Beginning rabbit breeders need to know how to slaughter and butcher a rabbit themselves. After all, these animals are bred for their meat and for their skins. Rabbits are slaughtered in a relatively humane way - the animals are hit on the head with all their might with a stick. There are a number of other slaughter methods, but they are rarely used on home farms. Every rabbit breeder will sooner or later have to kill these animals himself.
At what age are rabbits slaughtered?
The timing of the slaughter of domestic rabbits is influenced by two main indicators: the weight of the animal and the condition of the fur. It is not recommended to slaughter animals whose weight is less than 2 kilograms. It is not advisable to send animals to slaughter at the moment of molting.
For meat
If you urgently need to slaughter a rabbit for meat, it is advisable that its weight exceed 2 kilograms. Animals weigh 1.2-1.6 kg at the age of 2 months. After cutting, the mass of meat is no more than 0.6-0.8 kg. They try not to kill small rabbits. After all, at 2-3 months they eat almost everything, grow well on grass or hay and quickly gain weight. There is no point in sending animals to slaughter if they have not gained the required weight.
Already at 4 months, the rabbit weighs about 3 kilograms. If desired, such an animal can be slaughtered for meat. At 6 months of age, rabbits weigh 4 kilograms. It is during this period that some animals can be mated, others can be sent to slaughter. At 8 months, the weight of a rabbit reaches 5-7 kilograms, and this is the maximum. It is recommended to slaughter animals during this period. You can keep rabbits for 1-2 years. True, they won’t gain more than 5-7 kilograms anyway.
To get the skin
Rabbits are kept not only for meat, but also to obtain high-grade skins. In this case, it is necessary to pay attention to the timing of molting of animals. All rabbits shed twice a year: in spring and autumn. During the winter period, that is, from November to March, the fur is of the best quality. It is during this period that the animals are slaughtered to obtain first-category skins.
In summer, animals do not shed. True, during this period their fur is not as thick as in winter. In addition, in the summer they try not to slaughter rabbits, because there is plenty of green grass outside - the main food for these animals.You can completely ignore molting periods and send the animals to slaughter at any time. True, in this case the skins will be of low quality.
There are two more periods of molting, depending not on the time of year, but on the age of the animals. Rabbits molt at 4 months of age and at 6 months of age. Sometimes molting occurs in adult rabbits after a month of feeding baby rabbits. Sometimes animals shed due to illness or poor nutrition.
Animal preparation
2-3 weeks before slaughter, the selected animal is transplanted into a separate cage. The animal is checked for diseases, its weight is determined, and the condition of its skin is examined. The cage is slightly darkened, because rabbits’ appetite improves in the evening.
Before slaughter, animals are given less grass and hay, but more grain and vegetables. True, the amount of grain mixture (crushed wheat, oats, barley, corn) should not exceed 120 grams per day. Animals quickly recover on boiled potatoes mixed with grated carrots or beets. Rabbits gain weight well if they are fed wet mash, that is, porridge or steamed grain mixtures. Lightly salted water stimulates the appetite well. You can add dill or parsley to animal feed. Smelling herbs also stimulate appetite.
Important! One day before slaughter, rabbits stop feeding, and 3 hours before death, they stop giving water. The cages are thoroughly cleaned of food residues, dirt and feces.
Rabbit slaughter methods
Many rabbit breeders prefer to take their animal to a slaughterhouse, where it will be slaughtered by specialists.You can invite a person to your home who knows the methods of slaughtering rabbits. If none of these methods can be used, the animals are slaughtered themselves.
Bloodless
This is the most common slaughter method. The animal is pulled out of the cage and hung upside down by its hind legs. When the animal calms down, he is hit with all his might with a stick wrapped in cloth on the back of the head behind the ears. A strong blow strikes the medulla oblongata, as a result of which breathing is paralyzed and the rabbit dies instantly.
Important! After slaughter, the carcass must be bled immediately. Hanging by the hind legs of the animal, the throat (cervical artery) is cut so that the blood flows out and the meat becomes pinkish in color.
French
You can kill an animal using the French method. With this method, the animal is placed on the table, grabbed by the ears with one hand, and the legs with the other. A person who kills a rabbit using the French method must have very strong hands. The calmed animal needs to be pulled sharply in different directions by the ears and legs. The rabbit dies instantly from a broken neck and rupture of the spinal cord. After slaughter, the carcass is immediately bled.
Vertex fracture
You can kill an animal by breaking its crown. In this method, the animal is hung upside down by its hind legs. Then they give a strong blow to the forehead with a stick. After slaughter, the carcass is bled.
Exposure to electric shock
If you wish, you can learn to kill animals using electric current. True, this method is mainly used in slaughterhouses. At home, you can use an electrical cord with bare wires at one end and a plug at the other. The cable must be separated into two parts.The iron core of one wire must be inserted into the anus or hind thigh of the rabbit. Another wire is placed in the animal's mouth. The plug is plugged into the outlet for 1-3 seconds.
Important! To kill a rabbit, the current must be 5 amperes, but in a household outlet it is 16 amperes. It is forbidden to touch the animal while the electricity is connected. You can use a stun gun instead of an electrical cord.
Air embolism
You can kill a rabbit using an ordinary disposable syringe. A vein in the animal's ear is pierced, which leads to the heart muscle. Air is injected into the blood vessel. It is pointless to describe this method in detail, since it is used extremely rarely. The fact is that the animal does not die immediately, but after a few minutes, that is, when the air reaches the heart.
Collapsing neck
At home, you can simply wring the rabbit's neck; This method of slaughter is not suitable for beginner rabbit breeders. This method requires determination and skill. The animal's head is clasped with the hand and a sharp turn of 180 degrees is made. With this method, the cervical vertebrae are broken, and the rabbit dies instantly.
Shooting pin
You can quickly kill a rabbit using a special device similar to an iron syringe. There is a spring and a metal tip inside the firing pin. The device is placed on the rabbit's head at the intersection of two imaginary lines, each of which connects the opposite eye and ear of the animal. After pressing the button, an iron pin flies out of the device, which instantly and painlessly kills the animal. After slaughter, the animal is hung by its hind legs and bled.
With a knife
You can slaughter a rabbit using a sharp knife.The blow must be applied to the heart area. The blood method of slaughtering animals is traditionally used by Muslim peoples. The throat of a still living rabbit is cut with a knife, or rather the cervical artery is cut.
Important! In many European countries, the blood method of slaughtering animals is prohibited. We have criminal liability for cruelty in cases of inhumane killing of animals.
How to properly remove the skin (flaying)?
After slaughter, the animals are hung upside down by their hind legs on a strut and their throats are cut. Wait for 10 minutes for the blood to completely drain from the carcass. Then the animal is removed and the bladder is released. After this, skinning begins.
The carcass is again hung by its hind legs on a spacer. They begin to remove the skin from the hind limbs according to a common scheme for all. First, the skin is cut around the hock joints (at the base of the paws). Then the skin is cut from one paw to the other (along the inner side of the thighs, crossing the anus).
After this, the skin and fur are pulled off the body over the head in the same way as a sweater is removed. Interfering fat and tendons are cut with a knife. Notches are made on the head and near the front paws. The removed skin is pulled onto a forked straightener with the fur inward. It is cleaned of fat with a knife, sprinkled with salt, and dried in a well-ventilated area.
How to cut a carcass?
After skinning, the carcass hanging on the spreader must be gutted. An incision is made in the peritoneum along the linea alba to the sternum. All internal organs are removed from the abdominal cavity, but in such a way as not to damage the gallbladder and bladder. The entrails are carefully placed in a bowl. The rabbit's head and paws are cut off.
After gutting, the carcass is removed from the spreader and washed.You need to cut the rabbit into portions on a horizontal surface. For cutting, special knives are used (fillet, chopping and boning). The fillet of the carcass is cut off from the belly and back, all the legs are separated, and the spine is broken into several parts.
After cutting, the meat is washed, allowed to dry and stored in the refrigerator. You can start cooking right away. The meat is stewed, boiled, fried with vegetables and spices. A rabbit carcass is rarely baked whole, because it has no skin. In addition to meat, animal liver, kidneys and heart are used for culinary purposes.
