Butchering Question--Resting the Meat from Rigor Mortis

[Florida Jeff]

Just saying I always put rabbits in the cooler with Ice adding ice as it melts for 2,3 days after dispatch before butchering. Never had a tough rabbit. Never. I hunt in GA and can not bring deer into Fl unless boned out I always leave quartered meat in the cooler with Ice for a few days. The processor I take my hogs to says he wants to hang the meat for 5-7 days to relax and bleed out more. Seems to work as I never have tough game meat from him.

 

[Rabbit Warren Man]

Just saying I always put rabbits in the cooler with Ice adding ice as it melts for 2,3 days after dispatch before butchering. Never had a tough rabbit. Never. I hunt in GA and can not bring deer into Fl unless boned out I always leave quartered meat in the cooler with Ice for a few days. The processor I take my hogs to says he wants to hang the meat for 5-7 days to relax and bleed out more. Seems to work as I never have tough game meat from him.

Wet aging meat in the fridge any kind of meat. Simply vacuum seal and leave sit up to a month.

 

[eco2pia]

Ok, yes mine are definitely older, I let mine grow their first adult prime coat, as I want the pelts too, which would always be a minimum of 16 weeks and usually 20+ weeks. They're still so teeny at 12 weeks, they do so much more growing between then and the next month or 2, I feel it's hardly worth the effort of dispatching and processing them when they are too small. Emotional effort especially probably, I find it easier to process them when they look just like a rabbit and are not as "cute".

Wow, @dlynn, 8 pounds in 16 weeks! I'm doing well to reach 8 pounds in 20 weeks. Mind you, it's my rejects that I process, which are typically smaller - there is a reason why I have rejected them!

Yes @Alaska Satin 100% I would find it easier to process and test out cervical dislocation methods once they are unconscious, from the perspective of me being comfortable working with them. Just sometimes it's getting them into that unconcious states that I struggle with.
Where on the head do you hit them? Just on the top between the ears? Or specifically beneath the ears?


How far up the legs do you hold? The hocks, or the tops of the legs? Or on the knee joint?


Ok, I wonder if we are using too much muscle then. I think we are pulling them too far. Which explains why my internal organs are getting out of shape.

@Alaska Satin how old do you let your average meat bun get before dispatching?

I think the key point that needs to be made is that you are supposed to be, in every cervical dislocation method, making a sharp angle at the neck, effectively bending the head backward relative to the body. If you just pull straight and the spine is in line nose to tail, you will cause undue pain and suffering. The idea is that you are bending the neck sharply at the point which you want it to break, that is the principle all these methods rely on.

This takes surprisingly LESS muscle than you think. The angle you are making does the job, the pull does not have to contain more force than the rabbit can exert with his own body--a rabbit who gets stuck is fully capable of breaking his own neck, just by flinging his body weight the wrong way. You are trying to just make that happen on purpose.

I hold the hock joint mostly, the goal being to pull on the hips as a unit. if you see bruising at the knee, then grip a little higher.

 

[eco2pia]

Use a shelf bracket turned sideways mounted to a building, post or fence. Simply slid the head into large opening to the small side lift up and pull back with a sharp tug.

I really like this shelf bracket idea--waaay cheaper and more accessible than the hopper popper. Thank you!

 

[Bekah-n-Tennessee]

I think the key point that needs to be made is that you are supposed to be, in every cervical dislocation method, making a sharp angle at the neck, effectively bending the head backward relative to the body. If you just pull straight and the spine is in line nose to tail, you will cause undue pain and suffering. The idea is that you are bending the neck sharply at the point which you want it to break, that is the principle all these methods rely on.

This takes surprisingly LESS muscle than you think. The angle you are making does the job, the pull does not have to contain more force than the rabbit can exert with his own body--a rabbit who gets stuck is fully capable of breaking his own neck, just by flinging his body weight the wrong way. You are trying to just make that happen on purpose.

I hold the hock joint mostly, the goal being to pull on the hips as a unit. if you see bruising at the knee, then grip a little higher.

Thank you for that explanation. It helped me greatly. I will need to dispatch my first litter in a couple of months and I couldn't tell with the videos I had seen if having a harsh angle or little/no angle was correct method.

I just pray I don't mess up and cause any rabbits undue suffering and pain.

 

[eco2pia]

Thank you for that explanation. It helped me greatly. I will need to dispatch my first litter in a couple of months and I couldn't tell with the videos I had seen if having a harsh angle or little/no angle was correct method.

I just pray I don't mess up and cause any rabbits undue suffering and pain.

You will do great.

I like to get them in the right spot as quickly and gently (but firmly) as possible and then perform a sharp jerk-to-pull, so just the same level of restraint you would use to pick up a squirming rabbit, get them where you need them and then, before they get scared, pull sharp.

At first it will be wiggly, you might need to think about which is your dominant hand and how you need to hold them to make positioning as smooth and easy as possible, but as you gain practice and confidence they will have a half second of "hey what are--?" and then lights out. They won't even know what to think. That is when this method gets really good. From their perspective, you are holding them, then you are holding them kinda weird, and then it is over.

 

[Florida Jeff]

Ok, yes mine are definitely older, I let mine grow their first adult prime coat, as I want the pelts too, which would always be a minimum of 16 weeks and usually 20+ weeks. They're still so teeny at 12 weeks, they do so much more growing between then and the next month or 2, I feel it's hardly worth the effort of dispatching and processing them when they are too small. Emotional effort especially probably, I find it easier to process them when they look just like a rabbit and are not as "cute".

Wow, @dlynn, 8 pounds in 16 weeks! I'm doing well to reach 8 pounds in 20 weeks. Mind you, it's my rejects that I process, which are typically smaller - there is a reason why I have rejected them!

Yes @Alaska Satin 100% I would find it easier to process and test out cervical dislocation methods once they are unconscious, from the perspective of me being comfortable working with them. Just sometimes it's getting them into that unconcious states that I struggle with.
Where on the head do you hit them? Just on the top between the ears? Or specifically beneath the ears?


How far up the legs do you hold? The hocks, or the tops of the legs? Or on the knee joint?


Ok, I wonder if we are using too much muscle then. I think we are pulling them too far. Which explains why my internal organs are getting out of shape.

@Alaska Satin how old do you let your average meat bun get before dispatching?

Bunnies4me: What do you feed your rabbits to get them to 8 lbs in 16 wks. I use Natures Quest rabbit pellets with 16% protein from Tucker Milling, And some oats.

 

[TamiPac]

I posted this in another thread as well but thought I'd ask here since you are all more experienced than I am.
I butchered today the 4 rabbits in one of the grow out cages. They have been together since birth. All looked perfect on the inside until I came to the last smallest one and found these lungs inside. The liver looked perfect but these lungs....yikes.

 

[TomO]

. . . I raise silver fox and harvest between 6-8 #s. 12 to 16 weeks

. . . Wow, @dlynn, 8 pounds in 16 weeks! I'm doing well to reach 8 pounds in 20 weeks. Mind you, it's my rejects that I process, which are typically smaller - there is a reason why I have rejected them! . . .

Bunnies4me: What do you feed your rabbits to get them to 8 lbs in 16 wks. I use Natures Quest rabbit pellets with 16% protein from Tucker Milling, And some oats.

Hi @dlynn. I would also love to know what kind of diet gets you 8 lbs in 16 wks. Thanks!

 

[Alaska Satin]

I posted this in another thread as well but thought I'd ask here since you are all more experienced than I am.
I butchered today the 4 rabbits in one of the grow out cages. They have been together since birth. All looked perfect on the inside until I came to the last smallest one and found these lungs inside. The liver looked perfect but these lungs....yikes.

Sometimes that happens after death. How were the rabbits resting after dispatch, and did you dispatch them all at once, and then butcher sequentially, with the last one waiting longer? If the rabbit was otherwise looking and acting healthy, it wouldn't concern me overmuch.

 

[TamiPac]

Sometimes that happens after death. How were the rabbits resting after dispatch, and did you dispatch them all at once, and then butcher sequentially, with the last one waiting longer? If the rabbit was otherwise looking and acting healthy, it wouldn't concern me overmuch.

I butchered them one at a time. It's been really hot here so I was wondering if that may have anything to do with it. I can't tell if it was acting normal, with the heat they were all just laying around. I was concerned eating the meat or raw feeding the dogs if it was something contagious.

 

[Florida Jeff]

I posted this in another thread as well but thought I'd ask here since you are all more experienced than I am.
I butchered today the 4 rabbits in one of the grow out cages. They have been together since birth. All looked perfect on the inside until I came to the last smallest one and found these lungs inside. The liver looked perfect but these lungs....yikes.

I don;t know what it is. I have about 2 out of 10 rabbits like that otherwise everything normal. I dont think it effects the meat. I think it might have something to do with the mosquitos. we have a lot of mosquitos on a Florida lake. I just bought a bug zapper and may get one more. I am interested to see if anyone knows what this is caused by.

 

[Florida Jeff]

Alaska Satin may have something there about happening after death. Maybe during dispatch. I dispatch all mine one after another but the after the first the rest are nervous. They know something is up. They can smell the blood and death on me I guess. I can see blood getting down the wind pipe at dispatch

 

[TamiPac]

I don;t know what it is. I have about 2 out of 10 rabbits like that otherwise everything normal. I dont think it effects the meat. I think it might have something to do with the mosquitos. we have a lot of mosquitos on a Florida lake. I just bought a bug zapper and may get one more. I am interested to see if anyone knows what this is caused by.

We also have tons of mosquitos. I'm not far fron the gulf.
Did you go ahead and eat them then?

 

[Amy B]

I raise all "smalls". Clucks, quacks, quail and rabbits. I made many rigor mistakes before letting them relax in an ice bath or the fridge. Meat chickens are an overnight then into the shrink bags and freezer. Quail, ironically, seem to be the longest in rigor, and despite salting their water, bleeding them out, and butchering immediately, whichever area is on the bottom of the bowl/contact spot, tends to bruise . I don't seem to have this with any other animal.

 

[ellie ember]

I should have thought about this. But it never crossed my mind. It would explain why my roasters were tough. I really should have known. :doh: :slap: :slap: :slap:

My meat has been super tough too! This is probably why!

 

[R Buns]

I raise all "smalls". Clucks, quacks, quail and rabbits. I made many rigor mistakes before letting them relax in an ice bath or the fridge. Meat chickens are an overnight then into the shrink bags and freezer. Quail, ironically, seem to be the longest in rigor, and despite salting their water, bleeding them out, and butchering immediately, whichever area is on the bottom of the bowl/contact spot, tends to bruise . I don't seem to have this with any other animal.

Welcome to the forum! Hope you take a few minutes and introduce yourself so we can all give you a proper welcome.