# Two Observations/Questions from Butchering Rabbits



## brentr (Aug 14, 2011)

I don't intend for this to be a dark and overly graphic thread, but not sure how to discuss otherwise and still be clear.

I butchered my first rabbits yesterday - seven of them.  I used a neck breaker very similar to the rabbit wringer that you can buy online.  I removed the head immediately after killing.  Two things surprised me.  First, the rabbits bled very little when I removed the head.  I thought they would bleed out more (when eviscerating them, I found quite a bit of blood pooled in the chest cavity - internal bleeding).  Second, after skinning and eviscerating the rabbits, I noticed that in almost all of them the neck meat was dark with congealed blood.  I would compare the appearance and coloration to bloodshot meat in a deer that has been killed in hunting season.  This really surprised me, and makes me wonder if my technique is the cause, or if this is normal.  My Youtube research proved inconclusive due to varied camera angles, etc. 

So for all you who slaughter by neck breaking: do you experience the same thing?  Observations or suggestions?  Should I just plan to cut off the discolored neck close to the shoulders and discard when cutting them up for freezing?

On a related note, I'm really pleased with the production outcome.  These were 12 wk old NZW x Chinchilla rabbits, and the dressed weight on all of them was just shy of 3 lbs.  From seven rabbits I put 20 lbs of meat in the freezer (bone in).


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## doubled (Aug 15, 2011)

The neck bruising is why I quit useing the neck break method, it looks bad when you sell/give away the meat. That is normal since your dislocating the neck and along with it severing blood vessels, Rabbits don't bleed much, I'm amazed    at the people that say you MUST cut the throat or cut off the head to bleed it out, it's not a hog or a deer. I have been butchering rabbits along time      and have always used a type of boltgun to dispatch the animals, you can also just use a piece of rebar to strike the head just set the animal down and strike it between the ears and eyes with a ballpeen hammer-- same result. Will not bruise the meat. 
Don't worry about it being GOREY, it's not--it's part of the process if you raise animals for consumption.


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## Citylife (Aug 15, 2011)

I use the wringer method and have the same thing happen.  It is normal when they are taken care of in a neck breaking manner.  I just cut it away.  As far as the blood in the chest cavity that happens from time to time but once skinned and gutted that washes out easily.  Rabbits do not have a lot of blood.  I have noticed this last batch I did had a lot of "body spasms" after totally butchered.  That was odd to me and I could see where it would freak a newbee out.  But, I process very quickly.  
I do one at a time, wringer, skin, gut out, wash, place in cold water and on to next one.....  10 minutes just went by.  I am guessing that is normal when your processing one so quickly.  
Good luck to you and hope you enjoy all of those great meals.


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## manybirds (Aug 15, 2011)

brentr said:
			
		

> I don't intend for this to be a dark and overly graphic thread, but not sure how to discuss otherwise and still be clear.
> 
> I butchered my first rabbits yesterday - seven of them.  I used a neck breaker very similar to the rabbit wringer that you can buy online.  I removed the head immediately after killing.  Two things surprised me.  First, the rabbits bled very little when I removed the head.  I thought they would bleed out more (when eviscerating them, I found quite a bit of blood pooled in the chest cavity - internal bleeding).  Second, after skinning and eviscerating the rabbits, I noticed that in almost all of them the neck meat was dark with congealed blood.  I would compare the appearance and coloration to bloodshot meat in a deer that has been killed in hunting season.  This really surprised me, and makes me wonder if my technique is the cause, or if this is normal.  My Youtube research proved inconclusive due to varied camera angles, etc.
> 
> ...


I can't be sure but i think you are supposed to kill (do not chop head off for this) then make slits at the side of the neck to bleed out and when it is bled out then cut the head off. i don't THINK u r supposed to cut off head right away.


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## Citylife (Aug 15, 2011)

Manybirds says:
I can't be sure but i think you are supposed to kill (do not chop head off for this) then make slits at the side of the neck to bleed out and when it is bled out then cut the head off. i don't THINK u r supposed to cut off head right away.


Interesting...  I have never heard that before.  I have always killed by breaking the neck, then hung it, cut its head off and then start skinning.  Seems to work fine.  But, as discussed, you do get some what I would call "blood shot meat" at the end of the neck.


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## manybirds (Aug 15, 2011)

Citylife said:
			
		

> Manybirds says:
> I can't be sure but i think you are supposed to kill (do not chop head off for this) then make slits at the side of the neck to bleed out and when it is bled out then cut the head off. i don't THINK u r supposed to cut off head right away.
> 
> 
> Interesting...  I have never heard that before.  I have always killed by breaking the neck, then hung it, cut its head off and then start skinning.  Seems to work fine.  But, as discussed, you do get some what I would call "blood shot meat" at the end of the neck.


yes i know with chickens u arn't supposed to cut the head off right away. we have lots of rabbits but they r show rabbits and when we have to put one down we use other methods (we don't butcher to eat, though we have considered it and we should with any culls, we just havn't had to many culls and those we do we sell as pets).


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## hoodat (Aug 15, 2011)

You have to work fast to get a good bleed out. In larger animals such as hogs the heart will keep beating for quite a while after death but in rabbits it is only a minute or less. If the heart isn't still beating you have nothing to pump out the blood. Gravity alone will not do the job. Have a good sharp knife that comes to a point handy and immeditely after killing, whatever the method, cut the throat and hold the rabbit up by the hind legs. Don't bother looking for blood vessels. They are almost impossible to find quickly in all that hair. Just insert the knife into the neck far enough back so you are sure you are behind the blood vessels and cut forward. Even with the heart still pumping you will not see that strong spurt of blood you get in a larger animal, just a draining.
If you don't get a good bleed out it isn't as bad with rabbits as it is in some other animals. The blood will pretty much be restricted to the abdominal cavity where it is easily washed out with cold water. Rabbits don't have large blood vessels in the muscle meat itself.


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## Sommrluv (Aug 15, 2011)

I'm not sure if this is helpful or not, because "I" personally have done a rabbit yet, but with any other animal I've had the experience with, making sure the animal is not stressed in any way exponentially increases the quality and taste of the meat.

For myself, it's a two-fold reason. 

One, being that a stressed animal will have increased adrenalin and lactates in the muscles, which has a direct effect on the tenderness, color, and taste of the meat.

Two (again, for myself, not being preachy here) is that I'm a Christian and there are detailed rules for slaughter and stewardship of animals, and I find many of those rules lead directly back to number one. 

I find the easier I'm able to get an animal, and painlessly dispatch it, the overall quality of that meat is than much better. When I was first doing chickens, I found that if I wasn't on my game and there was one that had to be chased too much to grab, or was freaking out more than the others and I let it panic for too long, it would thrash about in the killing cone as opposed to the calmer animals, and than often it wouldn't bleed out correctly. And the meat was never as good as the others. Same applies to pigs, sheep, and of course I'm assuming rabbits.

Sometimes it's a learn as you go process. I would say from the amount of bruising it would be obvious that animal didn't "go" too easy, and maybe there's another way to dispatch them. 


Here's some good info that helps me really plan out on butchering day:

http://ag.ansc.purdue.edu/meat_quality/mqf_stress.html


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## Citylife (Aug 15, 2011)

I have been involved in much deer hunting and have been around butchering all my life.  The amount of bruising I get on a neck killed rabbit in MO is not a big deal.  I have shot deer in the neck who had proportionaltely similar damage.  I think the important part is to find the way that works for you and is the least stressful for the animal.  There are many different ways out there.  I use what works for me. And sometimes I spend extra time calming the rabbit to make it easier on both of us.  I feel that I should respect my food before and after the skillet.


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## dewey (Aug 15, 2011)

brentr said:
			
		

> I don't intend for this to be a dark and overly graphic thread, but not sure how to discuss otherwise and still be clear.
> 
> I butchered my first rabbits yesterday - seven of them.  I used a neck breaker very similar to the rabbit wringer that you can buy online.  I removed the head immediately after killing.
> _*Cervical dislocation should render the rabbit unconscious (in contrast to killing it) so it can then be bled out.*_
> ...


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## Beekissed (Aug 15, 2011)

I've never experienced this discoloration of the neck that you describe when butchering a rabbit.  I've always used a tire bat to the back of the cervical spine/base of skull and then hung it up and slit the throat.  I've always had a good bleed out and the meat was not bruised in any way.  

I've never heard of a rabbit wringer....got a pic?


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## Bossroo (Aug 16, 2011)

brentr said:
			
		

> I don't intend for this to be a dark and overly graphic thread, but not sure how to discuss otherwise and still be clear.
> 
> I butchered my first rabbits yesterday - seven of them.  I used a neck breaker very similar to the rabbit wringer that you can buy online.  I removed the head immediately after killing.  Two things surprised me.  First, the rabbits bled very little when I removed the head.  I thought they would bleed out more (when eviscerating them, I found quite a bit of blood pooled in the chest cavity - internal bleeding).  Second, after skinning and eviscerating the rabbits, I noticed that in almost all of them the neck meat was dark with congealed blood.  I would compare the appearance and coloration to bloodshot meat in a deer that has been killed in hunting season.  This really surprised me, and makes me wonder if my technique is the cause, or if this is normal.  My Youtube research proved inconclusive due to varied camera angles, etc.
> 
> ...


The congealed blood  in the meat is caused by a ruptured blood vessel that bleeds out into the meat. One can cut out the bloody area. Also, then one can soak the carcass in a salt brine for several hours to draw out additional blood from the meat. Rabbits have little blood due to it's size, about 60-70 cc for a mature meat rabbit. What I do is to hold the rabbit by it's hind legs,when the rabbit calms down and holds it's head up,  use about a 2' piece of rebar or iron pipe, strike the rabbit just behind the ears, causing it's skull to break and render the rabbit instanly uncontous, then using a very sharp knife, hold it's head with one hand and bend it backwards while cutting the blood vessels just behind the jaw bones to bleed out and sever the head from the body.( Stab into the side of the neck with the point of the knife, push in then cut outwards as hair if very tough making it difficult to cut through).  If one severs the neck artery, there will be blood spurting due to the heart pumping,  if only the jugular, there will be just a flow. If both are severed, a more rapid bleed out. Unlike the popular opinion... while processing, ALL animals' hearts will continue to beat and pump blood untill there is no more or very little blood left in the blood vessels to provide nurishment and oxygen to the heart muscle at which point it is starved and deprived of nurishment to function and will start to flutter then cease to beat. The leangth of time the heart continues to pump depends on the rate that the animal bleeds out. I hope that this helps.


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## hoodat (Aug 16, 2011)

Blood in the neck is not that big a deal. The neck can be cut off the cooled carcass and used for making rabbit stock. I make my rabbit stock with the neck, heart, kidneys and lungs plus any bones with a bit of meat on them if I'm deboning. Add onion and a bay leaf, salt and pepper and you have a good rabbit sock for soup, cooking or gravy. It can be put into containers and kept frozen till needed. In Europe the head is also used for that purpose but skinning the head is such a pain I normally don't use it. BTW, in most European countries the blood is carefully saved at butchering time. Many European recipes call for the blood to be added to soup at the last few minutes of cooking. Just long enough to congeal it. For some reason in the US the blood is seldom used.


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## brentr (Aug 17, 2011)

Beekissed said:
			
		

> I've never experienced this discoloration of the neck that you describe when butchering a rabbit.  I've always used a tire bat to the back of the cervical spine/base of skull and then hung it up and slit the throat.  I've always had a good bleed out and the meat was not bruised in any way.
> 
> I've never heard of a rabbit wringer....got a pic?


www.rabbitwringer.com - you can also find his videos on youtube.


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## doubled (Aug 18, 2011)

Sommrluv said:
			
		

> I'm not sure if this is helpful or not, because "I" personally have done a rabbit yet, but with any other animal I've had the experience with, making sure the animal is not stressed in any way exponentially increases the quality and taste of the meat.
> 
> For myself, it's a two-fold reason.
> 
> ...


Bruising has nothing to do with how fast something dies by any means, it's simply from severing veins and capillaries in the meat it's called a Hematoma in medical terms. Being a substanance farmer/hunter I have put down hundreds of animals to prove this. Cutting it away is a waste of meat, should always try to prevent the bruising to start with.


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