WARNING! graphic bunny butchering!

For those of tender hearts I apologize.
But rabbit tastes good!
So, here goes..

I dispatch the buns by the
'broomstick' method.
just as I do the chickens.
But I must say I don't like it.
It has a tendency to cause
a mass of blood to pool at the junction
of the neck and shoulders.
I am going to try slitting the throat
immediately upon the upwards yank
to see if I bleed them instantly
I can stop that.
Personally, I don't care, but I do sell many
processed rabbits and I like a cleaner
product...

So, here is a bunny in a dead state.
It's neck has been broken.
I will let the head dangle off the edge
of the table and remove the head or
slit the throat to bleed it.


I make a slit in the skin
on the belly and on the back
for skinning.
I slide my hands under the skin
and pull in opposing directions..

Until I get this..

I will remove the head and feet and tail

and pull the rest of the skin off.

Leaving me with this...
I will then make a vertical slit
up the body and hold it by the
shoulders over the bucket.
The innards fall right out.
I take two finders and reach up into
the upper chest for the lungs and heart.
I can do a rabbit from hopping to soaking
in about 2 minutes. It is wonderful!
Much easier and cleaner than
stupid chickens with all their stupid feathers!
(forgive my tone.. I am facing a day of butchering and plucking tomorrow)


And the wonderful finished product!
Don't they look delicious!
I am very proud of my rabbits.
I get great size and superb meat
from them. Each of these weighs in between
4 and 5 pounds- dressed weight.
That is a big! rabbit.

I attribute some of the weight to my

raising process. I do not cage my buns.

I colony raise. My buns have an indoor

room and an outdoor pen.

They run and hop and dig and groom each other

in a more or less natural habitat.

They get to use their muscles

which makes for good meat quality

and flavor.

My does and buck run together

and the does kindle in a vast underground

warren system of their own making.

I don't even know I have new babies

until I see them pop out into the

pen for the first time!

And I don't know how many I have in total

for about another week. They scoot in and out

of their bolt hole very quickly if they hear me approach.

But they eventually get used to me

and are all over my feet all the time.

I weeded the garden today and they are feasting
on piles of wood sorrel and peppermint and mulberry twigs.
I try to feed from the yard as much as I can
They are very efficient at turning weeds and grasses into protein!

The three hefty boys in the foreground are the next up for
freezer camp. Maybe next week.