First time dispatching a rabbit

Ok, so I was looking forward to dispatching my first rabbit. Today was the day. I watched youtube videos and read everything here (just like a newbie butcher, yeah, I know, lol).

I was anticipating the wringer method, but noooo... the ol bop and bleed is what this guy does. Ok, not a problem there... but I was asking why this method and he said "the wringer method causing bleeding inside (because the heart stops), landing mostly in the shoulders".He stated that it tasted like bruised meat. He wanted the heart to continue to beat and push out the blood from the body.

Makes sense, but does it make that much of a difference? He was obviously skilled and informed. My problem would be aim, I mean the "bop" wouldn't bother me, but what if I missed ~ yuck, bop bop bop... ewww (sorry about the visual, but that's what I keep seeing in my head).

No turning back now... I have meat rabbits as of today. Just wanted opinions about the "bruised taste" and the ol bop and bleed method.

(humm,*re-reading the post*... I am not meaning to sound disrespectful of the rabbit in any way. I guess I am just trying to distance myself from the harshness. Sorry if I offended anyone.

Medical field = sick, twisted, and morbid thoughts, writings, and verbalizations about everything ~~ even at the dinner table.

The heart does stop quicker with Cervical Dislocation (CD) but it still beats for a good 10 seconds which is plenty of time to bleed out most of the blood IMHO, I've never had it pool in the shoulder area, just the where the break is which should be at the base of the skull.

Unfortunately I have seen improper CD in many YouTube videos and instead of "popping off the head" they crush the neck and his would certainly be more likely to cause shoulder bruising or pooling of the blood closer to the shoulder area

Now keep in mind I've ever butchered 1 rabbit and 1 guinea pig butttt....

Bopping seems cruel and just hard. I did the broomstick method (not sure if it's the same as wringer just different name?) and I didn't even cut off the head because I had no idea what I was doing but had no pooling of blood and it tasted fine. If you pop off the head correctly, it shouldn't cause bruising afaik.

Dood":1xo8qama said:

The heart does stop quicker with Cervical Dislocation (CD) but it still beats for a good 10 seconds which is plenty of time to bleed out most of the blood IMHO, I've never had it pool in the shoulder area, just the where the break is which should be at the base of the skull.

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After CD, do you hang and cut the arteries? Or hang and cut the head off quickly? Sounds like either could be done easily within 10 seconds, right?

CochinBrahmaLover":1xo8qama said:

Bopping seems cruel and just hard.

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Sounded cruel to me too, but after watching it done ~ I am not so bad with it. The rabbit was "out". Seemed humanely done, imho.

After CD, do you hang and cut the arteries? Or hang and cut the head off quickly? Sounds like either could be done easily within 10 seconds, right?

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I cut the arteries if I use a "broom stick" but with the wringer I know how far to pull to snap the arteries internally and I just hang them upside down and let the blood pool in the neck.

I broomstick and I've never had shoulder bruising. I have, however, pulled too hard and disconnected the skull from the neck on small fryers but there was still no shoulder bruising.

We broomstick, and I have no idea what bruised meat tastes like.
I do not feel that bopping is cruel is done correctly, but I wouldn't be comfortable with holding my rabbits upside down.

I use what I call "the Swedish method" which is the only legal way for an individual to dispatch a rabbit in Sweden. I believe it is less stressful than being hung upside down and it is easier for me to aim. With this method there is no bruising of the neck area.

You place the rabbit on a solid surface and whack it on the forehead and then quickly slit the throat. My platform is a leftover chunk of beam that is probably 8" thick and I use a length of angle iron to strike with. Sometimes it is a killing blow (eyes are open but unresponsive to being touched), while at other times the rabbit is only stunned. Once you overcome your natural hesitation in delivering a killing blow to a living creature, they will be dead more often than not.

There was a study done on the Halal method of slaughter where a fully conscious animal has the throat cut versus one that has been stunned by a blow to the head. They placed electrodes in the pain centers of the brains of two calves; the neurons in the Halal calf's brain continued firing the entire time it bled out (indicating that it felt pain) while they were inactive in the stunned animal's brain.

jeannie":5hjs81pj said:

My problem would be aim, I mean the "bop" wouldn't bother me, but what if I missed ~ yuck, bop bop bop... ewww (sorry about the visual, but that's what I keep seeing in my head).

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Been there myself. I envisioned brains and blood flying everywhere with the bop on the forehead method. :x That hasn't ever happened, but sometimes their eyeballs will pop out which looks pretty gruesome... but indicates to me that I delivered a very quick end to the rabbit.

I really hate dispatching and have put it off for several weeks , generally till I have no cage space and am forced to cull .....
I put them in a box designed to hold them in place with a hole in the top & shoot them with a pellet gun .... not seeing the rabbit , other than the back of its head makes it a little easier to do the deed.
Once dispatched , I quickly hang them by the hocks upside down and they will bleed out the nose for a few seconds , no pooling of blood in other area's.

We built our version of a rabbit wringer and it works well for us. The only blood pooling/clotting we get is high in the neck.

I myself employ the CD method, I have so far processed only two rabbits and I have already learned about the process.

:!: :!: I apologize if the below seems overtly graphic, to me the respect for the life of the rabbit and the in-arguable necessity of preventing suffering by the rabbit is paramount, and I find that providing rich detail will help highlight the successes, and learning experiences I have already gone through. :!: :!:

With the first bun I used all my strength and speed and the head neatly separated from the neck just as I would have expect it to from watching Grumpy's Video, then hanging the rabbit and cutting the arteries in the neck, holding the rabbit firmly for around 25 seconds until the bulk of muscle twitching stopped and the flow of blood became turgid.

Just as in Grumpy's vid, the head separated from the body while skinning, there was very little busing in the shoulders and I only noticed blood clots at the junction where the back of the skull met the neck.

When I did the second Bun, I was not totally focused on what I was doing as I was getting ahead of myself and thinking that I had forgotten my sharpest skinning knife, and so the CD was preformed with much less speed and power, the angle I was holding the rabbits head at was also less then ideal.

The rabbit did die immediately as far as i was aware, but I failed to break the spine where it meets the skull, instead I stretched out the vertebra from the back of the skull all the way past the front shoulders, the process for bleeding the rabbit was the same, except that it took around 15 seconds longer for the twitching to stop.

The consequence of this is that the arteries in the neck were pulled loose, however the vertebra were all mostly intact, and so when I was skinning down past the shoulders, I tugged the skin and the shoulders separated from the body as they are only attached by cartilage to the shoulder joint, rather then the head separating from the neck.

There was also much more blood pooling along the shoulders and in the lung and heart cavity rather then high up on the neck.

What I learned from this was to use some common sense, be prepared for the task at hand, in the future I will ensure that I have all my knives prepared and sitting within easy safe reach before I ever put a hand on the rabbit I am processing.

I hope this helps explain at least one of the ways a CD can be preformed incorrectly and help other learn from my Newb mistake :lol:

I use CD as well and don't notice any problems, but I do have a friend that insists on soaking each of her carcasses in salt water to remove the blood/bruising. I know its a trick some use to get the 'gamey' taste out of wild rabbit, but I don't personally see the point in her doing it to each of her domestic carcasses since they don't have he same taste...

Thought I'd mention it if your cautious about trying cd incase of the bruising.

Thanks for the ideas. I was worried about the "bruised" tasting different. I am going to try to CD method next, but that won't be for months since I just bought my meat rabbits. *waiting for kits*

I bop here. Nothing cruel about it. The key is making sure the bopping tool is not too wide to catch the shoulders when you go to do it...and making sure you can aim from the back the head and picture as if you are smacking through to the front of the nose with enough force. Ours are killed on the first swing.

We haven't had any bruised meat here since the first couple back a few years ago. There's a learning curve to dispatch and refining the time/skill/speed for anyone so don't get discouraged.

Everyone has a preference but I think that like with anything, if you can refine your method enough to where it's the fastest and quickest, then it is the most humane. Yes - the sensation of "hitting" is not an attribute most of us desire to be able to have, but as with getting accustomed to dispatching for meat, I connect in my mind that it's for food. They're eating grass on the ground one minute unaware, bopped, then already hanging and being skinned. There's no time for them to register anything. The rabbit is not aware of anything going over its neck, or its neck being slid through any device, nor being prevented from acting like a rabbit in the moment of its death.

As for the heart stopping the fastest -- it's not about that. It's about what stops and destroys the brain. The heart may stop, but the brain going through any form of consciousness and awareness is what concerns me the most.

PSFAngoras":lqdqk2jl said:

I use CD as well and don't notice any problems, but I do have a friend that insists on soaking each of her carcasses in salt water to remove the blood/bruising. I know its a trick some use to get the 'gamey' taste out of wild rabbit, but I don't personally see the point in her doing it to each of her domestic carcasses since they don't have he same taste...

Thought I'd mention it if your cautious about trying cd incase of the bruising.

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I "brine " my meat in a salt water brine in the frig, [1 cup salt / 1 gal of water]for a day or ,up to a week, it takes any stringy, or toughness, out of the meat as well as any "off flavors" from older bucks. and-- if you are gifted an older venison , it works like a charm for that also.

I've used the CD method longer than some of you folks have been alive.
I shudder to think about the numbers I've processed over the years.
It's well into the thousands I'm sure. Keeping a 25 doe herd and selling all
of the youngsters as processed, kept me quite busy for 20+ years.

However, an "old-dog" can learn new tricks....LOL. Consequently, I tried
the "Bopping-Method" here a few months ago and I was quite impressed.
Compared to the CD method, there was very little blood pooling around
the neck area when I bopped the three rabbits I processed. That was a
pleasant surprise. Of course, timing and aim are critical in this method.

I made a special cable sling to quickly attach the rear foot of the rabbit
once it was stunned, allowing me to sever the carotid artery fairly fast.
Just like in the video I've produced and got posted on RT, all of my
equipment was neatly laid out and within easy reach when I needed them.

For my "bopping" instrument, I used about an 18" length of an old shovel
handle that was made out of Hickory. It had a smooth round shape with
no sharp corners on it to damage/bruise the area receiving the blow.
After that, it was a repetition of my methods on the video. Even an old
timer like myself, I was a bit nervous attempting this new method.

However, it is efficient, quick, and relatively easy once your method has
been perfected. Just remember "why" you are in the place that you are.
You are there to provide a nearly perfect product for your family and
friends to consume. Keeping that thought in mind, your choices become
relatively simple and easy..........................after several hundred.

Grumpy.

I use a hinged bar on a platform with a slot for the bar to go into for CD. There is bleeding into the neck area and, sometimes, some blood in the shoulder area as well but it is mostly blood free on the outside - a bit of blood from the nose sometimes - so its easier to prep my hides.

Never had a problem with the blood in/on the meat myself but for the rabbits I sell jointed up I just trim off any staining.

Older breeders get a shot in the head with my .22 when its their turn to go.

No mater what method you use, use it with firmness and determination and you will do a good job!

I have to agree with (Wilden sp?) Anyhow I made one of those videos that is on Youtube which I am sure a lot of you have viewed. I bop, it's not the only way to dispatch...that is for sure!

The reason Is because a few hundred yrs back there was a little thing called the French revolution......During this time many, many people unwillingly had thier heads removed from their bodies via a large sharp blade. There was a scientist that was to face the blade, but as his last experiment (involving himself).....he would blink his eyes as many times as he could after being beheaded, and yes according to his assistant he did just that. I can't remember how many times he blinked, (20 plus I think) but it did show (to me) that the mind even removed from the body could still react to events that we would think to be impossible. Look this up if you doubt me.


Bopping is about accurate strikes, trauma to the brain causes as close as I can tell a instant brain death, via severe trauma.....if nothing else they are not conscious through the rest of the killing procedure.

I hate, and MEAN HATE the broom stick method. How the hell is standing on a rabbits neck with your weight with a stick across their neck at the same time reasnable, then slowly grapping the feet and pulling humane?? (I kill a lot of animals, and am also a avid hunter) I think people are foolish to think this is a reasonable way to dispatch, and the videos I have seen are less than impressive on the method. I personally DON'T BELIEVE THE BRAIN DIES WHEN THE NECK IS SNAPPED. You can't convince me that the brain dies that fast, as there is still a oxygenated brain and body. How many people survive with broken necks?

With bopping it's lights out, I also endorse the swedish method, and a gun. I believe anything that leaves the brain in tact (without trauma) can lead to a animal that is very much alert, but unable to move. My opinion.


Bowbuild <br /><br /> __________ Wed Oct 29, 2014 11:03 am __________ <br /><br /> I have to agree with (Wilden sp?) Anyhow I made one of those videos that is on Youtube which I am sure a lot of you have viewed. I bop, it's not the only way to dispatch...that is for sure!

The reason Is because a few hundred yrs back there was a little thing called the French revolution......During this time many, many people unwillingly had thier heads removed from their bodies via a large sharp blade. There was a scientist that was to face the blade, but as his last experiment (involving himself).....he would blink his eyes as many times as he could after being beheaded, and yes according to his assistant he did just that. I can't remember how many times he blinked, (20 plus I think) but it did show (to me) that the mind even removed from the body could still react to events that we would think to be impossible. Look this up if you doubt me.


Bopping is about accurate strikes, trauma to the brain causes as close as I can tell a instant brain death, via severe trauma.....if nothing else they are not conscious through the rest of the killing procedure.

I hate, and MEAN HATE the broom stick method. How the hell is standing on a rabbits neck with your weight with a stick across their neck at the same time reasnable, then slowly grapping the feet and pulling humane?? (I kill a lot of animals, and am also a avid hunter) I think people are foolish to think this is a reasonable way to dispatch, and the videos I have seen are less than impressive on the method. I personally DON'T BELIEVE THE BRAIN DIES WHEN THE NECK IS SNAPPED. You can't convince me that the brain dies that fast, as there is still a oxygenated brain and body. How many people survive with broken necks?

With bopping it's lights out, I also endorse the swedish method, and a gun. I believe anything that leaves the brain in tact (without trauma) can lead to a animal that is very much alert, but unable to move. My opinion.


Bowbuild

How the hell is standing on a rabbits neck with your weight with a stick across their neck at the same time reasnable, then slowly grapping the feet and pulling humane??

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Bowbuild, whomever described the broomstick method to you was very very incorrect. The simple fact that anyone could believe your description is the proper way to go about that method does present a good argument against it though. ( and I've also been unimpressed with the videos I've seen online. )

I wouldn't ever want to see someone put their whole weight on the back of a rabbits neck, or pulling it upwards SLOWLY.

Why would ANY kill process be done SLOWLY? :shock:

I feel that any dispatch method with a high of a chance of operator error should be avoided.

I see your point with bopping and wish I could do it. I worry about precision=hitting the right spot strongly enough so the animal is knocked out or killed, vs the other possibilities. I do not have the best fine motor control, and when I have tried bopping, it has been a bad experience. Accurate aim & force are needed. I'm not sure what to practice on to make sure it is pain-free, but after the last experience I had with it I don't know if I have it in me to try again. (I was a much better kickball player than a baseball player. Often missed hitting the ball with the bat...)

When I broomstick (and I use a rod much thinner than a broomstick handle) I have lightly held it in place with my toes so the rabbit flattens itself to the ground and doesn't try to slip out, but isn't squished or choked. I then quickly step down with more pressure at the same time as I quickly pull up on the back legs. Requires timing, but not precision.

Regardless, I am with Ramjet--dispatching takes the right mindset for me and I often end up waiting longer than I probably should. I don't mind butchering at all, but the first part...have to get myself right and focused before I do it.