Do you put off killing time?

[hoodat]

When it comes time to get the killing done I often find myself doing other things that just "need to be done" first. It isn't till I grab myself by the seat of the pants and say,"It has to be done so just do it" that I get to it. I know intelectually that if I eat meat something has to die but I just hate the killing part.
I wonder how many others on the board find themselves stalling at butchering time?

 

[Iggysbabysitter]

If I have to do the actual killing part, yeah, I put it off. So I usually have help. Recently I have been putting it off as it's just too hot to do the job right now. Originally I wasn't going to have bunnies in the summer, since I'm too busy to deal with avoiding heat stroke in a dozen rabbits when all the kids are home (I have my 2, plus a couple extras staying the month, plus a half dozen popping in periodically). I look forward to getting them butchered this week though... no wait, next week after the trip to Gramma's... after the wedding on the 13th?... after the sleepover on the 14th?... Good greif, will there ever be time to get this done?

 

[akane]

Since it risks heat stroke to butcher rabbits then yes. I dislike heat stroke.

 

[Frosted Rabbits]

I did my first butchering on a hot, muggy day, in the woods-- never again-- anysummer butchering will need to be done in AC. If butchering outdoors, that cn happen in the cooler seasons! ANd it wasn't so much the heat, but the flies...

 

[TeamHillbilly]

remember your meat doesn't keep as well in the summer heat,but I don't think that's the question for this thread, yep even after all the years I've rised rabbits I try putting off the killing part as long as I can,I don't guess anybody really likes killing bunnys even to eat them :roll: :bunnyhop:

 

[hoodat]

I have some young bucks to take care of in the next few days. They're starting to ride the does and I don't want any,"teen age mothers". They're also starting to get feisty with one another. They'll start fighting if I don't take care of it. I'm planning to save a doe and I don't want her ruined with an early pregnancy.

 

[TeamHillbilly]

yep about that time, it sounds like your going to be busy soon

 

[fuzzy9]

We don't look forward to the killing part at all, but for us it's more a matter of finding the time. My husband works alot of hours, and it always seems the summer weekends are so busy.

 

[DevonW]

I do it all the time, I don't like the killing part so I have to be in a firm mindset to do it or it won't get done.

 

[ladysown]

me... i do the.. next week.. yeah, next week just before garbage day...and maybe in the meantime I can sell him so I don't have to butcher him.

 

[joey goad]

im just geting in to this an just got my rabbits but i find myself thinking about killing them and i just keep in mined that im feeding my family. i hope i can do it wene the time comes.

 

[akane]

I just looked up ages on kintraks and I need to sort and eliminate bucks on friday. Once I get this batch done I will have nothing to butcher until at least december. January I have 3 does reaching breeding age so Feb or March we should double our rabbit production. Maybe we'll get the 8x8 building moved by then so I can use it for growout cause with not butchering bucks until 3 months and does at 4 the stall colonies are getting a little cramped when they hit 3 litters deep from each doe.

 

[Shara]

This is the story of my life....no money to feed the little monsters, but you know, I seem to find it when they keep being so friggin cute and soft and precious. grrr....

 

[kotapony]

I'm also still waiting for my buns to grow up so haven't had to face butcher time yet. If all goes perfectly, I MIGHT be able to end up with a rabbit dinner for Christmas. But I was born and raised a city girl, and for all that I've tried hard to become a farmer I have yet to deliberately ever kill an animal. With the dairy we often have to put cows down and culling them out to the sale where you know they'll go for slaughter doesn't bother me at all. It's not that I'm attached, it's just that somehow when it's me that needs to do the killing I turn into a candy-butt, as my husband puts it. It's something I feel I ought to learn to bring myself to do and if Ern wasn't around and for some reason I HAD to put an animal down I think I could. But for a while with the rabbits I think I'm going to have to recruit my husband to do the job. He was raised a farmer so he's used to butchering for food and it doesn't bother him. A couple years ago I raised a turkey for Thanksgiving and helped butcher it (again, Ern did the actual killing) and boy was that nasty. I've read, and I'm really hoping I find it true as well, rabbits are not nearly as bad to butcher as birds.

 

[MaggieJ]

Yeah, I admit I'm guilty of procrastination when it is time to send the rabbits to freezer camp. The best way for me to get it done is to prioritize it as the first job of the day and have everything organized ahead of time. I'm still always tense until they are dead. I don't mind the processing itself, but I'm always afraid of not doing a good job of the actual killing. It usually goes very smoothly and I am finding it easier now than it used to be.