To Kay and Steve Doyan, their rabbits aren’t bucks and does – they’re guys and gals.
“This guy just produces beautiful litters,” Kay Doyan said of Bart, a 1-year-old Californian rabbit with black ears and a black nose. He sat patiently as Steve Doyan demonstrated his good qualities – a square, stocky body with big shoulders “kind of like a toaster,” Steve Doyan said – and he even submits to having his nails clipped with little fuss.
Bart was just one of the 50 breeding rabbits Kay and Steve have at Song Away Farm in Loudon, where they raise rabbits and chickens for meat production. And while the rabbit meat industry certainly hasn’t been breeding as fast as you might expect, the two say they get plenty of business from people looking to try a different kind of locally raised protein.
“We don’t have to advertise, because people who want us come find us,” Steve Doyan said.
Part of why the industry is slow-growing, he said, is a cultural resistance to seeing a cute, cuddly animal like a rabbit as food. There’s no doubt the Doyans are attached to their charges – all their breeding rabbits have names, and Belle, the stately matriarch of the farm at 6 years old, is living out her days at the farm even though she no longer produces litters.
Kay was quick to note that they make efforts to find older rabbits new homes once they’re finished breeding. And as Steve cradled Bart in his hands, he said the attachment is part of the job.
“We give them the best quality of life possible,” he said. “They have a purpose, and we respect that.”
Kay Doyan said some of their clients are people like her and her husband, who are unsatisfied with the quality of meat being produced elsewhere. But a large, perhaps unexpected clientele comprises pet owners whose animals have a hard time eating pet food or meat.
“It’s considered a unique protein, because a lot of bodies have not been exposed to it, human or animal,” Kay said. “We’ve seen animals do very well going on rabbit, and there are a few holistic vets who recommend it to sick animals.”
And the Doyans, who started raising their own rabbits in 2011, don’t just use the animals for their meat; they sell the tanned rabbit pelts through Spirit Furs in Canterbury, and also sell the rabbit manure, of which there is plenty at the farm.
Some of their clients are interested in raising their own rabbits. In that case, the Doyans are happy to teach you how to kill and butcher your own rabbits in their processing room.
The room, located in the main barn, resembles an operating room, and is almost out of place in the barn setting: It’s heavily insulated, with white walls and a well-swept concrete floor. A metal table is pressed against one wall, next to a sink, and suspended above is a rod where carcasses can be hung to bleed out.
They’re not required to have such a room: The passage of House Bill 608 in 2014 allows small farms to sell up to 1,000 U.S. Department of Agriculture-uninspected rabbits or chickens to restaurants, and allows farmers to slaughter in their own yards, should they desire to do so.
However, Steve Doyan, a state employee with the Department of Environmental Services, said its better to safe than sorry.
“The rules are always changing,” he said. “Better to be tough on yourself originally; otherwise you’ll always be playing catch-up.”
Not everyone is up to the task of killing their own rabbits, Kay said – it’s not uncommon for clients to have a litter and return them, saying “I can’t do this.”
If you’re not up to raising rabbit meat yourself but want to give it a taste, at least one local chef has been working with Song Away for the past five years.
Corey Fletcher, owner and chef of Revival Kitchen and Bar, said his Song Away Farm Rabbit plate, paired with peas, asparagus, mushrooms and pancetta, is certainly not his most popular dish – but it’s not unpopular, either. He estimates he goes through four to eight rabbits a week.
“You see a lot of rabbit meat used in France and England, maybe sometimes in Canada,” he said. “I like to think they’re a little ahead of the times when it comes to culinary or health practices.”
People react one of two ways when they learn rabbit is on the menu, Fletcher said: excitement or shock.
“It’s either, ‘That’s awesome, I haven’t had rabbits since I was traveling in France,’ or New York City. Sometimes the older generations will say their grandfather used to raise rabbit,” he said. “Others are like, ‘Whoa.’ ”
There’s no doubt that part of people’s resistance to eating rabbit comes from their cuteness, but Fletcher advised that those who are curious to try to forget that, and praised rabbit as a “cleaner protein” alternative than chicken.
“People who are leery about it, I’d say … try to get the cute, little, furry bunny pet out of your mind, and give it a try,” Fletcher said.
(Caitlin Andrews can be reached at 369-3309, candrews@cmonitor.com or on Twitter at @ActualCAndrews.)