The other, other white meat?

MARBURY, Ala. -- Rabbit farms are multiplying rapidly across the South, but their products aren't necessarily destined to be sold as Easter bunnies.

The rabbits could soon be on the menu for Easter Sunday or any other day of the week as more people discover the lean, white meat. "It tastes like chicken," said 11-year-old Brady Cox.

"And you can fix it any way chicken can be fixed," added his grandfather, Wayne Powell.

Powell helps his three grandsons run the family's business on their small farm 20 miles north of Montgomery. They started in September with only a few rabbits. Now they have 500.

"They multiply pretty quick," said 13-year-old Houston Powell.

So do rabbit farms.

Even though the farms are cropping up, many Southerners -- especially young ones -- have never tried rabbit.

Florida agriculture commissioner Charles Bronson and his Alabama counterpart, Ron Sparks, said many older Southerners grew up hunting and eating wild rabbits. But in recent decades, most have considered rabbits as pets, not food.

Attitudes are being changed by Southern chefs who trained in Europe, where rabbit appears regularly on menus, and by tourists and immigrants from countries where rabbits are commercially grown for food.

J.C. Holt, president of the Tri-State Rabbit Producers Association, said the organization began in 2003 with two members. Now it has 248 in Alabama, Tennessee and Mississippi.

Rabbit farms in the South are small compared to the large commercial farms in Europe. No matter the size, farmers say the key to making a profit is developing a market.

Getting started takes a small investment -- a shed, wire cages and feed. Cages, about 2 feet by 3 feet, are elevated so droppings can fall through and farmers can get a second product -- rabbit manure.

Members in the Tri-State Rabbit Producers Association send their rabbits to a processor in Sandy Hook, Miss., every three weeks. From there, the meat goes to cruise lines, high-end restaurants and a few grocery stores.

Wayne Powell took a chance on rabbit farming after getting frustrated with trying to make a profit from cattle. He gets 85 cents a pound for his rabbits.

Beth Seely, one of the largest rabbit producers in the South, said she got interested when her children received two Easter bunnies in 1985. Her operation -- one of about 60 rabbit farms in Florida -- has grown so big that she gave up her nursing job in 1995 to devote full time to her new business.

Her 10-acre farm in Dunnellon, Fla., is now home to 600 female rabbits that she breeds and about 5,000 rabbits at any one time. To make sure there is a steady market for her animals, Seely opened her own processing plant that turns out 2,000 to 3,000 rabbits per month from her farm and others.

She also is supplying breeding stock for other farmers looking to duplicate her success.

"The interest in the grower level has grown throughout the South," Seely said.

The next step, officials say, is to promote rabbit as a healthy meat. U.S. Agriculture Department studies show it has less fat and cholesterol than beef, pork or chicken.

"You've got to win over the young generation and show them how healthy it is," Sparks said.