With the price of meat going up people should be thanking him for this information and buying their own rabbits instead of insulting him. He's trying to help us all with this know how. Thank you sir for sharing your know how with us.
Consuming meat is totally unnecessary, period. I have done without it for almost seventy years! I have owned rabbits for several years. They are protected from the elements, live in big pens in with opportunities to explore and exercise. They eat high quality fresh Timothy hay, and drink water from large crock bowls to make sure they are never thirsty, and the water stays cool for them. They get their nails trimmed and eat fresh greens, and herbs daily as well as a little fruit for treats. They have apple branches to chew on, and straw to keep them warm in the winter. And, they live as bonded pairs, so they are not lonely. Never, ever once have they been covered in the filth the doe in this video is covered in. If you think this man is kind to animals, you have a serious problem. Not everyone eats meat or is prepared to cause animals to suffer. Decent moral humans show compassion. This man doesn't have even know what the word means. Also, poverty or an unwilliness to spend money to provide comfort to animals is no exuse, because cruelty is never justified under any circumstances! People like this need to be reported for animal cruelty!
@S Jordan I’m not sure if you were listening but he said the babies were trampling around on the mommy. I’m sure their little feet were messy. The cages didn’t look bad compared to what they can become.. Rabbits are filthy, smelly, hairy animals. Remember they’re originally wild animals. They live through rough elements. Having someone provide food, water, and shelter for them is a luxury. Give the man a break.. sorry you’re having a bad day.
@@marycopeland6267 just FYI, domesticated breeds of rabbit - like what we use for both meat and pet rabbits - are no where near their wild roots and will die if let loose in the wild. They have zero comprehension of a life without humans and are to wild rabbits what pugs are to wolves. Which is to say not at all similar aside from species. Neither they nor any of their ancestors for hundreds of years have experienced living through “rough elements” or any of the aspects of living wild like food and water and safety scarcity. They know as much about the wild life and all the hardships that come with it as an average human toddler. For these rabbits and all other meat and pet rabbits, being fed and taken care of by a human isn’t a “luxury” they otherwise wouldn’t have, it’s a necessity, as they cannot survive without it.
Wow, I can’t believe how disconnected our society is when it comes to how we get our meat! I culled a couple of chickens not to long ago and people look at me as if I was crazy. Not sure how they think meat gets to the stores. 🤷🏻♀️
Raising Rabbits, ducks and chickens. Yesterday was butchering day. It was the hardest thing I ever did. BUT, it's part of living on a small farm. Single Mom and Grandmom. Love your videos, and your instructions. Quail are next to be raised.
I know what you mean. processing day is never fun. But, like you said, it is what has to be done. Thank you for watching my videos, I am glad you like them.
Thank you for this video. I am actually getting out of quail but transitioned into rabbits. I have tons to learn with them and your videos are certainly a big help!
From personal experience I will say the snap the neck doesn't always work so make sure you slit their throats afterwards. I had"broke" a rabbit's neck and started to skin it and it woke up on me and started screaming in gut wrenching screams that I will never forget. Never skip the throat slitting. It will save you years of nightmares. So many people will break their necks and go straight to skinning to keep any blood from being on the pelt. Don't make that mistake. Just saying.... Still remember that scream from 40 years ago.
Renee Brown , Sorry to hear that. I'm sure you did your very best with the knowledge you had at the time. Make sure to give God thanks for the life of that animal every time the memory returns.
Thank you for this video. I dispatched and processed my first rabbit today and this was invaluable to me. You're right...it was extremely difficult. I cried. But you got to do what you got to do.
Thank you for a very nice detailed video...we have 2 breed ready does and 1 breed ready buck (have 1 more buck from litter but not breed ready yet) Hoping to breed both does next month and get some good litters...we haven't dispatched rabbit before...have done 2 batches of meat chickens (cornish X) and I had to watch videos tons of times to get it all in my head and kinda desensitize myself...hubby helped...he dispatches and I do most the rest...looks a bit easier/faster than chickens hence no feathers...again, thanks for great explanation and showing how its done
I've found that penetrative bolt guns (like those used for cattle, but smaller) are the least stressful method of dispatch for my situation. If you're not familiar, picture an syringe with a bolt instead of a needle. It's cleaner and more precise than a pellet gun. Come harvest I can stroke the kit until it is completely calm and continue stroking it's head with the bolt gun as I line up with the brain. I can click a button to fire the bolt and the kit is rendered dead before petting has stopped.
@@dallinstuart2773 The place I bought mine from was www.bunnyrancher.com. Worth every penny, I purchased the larger model ($120ish) one since I also raise French Lop rabbits for show, and responsible breeding is key with any rabbitry :)
Thanks for the educational video. One day I'd like to have a small holding and raise rabbits and chickens along with a vegetable garden. Ducks are good for snail and slug patrol in your gardens or farms too.
I like the heart as well but I am the only one that does. Sometimes I save them and cook them up in some bacon grease with onions. Didn't really feel like it this time.
Thanks for the video. I've been watching your videos for a couple years. Got into raising quail after watching your videos. Great job. Take care and best wishes.
Great vid, have seen probably the most "humane" dispatch technique by Polyface farms - stunning by means of metal rod to head in between ears, then hang and knife to jugular and bleed out. Major benefit is that shoulder muscles are not strained or pulled, and of course the rabbit's only pain is being stunned unconscious before death, which takes a minute or two.
Chris. You need to check out Havala knives. They basically are knives that use surgical blades which can be replaced w new blades so always super sharp. Comes ins various sizes. Just be careful not to cut yourself
Thank you so much for sharing your method of dispatching honestly I've scoured the Internet looking and asking and there's no other way other than just to break the neck back and I even had a dream about how hard that might be to physically hold a rabbit and break the neck and does not even do it right or the end
This is the way I was taught how to clean rabbits when I was younger. It works very good. Nothing like a good rabbit to eat. Very tasty. Far as that goes I think I'm going to put that on the weekly menu. Just as good as eating a chicken.
I'm building me a dispatch station for my rabbits and quail. That way I can sit and clean as many as are needed. It makes it easier and more productive. I can clean both at the same station at the same time as needed
Here for saying thank you for sharing informative videos, I started watching several years ago and after preparing and constantly learning it’s now come for this step. I myself can not do the dispatching I heavily rely on my husband for that step. I’ve raised/cleaned my own chickens and pigs so I’m thinking this will be a much faster and easier process.
Absolutely, but the dehydration is for long term storage. If you process 6-8+ rabbits you could be left with a lot of treats. Could feed some raw when it's fresh, and dehydrate the rest. We don't do it for excess, we do it for sustainability and to fill the gaps.
I'm surprised you didn't keep the liver to dry out for your dog too, or even just feed raw. Heard your quails in the background and was worried for a second that my boys were up too early! Hahaha I really hope your videos like this don't get removed, I learnt to process my quail from you and hate to think that one day people won't be able to see videos on raising meat animals because youtube has turned into an overly concerned grandma.
Thanks for the video, it was a bit gross but really cool at the same time. I’ve never tasted rabbit before but my dad says it tastes like chicken 😂 Looks yum! 😁
Chris throw all the organ meat in the dehydrater with the ears, organ meat is very good for dogs. Lungs would be difficult but the heart, kidneys, and liver will dry into very healthy crunchy snacks for your buddy! My dogs favorite is dried duck heads from the feed store, I’m hoping dried quail heads will be an adequate replacement, today is incubation Day 9 for my first batch of meat quail
Nice! I have pet rabbits so I wouldn’t do this, but it’s nice that people truly care for them to butcher them humanely and I like people like you who find ways to make good use of the animal :)
Seems a waste to throw away anything. Furs are useful no matter what and organs are the healthiest parts of any animal. I have dogs ans cats that eat raw organs and they love it.
The rabbits who are fryers there pelts are not worth trying to tan....now the bigger ones say a 15 week old rabbit it would be because they are bigger.
This is a good c;lear informative video..Thank you for that..However Q?s: Did you compare the weight of the processed RTC (ready to cook) carcass Vs the weight of the dispatched rabbit before processing.. If yes whats the weight.. is it possible to identify the cooked meat (a male from female) ?Thank you
I shot a cane cutter once. We soaked it in ice water and lemon juice for four days. Cooked it in a stew. The vegetables and gravy was great. But you couldn’t eat the rabbit because it was so tough. Your raised rabbits are very good to eat. My wife cooks a lot of wild game, but that cane cutter was the only thing I didn’t enjoy.
I respect your way of skinning a rabbit but I can skin a rabbit in under a minute and have it freezer ready in 2 minutes,IL try to explain,the rabbit has expired,in the center of the back pull about a quarter sized ball of fur out,skin will be showing,cut skin,stick each pointer finger under skin,pull one way towards head,use other finger to pull towards tail,wah lah...pull skin completely off of body...gut,quarter it and ready for freezer after washing
I like to eat livers and hearts too. Most of the time I save them but i just had too much going on and knew I wasn't going to get to using them up in the next day or two (and I prefer them fresh over frozen).
Everything was perfect 100% Only one thing I have to say that when you cut the throat you have to do it little fast. If you do it in slow speed that will be very painful to them I think.
I used to disarticulate my rabbits with a wall mounted device but it seemed that they always struggled and seemed stressed. I’ve moved to a .17 cal air powered pellet gun. I can put the rabbit on the ground and calm them and then a pellet to the back of the brain. Also didn’t like the bloody meat up around the neck and that’s eliminated with that technique.
Hello chris, long time no see! you should really use a rabbit neck wringer. Works amazing and its a lot easier and faster, you should really check this out i swear!
I would put the hearts and livers in a pot and boil them for my dogs to go along with the ears for treats, I always try to use all that’s possible, otherwise I thank no it’s wasteful and doesn’t as you say respect the animals.
I am a first time chicken mommy for eggs and while I could never eat my Rhode Island Red babies, I've looked into Cornish Cross for potentially butchering in the future. This is the first ever video that I've ever actually watched all the way through on processing meat because all of the others that I got close to watching (particularly chickens), just freaked me out too much. I am so, so glad that your video was the first one I saw this process though. I don't know that I could have watched the part that you had to cut out because of RU-vid because this whole concept is a bit scary to me at first but I am so thankful for your kindness to your rabbit and a seemingly quick end for the sweetie. I am thinking about raising animals for meat in the future and I'd rather get ready for the idea of it with a channel like yours because it's obvious that you sincerely care about your animals and are quick to dispatch them. Thank you so much sir! Going to watch your quail process video next. So very glad I found your channel!!! Thank you so so much!
Processing day is always the hardest part. It is never something that is fun to do. But if you don't overthink it and just be as quick as you can about it, it can be done. I am glad to hear that you found my video helpful. Thank you for the kind comments.
It never gets any easier. If anything, it gets harder because you develop a deep appreciation for the animal you're slaughtering. Those who take this route embrace the complications of food production. This doesn't make you any more ethical or a better person, but it does put you in a place where you are fully participating in the process in a way that is not warped by abstraction or disconnection. I rather live a life complicated by the real than the insular life made unduly certain by ignorance.
As far as the waste, what do you do with it? I know alot of dumps do not accept things like guts and skins of animals. Just curious because I am about to harvest my first rabbits in about a week. Great video very informative.
You could also use it in your garden. I just bury mine a foot or more in the ground. Lol we have patches of great grass from where I use to bury the offal.
You can sure do that if you want to. I don't feed that stuff to my dog because it gives him stomach issues. I am sure he would get used to it if fed all the time but I don't have it all the time.
I agree,......... if your gonna humanely dispatch the rabbit. And the rabbit gives his life for us as food, we should all be good stewards to use as much of the rabbit (or any animal) we can. You have a fine dog there, that dog would love to go to town on some rabbit liver and hearts.
Why would the stick method be better than a bullet? Gun would be instant while the stick method they are concious for being put under the stick and as you get into position then finally they get grabbed a bit brutally... to me the shot sounds less cruel and less room for error.
Appreciate your instructions. Way off topic here but I was wondering if you could tell me what type of plant was in your hanging basket in this video. I remember my grandma had tons in a flower bed and I would like to be a little nostalgic and grow them in my silver years. Thanks
Howdy. I can't get a close enough look at the details to be certain, but try doing an image search for "Adromischus filicaulis ssp marlothii" or simply "Adromischus" as a starting point. That might lead you towards identifying your grandma's plants. Best of luck!
When you use the ears for dog treats, is there any special prep? Do you take the fur off or just dry them out? Forgive my ignorance, I’m strongly considering rabbits going into next year. Also, I have chickens that have a run and also free range. Do you think there would be any issues having the cages raised off the ground in the run?
As long as your chickens have had there wings cut..... .Trimmed so they don't fly on top of rabbit cages....and poop on or in the rabbits food or water or on the rabbit.
Honestly, I think it is more what would be better for you. The quail will do equally well in either but which is going to be easier for you to manage is really the question.
I love your videos! Thank you for sharing such valuable information. It's a shame that RU-vid allows *SOME* users to post dispatch videos of rabbits online & discipline *OTHER USERS* for posting the exact same material. What a crazy world! LOL. I'm buying my rabbit cages again (this is my 2nd time), and hopefully I'll have better luck this time around. I just want to breed rabbits for my dogs. BTW....THANK YOU for mentioning the bit about the rabbit ears as treats for dogs. I had no idea dogs liked this. I've got three big Rotties, so.....if I successfully breed these rabbits, I'll be sure to cut the ears off the rabbits, for my dogs! :) Keep up the great work my friend! Peace & love from Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, Canada!
I used the choke chain method last week. And after I skinned it, I saw that it's leg muscles had fine tremors.. I got a good cervical dislocation. I never saw that when I used the broomstick method. Your thoughts?
Generally, the muscle will begin to twitch once you start skinning. I usually cull all of mine first and then work on processing. It gives the nerves time to fully shutoff so you don't have that as much
I think that 12 weeks is probably slightly old! Harvesting at about 9-10 weeks will give you a better yield, ie (dressed weight/live weight). It was explained to me that after 9-10 weeks the rabbits would start developing their sex organs(which we don't eat) so not efficient to continue feeding.
12 weeks isn't too old at all. It really depends on the growth rate of your rabbits. My current doe produces babies that grow a little slower so 12 weeks is pretty much the norm for her.
@@Slightlyrednecked hi Chris, thanks for your content. My question is - would 12 weeks of age be old enough to get nice quality pelts for tanning/pickling?
Hey, have you ever thought of giving the innards to your dog? Also, I don’t know if you know this, but your dog could probably eat a whole rabbit. All you have to do is dispatch, and then give it to the dog. Don’t believe me look up working Ozzie’s Homestead.
