First time butchering yesterday. What to do with heads, ears, feet, tails, etc?

[KelleyBee]

Blood is a nutrient rich food. Don't toss it next time. If your rabbits are healthy enough to eat the meat the blood is also fine. As others have mentioned dehydrate the ears for chew toys. I wouldn't trust the grinder to do much with bones. Meat grinders rely upon the food to pass into the plate and then be cut by the knives. Any bone that can't fit in the plate should be removed. Now consider, most of those bones are not going to encounter the plate end on. Expect jams.

As for the head (and any other bony part) why not toss them into a pot and make bone broth for the dogs (or even yourself)? Collagen from the skin, protein and fat from the brain, tongue, etc. make for a nice soup. Add a spoonfull of vinegar to leach out some of the calcium too.

Remember to collect any bones to burn in the wood stove or fireplace so that calcium rich ash can easily distribute into your compost pile.

@Zee-Man so, are you saying to toss the head, hair and all, into the pit for bone broth

 

[BuffBrahmaBantam]

This is an awesome post. Thanks for starting it because I’m getting some good ideas.

We use 100% of our butchered birds here at home like it sounds like you are trying to do with your rabbits. We haven’t done rabbits yet but agree that it can be hard to learn how to use the some parts of our animals because the American internet only has recipes for the prime, choicest parts of an animal.

 

[BuffBrahmaBantam]

Good for you! The dispatching step for me was and still is the hardest part. Now to answer you question. I feed my dogs & chickens while processing pretty much everything but the intestines & bladder. I do save the kidney, heart, and liver for cooking later. I dehydrate the ears for the dogs. The fur I tan and use in my sewing & crafts.
The rest I feed to the wildlife ( far from anyone's home) . They really appreciate it.
I also, ground rabbit meat and freeze with the left over bones I make bone broth.
Hope this gives you some ideas.
Enjoy !

Depending on where you live, I hesitate to recommend tossing things out in the ‘wild’ for ‘wild animals’ because humans have had a pretty big positive impact on the species that would consume such things, and a lot of them are generalist predators that are detrimental to other species. For example, in our area common ravens are the most common scavengers who would love a gut pile. Their populations have increased a lot in the west where I live due to roadkill, landfills, etc., and they eat all sorts of native species that are not doing nearly as well. (Baby birds, amphibians, threatened species) Same goes for raccoons, and probably other scavengers I’m not thinking of. You could compost the remaining parts.

Also, we live out in a very rural area, a lot of public land around us and the kind of place that people dump animals, etc. when they don’t want them anymore. It is not fun having people dump things out in these areas. Our ‘wild’ areas are a lot less wild than they used to be. It seems there are people everywhere now.

It depends on where you live, but that is my two cents.

 

[Robochelle]

Hmm, I would like to know more about the composting idea... I was taught how to compost in school, it was a big no-no to compost tinfoil, plastic, or meat.
If there are scavengers in the area (including our own untrained puppies) how would i keep them from eating it out of the compost?

 

[BuffBrahmaBantam]

Hmm, I would like to know more about the composting idea... I was taught how to compost in school, it was a big no-no to compost tinfoil, plastic, or meat.
If there are scavengers in the area (including our own untrained puppies) how would i keep them from eating it out of the compost?

That is a great question because I thought the same thing years ago. Here is our compost story - When I started out I didn't compost meat or dairy because of the advice you see on some websites. About 10 years ago I started reading other literature like from Joel Salatin, Gene Lodgson, Lee Reich, and Mother Earth News, and then tried composting meat and it works great for us. I'm not an expert, but I can't imagine throwing out such valuable material now. We now compost a lot of odd things including my cotton quilting scraps, cardboard, dairy, meat, and all parts of chickens and ducks that we butcher and have not figured out how to use (heads and entrails). We grow all our own veggies so use a lot of compost, and also put it on the lawn if there is extra (from a tip from the Joe Gardener podcast).

Here is our system: In winter, we have a couple large wooden bins (each about 4*4*3) in the back of our property. With every bucket of compost (which often includes fat/meat/dairy) from the kitchen, we put in about 2x wood shavings (we get at no cost from local fire wood guy - any brown material would do like organic straw, leaves, shredded cardboard or paper). It slowly composts enough over winter that flies have not been an issue. We have quite a lot of bulk because in fall I also have a lot of shredded garden debris in the compost, so it is somewhat insulated and our winters are not excessively cold. The bottom is on rock and we have a wooden lid on the top. You could use hardware cloth on the bottom if your soils are nicer than ours and could be dug through. We have not had issues with animals getting in, other than voles who sneak in and build nests on occasion. Due to problems with flies, in summer, we put kitchen compost/meat first in a regular store bought tumbler composter. We got ours at home depot about 15 years ago for $90. We use the same quantity of wood shavings to compost/meat ratio. Years ago I plugged all the holes in the tumbler with caulk to keep flies out. Flies were a problem before I plugged the holes. Rodents and other animals cannot get in. In about 8 weeks I may run out of room in the tumbler, and then I will move the material to our main large compost bins in the back of our property and at that point I am not able to easily distinguish the different items, other than bones, orange peels, etc. that break down slowly. Then the process repeats.

I'm curious if others are composting meat on rabbit talk?

 

[Cindy in SD]

By the time I separate out the various few tidbits that I'm not going to feed to someone or other, there's not enough left to bother digging a hole in the big compost pile to bury them (which, with all the straw, would be hard to do by hand), so I send them off to the landfill. The tumbler composter sounds like a great idea, though. I don't have one, but if I did, I would absolutely try that.

 

[KelleyBee]

I'm curious if others are composting meat on rabbit talk?

I’m just like you. Years ago I was taught “no animal products in the compost!” Then,last year I started digging to discover why and found it has less to do with the meat and bones and more to do with attracting scavengers. Well, that ended the years of waste for me, too. If scavengers cannot get into your compost, go right ahead and compost ALL animal byproducts. I butchered rabbits for the first time in January of this year. I buried the entrails and heads in my compost and by this spring they were broken down enough to use along with the rest of my compost for gardening prep. I shake my head when I think about how much nutrients went to the local landfIll over the years because I did not question what I was taught thus did not independently research whether or not it was really not ok to compost animal byproducts. Like you, as well, I also have a small tumbler. I keep that one near my back door for winter kitchen scraps when I don’t feel up to braving the bad weather for the longer trip to the regular composter.

 

[bighairbuns]

The majority of rabbits I butcher are for my animals. I bleed them out, skin them, and remove the digestive track from the large intestine down. I have been "gut loading" my rabbits with a last meal of leafy greens and berries and want those partially digested stomach contents in my final product for the phytonutrients so I leave a lot of the track in. I remove the ears and tails to dehydrate for treats and toys. Then the rest gets ground - heads and feet with the fur on. Blood and intestines are composted and hides tanned or frozen to be sold, unless they are in bad shape, if so they get composted too.

Then I supplement the grind and freeze in individual portions. Rabbit is naturally low in taurine, animals fed rabbit heavy raw diets have become deficient and develop major issues like DCM so I always supplement rabbit grinds with taurine. I also add vitamin E to help prevent oxidation and because the rest of their feeding plan doesn't quite meet vitamin E needs without supplementation and that is one less thing to add when feeding time comes.

 

[Zee-Man]

Hmm, I would like to know more about the composting idea... I was taught how to compost in school, it was a big no-no to compost tinfoil, plastic, or meat.
If there are scavengers in the area (including our own untrained puppies) how would i keep them from eating it out of the compost?

Plastic and foil are no nos since they don't decompose well in compost. You don't need or want aluminum in your compost. And plastic will be there for quite a long time (unless it was made from hemp oil). Meat is fine to put in the compost. Raw meat will host a bunch of stinky bacteria, so expect that. If you cook the meat then it can go directly in with no bother.

Personally I don't worry about the scavengers getting into my compost bins. I wouldn't be able to keep mice and voles out with my design. The possum is welcome to get what he wants. Rats, are fortunately not a problem for me. A cover for the bin and screening for the side would be the remedy though.

 

[Zee-Man]

@Zee-Man so, are you saying to toss the head, hair and all, into the pit for bone broth

When I wrote that I did not intend for hair to go in also. But, there is no real reason to avoid the hair. It is inert to cooking processes. I expect that it could be difficult to filter out though.

 

[Zee-Man]

I know this isn't what you have done, but some grind it all for your dogs (minus the hide)! Head to tail. Head with skin on (ears included). Feet with skin on. Internals (all organs and intestines). Meat and bone.

If you have a grinder that is rated as being able to grind chicken and rabbit bones, it will. I have personally done it myself. Dogs love it.

Until this thread I had never heard of a grinder that would do bones.

 

[ladysown]

my food grinder does rabbit bones well (legs from all rabbits regardless of age, Spine from younger six months rabbits), does NOT do leg bones from chickens, but will do wings. Heads I used to sell to a crab/catfish guy, but now occasionally get sold to dog people. The stuff that gets tossed are the hides, back feet, and intestines, along with the occasional earless head. I process on Wednesday or Thursday to go in the garbage as that is my only option living in town.

 

[Aqrabuamelu]

A lot if this has been mentioned before, but there are a couple ideas I haven't seen brought up.
Hide with hair, unless it's very long hair or thick wool can be frozen, dried or baked for dog treats. I'm just not sure about how healthy the very long or wooly hair is for dogs, but short to medium hair is actually good for them. Feet, head and ears for dog treats. Innards frozen for dog food and treats. Innards can also be given to modern velociraptors (chickens, etc.)
You might find a small market with some fishermen who tie their own flies with the hides with hair on. You might also have a hunting dog club close enough to offer some frozen hides for dog field training. Dog trainers, Beagle clubs and similar clubs are all into that. At pet stores you might find some people with carnivore pets that would eagerly buy frozen offal as food. Think of some Monitor Lizards, Gators, Piranhas, etc., and don't leave out the few odd ones who raise types of carrion beetles _ why would anyone raise such insects? I don't know. Then there's my favorite, the Piranhakeet - a most excellent guard bird, but Stumpy says they're not much of a pet ...
You might also think about roasting the leftover bones from cooking and then boiling them for bone broth for your family, just like chicken bone broth. If you're not squeamish you could roast and toss in the heads too.
Composting works. Just keep all meat and dairy at least kind of separated from the vegetation based compost. Earth worms don't enjoy the 'run-off' until it's been very-very well broken down, that's the job for maggots, some beetles and other insects. You'll need to consider the odor too.

 

[JG3]

Just read this whole thread and never saw anyone explain how they dry ears, kidneys, liver, heart and lung. Dehydrator? Oven? What temp and how long?

 

[RabbitsOfTheCreek]

You could find a way to turn their feet into charms, and maybe try to sell them

 

[Burelka]

Problem is most rabbit recipes are in foreign languages.







this instruction video is only in Chinese.


Also if you save the skin, you can use the brain to tan the skin.

Oh my, I watched all of those recipes, I want to eat the last one!! that looks absolutely delicious!

 

[Scooter1A]

Depending on where you live, I hesitate to recommend tossing things out in the ‘wild’ for ‘wild animals’ because humans have had a pretty big positive impact on the species that would consume such things, and a lot of them are generalist predators that are detrimental to other species. For example, in our area common ravens are the most common scavengers who would love a gut pile. Their populations have increased a lot in the west where I live due to roadkill, landfills, etc., and they eat all sorts of native species that are not doing nearly as well. (Baby birds, amphibians, threatened species) Same goes for raccoons, and probably other scavengers I’m not thinking of. You could compost the remaining parts.

Also, we live out in a very rural area, a lot of public land around us and the kind of place that people dump animals, etc. when they don’t want them anymore. It is not fun having people dump things out in these areas. Our ‘wild’ areas are a lot less wild than they used to be. It seems there are people everywhere now.

It depends on where you live, but that is my two cents.

We have turkey buzzards that clean up our messes in no time. I'm about to go out and check my coon kill from last nite. I also live in timber and yes it is a constant battle keeping people out but I'm making headway. If they would just ask me, heck if you just want to take a walk and enjoy nature sure but leave my mushrooms alone.

 

[Olbunny]

Lol, thank you for this tidbit of info, I was so confused by your question. Throwing a head at my dog was exactly what I used to do with them. He was...anxious...at first, because he was heavily trained to never attack a live rabbit. He kept looking at me like he thought he was going to be in trouble. It would have been easier for him to grind, or at least skin, but that is a lot of work.

I think as long as you are mixing all the bits in together or rotating parts then you are fine to feed your dog all parts of the rabbit. If you fed only heads it might not be a balanced diet, but as a raw feeder you likely have already heard that. Feet and tails are mostly fuzz and likely not worth much. I think the ears would be a perfect Maltese-sized treat!

Maybe throw the bladder away

 

[Scooter1A]

So, yesterday was my first-time butchering fryers (or any type of rabbit from my herd). The only other time I have dispatched and butchered was three during a "training session" at the farm of a woman from whom I had purchased my meat rabbits. She does not raise rabbits exclusively and she didn't care about keeping any of the "waste" from the butchering. As for me, I'm only raising rabbits and I want to use as much as possible of the offal for my dog. So, what next? I have 4 heads, 8 ears (still attached to the heads), 4 tails, and 16 feet (8 front/back respectively). I saved lungs and stomachs for my dog, kidneys, livers and hearts for me. I chose to compost the blood and the intestines, bladder, etc., since I am not clear on those parts for a dog.

My dog has been raised on raw (dehydrated via freeze dry and/or air dehydration). So eating raw will not be new to him. I have purchased a meat grinder than states from the manufacturer it can grind bones from small animals, such as rabbits and chickens. I also put in the freezer to hold until now any kit that died due to causes I know (such as found frozen outside the nest and was otherwise a healthy kit). Any mystery deaths, I disposed of since I am still new to rabbits and don't want to mistakenly sicken my dog.

Have any of you fed these parts to your dogs? My dog is a week 5 pound Maltese, so throwing a head at him won't work! LOL!
I'm going to have to process it in the grinder, first, assuming heads are ok to feed my dog. Also, what about the skin and fur on the head? Must I remove that first or can it just all go into the grind?

As for the feet and tails, I kind of think those won't be for the dog, right? I was thinking I'd look into other options for them.

Thank you for your experiential insight!

Kelley

best liver i've ever eaten. chickens like the fat and whatever. dry ears for dog treats but you would have to flesh those I guess? i put the heads on my property looking at the neighbor cause I don't like him ha but I suppose coyotes get them quickly.

 

[eco2pia]

Maybe throw the bladder away

I actually throw away the bladder and the gall bladder. As I have a new teething pup now, I keep everything else. Rabbit is probably 60-80% of his diet on a given day. He still gets kibble when we are not at home, because raw is messy.