demand so large that despite the rabbits' fabled reproductive powers, the current breeding stock can barely create the supply.

The cruise line would take more if they can produce them, Holt said, and that's got Alabama's agricultural leadership mobilizing to seize the opportunity.

"Developing the rabbit industry is one of my top priorities and I am committed to ensuring that we see this project through and we open a new market for our Alabama farmers and their products," said Ron Sparks, commissioner of the Alabama Department of Agriculture and Industries Commissioner.

Tuskegee, Auburn and Alabama A&M universities have offered their help. And the Natural Resources Conservation Service in Alabama has been helping spread the word to farmers that they can get into the rabbit business with a relatively small investment and minimal space.

"They can start out with 10 does and one buck and make a profit," said Holt, whose farm is in Colbert County in northwest Alabama.

Holt admits previous runs at rabbit production have been lackluster. But the retired railroad man insists that this is not another fad that will ultimately disappoint. Like emus. Or alpacas. Or bison.

The difference is that there's a ready market and much more potential with rabbits, he says.

The cruise ship contract is just the tip of the iceberg, Holt explained. With a steady supply, Alabama rabbit growers could supply what is an apparently insatiable thirst for rabbit blood among biomedical researchers. The biotech industry also is apparently willing to pay top dollar for rabbit brains, an ingredient in a surgical clotting agent. "The rabbit brain is worth big bucks," Holt said.

Rabbits can work for you, too. Holt has a set of cages on a trailer that he pulls to different spots in the garden for the rabbits to do the fertilizing. Under his hanging cages in the barn, Holt plans to build beds and let loose bait worms. The worms will turn the rabbit droppings into fertilizer, and the extra worms can be sold as fish bait.

And, Holt said, he's pitched a fast-food chain the idea of adding a rabbit biscuit to its breakfast menu.

"They're looking for a niche, something to set them apart," Holt said,

Holt admits, though, that there is a problem when it comes to feeding bunnies to the American masses: Rabbits, while they taste like - you guessed it - chicken, are unlike chicken in that rabbits are notoriously cute and fuzzy and have a fairly large and soft-hearted fan club.

"People ain't ready for rabbit yet," Holt said. It's going to take some time and a public campaign to convince the shoppers that rabbits are not pets, not sentient beings. They're dinner.

"We've got to get the housewife," he said.

Willie Nelle Averey in Hale County is wary. She got into rabbit production about six or seven years ago after attending a series of meetings across the Southeast in the last round of rabbit frenzy.

"The market has not been doing good," she said.

She has about 60 rabbits and hasn't decided whether she'll ramp up from her small-scale production. The consolation for a less-than-robust market has been that rabbit care is not as intense as livestock care.

"They are easy to raise. You just have to pay attention to the dates," Avery said.

A doe rabbit gestates for 31 days. The average litter is about seven rabbits, and it takes eight to 10 weeks for the rabbits to get up to five pounds, at which point they're ready for the dinner table.

Rabbits are processed in Mississippi, then shipped to Florida. But producers are exploring ways to locate processing and feed production in Alabama.

Holt doesn't want anyone to take up rabbit farming under the illusion of getting rich quick. Caring for his 600 rabbits, 150 of which are breeding does, is a seven-day-a week job. Holt said he is encouraging new growers to start out small and build their stock.

With about $350 invested in 2-foot-by-2-foot cages plus a watering system and 11 rabbits, you can get started. Rabbits don't require the work or the land that cattle do. And rabbits, of course, don't eat as much.

"One doe rabbit can make more profit in a year than a cow," Holt said. "It takes three acres for a cow; it takes a two square feet for a rabbit. The same amount of feed that can produce six pounds of rabbit would produce just one pound of beef," Holt said.

"And, well, if you can't sell'em, eat'em. You can't eat what 10 rabbits can produce."

[GottaCruz]

Rabbits are much too cute to eat. :cry:

[Kristy9299]

agreed...i dont think i could ever eat one...

[JohnG]

Rabbit has been served in the military for years as an alternative meat. Mmm, good. However, I have never seen it on a Carnival menu in 7 Carnival cruises.

[DaCruzNut]

"I don't know why they call them the 'fun ships!' They're not much fun for me....."