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.

 

[eco2pia]

I do wish I could use a .22, but city limits...where I live, no one would blink(I hear gunshots often enough for it to be just another tuesday and I know they are not shooting at rabbits...), but it is technically illegal.

For me a captive bolt stunner works really well on the young ones. Adults, I still broomstick. They make larger bolt stunners, I just only have the smaller one.

 

[Naelin]

For me a captive bolt stunner works really well on the young ones. Adults, I still broomstick. They make larger bolt stunners, I just only have the smaller one.

Do captive bolt stunners destroy the skull? I clean the skulls for sale and collection so that made me wonder...

 

[Janelb78]

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.

I’ve used two methods, one was in a trap with a .22 and this above method by just stretching the rabbit to dislocate the neck. I recommend the above method as it is fast, effective, not messy, and painless for the little ones. I was skeptical at first but google the different techniques people use and that’s how I had luck with learning from others.

 

[RabbitsOfTheCreek]

Do captive bolt stunners destroy the skull? I clean the skulls for sale and collection so that made me wonder...

Selling skulls sounds cool

 

[kusanar314]

Do captive bolt stunners destroy the skull? I clean the skulls for sale and collection so that made me wonder...

They punch a hole through the skull, they don't shatter it completely though. I've added a picture of a cow skull with a bolt hole. Same idea, different size and placement on a rabbit but same basic idea.

 

[Naelin]

Selling skulls sounds cool

I plan on taking a couple of pictures of my finished works to share with you all. My favourite (even though quite sad) are the skeletons of the stillborns. I didn't start selling them yet but I've been learning how to clean and articulate bones for 17 years now so it's time to put them to use!

They punch a hole through the skull, they don't shatter it completely though. I've added a picture of a cow skull with a bolt hole. Same idea, different size and placement on a rabbit but same basic idea.

View attachment 45138

Ohh, thanks for the explanation and picture!

 

[eco2pia]

I plan on taking a couple of pictures of my finished works to share with you all. My favourite (even though quite sad) are the skeletons of the stillborns. I didn't start selling them yet but I've been learning how to clean and articulate bones for 17 years now so it's time to put them to use!


Ohh, thanks for the explanation and picture!

I have always wanted to save skulls, but I have not gotten around to it. I have a vision in my head of a still life with skull and flowers, sort of momento mori painting style, in a shadow box...someday. For now they are dog food though, so another reason I am glad not to have lead in them.

the placement is not that different than the cow picture.

 

[Naelin]

I have always wanted to save skulls, but I have not gotten around to it. I have a vision in my head of a still life with skull and flowers, sort of momento mori painting style, in a shadow box...someday. For now they are dog food though, so another reason I am glad not to have lead in them.

the placement is not that different than the cow picture.

If there is interest, I can write a thread explaining how to clean adult and kit bones. The materials are stupidly cheap (the main one is plain old water ) and the biggest stopper for most people is queasiness, which is obviously not much of a problem for meat rabbit breeders...
I attached a picture of part of my collection that I took 2 years ago while cleaning.

 

[Ablebreeze]

NO dispatch method is 100% fool proof.

I tried the choke chain idea, that didn't work at all. Poor thing.

My husband does cervical dislocation with a board and mallet. USUALLY works, but I don't have the strength to do it successfully in 1 blow.

A friend wanted to try the broomstick method. We had a weight bar easily accessible. If I was going to do that method, I'd definitely choose the weight bar over an actual broomstick. The weight helps keep the rabbit in place while you get situated, but it left a massive hemorrhage at the neck. It looked very awkward for the human and uncomfortable for the rabbit.

I tried the bop and bleed for the first time recently. Trying to find the vein was very difficult and I had to bop the rabbit several times, and I missed and hit the nose once. Someone suggested severing the front paw artery(ies) instead of the neck. I think on older does, that would definitely be a better plan.

I know someone who uses the captive bolt system. He likes that. But he's really good about always processing before 13 weeks.

No method is foolproof, but their deaths are still better than lingering disease or being ripped apart by another animal. You know the natural death that PETA and people who don't agree with raising rabbits for food think should happen instead of how we "savagely murder" them for food.