How many hours, 12? 24? do you have your rabbits go without food and drink before dispatching? Is it even necessary?
Thanks!
Kelley
Thanks!
Kelley
Last meal and drink?
- Thread starter KelleyBee
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MuddyFarms
Well-known member
Overnight was usually what I would do. It is very helpful to have the bladder less full, because you have to deal with trying to get that outta there, and when full, that can be a mess. Basically, it is just nicer to gut them with less in their systems! I haven't been keeping them off feed and water lately, but I prefer to do that whenever possible.
So, if I have an unexpected opportunity to process one or two rabbits, it's OK to process even if they have eaten and drank that day?
MuddyFarms
Well-known member
I believe so; I have never heard anything that suggests another reason for the overnight withdrawal of feed and water other than making it easier. And there is definitely no withdrawal when you hunt and gut wild game.
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MuddyFarms
Well-known member
Also, you want to be careful to avoid getting urine on the meat, since meat is like a sponge. At a minimum, cut away any meat that got urine on it.
I found something in my butchering book about withdrawals in chickens:
"Separate out the ones to be killed so they can be starved for 24 to 36 hours to empty their digestive tracts. Doing this makes for cleaner, easier "drawing" (eviscerating). Allow the birds free access to water during this period of starvation." -Basic Butchering of Livestock & Game
He talks about butchering home-raised and wild rabbits in the same book, but he doesn't mention needing to withdraw feed and water from them. Thought that was interesting. It seems it is just something to make it easier for gutting, and I would not think it good to withhold for very long in rabbits.
I found something in my butchering book about withdrawals in chickens:
"Separate out the ones to be killed so they can be starved for 24 to 36 hours to empty their digestive tracts. Doing this makes for cleaner, easier "drawing" (eviscerating). Allow the birds free access to water during this period of starvation." -Basic Butchering of Livestock & Game
He talks about butchering home-raised and wild rabbits in the same book, but he doesn't mention needing to withdraw feed and water from them. Thought that was interesting. It seems it is just something to make it easier for gutting, and I would not think it good to withhold for very long in rabbits.
I don't withdraw food and water. I always have hay and water available. I don't find it to be a problem, I have never nicked a bladder. Knock on wood...They are fairly tough, but I don't touch anything but muscle and skin with a knife. I gut with my hands, that way I can be gentle. Typically I will start the abdominal inscision at the sternum, and then pull the muscle out away from the entrails while cutting toward the tail.
If I know I am processing (sometimes even with planning, you don't know), I will withhold that day's feedings. Just a preference, not a requirement.
And, it’s the wild game factor that has actually caused me to question. Truthfully, I’m not so sure I will withdraw food and drink moving forward. Even criminals on death row receive a last meal and adequate hydration. I do know, however, one reason to withdraw is to increase the live weight to dressed weight ratio. I think if I were a commercial establishment trying to sell the meat, then that would be a deciding factor so that live weight is not inflated by a belly full of food and a bladder full of water. But, I am raising and processing for family and friends, thus no need to have high percentage dressed weight.
It never occured to me to withdraw food or water, don't see a reason. Never had any problem getting even very full bladders out.
I definitly don't want to put them in any kind of stress, can do without those hormones. Imo even if it might be a little easier or make numbers look better, for me that wouldn't be worth it.
They even get a bowl of pellets or oatmeal so they hold still for the captive bolt gun.
I definitly don't want to put them in any kind of stress, can do without those hormones. Imo even if it might be a little easier or make numbers look better, for me that wouldn't be worth it.
They even get a bowl of pellets or oatmeal so they hold still for the captive bolt gun.
I never take water away from my animals. On dispatch day, the group of fryers just don't get their morning meal. They still have access to their hay and any leftover food given to them the previous day. I personally find that not offering food to them the same day of dispatch to be a bit easier for dressing the carcass. But I can and have dispatched rabbits with full bellies with no issue. I would be concerned for their comfort and health if they stopped getting all foods for over 24 hours.
MuddyFarms
Well-known member
Just curious- how do you all remove the bladder and tail end area?
I leave the fluffy tail and genitals on when I skin, then I open the abdomen from the sternum UP (carcas is hanging) to the pelvic girdle, keeping my fingertips behind my blade inside the abdominal wall, which exposes the bladder and ureters, colon, and etc. Then I carefully score the pelvic bone on the front, and sever the spine at the base of the tail. Then I place my thumbs on either side of the score I made and bend the pelvis backward, which cracks it open easily right along the score I made. I follow that by cutting away the tiny muscles within the pelvic channel that are obscuring the intestines, etc--keep your blade scraping along the inside of the pelvic channel along the bone to free all the tissue without nicking anything messy.
At that point you can just grab the tail and genitals as a nice handle and pull the entire waste elimination tract out to hang outside the body at the sternum. I then keep scooping everything out to drop into a bucket I placed below, pausing to save the kidneys and liver. It takes longer to say than to do!
Wow, I love your process, @eco2pia! I will be trying it next time!
@MuddyFarms, my method may be more crude comparatively, as I really only dispatch for dog food. I normally hang my carcasses by the hind legs. Right around where the bladder would be, I pinch the flesh together to make a small incision, careful not to apply pressure to the area to avoid cutting the bladder or pushing out the urine out onto my hands. I then will open the carcass from hip to sternum. In this position, the bladder is hanging down away from the urethra and can be easily grabbed like a water balloon. You can pull it out in one piece, or snip it if it's just going to the dogs.
After the bladder is removed, I will flip the carcass horizontally (it is hanging from nylon cords, so I have the ability to do just this) and allow the innards to hang freely out of the carcass. You can firmly grasp the hips and pull out the fecal tract. With the tract still in hand, you can position the carcass back vertically and gently pull down until the entire tract, intestines, and stomach are pulled out of the carcass. As a disclaimer, I have had the tract tear before, leaving feces inside of the hips. I just feed the hips straight away to the dogs in those cases. The way eco2pia describes it, it would probably be easier to succeed without tears. But maybe I'm just still too new at it to do it well all of the time
When I am feeding to the dogs and not caring to save the livers, you can even pull the tract/intestines/stomach in such a way to rip off the gallbladder from the liver as well, with just the one pull. But that isn't perfect (or I haven't perfected it yet) and can actually tear the liver, so I remove it separately and more carefully when I am keeping a liver for myself.
@MuddyFarms, my method may be more crude comparatively, as I really only dispatch for dog food. I normally hang my carcasses by the hind legs. Right around where the bladder would be, I pinch the flesh together to make a small incision, careful not to apply pressure to the area to avoid cutting the bladder or pushing out the urine out onto my hands. I then will open the carcass from hip to sternum. In this position, the bladder is hanging down away from the urethra and can be easily grabbed like a water balloon. You can pull it out in one piece, or snip it if it's just going to the dogs.
After the bladder is removed, I will flip the carcass horizontally (it is hanging from nylon cords, so I have the ability to do just this) and allow the innards to hang freely out of the carcass. You can firmly grasp the hips and pull out the fecal tract. With the tract still in hand, you can position the carcass back vertically and gently pull down until the entire tract, intestines, and stomach are pulled out of the carcass. As a disclaimer, I have had the tract tear before, leaving feces inside of the hips. I just feed the hips straight away to the dogs in those cases. The way eco2pia describes it, it would probably be easier to succeed without tears. But maybe I'm just still too new at it to do it well all of the time
When I am feeding to the dogs and not caring to save the livers, you can even pull the tract/intestines/stomach in such a way to rip off the gallbladder from the liver as well, with just the one pull. But that isn't perfect (or I haven't perfected it yet) and can actually tear the liver, so I remove it separately and more carefully when I am keeping a liver for myself.
MuddyFarms
Well-known member
@eco2pia I had completely forgotten about opening up the pelvis! I used to do that the first time I had rabbits, but this time I couldn't remember what the trick was for that or where I had found out about it. That was very helpful!
@Mariah's Meadows That is so interesting about pulling the gallbladder off the liver like that! I have been saving the livers for my dog recently, so I should give that some tries (although, he doesn't seem to like them raw. I may have to start him out on slightly cooked ones to get him to like them?). I have been removing the bladder from the carcass like you do, and sometimes when they are not so full I would pull it up through the pelvis with the tail. Thank you for the ideas!
Thank you both for the explanations! I appreciate hearing about the ways you handle this.
@Mariah's Meadows That is so interesting about pulling the gallbladder off the liver like that! I have been saving the livers for my dog recently, so I should give that some tries (although, he doesn't seem to like them raw. I may have to start him out on slightly cooked ones to get him to like them?). I have been removing the bladder from the carcass like you do, and sometimes when they are not so full I would pull it up through the pelvis with the tail. Thank you for the ideas!
Thank you both for the explanations! I appreciate hearing about the ways you handle this.
Yup, I've seen that a lot -- where dogs are a bit standoffish to livers. A light sear on either side where the center is still raw is a common technique to get dogs to like them. I grind it up 1:1 with a protein I know the dog likes so it is just appealing enough to the dog and still tastes like the liver so it'll be more inclined to try straight liver next time.
MuddyFarms
Well-known member
Sorry- Mess up post.
MuddyFarms
Well-known member
Alright! Maybe I can get him going with them after-all. Thanks for the tips!
Oh man. No way I would relinquish the liver to a dog, no matter how much I loved him. The liver is literally the best ever in my opinion. Both the best type of liver, and best part of the rabbit. I like rabbit and I raise them for meat for me, but after a break from rabbits, it was the memory of the livers that convinced me to build a rack, and stock rabbits again.
MuddyFarms
Well-known member
Not sure that I could get myself to eat one, but curious- how you like to cook them?
Pan fried with salt and pepper. Bacon and onions if I'm feeling extravagant. I just like liver. Most people overcook it, it gets tough if you go for well done. It takes about the same amount of time and effort as a medium fried egg, should still be a little pink in the middle, not totally brown all the way thru. When I am introducing it to someone who might not like it I sometimes dredge it in seasoned flour also, but I am too lazy to do that for me.
