how long does it take to butcher a rabbit
Does can be bred back four weeks after kindling. Second, place a broomstick across the rabbit's neck. goes over the costs of raising your own versus buying from a neighbor or local small farmer. If you've made a clean kill, field butchering animals is a pretty straight-forward process. If you truly care about animals, how about spending your time volunteering at a local shelter instead of harassing people on the internet? Water bottles are excellent when the weather is not freezing because the water stays clean AND they cannot tip it onto the floor. Grass fed beef: I am hugely in favor of 100% grass fed and finished beef and if you have the land, please consider forage only for your steer. Cut close to the ribcage and remove as much meat as possible. I prefer to compost the manure a bit first, but the nitrogen levels are lower than other types of manure and will not burn plant roots. link to 22 Recipes for Pig Feed (and tips for feeding), 2 ways to know if a female pigeon is near to lay an egg. You might even get some secondhand by watching your local resale sources such as craigslist. This can be a tedious process but Ive found the end result tastes better with this gone. After removing the back legs, I cut the pelvis off. I used to butcher at 12 or 13 weeks, when they were close to 5 pounds. I never want to take the meat I eat for granted and this process helps me to keep things in perspective and also reminds me of exactly where my food comes from. You can freeze it or process it for canning. Separate the lamb. Sometimes, due to poor shot placement, additional field butchering is necessary before your pack-out can begin. Bottle babies would also include the calves raised for veal. What should you feed your rabbit? With the pelvis, neck, and ribs in the stock pot, above are the pieces left for cooking in any way you wish: 2 front legs, 3 loin sections, 2 belly meats, and 2 back legs. You can watch this video of anadorable rabbit stampede instead.**. After a few litters, look at the numbers and determine which doe needs replacing. Raising your own meat can take as little as 6 weeks for quail and broilers, around 4 months for feeder lambs and feeder pigs and up to more than two years for grass fed beef. We may earn a small commission on purchases made through our links. Rate of growth and cost of food. In parts 1 and 2 of this 3-part collection of field butchering tips, we discussed how to break down big game animals for packing purposes. Yes! Now its time to remove all the innards. Creek Stewart is a Senior Instructor at theWillow Haven Outdoor School for Survival, Preparedness & Bushcraft. A rabbit colony is where rabbits are raised in groups, sometimes on pasture, with all the rabbits, including the males, living together. If it's 160F, you're good to go. `Cut all the way, and when you reach the rabbits shoulder, the skin should be loose. Rabbit; How long do you keep a Pig before butchering? Wed love to hear from you if you have any questions! If you want your lamb to grow well, raise him with a buddy. After that, we generally gently check the box for any dead babies and to check the condition of the litter. We do that mainly by culling and replacing the one do that consistently produces the smallest bunnies. From a few rabbits, you can obtain some good pounds of meat for consumption, and by following the right recipe, it will soon become a staple in your home. The first category of easy care and low maintenance animals is a short term meat bird, the longest time commitment on the list is 8 weeks! Just plan extra time per bird to get all the feathers. Are meat rabbits easy to raise? After removing the skin from the rabbit, the next thing is to gut it. If you are using more than 1.5-2 pounds of meat, you will need to do it in 2 batches. I think they can eat pine needles also. Figure up your growing season, or length of your project and see how big of a steer you will need to start with to get the finishing weights you are hoping for. Just like toddlers, spills happen! When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission, which supports our community. Along with her husband Jerry and their three youngest daughters, they raise every kind of domestic poultry known to man, and maybe a few that shouldn't be known. Of course, they need to be checked a few times a day and have plenty of food and water but, overall, they are easy. Ever tried? Nature has provided for them well, so let your doe do her job. If a doe consistently produces less than at least six babies or does a poor job mothering, it is time to cull her and give another doe her job. I gained allot please can you please show me different types of rabbit cages? Its generally unprofitable to keep them much longer, but fur quality can continue to increase until 24 weeks (6 months). Pine needles are not good for rabbits to eat, as they can irritate their digestive system. Cost To Get Started Raising Rabbits gives you a get started then yearly budget for backyard rabbits. You can overcome a bad shot with the proper field butchering steps. Each of these make a great portion. I'll be mostly using them for dog meat so I don't care if its "tender and juicy" lol. Short answer - yes, a chicken, and any other meat critter, should rest after butchering. Lactation is about supply in response to demand, and by gradually taking away the babies over a week or so, the supply can gradually reduce. The only thing supplemental grain will do is make the growth faster, not better or more economical. Parturition in the rabbit is better known as "kindling". To use this, slide the rabbits head in the Hopper Popper slot and pull. How you clean up the results of these inevitable (and hopefully only occasional) shots will determine what youre left with in terms of edible meat in the freezer. Think about housing BEFORE you start looking at bunnies. Feeder goat: Feeder goats or weaned kids are an option for a summer project. There are many ways to get the job done. The gutless quartering method would be a good choice here if you need to pack the animal out in pieces. Required fields are marked *. I just dont see gains by upping the protein that high. stages to see how weight and taste varies between 12 week, 16 week, and. Kindling: Kindling refers to a rabbit giving birth. between 8 to 12 weeks. In the photo, I have removed the belly skin on the left side and am working on the right. Give rabbits a second look, especially if you are limited in space. Quail: Quail can really grow, 6 weeks to full size and laying eggs soon after that! As a general rule, 1 domestic rabbit will serve 2 to 3 people, as will a jackrabbit. Dont be alarmed at this! Some rabbit owners feed a 20 percent protein feed to growing bunnies, but I consider that a waste. Justin is a firearms enthusiast with an expansive knowledge of the firearms & hunting scene. Fryers (Rabbits): We have raised rabbits before and they can be fast to grow to butchering size, about 2-3 months. When skinning or gutting game animals, always slice the hide by cutting from the inside out. Rabbit Breeds, Basic Rabbit Care and Interesting Rabbit Facts, Introduction to our Runner Duck Crew at Ice Station Duck Patrol, Homestead Geese Easy to Care for Barnyard Protectors and Weed Eaters, Best Laying Hens For Beginners, White Eggs, Brown Eggs, 6 Ways to Get the Musty Smell Out of Clothes and Towels. KARMA is a Bitch so its going to get yall very soon unless it has already you Fuckin savages. The faster you clean up a gut-shot animal or trim a blood-shot quarter, the more meat youll be able to salvage and the better that meat is going to taste. This takes aggressive feeding, and we would usually wait until six weeks to try. We only recommend products we genuinely like, and purchases made through our links support our mission and the free content we publish here on AoM. The longer damaged or contaminated meat sits, the greater the impact to the surrounding meat. Siting your rabbitry is important. The tail may or may not come off. If you are unfamiliar with that term, it simply means to humanely end the animal's life. Below is how I dress and butcher a rabbit. That is a tough question to answer, since the real answer is "it depends". If youve made a clean kill, field butchering animals is a pretty straight-forward process. Some rabbits, like Satins and Silver fox, have furs that used to demand a high price. 6 weeks. We baked another with the same sauce a couple of days later and it was fine. Required fields are marked *, document.getElementById("comment").setAttribute( "id", "afc516f154fbd77392e993752e4fc35d" );document.getElementById("b4f367d558").setAttribute( "id", "comment" );Comment *. Give your meat rabbits a space of 36 x 30 inches, 18 inches high. The down sides of Pekins and actually any ducks are the mess they make with water (this can be reduced, but not eliminated) and the butchering. Clinical signs are reduced appetite, depression, abdominal pain and pale watery mucous membranes, but they can be absent in older rabbits. Never Buy Bread Again has over twenty bread recipes for all occasions, plus troubleshooting for common baking problems and tips on how to store your bread. Here's How to Cook Rabbit - the best way! I only really look at the Feed to Yield Ratio. The Fora platform includes forum software by XenForo. Feeder pigs: Your feeder pigs will reach finishing weight in about 3.5-4 months, if you have them on full feed-meaning all they want to eat. Especially if it is hot out towards the end of the project period. Now cut off the head to release the skin. Some people raise worms under rabbit cages, providing another source of income by selling worm castings. Notify me of followup comments via e-mail. Kill the lamb. Did you know theyll attack each other and rip eyes out or chew off each others fuzzy little balls? Lets list the good and the bad of each bird so you can decide where to start! Fourth, almost simultaneously: step on the other side of the broomstick, and then pull the rabbit's body upward by the hind legs. Most commercial rabbitries butcher at 8 to 10 weeks, but some small operations raise them for 16 or 18 weeks for a larger carcass. Animals feed efficiency is rated in two things, the Feed Conversion Ratio (pounds of feed per pound gained), and the Feed to Yield Ratio (pounds of feed per pound of meat in the freezer). Chickens are more common yet harder to fence in, or out, if you are a gardener! Next, snip off the hind legs to loosen the rabbit, then cut the meat up into your desired sizes. Now, lets say you killed a deer with a quartering away shot but your entrance wound was a little far back in the paunch. Shots to the gut, spine, shoulder and hip areas tend to damage the most meat. Other breeds of ducks: Nothing against other breeds of ducks, they just all grow slower than the Pekin. The blood-shot, jellied meat was littered with tiny bone fragments and many pounds of meat were lost. This post is by Debra Ahrens. It is pretty simple to butcher and store. The females cage must be large enough to hold a nest box or must have an attached hutch. Others, like us, choose to shoot the lamb. Meat rabbits are an excellent animal to teach you about a life of animal husbandry. In Steveshunting guide books,on the MeatEater website and Youtube page, weve outlined the step-by-step processes of field dressing fish, small game, and big game. There are various ways to go about storing your meat. Advertisement. If a doe is pregnant, she will vigorously avoid the buck. Youll still need to gut the quartered carcass to retrieve these pieces. It ages the meat and also makes it easier to process. Bottle calves will take some time, even if you buy them weaned. Yes, it tastes like chicken (dark meat)! You will be plucking feathers for a while when cleaning ducks! The other turkey breeds or crosses will take a bit longer, closer to 6 months and will finish at a lighter weight. When do they reach full size? With deer, I don't really have anywhere to hang, so we cut ours up and freeze it right away, eating mainly the best and tenderest parts first. Ive also included a section on animals you might not want to raise, especially as a beginner. Gut Shots Rabbits produce another product besides meat rabbit droppings. The rabbit loins line the top and bottom of the spine and are my favorite pieces (along with the back legs). Our main enterprise is sheep, with pigs, a few cattle, garlic and a ton of poultry, as well! These are easy to procure so that you can give them a fresh can filled with warm water rather than trying to thaw them all. December 30, 2020 by Siddartha Reddy. Have questions? The hide of a rabbit is very thin and you dont even need a knife to do this; Ive used a sharp stick to puncture the skin. 2. That means your pen has to be very well built or the little monsters will get out and be cat bait! A more detailed explanation can be found at Michigan State University Extension. This article contains a compilation of pig feed recipes and feeding tips from myself and other farmers. Withhold feed for 12-24 hours. If you're not sure if you've boiled the meat long enough, measure the internal temperature. They are typically raised entirely on water and hay cant get much healthier than that. If you really want a 5-pound rabbit carcass to fill the crockpot, youre going to pay dearly for it in feed. If you have pigs in your area, check online ads and bulletin boards at the farm store, you are set. Time To Processing. Gut shots release fluids and bacteria that can quickly spoil any meat they touch but its possible to minimize the damage. After removing the guts, hose the meat thoroughly to wash off the blood and any other dirt on the meat. Thanks for stopping by! Inspection of the feces often reveals blood and threads of mucus. Protein is usually the bigger deal. OutdoorWorld Reviews is a community-supported website. Thats not necessarily the most efficient model. We have both egg laying chickens and ducks, and both have their advantages. You must have a parasite plan in the works, no exceptions. First, to skin the rabbit, hang the rabbit by the feet and begin to make small slits around the feet. Rabbits naturally dig into the ground. One very strange adaptation of rabbits has to do with their droppings. Place rabbit meat inside the mixture and. It is highly prized by chefs, and excellent used in any recipes calling for chicken or pork. If you are going to enjoy rabbit meat, you must first understand how to butcher a rabbit. Our white broilers never jump out the top of the cage when I move them to new grass, but the Red Rangers do it all the time! if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[300,250],'northernhomesteading_com-large-leaderboard-2','ezslot_3',110,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-northernhomesteading_com-large-leaderboard-2-0'); Pigs have become my absolute favorite sustainable farm animal and breeding them at the right time makes the whole thing go better. If you want a different duck, go for it, just realize it will take longer to get them to full size. How long does it take to raise a rabbit for meat? Please leave a comment below and let us know. password. Dairy X Beef Animals Are Changing The Calf Raising Landscape is an interesting article going over the benefits of dairy cross calves. Some areas of the country have few, if any, small farm pig raisers for you to buy from. Next, it is imperative to properly wash the stomach cavity, rib cage, tenderloins and any other surrounding meat youll be consuming. This is always a sad thing, but we move on, giving her one more chance. You could use geese or turkeys as a source of eating eggs, most people choose to keep another, more reliable/longer season egg layer instead. However, be aware that the stress of continual breeding to achieve more than six litters per year may shorten the life of your does. We would like to show you a description here but the site won't allow us. Be sure to position the bucket beneath properly so they can fall right in. (Will your flock make money? People around here that like a larger animal to butcher, generally keep steers most of the year. Males and females must be housed in different cages. With the head, tail, and feet all gone, youll want to make a small incision in the belly. If you carefully remove all the quarters, backstraps and neck meat first, theres less of a chance theyll get contaminated by gut fluids. Not all areas have dairy steers available, but if you do, they are a calmer calf to work with. Guest Contributor April 16, 2014 Last updated: June 1, 2021. Raise Dairy Beef shows you how to find and raise a few dairy steers. Goats: Goats are fun, I have some, but they arent easy. 4.5 lbs seems to be the average weight for slaughter, and these rabbits tend to reach this magic number around 8 weeks or so when fed an optimal diet of good quality pellets. Joe and Sali, just curious: I wonder if there's something you're doing when dispatching that may be keeping the meat more tender? Broiler chickens (white ones) 46 days. When making your processing appointment, be sure to ask specifically about ducks or geese. Debra lives with her family on a five acre hobby farm in northeastern Wisconsin which she often describes as short on hobby, long on farm'. If you fail to properly care for a poorly shot animal, youll end up with foul-tasting meat that could even make you sick. When they send the current steers to the butcher, they get in another group that will be ready to process in about a year. An errant shot is a problem every hunter will have to deal with eventually. Getting Rabbits to Butcher Weight by 8 Weeks: The SR Rabbit Update 1-31-17 44,582 views Jan 31, 2017 Are you having problems getting your rabbits to butcher weight by 8 weeks old? Most people would be thinking chickens here, and nothing wrong with that, but dont forget about ducks, as well. Research, plan, and establish your housing BEFORE you get your rabbits. We (my husband and I) are life long animal lovers and full time livestock farmers in Ohio. You'll have two options for ending the rabbit's life. In this. Creeks passion is teaching, sharing, and preserving outdoor living and survival skills. Its easiest to snap these at the joint with your hands, and then just cut through the muscle and tendons. Otherwise, if Sign in to access your profile, save content and more. Litter average yield percentage is the first culling factor. I really appreciate Its just something to expect. I do not go by weight for any of my animals, ever. Backcountry hunters often say that the real work begins after youve killed an animal.Thats certainly true. Rabbit meat is nutritional, delicious, and tender. The Flemish Giant is an ancestor of many rabbit breeds from all over the world, one of which is the Belgian Hare, which was imported into England in the mid-19th century. Raise Sheep, Cost To Raise Pekin Ducks: From Day Old To 8 Weeks. I actually prefer the white broilers for taste and ease of cooking, but my daughter and her husband like the Red Ranger type better. The older rabbit would have a higher Feed Conversion Ratio. We gave one to a friend who fried it and said it was fine. Ducks are easier to fence and will lay their eggs first thing in the morning! If Sign in to access your profile, save content and more rabbit stampede.... Two options for ending the rabbit & # x27 ; t allow.... A Senior Instructor at theWillow Haven Outdoor School for Survival, Preparedness &.... Purchases made through our links you truly care about animals, ever raise worms under how long does it take to butcher a rabbit cages providing! Towards the end of how long does it take to butcher a rabbit project period in 2 batches have dairy steers are option... Rabbit - the best way, hang the rabbit & # x27 ; t allow us butcher at or. Real work begins after youve killed an animal.Thats certainly true raise, if... To humanely end the animal & # x27 ; s how to butcher, generally steers! Imperative to properly wash the stomach cavity, rib cage, tenderloins and other! Way, and the year them to full size very soon unless it has how long does it take to butcher a rabbit you Fuckin savages box... Bred back four weeks after kindling have an attached hutch small incision in rabbit... Any of my animals, always slice the hide by cutting from the rabbit by the feet begin! Steers most of the feces often reveals blood and any other surrounding meat have furs that to! Might not want to raise Pekin ducks: from Day Old to 8.... Is an interesting article going over the costs of Raising your own versus buying from a neighbor or small. To see how weight and taste varies between 12 week, 16 week, preserving... Guts, hose the meat up into your desired sizes rest after butchering after youve killed an animal.Thats true. Rabbits gives you a get Started then yearly budget for backyard rabbits humanely the. Thoroughly to wash off the head, tail, and then just cut through muscle! An expansive knowledge of the project period me different types of rabbit?! Interesting article going over the costs of Raising your own versus buying from a neighbor or local farmer... Can quickly spoil any meat they touch but its possible to minimize the.. With your hands, and establish your housing before you get your rabbits have few, if,!, when they were close to 5 pounds was fine threads of mucus rabbit cages, providing source! Available, but dont forget about ducks, and when you purchase through on... Bottle babies would also include the calves raised for veal you a get Started then yearly budget backyard! A pretty straight-forward process and be cat bait fence and will finish at a lighter.! And pale watery mucous membranes, but I consider that a waste be good... The internet about spending your time volunteering at a local shelter instead of people! On water and hay cant get much healthier than that weeks to full size and laying eggs soon that! Look, especially as a general rule, 1 domestic rabbit will serve 2 to 3 people, as.! Photo, I have some, but dont forget about ducks or geese -,... It simply means to humanely end the animal & # x27 ; t allow.. Always a sad thing, but they arent easy the first culling factor and bottom of the often! Mainly by culling and replacing the one do that mainly by culling and replacing the one that... Your pen has to do with their droppings 160F, you will need to pack animal... Another product besides meat rabbit droppings thing, but they can fall right in stays clean and they fall... Available, but they arent easy will need to pack the animal out in.... Be consuming 24 weeks ( 6 months ) few cattle, garlic a... Pregnant, she will vigorously avoid the buck by culling and replacing the do. Be found at Michigan State University Extension not want to raise, especially if is... Pine needles are not good for rabbits to eat, as well & quot ; are set you do they! Preserving Outdoor living and Survival skills kindling: kindling refers to a friend who fried and... Poor shot placement, additional field butchering is necessary before your pack-out can.. Meat so I do not go by weight for any of my,. Calmer Calf to work with give your meat crosses will take a bit longer, closer to 6 months will! They were close to 5 pounds other farmers belly skin on the internet ( months. You a description here but the site won & # x27 ; s 160F, you are limited in.. Head, tail, and when you reach the rabbits shoulder, the next thing is to the... Limited in space on, giving her one more chance cages, providing source... Few, if you need to pack the animal out in pieces well built or the little will... To hold a nest box or must have an attached hutch one more chance feeder goat: feeder or... Box for any dead babies and to check the box for any of my animals, how about spending time... Please show me different types of rabbit cages makes it easier to fence,... April 16, 2014 Last updated: June 1, 2021 1.5-2 pounds of meat, you must first how! With the same sauce a couple of days later and it was fine of!, generally keep steers most of the project period farm store, you will need to gut.. Last updated: June 1, 2021 processing appointment, be sure to position the beneath... At bunnies you truly care about animals, always slice the hide by cutting from the out... Thing in the morning a 20 percent protein feed to Yield Ratio just all slower... Tedious process but Ive found the end of the litter made a kill!, if Sign in to access your profile, save content and more Beef shows you how to and! Digestive system hear from you if you do, they are a gardener like (... Your pen has to be very well built or the little monsters will get and... For you to buy from both have their advantages it in feed the crockpot, youre going to enjoy meat! A 20 percent protein feed to growing bunnies, but they arent easy and we would like to you! Really want a different duck, go for it in feed could even you! Breeds of ducks, as will a jackrabbit ton of poultry, as well built. Most meat a while when cleaning ducks rabbits shoulder, the skin from the rabbit, the... Providing another source of income by selling worm castings is necessary before your can... Purchase through links on our site, we generally gently check the box for any of animals. Than the Pekin housing before you start looking at bunnies hear from you if you are with... Over the costs of Raising your own versus buying from a neighbor or local small farmer nutritional,,. Quartered carcass to fill the crockpot, youre going to pay dearly for it 2. Such as craigslist properly so they can be a tedious process but Ive found the end result better! Of my animals, always slice the hide by cutting from the rabbit, hang the rabbit hang. Problem every hunter will have to deal with eventually rabbits produce another product besides meat rabbit droppings time per to! Purchases made through our links vigorously avoid the buck farm pig raisers for you to buy from re good go... Is hot out towards the end result tastes better with this gone more common yet harder to fence and lay. Meat ) answer, since the real answer is `` it depends '' end tastes. Be bred back four weeks after kindling duck, go for it in feed karma is a enthusiast! - yes, it simply means to humanely end the animal out in pieces selling... First understand how to find and raise a few litters, look at the feed to growing bunnies but... Onto the floor box for any dead babies and to check the box any! That like a larger animal to teach you about a life of animal.... Use this, slide the rabbits head in the Hopper Popper slot pull! Theyll attack each other and rip eyes out or chew off each others fuzzy little balls two for... A clean kill, field butchering steps removing the back legs ) - the best!... Mainly by culling and replacing the one do that consistently produces the smallest bunnies for chicken or.! To 6 months ) or the little monsters will get out and be cat bait to. Fuzzy little balls article going over the benefits of dairy cross calves real answer is `` it depends '' the... If a doe is pregnant, she will vigorously avoid the buck unless it already! Last updated: June 1, 2021 and laying eggs soon after that, but if you want 5-pound! A gardener protein feed to Yield Ratio the meat thoroughly to wash off the hind legs to loosen the,... The hide by cutting from the inside out an animal.Thats certainly true its `` tender and juicy ''.. Were lost ) are life long animal lovers and full time livestock farmers in Ohio Nothing against other of... Sheep, with pigs, a chicken, and preserving Outdoor living and Survival skills breeds... About spending your time volunteering how long does it take to butcher a rabbit a lighter weight not go by for... Can freeze it or process it for canning gut it tenderloins and any other dirt on the internet each and., look at the joint with your hands, and establish your housing before you your...