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Post by pear2apple on Aug 13, 2008 16:19:10 GMT -5
well if i was shipping meat first i would freeze it rock solid and pack it with dry ice and send it over night so it wouldnt get yucky. and they'd be skinned before i froze them unless they were babies (some people would want to feed baby bunnies ?) Wow. You're going to skin the rabbits yourself? Freaky. It still sounds like a good idea though. I would love to get cheaper rabbits, and you're not far from me, so the shipping shouldn't be outrageous. I think some people feed baby bunnies, but I would prefer it sans fur and head I guess. Not really sure what that looks like.
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Post by charmantpapillon on Aug 13, 2008 18:32:00 GMT -5
do you want the organs or would you prefer i removed those too? and of course i'll skin the rabbits i could send the furs to a tannery. wastenot want not y'know but it probably wont be till next spring when i start breeding and wont be till the fall or winter hen im ready to start supplying.
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Post by pear2apple on Aug 13, 2008 18:59:29 GMT -5
I was thinking ground rabbit for dehydrating it into jerky (is that how anyone else makes it?). But I've never seen a skinned rabbit before. Do you cut it up? I don't know what you do. And I might throw up if I saw a skinned rabbit anyway. I hope if I order rabbit from a butcher its only the meat, or maybe the rabbit legs are separate and look like chicken? Its kinda freaky to think about.
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Post by charmantpapillon on Aug 13, 2008 19:05:24 GMT -5
I've been skinning an gutting since i was little it doesnt bother me. I always went hunting with my daddy among other things. so i can dispatch a hurt animal without blinking and gut one with out twitching =x i dont know what it would be like to dispatch the rabbits myself though. never killed a healthy animal iwth ym bare hands before that wasnt a mosquito. *shakes head* if its for the good of the fuzzies though i am willing to do it though after i get an established rabbit colony (out door) i might just send the ferret in once in a while to hunt =x Its uat all about shutting your emotions down and doing it. Oh the thinks we do for Ferret love y'know?
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Post by josiesmom on Aug 16, 2008 5:12:02 GMT -5
Although I have't done it, I've seen it done. Basically you hang on to the rabbit's hind legs with one hand and grab him behind his head with the other, your hands encircling his neck, Now stretch your hands apart until the neck pops, do it swiftly and the rabbit doesn't know what happened. The body will twitch a bit but those are just reflexes. This is good to know before you start: www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A748181 There are online links cleaning the rabbit you have gutted: This one is superb!: video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5942106860610514944&vt=lf&hl=enThis guy here has ferrets which he feeds the rabbit parts he doesn't eat!: video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5321191362617090483&hl=enJust remember our earlier discussion regarding rabbits, parasites and Tularemia, please use good ruber gloves when skinning the rabbit and if you see ANY spotting at ALL on the liver do NOT use the rabbit meat! Rabbit bought from a butcher will be done several different ways, butyou can always ask them to cut it in quarters for you. Usually it comes as the skinned and gutted body with no head of course. Then you can quarter it at home. The meat is very good. I usually just broil mine, but some people do the soaking poaching and then cooking. Cheers, Kim
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Post by charmantpapillon on Aug 18, 2008 18:53:28 GMT -5
thanks kim =)
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Post by nwheather on Aug 27, 2008 12:52:16 GMT -5
yeah i mentioned this idea to a friend.. and they told me i was cruel to raise animals for food. It galls me at how ignorant people are. As long as the animals are cared for properly its not cruelty because A) Im taking care of them and B) i would kill them humanely (no chemicals to kill them of course just a quick neck snap) as long as they arent tortured i do NOT see how i am being cruel Do these friends of yours eat meat? Remind them where the beef comes from & how the cattle are treated to mass produce the meat. You raising them in a healthy environment is not cruel. The fact that you have been brought up in how to raise/skin,etc your own is great. I wish I would have had that experiences. A big thing is you are planning on using every part of the animal too. Killing them myself would be the hard part for me. I say if you have the space/means to do it, go for it! I am sure you will get some reguilar customers. =) I wish you were closer to me. =)
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Post by charmantpapillon on Aug 28, 2008 23:27:33 GMT -5
she eats meat but she breeds guinea pigs and thinks anyb rodent is cute and fuzzy and refuses to see the merits in me being an extremely animal oriented person *sighs* i love all animals meaning wheter i raised them as pets or food they would all get love and attention. rabbits can seriously hurtyou. i have a scar on the inside of my right thigh thats been there since 4th grade from one. So i;d raise them with the same love as my pets so that they are comfortable with me. i dont like being bit and scratched, i wont whine if it happens i just shrug it off but i dont go looking for it. the more humanely you treat your animals the better they treat you.
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Post by aleronferrets on Sept 4, 2008 16:24:22 GMT -5
I wouldn't suggest raising dwarf rabbits for meat, as there are breeds which have been pretty much developed for the purpose (New Zealands and Califorians are the most popular). Do your research before jumping into buying - as was mentioned, one buck is plenty! This is an excellent "how to" site all about raising meat rabbits on a small scale in your backyard: www.rudolphsrabbitranch.com/rrr.htm
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Post by fuzzymom on Oct 10, 2008 10:56:57 GMT -5
See, I would love to breed my own rabbits for my ferrets. I get all kinds of "That's so cruel" when I talk about having snakes and ferrets. It makes me want to sit them down and make them watch Earthlings. <- really disturbing video. I am personally a vegetarian, hoping to make the switch to vegan, but when it comes to my animals, they get what they need, not what I want. I don't like killing animals, but my snakes need to eat and so I suck it up and do it. I plan on building a C02 chamber. Its a quick and easy way to euth. feeder animals and it may be something you'd be interested in. I've C02'd mice before and I'm going to build a chamber big enough to euth. rats.
I've heard for rabbits you can use a large cooler, like those you use for keeping sodas in at a party. Then take a kritter keeper cage (I use the small, but for rabbits you might need a bigger one, and put chunks of dry ice in the kritter keeper. Place rabbits in the cooler then add the dry ice container. Close lid and come back after about 15 min. I know it took about 5-7 min to euth. my mice. Rabbits might take a little longer. 10-15 min maybe. The dry ice becomes C02 as it warms up and as the levels of C02 rise, it causes the oxygen to rise to the top of the cooler and the rabbits fall asleep due to low oxygen levels. The continued exposure to C02 keeps them asleep and as the levels increase to dangerous levels they die in their sleep. That is how it was explained to me. Not sure you'd like to go this route for dispatching rabbits, but I thought I'd throw that out there.
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