Processed seven meat rabbits today!

[DianeS]

I had purchased a litter of 8-9 week old rabbits last week from someone reducing her stock. The rabbits were rather small, so I let them bulk up another week in my garage. BOY did they bulk up! They went from being able to huddle together in less than half of a dog crate, to needing 3/4 of the crate. I'm glad I gave them that extra week. I processed them today.

Seven rabbits (live weight) together was 30 lbs or a tiny bit more (scale not very good). One of the rabbits was almost nothing but skin and bones, a couple others were very muscular. Amazing how different they can be even in the same litter.

I don't have a final processed weight yet, I got really tired doing so many rabbits and haven't removed the bones yet. I'll post that later.

But processing 10 week old rabbits was a world of difference from processing an adult. The adult took nearly two hours (and a pair of bolt cutters), but these juniors took 20 minutes (longest) down to 12 minutes apiece. So incredibly much easier!

In related news... there was one rabbit in that litter that I just couldn't process. A doe in the litter decided she LIKED me. I'd come into the garage to feed them, and she'd stand on her hind legs to paw the air. I'd put my hands in the crate to change food and water dishes, and she'd push herself against me to get petted. All the others were scared of me. ***SIGH*** I sure hope I'm not this much of a softy with all my litters.

Now I need another cage. I don't need this particular doe in my breeding program, but I guess it won't hurt to grow her up and breed her at least once to see how she does. She's from a litter of eight, so that's a good number. It was a slower developing litter, but they got there.

But it is a change. She's kind of a pet in my breeding program, which I don't have in any other of my rabbits. The other rabbits could take me or leave me, and she likes me. Different.

I'm looking forward to my rabbit dinners! YUM!

 

[tortoise]

I had one last year that I couldn't butcher. I got a lot of rabbits in fall. I was about to off one and I realized that he was really calm and sweet - the others were pretty much wild. I kept him. He produced a nice litter and then I traded him off for another buck.

I had one this year that I couldn't butcher. She is the sweetest thing! And I am SO glad I didn't because her momma died suddenly this year!

You'll find a place for her. It's good to have calm rabbits - it's worth saving that back.

 

[DianeS]

Thanks, tortoise! That's a great way to think about it. She really is surprisingly calm. I turned her loose in the chicken run before I dug out a dog crate for her temporary home, and when I went in to get her she just sat there and let me pick her up. None of my others would do that, they'd think it was a good excuse for a chase!

I could definately use some calmer genes in my rabbits. Not a bad idea at all.

 

[Mrs. Mucket]

Have you also processed chickens? I'm curious about the difference between processing rabbits and poultry--is it simpler/faster/easier/harder to do one or the other?

 

[DianeS]

Have you also processed chickens? I'm curious about the difference between processing rabbits and poultry--is it simpler/faster/easier/harder to do one or the other?

Yes, I've also processed chickens. They're different from each other, but it feels like about the same amount of "work".

When I butcher chickens, I use a killing cone and slit the neck arteries. With rabbits, I use a jury-rigged rabbit wringer and break the neck, then slit it to bleed out. So different amounts of muscle strength, and different aiming abilities with a knife. Rabbits struggle before death because they don't like being held in a strange position, chickens flap afterwards and freak people out. So different types of wondering if you're doing it right.

After they're dead, I scald and pluck chickens. Easy to do, no muscle involved, but you do pay attention to a clock with scalding. (I've never skinned one.) With rabbits, I cut the skin in particular areas and peel it off. That takes some muscle and some skill with a knife. Even children can pluck chickens, it takes someone with knowledge to skin a rabbit. Sometimes it takes muscle too - the younger the rabbit the less muscle it takes. Because I hand-pluck, the chickens can take longer than young rabbits, but less time than adult rabbits.

Gutting rabbits also takes a little knowledge, there is some cartiledge at the pelvis that must be cut before they can come out of a rabbit. No such knowledge needed for a chicken, just get your hand in there and pull it all out for a bird. But it comes out easier from a rabbit, just lifts out in a mass, nothing to pull hard on or scrape out like for a chicken.

The dead rabbit seems to be less messy - it doesn't drop fur around like chickens drop feathers. I have no trouble keeping 100% of the mess confined to the kitchen sink.

Cooling, setting, storing, etc seem all the same between the two. If you have more specific questions feel free to ask. If you can do one, I'd say you can do the other without trouble if you do just a little internet research on specifics.