Killing Meat Rabbits

[OneAcreFarm]

I have 1000fps and it works fine. I don't know if I would try under 500 or so on adult rabbits. I did trials on cardboard stacks point-blank and I was only happy with higher power. Also the break-barrel types avoid the pumping action if upper body strength might be an issue and are usually plenty powerful.

Best of luck,

Lauren

We use a break barrel type and it works fine. The only problem is that I worry about missing the "sweet spot" or just hurting them, and then it takes me a minute or two to reload. The mechanism is harder for me to work than for my hubby. I want to be able to do it myself as well.

 

[Miss M]

We have a 750fps. We usually pump it 6 times or so, and it works fine. If the bun shifts at the last moment, the pellet bounces off the head and the rabbit looks up for a moment, and then goes back to munching.

It's harder for my daughter and me to pump it than it is for my husband. But out of all the rabbits we've butchered, we've injured only a couple. One of those was dead before we reloaded. The other had to be shot again. That one was strange. It looked like my husband's cleanest kill ever, not even twitching... until I reached down to pick it up, and it started wailing and sat up. Very weird. Has happened only once.

 

[eco2pia]

This is kind of an old thread, and we have all covered this ground, but for those of us in the city who can't use a gun, I used to bop them on the head, and that was brutal but effective...it made me uncomfortable though.

I recently switched to the rabbit wringer(got the "processing station", too), and I love it. Just finished 5 rabbits, and usually by about #3 my arms would be tired, but now I could just keep going. It is important to mount the wringer so that it is below your hip height, so that when you pull, it is naturally at the right angle. I had it too high at first, and that was much harder.

It is making me pretty happy to be able to hustle right through them so that freezer camp day fits in my insanely busy schedule--just thought I'd throw my plug in, it is a great product worth every penny. Plus, I put it in my laundry room, so I get to be warm and dry in the winter...

As a single cash outlay, I think it would be an excellent tool investment for Cait's processor boss.

 

[OneAcreFarm]

This is kind of an old thread, and we have all covered this ground, but for those of us in the city who can't use a gun, I used to bop them on the head, and that was brutal but effective...it made me uncomfortable though.

I recently switched to the rabbit wringer(got the "processing station", too), and I love it. Just finished 5 rabbits, and usually by about #3 my arms would be tired, but now I could just keep going. It is important to mount the wringer so that it is below your hip height, so that when you pull, it is naturally at the right angle. I had it too high at first, and that was much harder.

It is making me pretty happy to be able to hustle right through them so that freezer camp day fits in my insanely busy schedule--just thought I'd throw my plug in, it is a great product worth every penny. Plus, I put it in my laundry room, so I get to be warm and dry in the winter...

As a single cash outlay, I think it would be an excellent tool investment for Cait's processor boss.

I also ordered this and the processing station. I know it can be done cheaper, but I feel this will make it so that I can cull and process on my own. I have been relying on hubs to "do the deed" and I feel it is unfair to make him always the one that has to kill them. He uses a karate chop to the back of the neck and it works really well, but I don't have the upper body strength to do that myself. I cannot wait for it to get here, although I won't have any to butcher for a while....

 

[Oxankle]

What on earth are you people talking about? Here we are talking about killing animals for food, discussing breaking their necks, shooting them in the head with a captive bolt, cutting their throats and letting them bleed to death (which is approved by at least two great religions that discuss these matters) and hitting them in the head with a club ("bopping") and you cavil at "gunning"? What on earth is a .22 caliber bullet for if not a gun? Even an air rifle is a "gun".

If you do not have a reason for saving the head undamaged a gun, either firearm or air gun, is probably as humane as any method we discuss here. For that matter, I brought many a meal home to mother when I was a teen aged boy, and I did not have the luxury of head-shots-only. Some of those wild rabbits took a bullet thru the chest.

 

[Cattle Cait]

I started the thread because I work in a processing facility and not only can we not discharge firearms legally within a certain distance of a building (within the building is obviously a no-no) my boss doesn't want to invest in bullets. I stated this in my initial post.

 

[MaggieJ]

I think Oxankle's remarks were directed at me, Cait. I objected to a member saying "Gunning them down is the best way." I have no objection to the idea of using a gun to dispatch rabbits; I use one myself. It was the use of an expression with connotations of brutality that I "cavilled" at. And I still do. Every forum has a tone and a culture of its own and members need to respect this. There are many other acceptable ways that the member in question could have phrased the same thought.

 

[Cattle Cait]

Ahh sorry. I apologize. (I'm crabby today, not sure what the dealio is.)

 

[MaggieJ]

I don't think you have anything to apologize for, Cait. I just wanted to assure you that you were not the target. Hope you're feeling more like your cheery self again soon. Feeling crabby is no fun!

 

[sommrluv]

I'm pretty sure that member didn't know the connotations. And I thought Oxankle's observations were pretty humerous!

 

[sommrluv]

I'm pretty sure that member didn't know the connotations. And I thought Oxankle's observations were pretty humerous!

 

[Guest]

I have been trying to design a guillotine for some time now. So far, my two leading designs employ the classic dead-drop and the other is more of a scissor/garden shears kinda deal.

I could not shoot a rabbit....bullets cost money and that just seems like a loss :-(

I could not "bop" a rabbit with a judo chop or a lead pipe, they are too defenseless for that....

I could not slit it's throat and let it bleed out...wouldn't want to be able to identify with serial slashers :-(

I would not want to break a rabbit's neck, although the rabbit wringer does look like the most appealing way to go...

I have a problem watching the carcass move after death. At least with the head completely gone, it would look more like the finished product and less like an innocent creature that I just sent into the next plane of existence. The metal's strength doing the job I am too shakey to do seems more logical. Anyone see why not? Anyone use something like this now?

 

[MaggieJ]

I looked into the idea of a guillotine several years ago. There are devices for decapitation used in some laboratory settings. If I remember correctly, four blades close simultaneously severing the neck. Decapitation using a guillotine is likely to be very gory. You have the comfort of being assured that the rabbit is instantly dead, but there would be a lot of blood and some people might find that difficult to handle. The body would still twitch and kick.

Before I got very far in my research, I chanced to discover that a pellet gun at point blank range to the back of the neck just below the skull does a very efficient job of killing a rabbit. It is my preferred method. The guns are not that expensive and the pellets are very reasonably priced.

A lot of people have qualms about their first butchering experiences. It helps a lot to have the help of someone who has experience. It is never pleasant or even easy... Nor, I think, should it be. Taking the life of another creature in order to eat is a solemn thing that brings one face to face with humankind's place in nature. A lot of people don't want to think about that.

 

[Guest]

I looked into the idea of a guillotine several years ago. There are devices for decapitation used in some laboratory settings. If I remember correctly, four blades close simultaneously severing the neck. Decapitation using a guillotine is likely to be very gory. You have the comfort of being assured that the rabbit is instantly dead, but there would be a lot of blood and some people might find that difficult to handle. The body would still twitch and kick.

Before I got very far in my research, I chanced to discover that a pellet gun at point blank range to the back of the neck just below the skull does a very efficient job of killing a rabbit. It is my preferred method. The guns are not that expensive and the pellets are very reasonably priced.

A lot of people have qualms about their first butchering experiences. It helps a lot to have the help of someone who has experience. It is never pleasant or even easy... Nor, I think, should it be. Taking the life of another creature in order to eat is a solemn thing that brings one face to face with humankind's place in nature. A lot of people don't want to think about that.

I think about nothing else.

The raising of the bunnies is the fun part. Feeding, cleaning, petting, caring, everyone likes cute little bunnies. You know what I like? A hot plate of meat. I can stand the blood, it'll all wash away (and I know a few tricks on how to get it out of carpets if anyone is ever interested).

Four blades around the neck? Thats hardcore. I know just the type of contraption to build for that

A gun is a gun and you can call it a different name or action, but I don't think I could point death at an animal and make it so. You might not be criminally "gunning it down," but you are taking a gun to its head and pulling the trigger. In every interpretation of that action, it is doing what criminals do. Not that I have a problem with guns or people using them, but when it comes to my preferred method of execution, I'd take a beheading over a shot to the head anyday! Besides, who WANTS to go buy bullets? You're already out the money it costs to raise them, perhaps trying to recoup costs by selling them and another expense taxes an already minimal profit gain? Business-wise, that seems like a no-no to me, but I was trained to keep a low inventory to cut down on costs. I digress...

I suppose there are worse ways the deed can be done. I am eager to experience it, all I have seen is youtube videos but I'm sure the real thing is more......dramatic.

 

[MaggieJ]

Any method that is quick and humane is acceptable. Each person has to find their own best way.

 

[Jack]

Bop with two to the back of the head
four blades, I'd make it curved with and arch path and twisting, straight up horror film/saw....
bit of an over well kill???
I like the bop, east to hold them down and two to make sure they don't hop out of the trash, had a doe named Lazarus one time as a kid, cervical dislocation, um apparently she only got a sprung neck...

 

[OneAcreFarm]

I think about nothing else.

The raising of the bunnies is the fun part. Feeding, cleaning, petting, caring, everyone likes cute little bunnies. You know what I like? A hot plate of meat. I can stand the blood, it'll all wash away (and I know a few tricks on how to get it out of carpets if anyone is ever interested).

Four blades around the neck? Thats hardcore. I know just the type of contraption to build for that

A gun is a gun and you can call it a different name or action, but I don't think I could point death at an animal and make it so. You might not be criminally "gunning it down," but you are taking a gun to its head and pulling the trigger. In every interpretation of that action, it is doing what criminals do. Not that I have a problem with guns or people using them, but when it comes to my preferred method of execution, I'd take a beheading over a shot to the head anyday! Besides, who WANTS to go buy bullets? You're already out the money it costs to raise them, perhaps trying to recoup costs by selling them and another expense taxes an already minimal profit gain? Business-wise, that seems like a no-no to me, but I was trained to keep a low inventory to cut down on costs. I digress...

I suppose there are worse ways the deed can be done. I am eager to experience it, all I have seen is youtube videos but I'm sure the real thing is more......dramatic.

Metalex,

There is nothing different between beheading a rabbit and shooting it in the head. Both are methods of execution, both have the same end result, BOTH have been used by criminals- past and present. Guns are not by definition bad or only for criminals. As for keeping overhead low, I would imagine that building that guillotine properly will cost you a pretty penny.

We have tried many different ways, broomstick (too much margin for error on my part), pellet gun to back of head (quick, efficient and instant kill), karate chop to back of neck (also quick, efficient and instant kill, at least the way my hubs does it), manual cervical dislocation (hmm...not the best for us) and I have ordered a rabbit wringer so that I can "do the deed" sometimes and hubs doesn't always have to do it. The only reason I don't want to do the pellet gun is that we have a break barrel style and if we missed on the first shot and only injured the rabbit (hasn't happened yet, thank God) it takes a bit to reload.

What it boils down to is this....the best way to dispatch a rabbit is whatever way works best for you. All of these are humane, quick and efficient. Just my opinion...

 

[sommrluv]

We kill kosher whenever possible. So even if we do shoot them (haven't tried yet) I bleed them out. It's really a must in my mind for health of the meat.


Somewhat related...any ideas on how to use the blood? Put it in to shavings for gardening? Put it into cornmeal and feed to chickens?

 

[MaggieJ]

Either one would work well. With already having plenty of good bunny manure for the garden, I'd tend to favour giving it too the chickens.

 

[Jack]

What ever happened to 'Ye Ol Fashion hatched and yonder stump'
many a chicken dinner at my Uncle Lloyds started with a hatched. Only one I ever heard about was his wife complaining about him bruising the meat after she had told him to sharpen the hatched. But that was one out of 12 he did that time, first animal I slaughtered too was one of his chickens for dinner. He didn't like wringing the neck, via Wind Mill technique, too much bruising.