Not getting attached

[HoneyTree]

I am committed to having meat rabbits. I'm not after pets. I'm after sustainable, home-raised, healthy meat.

But, as I've mentioned before, I'm new to rabbits, and am on the waiting list to get a breeding pair of Silver Foxes in the late winter. So I'm having a lot of time to think about the process, the butchering, etc.

I wasn't raised with livestock, but I was raised with pets. How does one make that shift? Do you just remind yourself often that these rabbits are food, not friends? Or are they somehow both? Are there some that you get really attached to and others not? Is it hard at first but gets easier over time?

Thanks for any help.

 

[DanaYares]

I hear you on this topic. I haven't slaughtered my first litter yet, but I'm not looking forward to it. I have "harvested" our chickens, and it wasn't the bad. You need to make sure you're very organized and there is no fumbling at kill time. I found this thing called the Rabbit Wringer that looks like the best slaughtering tool.http://www.therabbitwringer.com/index.html

Has anyone out there used this, is it good and as easy as it looks?

 

[MaggieJ]

You must keep in mind that the youngsters are not pets. It is "okay" to get a bit attached to your breeders, keeping in mind that the useful life of a meat rabbit is usually less than five years. It's even okay to make a bit of a pet of one or two of your breeders, as long as you are willing to house and feed an unproductive rabbit later on. We have one doe that I know we will have as long as she is in good health, even if she retires from motherhood. Right now she is a breeder; later she will "graduate" to being a pet. But those rabbits need to be few and far between or you won't get far with meat production. You can like, enjoy and hang out with your rabbits. Just keep the difference between pet and livestock firmly in your mind.

 

[Kevin S.]

My kids really like the 3 rabbits we have. They are under no illusion as to what will happen to the babies though. A friend at church asked one of my kids (5) what we were gonna do with the baby bunnies when they are born, he excitedly said "Kill them and eat them!"

Maybe they are warped..... But they do, like Maggie said, understand the difference between the pets, and the food.

 

[fuzzy9]

I agree with alot of what Maggie said. I have my breeders that I pet, and love on, but I'm not attached to the point I couldn't cull them if need be. Some of them are so sweet, and love the attention, and it would be really hard to cull them, but I have it set in my mind why I have rabbits.

For the babies I know are butcher rabbits, I don't handle them at all, and as they grow, they start to scratch, and it's easy to not get attached. :lol: I do have one little doe here that I let myself get to attached too, she will join my breeding herd, and if she ends up not being a good breeder, or ages beyond her breeding years, she will always have a home with me. She's a little sweetheart, and has been since she was born.

 

[sammysue63]

One thing I never do is name the kits until I know for sure which ones I am keeping for breeding stock. Although sometimes we call them, Sunday dinner, Monday dinner... well you get the idea.

 

[SterlingSatin]

i've found it easiest to have a couple favorite rabbits, it makes it easier to get rid of youngsters if you have something else to pet in the meantime don't name the meat rabbits, don't pet the meat rabbits, don't handle the meat rabbits. and if you have to at first, have someone else slaughter them.

 

[akane]

We haul the kits around in our jackets in winter and in to the house. Many have been on the bed or run around the livingroom. Then they get too big to easily drag around and get butchered. There's another litter within a month to start playing with again. Our breeders are all named and spoiled with treats but aside from 1 or 2 when they can no longer produce they will be butchered. I don't have a problem with pet--->food.

 

[Robin]

My rabbits have generic names like "Guy" and "Lady", and they have toys, but those are the breeding animals. the rabbits that will eventually go into the pot don't have names or designations. Also, you'll find it a lot easier to slaughter your rabbits after you've been scratched up a few times.

As for the Rabbit Wringer...
I've never used it myself or seen it used in real life, but I couldn't justify spending $50+ on something like that. Breaking a rabbit's neck is not hard. You could cut a "v" into a board and get the same effect. Some folks shoot their rabbits in the back of the head with a high power pellet gun. Some bash them with a heavy pipe or something like that. It's really up to you. I'm going to try the pellet gun next time and see how that works out. My husband is being deployed in the army again and I need to figure out some time/labor saving tricks for processing the rabbits all alone.

 

[Kevin S.]

My husband is being deployed in the army again and I need to figure out some time/labor saving tricks for processing the rabbits all alone.

Please be sure to tell your husband thanks for all he does from me, and thanks to you as well. You Army wives are one tough batch of ladies!

 

[Miss M]

It works out well here. Our kids, now 10 and 15 (but we started this some 2 1/2 years ago), handle it very well. We had no livestock background. My husband had done some hunting, but that's it.

The first time butchering was very difficult. It has gotten easier (now that we know what we're doing), but it certainly isn't fun, and it shouldn't be.

The kids play with the little popples quite a lot, and they continue to pull them out and hold them frequently until the next litter is born several weeks later. Then the new litter gets the most attention, but the older litter continues to get held a good bit until they are moved out of the doe's cage at ~6 weeks. At that point, they are in the upper cages and not as easy to reach. Occasionally, one will still get pulled out, but not much. By the time butchering day comes, any attachment that was there is gone.

For a while, our son stopped playing with the babies. I finally got him to tell me why, and it was because he knew they were going to be killed, and he was sad about it, and so he'd rather not play with them. That made me sad, but I understood. Then our daughter decided she wanted to save the pelt of a rabbit she found particularly pretty, and our son asked if he could, too. Since then, we've collected several pelts (I think we have enough to tan now). For some reason, being able to keep the pelt of a bun he's fond of has helped him over that hump, and he plays with the babies quite fondly again.

I'm in trouble, though, when any of our original breeders stops producing. They truly are pets to the kids. I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.

We use a pellet gun to the back of the head. It works out very well for us. I have a long description of the whole process on my blog. I hope to add butchering pictures next time.

 

[SMR]

Working on the same thing, Ive got the buns and am in the process of doing a co2 set up. I cant handle the other ways alone. I found the co2 method thru searches and it seems to be a good match. I just try to remember that once I get started it will be easier, fresh food that will not make me sick because of the processing, the rabbits were happy/healthy and well taken care of with me, and maybe the biggest thing that got me started considering it was/is I will not have to sell any buns unless I really want to as Ill always have space if I really want to and not have to take a chance on finding suitable homes other wise. Ill still try to sell some at first for cash to go on expenses that I feel are suitable for pets/show/brood but the option is always there to avoid a other issues (taking less, space, adding cages, changing breeding schedual just because the other kids arent out yet , etc) and worries about the care they are getting else where.

 

[kotapony]

My kids really like the 3 rabbits we have. They are under no illusion as to what will happen to the babies though. A friend at church asked one of my kids (5) what we were gonna do with the baby bunnies when they are born, he excitedly said "Kill them and eat them!" Maybe they are warped.....

I don't think that makes them warped at all - I hope mine grow up to be that excited about butchering and eating the rabbits! Not enough people appreciate what it takes to produce the food that goes on the table. The more experience kids can get and the more appreciation they have for the process the better, I say.

A kinda related funny story, we rent a house on the farm and the couple that live there are suburbanites. We had a big, mean jersey bull we were loading up to take to the sale and their 5yo son asked what we were doing with him. Husband said "He's going to McDonald's." The boy thought hard about that, and said, "Cows don't go to McDonald's." But the next time we say him, he said they'd been to McDonald's and looked for the bull but didn't see him there. :lol:

Anyway, I grew up in the suburbs with just pets. I married a dairy farmer at age 27 and am surprised at how well I adapted to the mentality of critters being food and not pets. I think the biggest thing is what everyone else has said - never forget the purpose of the rabbits. They're food. I admit cows are a little different - they're not quite the adorable little balls of fluff that rabbits are. But even so, we've had some really sweet girls over the years. When the time comes they're no longer productive, though, they head for the sale the same as any other cow. That's just a cycle you get used to when you're raising animals for food.

I haven't done any rabbits yet, but I did do a turkey. Adorable little fluffy thing when I got him, I raised him in the living room till he was old enough to head to the chicken house. My FIL swore up and down we'd end up with a pet and I'd never eat him. He tasted pretty good at Thanksgiving dinner. :lol:

 

[fuzzy9]

A kinda related funny story, we rent a house on the farm and the couple that live there are suburbanites. We had a big, mean jersey bull we were loading up to take to the sale and their 5yo son asked what we were doing with him. Husband said "He's going to McDonald's." The boy thought hard about that, and said, "Cows don't go to McDonald's." But the next time we say him, he said they'd been to McDonald's and looked for the bull but didn't see him there. :lol:

LOL! That is funny! :lol:

 

[HoneyTree]

I am so appreciative of all these responses. I was worried at first that it might be considered a naive or too-personal question; I'm thankful to have such a range of supportive and thoughtful answers.

 

[OneAcreFarm]

Working on the same thing, Ive got the buns and am in the process of doing a co2 set up. I cant handle the other ways alone. I found the co2 method thru searches and it seems to be a good match. I just try to remember that once I get started it will be easier, fresh food that will not make me sick because of the processing, the rabbits were happy/healthy and well taken care of with me, and maybe the biggest thing that got me started considering it was/is I will not have to sell any buns unless I really want to as Ill always have space if I really want to and not have to take a chance on finding suitable homes other wise. Ill still try to sell some at first for cash to go on expenses that I feel are suitable for pets/show/brood but the option is always there to avoid a other issues (taking less, space, adding cages, changing breeding schedual just because the other kids arent out yet , etc) and worries about the care they are getting else where.

Not criticizing, but you do understand that using CO2 is basically just a slow suffocation, right? It may be easier for you, but it won't be easier on the rabbits. A quick, painless dispatch using a pellet gun, neck dislocation, etc. is more humane than using CO2....just my two cents.

Shannon

 

[SMR]

With the research I've done and talking to local vet, its more human to use co2 then any other method given. No pain, no flight/fight response..oxygen is being replaced with co2 at a slow rate which outs the animal first. Some I've read prefer it for an asthesia for quick procedures and for dispatchment as it does not create stress with the animal. Its still being used for animals and humans (not so much as humans with better ways), again from online references, if it was that horrible it wouldn't be used for such and not preferred over other methods. I've seen what a well placed pellet will do...I don't like it and won't do it unless there's no other choice. I'd rather knock them out first and then dispatch of them painlessly then have to watch the pain and stress the other induces before death comes.

 

[akane]

From the research I've done CO2 in an uncontrolled manner with no method to regulate and measure the co2 concentration is fairly inhumane and against the guidelines and laws set for commercial or labaratory dispatch of small animals. It has too much potential for discomfort or panic if done without properly measuring it. If you do it with all the proper regulatory equipment I would consider it an acceptable method of putting animals down but all the proper equipment will cost you in the $100s. After much research I've decided it's not even foolproof or humane enough to use on the rodents I plan to raise for my cats' raw diets. Since they are too small to shoot and I'm not confident in my ability with a knife I'm looking in to the electrical rat traps that electrocute them and cause death within 3 seconds or less.

A well placed bullet or cervical dislocation has been proven time and again to be the quickest and most humane death. After taking some vet classes and talking to vets who have studied the brain activity of animals put down through gas or chemical means I would even choose a bullet to put down a pet like a dog or something like a horse over anything else unless it involves full anesthesia beforehand.

 

[HendricksHearth]

I'm sorry, but I have to agree with the above posts that Co2 at home is not humane. There is simply no way for the person attempting it to regulate the amount in with the rabbit. It may take a while to do the job and in the meantime the owner might think everything is fine because the rabbit looks like they are just sitting there breathing, but unless the concentration is just so to induce anesthesia, they may be torturing the mucous membranes of the nose/eyes and respiratory tract + causing distressing dyspnea and other issues while thinking everything is okay. I also read that because rabbits are burrowing animals and can handle lower O2 saturation it may take longer than it would for other species, too.

I don't mean any disrespect, but slow death methods like this really aren't for the rabbit. Like Akane said, a well-placed bullet (or pellet from a high power air rifle) is literally "lights out" instantly. The rabbit is calmly eating their food and it's over. It doesn't even really require any skill other than basic gun safety and the ability to point and pull a trigger, but the CO2 method certainly does and unless the person works in a lab, chances are they aren't going to have access to the equipment that would make it "humane."

Also the vet is right, there won't typically be any flight response with CO2 because their muscles are screaming for O2 that has been displaced out of the killing chamber as I understand it.

Back to the original topic, I find it helpful to distance myself from the culls as much as possible. I give them everything they need for a good quality of life including head pats, the occasional treat, excellent regular care, etc.. but I don't name them, take them out and cuddle them often, or anything like that. It makes it too hard otherwise (for me).

Best of luck,

Lauren

 

[Kevin S.]

I don't know much about the Co2 method, but I do know a lot about terminal ballistics (basically the science of killing things with projectiles)

A shot to the area where the spine meets the brain is like a light switch. Sever it and they will never even hear the report of the pellet gun. This is the same region that snipers aim for in a hostage situation. It not only kills instantly, but it shuts down the body, there may be twitching, but the brain and body are dead. Hard to be more humane than that. There are videos I have seen on YouTube of people who dispatch their rabbits in this manner. Often they have an enclosure where the rabbit is happily munching on grass right up to the point of being shot. Talk about dying painlessly while doing what you love!