Butchering for dog food - GRAPHIC CONTENT BE FOREWARNED

[ladysown]

DO not look further into this topic if you can't abide the finer aspects of processing rabbits for dog food!

Graphic content!

I stress to my dog food customers that I will do what they want for rabbit prep BUT it will be a rough clean only. Random hair attached to legs will be left. I leave as much of the internal organs intact as I can. I do not remove excess fat.

you need to start with basically healthy rabbits. Such as these two. these two came in at 5.13 and 5.01

I use a piece of rebar. It's about 2 feet long. This is approximately where I put it. Most buns don't move at all. They face away from me. head flat to ground. I step on one side hard enough to keep rabbit from moving but without hurting it. Then grab the hind legs and pull up as I simultaneously step on the other side. After doing about 60 rabbits in 3 years the bar has a wee bit of a bend in it. I'm on the prowl for a new piece.

I remove head after it is dead using the poultry shears. I pull hard enough that the head is disconnected from the body so I just cut through the skin holding it together. I hold the bunny between my knees to cut off head and then I hold over bucket until blood is drained. The head gets popped into a bag for later resale... three big heads to one bag or four small. I rarely hang my dog food rabbits. I will "pee" the rabbit at this point as well. If I don't get any pee I make a mental note of that. To pee a rabbit you push down on the lower belly, sliding your thumb all the way down at least twice.

I then remove the feet. Most of the time I pop these into a large freezer bag for resale to small breed dogs as treats, today I simply didn't bother.

I skin differently from many as I have my bunnies lying flat. So I make a slit in the belly (between hind legs) then I pull one hind leg through at a time.
Then I lay the bunny flat and spin it around. and then slowly work off the rest of the carcass. Couldn't take pics of that as well...I was rather busy at the time! Doesn't take long usually to skin the rabbit unless it's a buck older than six months.

Skinned rabbit. I look it over closely to make sure that what I think is a healthy rabbit is indeed a healthy rabbit. No abscesses, no gross disfigurations, and so forth.

Small slit between back legs .. if a buck just in front of where the testicles are.. there is a handy little line to follow. make is a shallow cut, use your fingers to make it a bit wider and hold it open just enough to get the shears into it and just slice up! You want to open it, lay the rabbit flat and give a good look over.

If serving just a skinned rabbit only open up enough to check the liver for spots. Rinse it off and pop it into a freezer bag.

IF you customer wants the intestines separate, then these steps come next.

if you didn't succeed in "peeing" the rabbit (that where you try to empty the bladder) see if there is any urine in the bladder. if so...empty it. If not, pay more attention to the rest of the animal. A rabbit that doesn't drink has something wrong with it somewhere. Sometimes it's just because the rabbit just voided but it's a rare occurance to not have some urine in the bladder.

You want to check for normal feces in the lower part of the intestines, a soft/hard feeling tummy, no jelly poops in the intestinal tracts, no gross swelling of any part of the intestinal tract. If all looks good, take it out and bag it. ONLY remove the stomach and the intestines. Leave EVERYTHING else. If ANYTHING is off...put it into your toss bucket. These are dogs you are feeding, someone's much loved pet or business don't risk anything.

Check the liver for abnormalities (coccidia spots, yellowing, a speckly look, and such like). Check the kidneys... they should be a pinkish/purple with a faint yellow overtone.

If all good, rinse the bunny and bag it.

If anything seems off, check the lungs and heart.
if they are good, bag the rabbit (after rinsing).

If you see lots of things wrong...toss the rabbit into your dump bucket. Don't mess with other people's pets. Just not worth it.

Label the bag with rabbits weight.
Mark the box you are shipping them in as animal grade, not for human consumption.

 

[MaggieJ]

Excellent information, Ladysown. I'm sure it will be helpful to many.

 

[Brody]

just a thought - would anybody mind if I moved this to meat rabbits?
it seems to me that it's a specific use of the meat and therefore more fitting there than in a forum that has fibre and poop sellers in it?

 

[ladysown]

i put it here because it was dog food related, but wherever it is doesn't overall matter to me.

 

[lyndseyrk]

Thank you for this. I'm currently looking for potential dog food customers. Advice on how to do that? What about shipping? Do you freeze prior to? What do you put in the box to keep it cool?

 

[ladysown]

I deliver. I don't ship.

What those who do who do ship is put them in leak proof containers, and put them over dry ice. Tracy over at hare today could possibly advise you more on the shipping end of things.

I freeze if I can. This last order was too big for my freezer, it's winter here in Ontario. I did them up LATE the night before and then loosely packed them. the next day I put all the intestines in one box, the bodies in another. Ended up with two boxes of bodies. And then drove 1.5 hours to deliver them.

it's very much a word of mouth business. One customer leads to another and so forth.
Since I offer a variety of methods of consumption, it gains me customers.

talk with people about their dogs and what they are feeding them.
join carnivore supply groups.
be willing to drive a bit to meet people half way.
have business cards. I have a raw food card and a rabbit pet card.

 

[Jacklynn]

This is disgusting.
:angry:

 

[AprilW]

This is some great information! Thank you very much for posting.

 

[ladysown]

i did neglect to mention that part of having healthy rabbits if selling to the pet food crowd is to have medication free rabbits. Many dogs are allergic to medications, so just avoid it. as to the snake/reptile crowd... I have no idea what those animals can tolerate so I err on the side of caution and nothing medicated goes to them either.

that means...if you medicate the parents...do them either before the kits are born, or within the first two weeks. Give the meds time to clear the system.

Don't feed medicated feed.

If buying in rabbits...either buy from people who don't medicate their young stock or if buying from an auction...hold them for at least two weeks, with three weeks being better.

Thanks for all the kind comments. I was somewhat concerned about posting this information.

 

[mytdogs]

I know this is an older post but i had a couple questions.

I am gonna be using the rabbit for my dogs mostly. Extras will be sold to a friend who sells to Raw feeders.

Why do you need to bleed the rabbit? I have been a raw feeder since 1999 and one thing I have always thought that was missing (& I've never been able to locate) is blood. There are lots of nutrients in blood & food for human consumption (what most raw feeders use) has all been bled dry. Years ago I searched for a source for blood I even told the butcher I wanted to make blood pudding but no go.

I processed my first rabbits a couple weeks ago (purchased form someone else) I was amazed at how thin the stomach & intestines were. Some of the stomachs actually opened up & spilled poop/pellets all over the inside-gag! Luckily it was for my dogs so all was not lost. I am just trying to find out why I had so much trouble with the contents spilling. I did not cut anything it was like they just ripped open while I was pulling off the skin or something. I actually resorted to removing the GI tract first then skinning because at least the stomach contents weren't mashed all up inside like they were when I skinned first....but they still opened up. Any thoughts?

Thanks for any input!

 

[ladysown]

Some of the stomachs actually opened up & spilled poop/pellets all over the inside-gag!

you get the odd rabbit that that happens with. it is not normal. I find that it happens most with lionheads and fuzzy lops so I don't take them for dog food any more. haven't tried an angora so I don't know if it's a woolly breed thing, or just a fluke thing that it was lionhead and fuzzies that have caused that issue for me. Might be age related too ... as in tougher to skin and thinner skinned ergo rippage occurs.

You don't need to bleed out for dog food. and rabbits that I feed whole don't get bled out at all. I just weight them, broomstick and bag once they stop kicking and put them in the freezer (unless they are taking them right then and there). I will "pee them out" though.

I only bleed the ones that are for people who want them processed. It just makes the job easier I find. AND it happens naturally once you cut the head off and you are waiting for the animal reflexes to stop.

What I do though is collect any blood that congeals and I put that into the "innards" bag.

i suppose I could collect it and just let it set though, and put all that in the innards bag. Just never really thought about it. The blood pail always has water in the bottom of it as it makes clean up easier.

 

[mytdogs]

Okay. these rabbits were big- he said Flemishx. 4 of 6 were bucks & I think they were older than he said but I have no way of knowing. They were not HUGE as I'd expect an older FlemishX to be but the skin was really hard to get off & seemed thicker than I'd expect. I actually tore some of the thin flank (flap?) muscle while trying to get the skin pulled off like a sweater (as I read it should go).

I did not bleed them out- I actually didn't cut the head on some until the last thing & first on some- after I read your directions. I am cooking these rabbits for my ailing dog & she doesn't always want to eat so the broth that accumulates in the crockpot is saved to make a gravy over her food or to add to water to make sure she drinks the required 1 liter daily. The blood really helps to make that more appealing for her.

once the rabbit production is underway & I can afford it, I will put the others on raw rabbit. I hope that someday soon I can start reintroducing raw rabbit again to my oldest but I'm not sure she will ever be able to do it again. She can not have bones anymore (too high in phosphorus) so i will probably be posting on the best way to debone a rabbit then It is really bad for a dog who has always eaten bones to hear the crunching of the other dogs. She is so sad she is stuck with icky old rice :angry:

 

[ladysown]

when dogs age it is indeed difficult for all concerned.

Maggie I think knows how to debone them well, that part I'm still learning.

 

[MaggieJ]

I usually debone after cooking; the meat pulls off the bones very easily when simmered to tenderness. Crock pot works well. If you prefer to debone before cooking, there are really good videos about deboning at the Pakefield Ferrets site. They use ferrets to hunt wild rabbits in England, where because of scarcity of predators the rabbit population can get out of control. Very interesting site!

You will have to click on the rabbit recipes box and then on the videos link to get to the video index.

http://www.pakefieldferrets.co.uk/

 

[ladysown]

For those wanting to know more about butchering rabbits, Pam from the rabbit industry council has put together a video (DVD) on the whole process. Costs about $30.

here is the link for ordering it. http://www.battats.com/video/



The Rabbit Industry Council's Humane Rabbit Slaughter For Home Use video is available! Our first educational video, it is professional and packed with incredibly useful information for the rabbit breeder.

This is an unbeatable resource for anyone who wishes to learn how to produce their own food and/or fur using domestic rabbits.

This high-quality and comprehensive video includes information on:

how to humanely euthanize rabbits for slaughter, using one of four methods:
Gunshot,
blunt trauma,
mechanical cervical dislocation
and manual cervical dislocation
how to set up a butchering area
how to hang, pelt,
and eviscerate your rabbit
while also performing a rough exam for health
how to evaluate your rabbits for performance data which can save you feed and money
Also included: Footage showing healthy and unhealthy conditions which can affect the carcass, such as lung abscesses, liver coccidia, pneumonia and more!

FORMAT: DVD playable on computers and standard DVD players
RUNTIME: 1 hour +
BONUS: Second DVD coming soon at NO CHARGE based on feedback from the 1st to answer questions, footage on abnormalities, printable reference cards, and much, much more! (will be sent automatically to purchasers of Volume 1.)

 

[Shara]

This is a cool thread. Too bad I didn't find it earlier. But I am sure it will be a help when I butcher next...

 

[alstonhawking]

I am used to the bone after cooking, the meat falls off the bone easily simmered to tenderness. crock pot works well. If you prefer to debone before cooking, there are some really good videos boning Pakefield Ferrets site. They use ferrets to hunt wild rabbit in England, where, because of the scarcity of predators of the rabbit population can get out of control.