my first rabbit butcher *video*

[ohiogoatgirl]

today i butchered two rabbits. live weight 2lb 12oz and 3lb. meat weight was like 2.5 lbs the both of em. they were dutch rabbits at 13 wks old. my first butchering of animals that i bred, fed, and killed 100% myself.

i think having to put out a 2wk old kit a few nights ago helped me today. put things into a bit of a perspective. the kit had the front and back leg on the one side gnawed off through the cage wire by a coon.

so now got the rabbit meat in a pot of water in the fridge and i'm looking around the net for how to cook it..... my family's only experience with rabbit meat thus far was once when my dad shot a rabbit and pan-fried it in a cast-iron skillet on the stove-top. he told me it was chicken.... i couldnt eat it... if that was a chicken there was a reason it wasnt livin no more, cause it was one sickly thing to have that little bit of meat....

and now i need to find a way to cook it that everyone will like. mostly me though hahaha. the rest of em i dont really care. i know dad'll eat it and whatever me and him dont eat i can try and sell around local.

 

[OneAcreFarm]

Crock pot is one of my favorite ways....can't go wrong with that! Onion, garlic, salt, pepper, rabbit, some water and let it cook for 4 hrs on high. Season how you want.....you can do Italian (diced tomatoes, basil, oregano, mushrooms) or BunnyQ (BBQ sauce) or remove the meat, and debone it, return to the crock with noodles or dumplings for a yummy soup.

 

[Saiyuri]

I'm planning on doing my first in an italian sauce kind of way (my son hates anything stewed) then if that goes well progress onto breadcrumbs >.< Although my first litter isn't 12 weeks till 22nd ^^

Would love to know how you cook it and how it goes down. I've been served rabbit once before as a child and my dad told me it was our pet thumper and me and my brotheres cried throughout the meal / wouldnt touch it so might find it a hard thing to swollow

 

[toastedoat37]

Most anyone that likes chicken noodle soup, or chicken and dumplins, will like rabbit noodle soup or rabbit and dumplins.

good job processing your rabbits ohio. On cl here in my area ,there are all these people pet and meat breeders both that have rabbits for sale, they breed them and raise them ,and then cant kill them,they ask to much money for the mutts they have raised and cant find enough buyers, the rabbit world is a mess because of it, sick rabbits from lack of care after the owners loose intrest, all these rabbit rescue places, the AR people get involved.

I think it was great ,shelbers going out and buying some to butcher before they get started raising them, and the guy in here whos wife told him ,lets try one first before we start breeding.

I think pet breeders NEED to learn to butcher a rabbit too before they start breeding them, Its just not gonna happen that a breeder will be able to sell all his rabbits.And no matter what your breeding , there will be animals that need to be put down, no matter how cute they are.

 

[ohiogoatgirl]

here is a video i did of the first rabbit i did. my laptop takes forever to upload them.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKiR-rQHNO8&feature=plcp

 

[Saiyuri]

Loved the video (and was nosey on your others ^^)

 

[ohiogoatgirl]

thanks. ya look around my channel, by all means.

 

[reereechickens]

Great video! That's how I do my chickens. My DH and DS use a .22 for the rabbits. If I need to do rabbits myself I would go this route.

 

[ladysown]

i don't comment on videos (on site) but you'll find a piece of rebar works better than an actual broomstick. You had a good pull, but I'd recommend a piece of rebar and then stepping on it with both feet for a good solid upward pull.

 

[MamaSheepdog]

Quite a bit of kicking going on- ours kicked a bit when we shot them, but now we hold them up by their rear legs, and whack the back of their heads. Instant lights out, very little movement afterward. We like that method the best, but have only tried those two... there could be a better way that we haven't found yet.

Good job, though OGG. Congratulations on raising and processing your own meat! Way to go!

 

[Saiyuri]

i don't comment on videos (on site) but you'll find a piece of rebar works better than an actual broomstick. You had a good pull, but I'd recommend a piece of rebar and then stepping on it with both feet for a good solid upward pull.

stupid question but what sized piece of rebar (thickness) is suitable going to dispatch my first litter on monday (nervous) and since my rabbit wringer has yet to arrive was going to go down the rebar route

 

[OneAcreFarm]

i don't comment on videos (on site) but you'll find a piece of rebar works better than an actual broomstick. You had a good pull, but I'd recommend a piece of rebar and then stepping on it with both feet for a good solid upward pull.

stupid question but what sized piece of rebar (thickness) is suitable going to dispatch my first litter on monday (nervous) and since my rabbit wringer has yet to arrive was going to go down the rebar route

1/2" would likely work...

 

[ladysown]

i think my piece is 3/8? I love it. Doesn't work as well for OLD big rabbits, but I have a thicker piece for those. the smaller one is great for young rabbits and those up to about about 6 lbs. 7 lbs makes it bend a bit. SO I've learned with bigger than 6 lbs to use the thicker piece.

 

[Saiyuri]

Thanks ^^ - thought if i didn't get it thick enough it might bend, hopefully before I have old ones to do my wringer would have arrived >.<

 

[Ghost]

I found the first half minute of your other video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AD56ckzRf4k to be a very touching. It felt very warm and caring for a rabbit that was destine to become food. I like the way the rabbit was caressed and comforted. I did even chuckle just a bit at 0:18 when the rabbit pulled his head from under the stick. In the hopper popper videos I've seen, it is like people are just rushing to get the job done.

I suppose that it why I chose the broomstick as my preferred dispatchment method when doing my rabbits 10 years ago. Don't get me wrong, a hopper popper is a quick and humane way to get the job done. And if you have many rabbits to "do" and you want you want to finish in a set time the hopper popper will make things easier.

But if you only have only a few rabbits and are not too worried about time, I found that the broomstick method just feels right for me.

To start with I had the stick and the rabbit. I knew I was going to end the rabbit's life. As I put the stick on and was claiming the rabbit, things just seamed to go on there own. I did not have to force myself. If was just like things progressed and something was telling me that this was the moment to do it. So I lifted the hind legs and pulled. I soon as felt the first pop, I knew to pull harder so that the poor bunny would not suffer. Reflecting back, it was sad, but I knew that rabbit made the best rabbit stew and I knew that the rabbit was not subjected to the things that happen in factory farms.

Thanks for sharing, I am so self-conscious about my dispatches, I could never film them. Six year before I did my first rabbit, I would spearfish for sunfish that I would eat. I remember shooting a fish and it was still wiggling on the spear. I remember looking around to see if anyone was watching before I got out my scissors to sever the fish's spine. I just felt, I did not want anyone to watch me kill something.

PS. Did you recently unlink this video from your main page in the last week or so. I though I remember seeing it on your main video page?

 

[ohiogoatgirl]

thank you Ghost. I'm glad you appreciated it. I try to make things as quick and painless as possible for them.

I have had to privatize the butcher videos because youtube changed stuff up and I was getting messages from youtube about warnings. I guess people keep flagging them for violence, etc. *rolls eyes* which in a way I find amusing in it's childishness, I mean it's how many years ago? the rabbits have long been eaten, being petty and flagging my videos isn't going to bring them back.