Meat Rabbits

[Schrodinger's Khat]

Hey,

Down the highway a bit, someone was selling live meat rabbits a while ago.. After some thought, I now want to raise rabbits for food.. BUT I couldn't bring myself to kill the animal (yet I am happy to skin and gut the thing) so how would I go about this.. I doubt a butcher would do it for me..

Does anyone here have any experience with something similar? Any idea's and suggestions would be great!

Thanks

[~shameless~]

Ironic you mentioned down the highway and rabbits in the same sentence , I'm not suggesting putting a rabbit pen next to a freeway,

I would assume you would do it like a chicken and use a large , very sharp pair of loppers.

[bullit]

shoot it in the head or slit its throat with a ultra sharp knife.

[waterboy 2.0]

for caged bunnies I just pull the head in the opposite direction to the hind legs....just pops the spine ...quick and humane.

Got to be smooth and fluid in one go.

This may also work for ya as a concept.... http://www.therabbitwringer.com/

EDIT - hey GoT if you see this look at the link

Edited February 3, 2014 by waterboy

[paradox]

by far the quickest & most humane way to kill a rabbit is to break it's neck. i don't know how to best explain how to do it so i looked it up.. not sure how useful these drawings are but it just about sums it up

http://www.wikihow.com/Break-a-Rabbit%27s-Neck

it's best to be shown by someone who knows how to do it.

in my opinion, if you eat meat but you cannot bring yourself to kill your own food, you're in denial & you should do the world a favor & become vegetarian

[coolname]

You basically hold its back legs in one hand and its head in the other. Then pull and twist at the same time. Its the quickest and most humane way to do it

[Halcyon Daze]

Over the years I've had to kill a few different animals with different methods (usually to eat them).

IMO the best and easiest way to kill an animal is with a heavy wooden club.

Give the animal it's final meal, and while it's busy munching away and blissfully unaware, sneak up on it, thank the spirits, and crack it as hard as you can right between the eyes. It's whole head will shatter and it will be instantly "lights-out" dead without even twitching.

I usually follow by immediately lopping off the entire head with a big butcher's knife.

Breaking the neck of a chicken isn't too bad but feels really gross, I'd avoid doing it to anything larger than a

chicken in case it goes wrong.

Killing an animal can be really unpleasant if you get it wrong. If you've ever had to shoot an animal and then re-shoot it a number of times to kill it properly, you'll know how awful it can be using a gun for the task.

The club and knife is by far the easiest and most humane way to go IMO.

Edited February 3, 2014 by Halcyon Daze

[incognito]

Bite it's jugular

[Stillman]

do jap quail instead buy an egg incubator and do some research good turn around plus delicious eggs. They are incredibly placid animals and don't squeal when you kill them like bunnys.

[Schrodinger's Khat]

Thanks everyone,

Those two links are pretty helpful. Would seem breaking the neck is the most humane way. I need to visit some relatives in the next two weeks who live on a pretty large property with allsorts of critters, I don't get to see them too often so they will love the suggestion of showing me

If all goes well there I might have a crack at raising them at home.

The quail idea sounds good too stillman, quail is a bloody nice tasting meat

Will let you all know how it goes!

[bullit]

do jap quail instead buy an egg incubator and do some research good turn around plus delicious eggs. They are incredibly placid animals and don't squeal when you kill them like bunnys.

quail eggs yuk!!! but quail yum!! my dogs eat the wild ones and ducks, deer. roo

[waterboy 2.0]

If you can get someone skilled in the dark arts to explain/demonstrate it well help a lot

Your lucky its not muttonbirds...

[Schrodinger's Khat]

Speaking of Muttonbirds, we had thousands die on the beaches on the coast I live on.. apparently they get tuckered out on the way back from Siberia or something.

Do you do much of this kind of thing Waterboy?

What kind of dogs do you have bullit?

[waterboy 2.0]

yeah muttonbird wrecks they are called, and they are common...the wrecks are getting bigger though.

I may be wrong but its of the longest bird migrations.

I dispatch a lot of things (not in a psychopathic kinda way...lol)....muttonbirds have been amongst them. The technique does upset some of people, but effective when correct.

Such skills I was taught when young and have practiced, sadly these skills are being lost....

[Schrodinger's Khat]

Are you eating the mutton birds or putting them down? I only ask because I would eat just about any animal atleast once. Theres a place that sells camel steaks nearby, keep meaning to get some.

[waterboy 2.0]

I eat them, and in part it is a modern tradition.

(its the chicks within burrows that are harvested, not the migrating adults BTW)

Edited February 5, 2014 by waterboy

[etherealdrifter]

we had pigeons and rabbits as a kid.

The old man would get us to raise them, then when the day came.....he'd send one of us out to 'sort out a couple of bunnies' as he'd put it.

grab it by the ears and the back klegs and with a twist and a pull.] skinning them takes a boning knife and a few choice incisions.

VIOLA!

the skin comes off in one piece like a moccasin ready to dry on the washing line.

skinning and gutting them was fun for the cat and the dog that would patiently sit at your heel for a scrap piece of entrails.

I remember going shooting for rabbits and the wild ones definitely required more slow cooking than farmed ones which seemed more tender and thus required less cooking.

stifado....so simple but real tasty.

pigeons were a different kettle of fish ......skewed and slow roasting like shish kebabs over the charcoals

as a rule we never gave pets names except the dog and the cat.

as with anything, if ya couldn't kill it ya shouldn't eat it.

oh and welcome SK