Withholding food

[JG3]

This just occurred to me... should we withhold food a certain number of hours before processing rabbits so their stomach and intestines are not full when gutting them? Like, I don’t know if they release their bowels and stuff instantly when they die?

 

[Preitler]

I don't see any reason to put an animal under stress before butchering, quite some thoughts against it. It's one of the aspects I don't like in the industrial meat production.

No, they don't realease their bowels. There is an odd last poop now and than, but that's it.

Rabbits have a weak peristaltic, if nothing goes in, nothing comes out, essentially. That's one reason why not eating becomes an emergency so quickly, stuff staying in there too long and starting to produce gas..

 

[JG3]

I don’t mean to starve the rabbit. LOL. Just not topping them up to full. I’m new and never done this before, so thought I should ask.

We feed our breeders in the morning with pellets and that’s it, currently. We are transitioning to natural feed and it will become morning and night. But because kits are free fed pellets, we give them food in the morning and top up the feeder at night, too. I just didn’t know if we should not put food in the feeder the night before the next morning we butcher them. I’m sure that wouldn’t cause much stress when that’s the way the breeders eat (Morning only). They’d still have what’s in their feeder, we just wouldn’t top up for the night. But if it’s not necessary, then it’s a moot point.

 

[user 8761]

I don’t mean to starve the rabbit. LOL. Just not topping them up to full. I’m new and never done this before, so thought I should ask.

We feed our breeders in the morning with pellets and that’s it, currently. We are transitioning to natural feed and it will become morning and night. But because kits are free fed pellets, we give them food in the morning and top up the feeder at night, too. I just didn’t know if we should not put food in the feeder the night before the next morning we butcher them. I’m sure that wouldn’t cause much stress when that’s the way the breeders eat (Morning only). They’d still have what’s in their feeder, we just wouldn’t top up for the night. But if it’s not necessary, then it’s a moot point.

Hello again,
My rabbits get fed once a day in the morning. If I’m going to slaughter, I do that in the morning as well. The ones I’m doing that day don’t get fed and get slaughtered instead. I’ve read that it can be easier to gut them when they don’t have a full stomach, but I’ve done rabbits who’ve had a full stomach and not, and it’s not that big of a difference. Personally, I wouldn’t bother with the nighttime feeder top up if you know they are going to be slaughtered the next morning.

 

[Burelka]

Im going to agree, I wouldnt bother feeding pellets, I would offer hay and water however. I offer hay because it is always available and keeps them busy over night. Thats just me. As for pellets it doesnt seem necessary. Rabbits dont evacuate thier bowels after death much like Preitler said, and if you see a round cocopuf making its way out of the anus during the butchering process its an easy grab with a tissue, their poop is solid and round which is nice and easy to deal with.

 

[MsTemeraire]

There is no point as rabbits eat their cecals, so you can never achieve an empty stomach/digestive tract. If you withhold pellets or hay, the stomach will just be full of cecotrophs.

 

[Burelka]

There is no point as rabbits eat their cecals, so you can never achieve an empty stomach/digestive tract. If you withhold pellets or hay, the stomach will just be full of cecotrophs.

wouldnt that depend on the cage bottom type? Just thinking about my cages in particular; they are self cleaning open bottom cages so there are no decals.

 

[MsTemeraire]

wouldnt that depend on the cage bottom type? Just thinking about my cages in particular; they are self cleaning open bottom cages so there are no decals.

Cecal pellets are taken directly from the anus by the rabbit. You can rest assured they're eating them; they would have serious malnutrition if not.

 

[Preitler]

There is no point as rabbits eat their cecals, so you can never achieve an empty stomach/digestive tract. If you withhold pellets or hay, the stomach will just be full of cecotrophs.

Imo, no, not really. Cecos are only produced in rather small amounts compared to their overall intake, their cecum isn't so big to noticable fill the stomach, also when nothing goes in, nothing comes out - cecos neither. I wouldn't expect the digestion tract to be emtpty because of that, either way, that doesn't work with rabbits and isn't an issue anyway. I guess with pigs or ruminants that might be different.

 

[MsTemeraire]

Imo, no, not really. Cecos are only produced in rather small amounts compared to their overall intake, their cecum isn't so big to noticable fill the stomach, also when nothing goes in, nothing comes out - cecos neither. I wouldn't expect the digestion tract to be emtpty because of that, either way, that doesn't work with rabbits and isn't an issue anyway. I guess with pigs or ruminants that might be different.

I have opened rabbits that weren't fed and found the stomach full of cecals. The 'clumps' of cecals are swallowed whole and separate into individual beads in the stomach.