Tomorrow is our first dispatch.

[Willow Blue]

I'm nervous. Wish me luck. My husband and I will be doing this together. If you have any tips or links for videos feel free to share. I've been watching all I could find to prepare for this. Crossing fingers it all goes smooth, and I'll finally be tasting rabbit for the first time soon.

 

[MuddyFarms]

I hope things went well for you guys!

 

[Willow Blue]

I hope things went well for you guys!

Well it was certainly an experience. The dispatch was not as clean as we hoped it would be, but we did our best. It was an older doe that needed culling and the skinning was much harder than I expected, so much tough connective tissue. And she had a lot of fat. I wish we had someone coaching us in person, things got tricky for a bit there, but we got through it. Our growouts will be ready in a month so I'm glad we got this first practice session to help us understand what to expect before we have 7 rabbits to get through in one day. Then another 8 about two weeks after that. I definitely won't breed my two doe's that close together again. At least not until we get used to this. Definitely enhanced my respect for those of you who are able to do this on the regular. I need to work on hardening myself a little bit more.

 

[savedbygrace979]

Well it was certainly an experience. The dispatch was not as clean as we hoped it would be, but we did our best. It was an older doe that needed culling and the skinning was much harder than I expected, so much tough connective tissue. And she had a lot of fat. I wish we had someone coaching us in person, things got tricky for a bit there, but we got through it. Our growouts will be ready in a month so I'm glad we got this first practice session to help us understand what to expect before we have 7 rabbits to get through in one day. Then another 8 about two weeks after that. I definitely won't breed my two doe's that close together again. At least not until we get used to this. Definitely enhanced my respect for those of you who are able to do this on the regular. I need to work on hardening myself a little bit more.

It's just like anything else. It will take some time to get a routine down and perfect your method.

The hardest part is the culling, the actual act of taking that life is not easy. If it helps, remember that it's life and purpose was to die and sustain the life of something else. The next time it should get a little easier and a little easier each time after.

 

[Alaska Satin]

Well it was certainly an experience. The dispatch was not as clean as we hoped it would be, but we did our best. It was an older doe that needed culling and the skinning was much harder than I expected, so much tough connective tissue. And she had a lot of fat. I wish we had someone coaching us in person, things got tricky for a bit there, but we got through it. Our growouts will be ready in a month so I'm glad we got this first practice session to help us understand what to expect before we have 7 rabbits to get through in one day. Then another 8 about two weeks after that. I definitely won't breed my two doe's that close together again. At least not until we get used to this. Definitely enhanced my respect for those of you who are able to do this on the regular. I need to work on hardening myself a little bit more.

Congratulations on making the leap. I have sent so many meat rabbit breeding animals home with people who never make it to that point. You will probably feel much happier when you can enjoy the results of your labor at your dinner table.

Some good news is that young fryers are much easier both to dispatch and to skin. Even my hunter/trapper son resists doing the older rabbits because they are kind of hard to skin. You have to really haul on it with your full body weight sometimes! More good news is that the thick skin which makes it a pain to butcher, makes it much easier to tan without ripping.

But be careful, by comparison the fryers are not only much less attached to their pelt, but their skin is also very much thinner. If you've started with a broiler, on a fryer you might pull too hard and rip the skin. Even if you're not planning to use the hides, a big tear makes it harder to finish skinning.

About the fat - that's a good way to keep tabs on your feeding regimen. Especially the fat inside the abdomen will make it harder for does to conceive and kindle successfully. If one of your rabbits is fat, the others may be too. Internal abdominal fat isn't really apparent on a rabbit unless it's extreme, but you can get an idea of how fat a rabbit is by feeling the shoulders. If the skin is loose at all, and especially if there's a roll there, you know they're overweight. You'll start to see a correlation between body shape and fat as you continue to butcher. Even fryers can be extremely fat; commercial pellets are designed to put weight on rabbits quickly.

I've found that does over the age of about 18 months seem to get progressively more inclined to put on fat. I feed pellets, but at about 8 months of age when the rabbits have reached their senior weight, I limit pellets to what the rabbit will eat in 24 hours; I want the rabbit to be hungry (but not ravenous). Some rabbits are nibblers and their pellets last most of the 24 hours; others inhale what they get pretty quickly. For those rabbits, you can free-feed hay. They can have as much of that as they want; they won't get fat on hay.

 

[HTAcres]

BIG kudos to you!! You did it and like mentioned, a lot of people just cannot.

The dispatching doesn't get easier for me, I just do it. Or rather I pick out the ones that need to go and then I hand them to my husband after a cuddle and a prayer and some tears. I find the skinning to be by far the hardest part in terms of actual difficulty.

You should be very proud of you.

 

[eco2pia]

which method to dispatch did you use?

I think I have tried most of them at this point. I like some better than others. Each time I tried out a new method I mostly hated it, because I was used to the old one, but honestly, everything is just easier with a fryer.

To date I like using a captive bolt stunner I got from F. Dick. It took a little to get used to it, hated it at first, but I have the knack now. I have a little wooden box that I set the rabbit in to hold them steady. Press the stunner against their forehead, push button, lights out, hang and bleed immediately. Less bruising than cervical dislocation, so I tend to think it is less truamatic, and the meat seems cleaner--whiter--due to the rapid bleed out. But the bodies kick more, I think, which was disconcerting at first.

 

[user 8761]

To add to eco2pia’s comment, dispatch method really makes a difference for how ‘looking forward to’ or ‘avoiding’ harvesting you will be.

I used the ‘bonk and slice’ method for a while but found it was too inconsistent and I ended up in the ‘avoiding’ harvest category. Then my husband was like, why don’t you just shoot them, and it was a game changer. I use a Crosman .22 pellet handgun, it’s lights out instantly, then slit the throat to bleed, they usually don’t even kick very long. I recently showed a friend my method and she’s a convert now.

Happy harvesting!

 

[Willow Blue]

which method to dispatch did you use?

I think I have tried most of them at this point. I like some better than others. Each time I tried out a new method I mostly hated it, because I was used to the old one, but honestly, everything is just easier with a fryer.

To date I like using a captive bolt stunner I got from F. Dick. It took a little to get used to it, hated it at first, but I have the knack now. I have a little wooden box that I set the rabbit in to hold them steady. Press the stunner against their forehead, push button, lights out, hang and bleed immediately. Less bruising than cervical dislocation, so I tend to think it is less truamatic, and the meat seems cleaner--whiter--due to the rapid bleed out. But the bodies kick more, I think, which was disconcerting at first.

I used the bolt stunner, we looked long and hard at all the methods out there and we both felt more comfortable starting with this device. I ordered it from bunny rancher. Unfortunately, it was not lights out for her, my husband did the deed while I was holding her in a box trying to keep her calm, he ended up having to bolt her a second time with it as the first time didn't look like it did the trick. It was so hard to witness, but I hope the fryers will be much easier when we get to them next month.

 

[Willow Blue]

To add to eco2pia’s comment, dispatch method really makes a difference for how ‘looking forward to’ or ‘avoiding’ harvesting you will be.

I used the ‘bonk and slice’ method for a while but found it was too inconsistent and I ended up in the ‘avoiding’ harvest category. Then my husband was like, why don’t you just shoot them, and it was a game changer. I use a Crosman .22 pellet handgun, it’s lights out instantly, then slit the throat to bleed, they usually don’t even kick very long. I recently showed a friend my method and she’s a convert now.

Happy harvesting!

We would much rather just shoot but we live in a suburban neighborhood, so we needed something quiet. Went with the bolt stunner.

 

[Captaincatholic]

We would much rather just shoot but we live in a suburban neighborhood, so we needed something quiet. Went with the bolt stunner.

Air rifle or pellet gun at point blank range can work in the suburbs.

 

[user 8761]

We would much rather just shoot but we live in a suburban neighborhood, so we needed something quiet. Went with the bolt stunner.

Air rifle or pellet gun at point blank range can work in the suburbs.

When I showed my friend our method we were in her driveway in a residential neighbourhood. Air pellet guns don’t require a firearms license and are quiet enough I don’t think anyone would call the cops on you. Not a bad idea to let the neighbours know what you are up to just in case though lol
I keep a bonker nearby incase the shot doesn’t go as planned, but it’s rare I need to use it.

 

[HTAcres]

I used the bolt stunner, we looked long and hard at all the methods out there and we both felt more comfortable starting with this device. I ordered it from bunny rancher. Unfortunately, it was not lights out for her, my husband did the deed while I was holding her in a box trying to keep her calm, he ended up having to bolt her a second time with it as the first time didn't look like it did the trick. It was so hard to witness, but I hope the fryers will be much easier when we get to them next month.

This was our experience with the bolt stunner. And since we had other methods readily available, we didn't try to figure it out. It probably need to be in the correct spot.

 

[Rabbit Warren Man]

We would much rather just shoot but we live in a suburban neighborhood, so we needed something quiet. Went with the bolt stunner.

I use a pellet gun and I can shoot them at a distance if need be. I have a high power pellet gun that does require a license here in Canada. But it is quiet and the rabbits make no noise if you hit them in the brain. Mine are free range colony rabbits. It is a very humane way to dispatch.

 

[dlynn]

To add to eco2pia’s comment, dispatch method really makes a difference for how ‘looking forward to’ or ‘avoiding’ harvesting you will be.

I used the ‘bonk and slice’ method for a while but found it was too inconsistent and I ended up in the ‘avoiding’ harvest category. Then my husband was like, why don’t you just shoot them, and it was a game changer. I use a Crosman .22 pellet handgun, it’s lights out instantly, then slit the throat to bleed, they usually don’t even kick very long. I recently showed a friend my method and she’s a convert now.

Happy harvesting!

Where do you shoot? Back of head? Heart? Tips would be helpful

 

[user 8761]

Where do you shoot? Back of head? Heart? Tips would be helpful

Oh sure!
My method is, pick up rabbit by scruff with my left hand (I’m right handed, so the gun is in my dominant hand). Press rabbit to the ground (or a table would work), aim gun straight down at the top of the head. “Draw” an X between left ear, right eye and right ear, left eye. This is where you want to shoot. Shoot rabbit. Turn rabbit on its side, ears pointing towards me, pull/hold shoulder skin, slit throat. If you get the shot in the right spot, the rabbit will immediately go stiff and stretch its head back. This makes slitting the throat easier.

I attached a photo of your aim point. It’s not the angle you’d be looking at when you are going to do it, just an example of the X marks the spot.

I’m using a air powered pistol, to be clear. So the gun is pumped and loaded with the safety on. The gun and knife are set down next to where I’m going to dispatch, so everything I need is within arms reach.

 

[eco2pia]

Placement, angle, and close contact with the bolt stunner is key. I mentally draw an x between eyes and ears, and angle straight down and slightly back, as if I were aiming for the rabbits throat area on the other side. I press pretty firmly, which you would think would upset them, but they actually go still. I have them in a little shoe box sized box for the adults, and a skinnier box for the fryers, they back up against the butt bumper and just freeze.

please excuse the less pretty diagram, @TroubleMakerAcres did a better job. But the placement and angle are just the same for gun or bolt.

Most often if it goes wrong you have angled left or right of center, or forward, then you miss the brain for an eye socket or nasal cavity. I do spend some time kind of rubbing a little circle on their forehead, feeling for the spot that is centered. Probably up to 20-30 seconds at least. The rabbit tends to press it's chin to the floor, making finding that perfect angle easier. My ball shaped head is not accurate of course, the stunner is actually perpendicular to the rabbits forehead, which has a natural slope.

 

[GreenAcresHomestead]

I use a pellet gun and I can shoot them at a distance if need be. I have a high power pellet gun that does require a license here in Canada. But it is quiet and the rabbits make no noise if you hit them in the brain. Mine are free range colony rabbits. It is a very humane way to dispatch.

Sorry you folks up in Canada have to have a license just for a pellet gun or rifle. We have a nice high power pellet rifle on our homestead that we use to dispatch our rabbits, ducks, and chickens and it does the job. But even as a man in my now 60's who grow up hunting and skinning animals now it's became harder for me to cull them even with my rifle.

 

[Rabbit Warren Man]

Sorry you folks up in Canada have to have a license just for a pellet gun or rifle. We have a nice high power pellet rifle on our homestead that we use to dispatch our rabbits, ducks, and chickens and it does the job. But even as a man in my now 60's who grow up hunting and skinning animals now it's became harder for me to cull them even with my rifle.

Funny how we soften when we get in our 60’s.
I have done the hopper popper way and find the handling and taking the culls out of the pen stresses them. The pellet gun on the other hand is a quick human dispatch. Even the sound of the pellet gun doesn’t get the heard to excited.

 

[Rabbit Warren Man]

Placement, angle, and close contact with the bolt stunner is key. I mentally draw an x between eyes and ears, and angle straight down and slightly back, as if I were aiming for the rabbits throat area on the other side. I press pretty firmly, which you would think would upset them, but they actually go still. I have them in a little shoe box sized box for the adults, and a skinnier box for the fryers, they back up against the butt bumper and just freeze.

please excuse the less pretty diagram, @TroubleMakerAcres did a better job. But the placement and angle are just the same for gun or bolt.

Most often if it goes wrong you have angled left or right of center, or forward, then you miss the brain for an eye socket or nasal cavity. I do spend some time kind of rubbing a little circle on their forehead, feeling for the spot that is centered. Probably up to 20-30 seconds at least. The rabbit tends to press it's chin to the floor, making finding that perfect angle easier. My ball shaped head is not accurate of course, the stunner is actually perpendicular to the rabbits forehead, which has a natural slope.
View attachment 33846

I prefer to shoot with the rabbit sideways and aim between the ear and the eye or from behind. That way you are ensured a brain shot. When you shoot from the front the high power air rifle pellet can travel through to the body cavity and do damage.