Let The Congratulations Begin... (meat rabbits)

[Bad Habit]

Because I just processed my first rabbit. Took me, like, an hour to do it, because the knives I had weren't very good, and it was my first time, and it was a sr animal(omg was he ever FAT!!)... All sorts of learning experiences, though, and it is DONE. I imagine getting the first one done is the hardest... I'd be doing something, trying to remember Grumpy's video, and all of the sudden start panicking because what if he wasn't dead, or I wasn't doing it right and OMG I just ripped out an animal's insides... But I was bound and determined that I would succeed, that the first rabbit meat my family ate would be processed by ME and not someone else. I still have another 2 bucks to do, but I need a little break, and to rethink my strategy.

Now, the more important thing... deciding how to cook it!

 

[dayna]

Good job! The first thing I do after killing the rabbit is I slit the throat and then cut off the head. I know for sure, if the head is removed its dead dead. Regardless of muscle twitching.

 

[Bad Habit]

I slit the throat, as per grumpy's video instructions, and bled him out... but that's just how I work. I was fine fine fine, then freakout for a couple minutes, then back at it, fine fine fine, freak out a bit more. I'm kinda proud of myself, because I kept at it. It was NOT anywhere as easy as grumpy makes it look in his videos, and by the time I had the skinning done, I wasn't worrying about getting the liver, kidneys or lungs.

 

[Mickey328]

We used a pellet gun and I thought the twitching would never stop! Then, rather than just slitting the throat, we just took an axe and removed the head. By that time, there was no twitching and I found it pretty easy to really know it was dead. I found a video on Youtube I really liked and found it worked great...we acutally used very sharp small scissors and it worked great! We had less fear of cutting somthing we didn't want to cut, LOL.

If it was a senior, I'd recommend either grinding into burger or crock pot...definitely low, slow and long, cuz otherwise it'll be tough. Enjoy & Contratulations!

 

[Demamma]

Good job Bad habit. The first is always hard. My first butcher had me heaving in the bushes. COOK SLOW AND LONG. I recommend bbq sandwiches.

__________ Mon Nov 25, 2013 6:36 pm __________

Sorry about yelling my kindle is being touchy.

 

[MamaSheepdog]

Way to go, Bad Habit!

I am beyond proud of you, that you did the processing yourself!

For your first recipe, try something with shredded/pulled meat, so it no longer looks like rabbit parts. Our favorites are enchiladas, tacos, or burritos. You can either simmer the meat in water or bake it long and slow at 225F (well wrapped or in a covered pot or casserole dish) and then remove the meat from the bones for your recipe.

 

[ladysown]

good job Bad Habit.

 

[Bad Habit]

I decided to leave the recipe part up to my mom. I went with the crock pot idea - she loves an excuse to use her crock pot. I sent her a few links to websites I found, but am leaving the cooking completely up to her. I imagine it will end up being stew, I told her that older rabbits are generally tougher.

I need to get some good knives, to be able to try to do my own rabbit again. My mom's bf stepped up and offered to do the other two bucks, and I was happy to agree to that. The knives I have suck, and one of the bucks I am actually kind of fond of, but have no use for and couldn't find a home for.

I was very surprised I made it all the way through. It got a LOT easier once the skin was off, and it looked much less like a rabbit. I think that in the future, I might almost be interested in looking at the organs and stuff... I didn't take the time to try and figure everything out, by the time I had him opened up, I just wanted it to be over with.

From beginning to end, it was hard.

 

[zee]

CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR FIRST BUTCHER!! My first one I did, I watched the video of another member on here by the name of Bowbuild did step by step, and it was easy. I watched that video at least 20 times beforehand I might add. Here is the video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpDmHG_8pwE

I hope this helps.

 

[camanojim]

:dinner: good job! It will get easier. I have 10 rabbits behind me now and I am down to 10 minutes per. I might try scissors on the next one right now I am using a filet knife and a small pair of pruning shears for the feet.

 

[Mary Ann's Rabbitry]

congrats on doing it yourself.. the first one is always a learning one and the longest.. It dosnt matter how long it takes you to do the deed.. the point is you did it.... The other will get easier

 

[nvstickbow]

Congratulations on your decision to do the processing yourself :clap2:. I think that we have done ourselves a great disservice by not knowing where our food comes from and what goes into getting it on our plates. There is a certain feeling about being involved in every aspect of providing meat for your family that unfortunately most people will never experience.

 

[Marinea]

*high fives BH*

Way to go!

 

[Bad Habit]

Alright, so my mom's bf and I did the other two. We used his pellet gun to kill them, and it was a lot faster and cleaner, but they definitely did twitch a lot more. It didn't seem to be any better for cleaning them, though... Although, I'm short, and he gave me the rabbit that was higher up, so I was working over my head most of the time.

I believe he was impressed by me. I didn't flinch when he shot them, and I didn't cry... Though I did give the one boy that I liked and wasn't a jerk a nice cuddle before we did him. The other one tried to bite me when I took him out of the cage, so once again wasn't hard to say goodbye. He got about halfway through his rabbit then decided to quarter it, because he had fire practice, and it wasn't going as quickly as he wanted. I offered to finish his rabbit as well as my own, while he went to eat and get ready, he was shocked, and looked even more surprised when I actually did it!

Emotionally, it was much easier. I didn't feel anywhere near as shaky or shocked afterwards. Physically, it was just as difficult. I'm kind of excited to do a fryer age rabbit, since I have been told that they'll be easier to skin, and much less fatty.

 

[MatSuAK]

Way to go BH unk:

 

[Heritage Homestead]

Great job!!! :up: :clap2:

 

[grumpy]

Emotionally, it was much easier. I didn't feel anywhere near as shaky or shocked afterwards. Physically, it was just as difficult. I'm kind of excited to do a fryer age rabbit, since I have been told that they'll be easier to skin, and much less fatty.

Congrats Bad Habit.
:bananadance: I laughed my fanny off over your not worrying about the giblets. :bananadance:

You picked a "tough" first-time butchering an older rabbit.
It's much easier when you work with younger fryer-sized youngsters.
You'll also find a limited amount of fat in a fryer.

Whatever your reasoning behind butchering an older rabbit,
you might want to consider the large amounts of internal fat
may well have been a reason that led you, and the rabbit, to the skinning gambrel.
Fat Rabbits Don't Breed.

Those four rabbits I processed in the video are just under 5 pounds a piece.
To me....those are still too large.
I prefer a rabbit that weighs in around 4#4oz. to 4#6oz. live weight.
They're younger, more tender, easier to clean, easier to cook/fry.
There are no Hard and Fast rules saying a fryer "must" weigh a certain amount.

I'm glad the video helped you out a little.
It was well worth the effort.
I enjoyed reading your descriptive experience.

Remember: I've done several thousand fryers. It "is" easy after that many.

Grumpy.

 

[Bad Habit]

Haha I went back and looked at my post, and I was so not worried about it, I couldn't even remember which ones I was supposed to save!! We didn't save them from the 2 done on Tuesday, either, it was cold, we were in a rush... Plus I don't like any of those parts on any other animal, so it doesn't stand that I would like them in the rabbit.

Grumpy, your video helped me SO MUCH. I basically just tried to copy you. I taped on a fake beard and everything! (no, not really, but I should have, that would have made the story SO MUCH BETTER).

The bucks were done because 2 of them were nasty - poor litter habits, wouldn't clean themselves, sprayed, bit, boxed, tried to breed the dog... One also had something going on with his teeth, they were really short on top and really long on bottom and neither pair was grinding evenly. The third, I almost convinced myself to keep him. I actually really liked him, he was friendly and easy going, but I've decided to get a larger buck for meat breeding purposes, probably a purebred Harlequin in the spring, using my vlop buck on the ladies for now.

Thank you again, Grumpy, I'm glad you enjoyed my recount of the events. I'm not sure that there is any way to explain to you how much your video helped me. I'm planning on sharing it with Trevor, so we have the same ideas and plans with the next butchering, and hopefully it goes smoother(it'll be the 4 meat mutt kits I bought from ladysown, so younger rabbits).

Mom ended up simmering it in water in the slow cooker last night. It was in for about 10hrs, and by the time we ate it, just about falling off the bone tender. It tasted great, and I'm looking forward to the next time we eat rabbit!

 

[Miss M]

:congratulations:

I saw this a few days ago, but I was SO SICK at the time, I would read a few threads and say almost nothing. :razz2:

That's just so awesome, BH... I'm so happy for you, and so glad you enjoyed your first rabbit meal! :bouncy:

 

[Bad Habit]

Glad you're feeling better Miss M!