Most Humane Way to Dispatch?

[HeyHayHay]

Currently, I am dispatching rabbits at around 3 months by the "bopping" method, and I feel it could be more humane than that. My father was saying large tree clippers might work for a more humane "guillotine" style dispatch.
Does anyone have better ideas than bopping? Preferably, it should be something that doesn't cost money at the moment but is quick for the buns.

 

[tambayo]

Broomstick for cervical dislocation. Idiotproof, cheap and tool is light but sturdy. Note just the (broom)stick, no broom or other implement attached. There are chokechains and such on the cervical dislocation method of dispatch, but they require a solid attachment option and i don't have one or can put one in a private location away from the buns. Using the broomstick just requires a solid floor like a tiled bathroom.

Decapitation requires a lot more strength to be fast and practicing such on living animals just won't do. Same reason why i don't hit them with something, if i started this at 10-12 years old i'd have the dexterity needed, but i came to this stuff in my 40ies so broomstick it is.

 

[Naelin]

I second the broomstick method, though I find a short piece of rebar to be way sturdier and have more grip on the neck. I don't want to risk an old broomstick breaking in half mid dispatching

 

[BlueMeadow]

Broomstick method! You can really use anything that is sturdy enough. You just need it to hold up and not break. The broomstick method works by placing a bit some sort of stick (I also recommend rebar) in the crevice between their head and shoulders. You step on either side of the long stick and pull their back feet to instantly dislocate the head from the spine. It’s painless that way and not very messy. Also it’s instant death because the head was disconnected from the spine.

 

[Bekah-n-Tennessee]

.22 pellet handgun for me. I started with the hopper popper (cervical dislocation) and although good, I felt it took me too much time to get the rabbits properly placed and it was sometimes a struggle which is, of course, stressful for the rabbits and for me. We switch to the pellet gun and the better half and I agree it's by far the best way for us. I remove the rabbit from the cage or hutch and set into a hay lined milk crate, walk it out to the processing area, after setting the crate down and petting the rabbit, one shot back of the head centered just below base of ears towards the front of the head and it's done. The rabbits never see it coming and it's instant. We still have the hopper popper right there just in case for a back up and sometimes we still use it immediately after dispatch because doing a dislocation does male it much easier to remove the head when butchering. The better half also just used the HP to mercy cull a 4 1/2 week old kit who was a failure to thrive and was losing his battle yesterday afternoon .

 

[jani]

I second the handgun, close range (actually point blank) in a wood crate between the ears aiming to exit out the mouth (it never does). Pet rabbit and put a treat s/he loves to nibble on and they will be happy with it in a fasted state. Wait until rabbit is calm and happy. Pull trigger, instant lights out. They are gone instantly, but always have a backup handy JUST In case. Knock on wood, but I haven't needed it. I did broomstick, hopper popper before but lost my nerve with a very ornery doe. I still hate dispatching but I am convinced this is the kindest, quickest way with the least margin of error and without upsetting rabbit in the least. I do recommend practicing on melons or something to get used to your gun before you ever attempt it on your rabbit.

 

[Aviodont]

.22 pellet handgun for me. I started with the hopper popper (cervical dislocation) and although good, I felt it took me too much time to get the rabbits properly placed and it was sometimes a struggle which is, of course, stressful for the rabbits and for me. We switch to the pellet gun and the better half and I agree it's by far the best way for us. I remove the rabbit from the cage or hutch and set into a hay lined milk crate, walk it out to the processing area, after setting the crate down and petting the rabbit, one shot back of the head centered just below base of ears towards the front of the head and it's done. The rabbits never see it coming and it's instant. We still have the hopper popper right there just in case for a back up and sometimes we still use it immediately after dispatch because doing a dislocation does male it much easier to remove the head when butchering. The better half also just used the HP to mercy cull a 4 1/2 week old kit who was a failure to thrive and was losing his battle yesterday afternoon .

Do you think a .177 pellet or BB from an air rifle would do the trick? Do you think straight from above right behind the ears will work? I’ll try to make a drawing of what I mean.

And I assume that even on a perfect shot, they still get the death throes?

 

[RabbitsOfTheCreek]

My mom uses a rifle (I assume it's one anyway) and it works fine but we don't use them for meat

 

[therabbitlady]

I have a hopper popper but most often use a sturdy wood garden stake for cervical dislocation. I can't do the bopping, I missed once and it was traumatic for me and the rabbit. I couldn't imagine trying to hold a rabbit for a tree lopper.

 

[Bekah-n-Tennessee]

Do you think a .177 pellet or BB from an air rifle would do the trick? Do you think straight from above right behind the ears will work? I’ll try to make a drawing of what I mean.

And I assume that even on a perfect shot, they still get the death throes?

The first pellet we tried was a .177 and it still worked, just make sure the fps is decent and test on a can to verify penetration. I can't speak in whether a BB gun would work or not.

Straight down behind ears...not sure, I think you'd miss most of the brain matter. Now Straight down forward of the base of the ears but still behind eyes I'd think would be better, would need to look up rabbit head anatomy to confirm my thoughts.

Death throws, yep....they still happen. I don't think that's avoidable unfortunately.

 

[Bekah-n-Tennessee]

Oh, and on the idea of tree loppers/clippers...nope, don't. I tried that AFTER rabbits were already dispatched just to remove the head and it didn't even work well for that, it would be horribly inhumane to try in my opinion.