New favorite dispatch method

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GBov

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Year before last, due to many reasons, all of my rabbits and equipment went to a lovely new owner. That included the wringer.

So fast forward to this fall with rabbits to dispatch and trying to find a replacement. No luck and still, rabbits needing to STOP EATING and start being eaten. :lol:

As I have dispatched poultry for years using long-handled loppers and the pair I have has extra wide opening jaws for cutting branches up to 3 inches thick (useful when doing really big turkeys) I wondered if they would fit comfortably over a rabbits neck?

Yep! They easily fit so now I bring the bunny into the kitchen and put on the counter, open the loppers nice and wide, gently place around the neck (while pressing down so the tip of both sides are touching the counter), right behind the head and close them up.

Just a firm bringing the handles together does the job.

INSTANT kill, no extra breaks in the spine like with the wringer, no hanging off the old tough bucks to try to get a clean break, minimal bleeding into the shoulder area and no great degree of coordination needed. The rabbit is calmly standing on a solid surface when done so no more lifting heavy rabbits up in awkward positions to fit them into the wringer.

Thought I would share as a foolproof method is always good to have, even if its just a backup to how you do it now. <br /><br /> __________ Sat Jan 20, 2018 5:54 pm __________ <br /><br /> Meant to add, because rabbit skin is tough, the skin doesn't cut, well, more than a nick at the thinnest part maybe but the neck bones crunch right through.

So almost no blood.
 
I actually use something similar to cut off the feet. Never crossed my mind to try and dispatch with that instrument ....
 
The one thing I really appreciate from this forum is the amount of though that goes into humanely dispatching the food animal. One of the things that felt most satisfying about eating home-raised meat, was knowing that someone actually cared in a personal level. They knew in there heart than an animal even in food production deserved respect and a humane death.

When I did my first dispatch, it seamed "brutal" it was to break the rabbit's neck. It was hard to wrap my mind around how being brutal was actually a form of kindness. A fast traumatic death would cause the rabbits brain to go into shock. The shear trauma of a cervical dislocation cause the rabbit to loose consciousness in less than a second. I might take a half a minute or so for the body to die, is not as important to me is the fact that the rabbit has totally lost consciousness. Thus leading to the paradoxical sounding idea that applying an overwhelming force will actually cause less suffering.

From a personal peace-of-mind prospective, feeling the dislocated neck, proved to me that the legs trashed-about due to purely a reaction to the body dying. There would be no way for the brain/mind to cause the legs to thrash without a connect spinal column.

I have watched interviews with people that go into shock and recover. They explained that there is no suffering from the time in shock even though there body has multiple injuries. By causing a severe trauma to my rabbit, I know that he went into the state of shock quickly, and all suffering ended.

There are many creatures that eat rabbits, my object was to be, of all the creatures that eat rabbits, I would choose to be the creature that caused the rabbit the least amount of suffering to make my meal.

edit:spelling
 
This is very eloquent. It's one of the best explanations I've ever read.

Ghost":m2w6g9ff said:
The one thing I really appreciate from this forum is the amount of though that goes into humanely dispatching the food animal. One of the things that felt most satisfying about eating home-raised meat, was knowing that someone actually cared in a personal level. They knew in there heart than an animal even in food production deserved respect and a humane death.

When I did my first dispatch, it seamed "brutal" it was to break the rabbit's neck. It was hard to wrap my mind around how being brutal was actually a form of kindness. A fast traumatic death would cause the rabbits brain to go into shock. The shear trauma of a cervical dislocation cause the rabbit to loose consciousness in less than a second. I might take a half a minute or so for the body to die, is not as important to me is the fact that the rabbit has totally lost consciousness. Thus leading to the paradoxical sounding idea that applying an overwhelming force will actually cause less suffering.

From a personal peace-of-mind prospective, feeling the dislocated neck, proved to me that the legs trashed-about due to purely a reaction to the body dying. There would be no way for the brain/mind to cause the legs to thrash without a connect spinal column.

I have watched interviews with people that go into shock and recover. They explained that there is no suffering from the time in shock even though there body has multiple injuries. By causing a severe trauma to my rabbit, I know that he went into the state of shock quickly, and all suffering ended.

There are many creatures that eat rabbits, my object was to be, of all the creatures that eat rabbits, I would choose to be the creature that caused the rabbit the least amount of suffering to make my meal.

edit:spelling
 
How do you get the rabbit to stay still for the deed? Only way I'm about to when using the broom method is because of the pressure play placed on the neck.
 
As they have never been on a counter or table before, they are so busy smelling and looking around that they don't try to run. And as their feet are slowly slipping sideways on the smooth surface the ones that are interested in going anywhere are so busy sorting their feets that there is no speed involved.

I just put my hand on their face until they stop doing the Road Runner thing and when they are sitting still again use the loppers.

It works a treat! :D

Sorry to be so long in answering your question, my computer didn't let me know it was there. :evil:
 
As they have never been on a counter or table before, they are so busy smelling and looking around that they don't try to run. And as their feet are slowly slipping sideways on the smooth surface the ones that are interested in going anywhere are so busy sorting their feets that there is no speed involved.

I just put my hand on their face until they stop doing the Road Runner thing and when they are sitting still again use the loppers.

It works a treat! :D

Sorry to be so long in answering your question, my computer didn't let me know it was there. :evil:
Can you please post a photo of the loppers that you used? I would like to try this and I'm not sure if mine are big enough.
 
I used your method yesterday when we butchered our first 4 rabbits. It really worked great. However, our loppers were sharp, so we actually decapitated them, which I think was a bonus. Fortunately we worked outside, I don't think I would have wanted to do it in the kitchen. Thanks for the idea.
 
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