Slaughtering

[Saiyuri]

This is probably a stupid question but I was wondering why don't people slaughter in the kitchen (only ask as I live in the middle of a housing estate and sure I would have some very irrate neighbours if I did it outside)

It's something thats been playing alot on my mind as I approach freezer camp for the same reason I'm planning on using the rabbit wringer if it arrives in time, if not broomsticking (pellet guns, let alone real guns are slightly harder to get your hands on this side of the water, I know some teenagers run around with bb guns - not even sure if thats the same thing)

Does it smell? (sorry this will be my first experience of meat not pre cut up and wrapped in a pretty tray so slightly intimidated but determined all the same)

 

[Secuono]

I don't want blood everywhere, don't want a dirty rabbit in a clean kitchen, don't want the innards, pee and poo to spill in the house. It's just not sanitary to butcher indoors. There is a smell, every butchered animal has it's own smell. I wash my hands 3-5 times before the smell comes off.

 

[trinityoaks]

I don't think I would do it in the kitchen, as it is VERY messy, and blood goes everywhere. I don't see it as unsanitary, though, just a lot to clean up. Once you do the skinning, gutting, and an initial rinse, you can certainly cut up the meat in the kitchen, though.

I have an EXTREMELY sensitive nose, and the only smell I can detect is a mild scent similar to raw chicken (just like it smells when you take it out of the package from the grocery store).

Is there any way you could set up an area in the garage (maybe screened from view if you have to keep the big door open for ventilation)?

 

[toastedoat37]

No, its not stupid question. Ive been concidering where i will slaughter also. Im going to do it outside though, but i live in town also and dont have a very private yard. I dont want to do it where my other rabbits can see, or where neighbors or people walking by can see. LOL,when i was a kid, thats how i learned how to slaughter chickens and rabbits and pigs ,etc. is by passing by and seeing someone doing it and stopping to watch. But today , some kid would probably be taken to counseling by an outraged parent if they saw someone doing that., L plan on making some kind of latice typ screens or something that i can put up for privacy.

 

[MamaSheepdog]

I recall someone here mentioning that they slaughtered in the bathtub or shower so the blood was easily rinsed away. They did caution about using something to prevent bits of fat/meat from entering the drain.

I haven't found that the blood goes everywhere, at least not when you whack them on the head behind the ears. We do it outside, and we just hold the rabbit over a 5 gallon bucket while it bleeds out.

 

[Saiyuri]

No, its not stupid question. Ive been concidering where i will slaughter also. Im going to do it outside though, but i live in town also and dont have a very private yard. I dont want to do it where my other rabbits can see, or where neighbors or people walking by can see. LOL,when i was a kid, thats how i learned how to slaughter chickens and rabbits and pigs ,etc. is by passing by and seeing someone doing it and stopping to watch. But today , some kid would probably be taken to counseling by an outraged parent if they saw someone doing that., L plan on making some kind of latice typ screens or something that i can put up for privacy.

Definatly might try this then, although not sure if its going to work I live in a 2 up 2 down house, with no garage and a heavily overlook garden. I guess the bathroom might work as a last resort but going to see if i can get at least a part of my garden more private first with screens. thanks for the replies luckily have (just under) 3 weeks to figure something out ^^

 

[toastedoat37]

Also i have never used one, but i think the rabbit wringer might be a good thing, ive had rabbits that scream as soon as you get hold of their back legs, they can scream loud,might draw the attention of neighbors.

 

[MaggieJ]

I've dispatched and butchered rabbits indoors on occasion, when it is too cold to do it outside. It need not be messy. I use a pellet gun to dispatch (with the rabbit in a box) but the broomstick or rabbit wringer would work as well. You can drain the blood into the sink and wash it away. There is nothing unsanitary about the butchering process. It is perfectly natural and if you are fastidious it is an easy matter to spray down the counter and sink with a bleach solution. I work on a sheet of cardboard on the kitchen counter and dispose of it afterwards. The entrails, skin, heads and feet can be disposed of in the same way you would if you butcher outdoors.

In good weather, we kill, bleed out and skin outdoors and remove head and feet there, but the rest is always done in the kitchen, away from flies and wasps and with a ready supply of running water.

 

[akane]

I've done it in the house and blood does not go everywhere. What are you people doing to your rabbits? I chose the bathtub though just for the space and it has a bar to tie to which makes skinning soooo much easier than slowly working it off in the sink, which I've also done. Blood and innards go straight down so when you cut the throat just aim down. It's no worse than doing poultry where if you let go and they flap blood flies everywhere but if you just hold on and point down it runs down the drain with no fuss. The innards I scoop in to a bucket (also easier when you have the space of a bathtub instead of a sink) with no mess anywhere else since they come out cleanly and don't leave anything in the sink or bathtub except maybe one bunny poop if their intestines were full. It then gets double bagged in grocery bags and taken down to the garage garbage can when done. At that point I have a skinned and gutted rabbit with a little blood over the drain and maybe a bunny poop to clean up.

There is a slight smell when butchering anything and sometimes you get poop smell from glands and/or full intestines but it's not strong and it's gone as soon as you bag everything up.

 

[Kyle@theWintertime]

I slaughter indoors, in my basement. Pellet gun and a box with a tasty treat in it works for me, I often use an old styrofoam cooler since the blood pools in it and not on the floor.

I clean, skin and process the carcasses in my kitchen though. Bucket for the guts I can't use, and I keep the skins.

 

[DanaYares]

We slaughter in the garage and use a very large tarp to cover everything so all there is to do is to rinse the tarp afterwards. If I didn't use the tarp it would be a big clean up job.

 

[arachyd]

I use the kitchen sink which is in front of an open window. The innards smell but the window takes care of that. Blood doesn't go everywhere but I have a fairly deep stainless steel sink. Cleanup is much easier with soap, hot water and disinfectant ready to hand. You just have to keep bits out of the drain.

 

[Frosted Rabbits]

My first experience was outdoors, in the woods, on a very hot day-- no running water, nothing to keep flies away--Bucket at my feet for thrown away stuff. Once skinned and gutted, I took the rabbits into the 'camper' and used a hand pumped pressure sprayer to rinse with clean water,, cut and packed them into freezer bags, then packed into ice for the trip to their new homes...
a screened outdoor area would be so much nicer!!!gosh, a hose with running water, too!

 

[Shelbers91]

That's a good thought. I'll probably just slaughter out doors too though. If my neighbor sees maybe I'll ask if he wants some, but he's older and I'm sure he's done it before. I don't think there's a law againsed it. Not to mention he shoots groundhogs that are in MY back yard (not that I care) so I'm sure he won't mind.

 

[skysthelimit]

mine are done outside, which is probably cleaner than my kitchen! it's just the dogs eating the meat, so they lick up the blood and clean up as I cut the meat up. don't know what I'm going to do when I actually eat the meat myself. the flies are horrible here, and I don't think I could eat anything that I had to butcher outside. i don't mind butchering, but I am very squeamish about eating anything after I've handled it (i don't eat meat from the grocery store that i have to handle either, no homemade burgers, fried chicken wings, etc). just stuff i shake out of a bag.

 

[akane]

I do mine outside most of the time just cause hanging them from a tree is easier but after heat stroke twice last year and frost burn years back that still effects some fingers and toes if it's below 30 or above 90 I'd rather go through the effort of butchering inside.

 

[AnnClaire]

I agree, if you are winding up with a big mess after butchering, indoors or out, then you are doing something in a way that could be much neater. As for smell, well, that is something that comes with the territory.

I will butcher outdoors when the weather is not too cold or too hot. Otherwise, indoors in my double stainless kitchen sinks that are deep. Bop, drain, take head off, over the sink. Skin, then move the carcass to the countertop over a shallow commercial insert (about half the size of a sheet cake from the bakery) lined with layers (one for each rabbit) of brown paper grocery sacks for gutting. This way, as each is gutted, the entrails and sack can be rolled up and tied up in a plastic grocery sack for disposal. After gutting, the carcass is then put into an icechest with water in it for cooling. Once carcass has cooled (in rigor by this time), break down and put in large bowl of salt water, put lid on and refrigerate for a couple of days before packaging and freezing.

 

[Iggysbabysitter]

I have done up to 6 at a time in the bathroom. I use a pellet gun, I have a rack that stands in the bath tub, they hang and I can skin them with little mess getting outside the tub. I process the meat on the counter on a cereal box (contains so much of the mess). I have all kinds of soap, disinfectant, rags and towels, multiple sources of water for rinsing/filling the "cooling off" bucket, and the final clean up leaves my whole bathroom spotless (when you've got to get rid of the smell you might as well bleach EVERYTHING). Thankfully I have a large bathroom.