Newbie Butcher Questions

Background:
I wanted to start raising meat rabbit but ended up with a mini lop(maybe?). I will keep her as a pet and get a pair of NZs probably. Now debating if I want to breed her, breed meat rabbits or can I even eat them so all info is appreciated. I've been reading up so some of the questions are just to confirm so helpfully I don't sound like a total dimwit.

Sanitation:
I've watch videos on the butcher but how about sanitation? Can you butcher in your home? Where would the best spot be? How do you dispose of blood and organs? Clean organs you want to keep? I like in the city and do not need the neighbors even knowing I have rabbits. Also slightly researching peppering so people knowing about your resources is a big no no.

Before Butcher:
Should be obvious but you shouldn't do it in the room with other rabbits? This may be a problem for me since I have limited space.

After Butcher:
You put them in water for a few days or can you cook them as long as it is within a few hours? Can you freeze right after or do you still soak them? When can you cut them up?

Status of Rabbit:
One female 19-21 weeks and I can't tell her condition let alone if she has the right conformation or even the right breed. Any helpful site that have detail pictures of body shape? I think she is slightly cow hocked but no pinched quarters. So that shouldn't make birthing difficult right? I got varied answer on how easy that is to breed out and if you should breed at all.

All breeds of rabbit are edible, but some breeds or lines are are more efficient than others.

I butcher right in my kitchen, often times right on front of my cuddly house rabbit, Mucky, who has never been the slightest bit phased by proceedings. I used to put a sheet up so she didn't have to watch, but stopped sometime back, as it became very obvious that she couldn't care less.

After observing them for a few years, I've come to believe that rabbits may not really understand death.
Violence only seems to matter when it pertains to them.



I dispose of blood and organs by raw feeding to my dogs. Stomach and intestines are usually buried in the worm bins, to compost.

yeah i don't really think rabbits understand death either. i don't believe most animals do. no qualms about doing it in front of the others - any psychological damage is moot since if they're close enough to see the other rabbit die, they aren't far behind ;P

i broomstick em on the porch and butcher them inside to keep the flies away and me from having to be outside in the heat too long. i just bleach out my sink/counter real good and do it there, it doesn't take long. you could also use your bathtub i guess, if you wanted more space. just again, bleach it out really well. the blood usually goes down the drain while im working and i put the organs in a bag and bury them outside in the garden. i would feed them to my dog and cats but they decided they will only each chicken raw, apparently. you're missing out, guys, really! the raw skull goes outside in a bucket to clean, and the feet/tails (if im not tanning for taxidermy,) go in alcohol to dry for keychains.

if i'm going to eat one of them within the next day or so i'll put it in a pot, cover it in saltwater, and leave it in the fridge at least overnight. if not i just put em in the freezer, but i'll soak them in the saltwater after i defrost them. i keep them whole until they're done soaking, then chop 'em up how i want - usually just take the legs off to grill and make stew or gumbo out of the rest.

as for your rabbit - if all you're wanting is food then it doesn't really matter what her conformation is. usually looking up the breed club on ARBA can get you a good idea of what a good rabbit of that breed looks like, though. her condition is pretty easy - if you run your hand on her back, if her spine feels kind of sharp, she's underweight, and if it's hard to feel at all, she's overweight. if you can feel her spine but it feels like there's padding in it (the bones aren't sharp,) then she's a good weight. fur quality is also pretty easy to check. as for the cowhocks, if it's not too bad i would try breeding her and see how she does. if she has problems birthing then i wouldn't try again, but just be aware that it could pass on, so i would only keep a kit from the litter with good feet to continue with, or get a new doe once the freezer is full.

The mistake we made as beginners was to try to cook one of the batch we processed that day. Now we eat the livers, kidneys and hearts on processing day and let the whole carcasses stay in the refrigerator 4 or 5 days until they are no longer rigid, then cut them up, bagging legs separately from boneless in amounts that make a meal for us. The slaughtering is done outside, the cutting up for the freezer in the kitchen. I can see it would be much more difficult if we lived in the city.