Rabbit meat is very healthy and dietary, it has a lot of protein and low cholesterol. It strengthens bones and has a positive effect on the skin and mucous membranes. It is important for diabetics to eat it, as rabbit meat is able to regulate blood glucose levels. Therefore, today we will talk about how to properly slaughter a rabbit at home and how to do it.
Slaughter and Cutting Tools
How to slaughter and butcher a rabbit will be described below, but first you need to prepare for these procedures. You should take tools such as:
- Stick. It is necessary to use wood, not metal. Experienced rabbit breeders kill the animal with their hands, they do not need a stick for this. But for beginners, it will be required.
- Spacer. It is needed in order to pick up the carcass.
- Knives. Use one tool for boning the skins, and the other for cutting. Before killing, be sure to check how well the knives are sharpened.
- Dishes for internal organs.
- Liquid ammonia (if you are an inexperienced rabbit breeder or other family members will be watching your work).
Methods of killing an animal
All methods of slaughter are divided into two large groups:
- The bloody method - its essence lies in the dissection of the main vessels of the animal. Death occurs as a result of a large loss of blood. In this case, the animal is terribly tormented and convulsing. How to kill a rabbit in a humane way? For this, the second method is used.
- Bloodless process. The animal is immobilized and rendered insensitive to pain by cutting the central nervous system.
Some are interested in how to properly slaughter a rabbit. Based on the two proposed options, the second method will become more acceptable.
Bloodless method of killing an animal
There are several ways to slaughter a rabbit for meat. The following method is popular.
A blow of the hand or a blunt object (a wooden round stick) on the back of the head of the animal. With one hand, you need to take the rodent by its hind legs, lift it and apply a strong slap on the back of the head. In this case, the animal’s spinal cord ruptures and blood begins to spill out through the ears and nose of the mammal.
Note: if you beat a rabbit with a stick, it is recommended to wrap it with a rag or put it on a rubber hose. In this case, the blow is deaf and eliminates the likelihood of hematomas. This is a popular way to slaughter a rabbit at home, rather than in a special room.
French method of killing an animal
The mammal is placed on the table, with the left hand taken by the ears, and the right hand - by the hind legs. The animal will soon calm down and you need to use the moment: sharply spread your arms in different directions. As a result, the rabbit's blood vessels and nerves burst, and death occurs within seconds.
Electric shock
For this purpose, you need to purchase a special electric cord with a connector to insert into the outlet, on the one hand, and metal needles - on the other. One needle is inserted into the muscles of a mammal, and the other into the tissue of the head between the ears. When the plug is in action, a current will pass through the rabbit and death will occur instantly.
Fracture Slaughter
How to kill a rabbit in an instant? You need to take it by distant limbs with your left hand, and firmly grasp the back of your head with your right hand, connect your fingers in the chin area and break the animal’s neck with a quick, strong jerk.
Slaughter by air embolism
In this case air is launched into a vein in the ear, in the direction of the heart, with the help of a rubber bulb. Death occurs after half a minute.
Slaughter with a shooting pin
For this method, a special pin-needle is used, which, when pressed, shoots from the body. A sharp tip is applied to the point where the right eye and the left ear intersect, and vice versa: the left eye with the right ear. The animal dies instantly from the injury, as its medulla oblongata is affected . The animal does not suffer at all. There are cramps that indicate post-mortem muscle contractions.
This method is used only by experienced craftsmen on large farms. At home, this method is not applicable.
Animal Duration
When it is possible to kill rabbits, its owner decides on the basis of the appearance of the animal, namely: what is the density and grooming of the hair of a mammal. The most expensive skins from rodents, regardless of their age, are usually obtained during slaughter in the cold season, when the molt will end. But how to understand that it has ended? Experts know that in colored rabbits, molting time can be determined by the color of the skin and the direction of growth of new hair. In areas where there is a molt, dark skin is observed, and in those places where the process of changing the cover has not yet begun - white. If the animal is white, then when molting, the skin does not change color, and the condition can be determined by the strength of old hair and the growth of new ones.
Experienced rabbit breeding masters know how to slaughter a rabbit and when to do it: they feel the fur coat with their fingers, and if it does not cling to the limbs, then the course of changing the cover is over.
Rodent Slaughter Time
To understand at what age rabbits are slaughtered, you need to know when the scrolling happened.
- If the birth was from May to June, then the animal must be killed in November.
- If okrol happened in July, then you can gut it from the end of November to mid-December.
- If the animal is August or September, then it must be cut into meat from the end of December to January.
- If the rabbit was born in December or January, then it needs to be killed in late March - early April.
Preparing for the killing procedure
Before you kill a rabbit at home, you must adhere to these rules:
1. Prepare a group of animals that you plan to take away the day before the action. Within 20 hours, you do not need to feed them, but you can only drink. This is necessary so that the intestines of animals are completely cleared of food debris, and it is easier for a person to cut the animal.
2. Slaughter of rabbits should be done only after a thorough veterinary examination. If the doctor finds any abnormalities in the development of the animal, then the slaughter period is automatically transferred for an indefinite period until the mammal recovers.
3. It is strictly forbidden to take the life of pregnant rabbits, as well as newborn babies.
4. The process of slaughter should be humane, that is, it is not necessary to carry out the procedure in front of his relatives.
How to peel a rabbit?
How to slaughter a rabbit at home is now clear, but now is the time to find out how to properly remove skin with hair. It is necessary to remove the skin immediately after slaughtering the animal. There are three ways to detach meat from the skin.
- Czechoslovak method. A non-living rabbit is hooked so that the hind legs stick out on the sides. First, notches are made around the hock joints, and the skin is separated from the legs. Then the skin with the hairline is cut on the hips from the legs to the tail and is removed from the calves and hips. Once again, incisions are made around the anus and skinned around it. The next notch is performed in the region of the abdominal muscles and the upper layer of the skin is removed from there. The skin is then removed from the carcass towards the head so that the fur is inside. The front paws are freed by making an incision on the wrist joint, and they remain with the skin. Then smoothly tighten the skin to the head, remove the ears from the roots and remove the skin from the head. In this case, the skin around the eyes and muzzle should be cut.
- English way. In this case, the killed animal is not suspended. The skin is cut on the stomach, a longitudinal section is made from the perineum to the throat. Then the skin is carefully separated from the carcass until the back is released. Then the skin of the hind limbs is removed by pulling, the hind legs are cut off and as a result, the skin with the hair is removed from the back. The skin is removed from the front legs to the legs, and then the limbs are then simply cut off. And in the end, the skin is eliminated from the head.
- American way. The rabbit carcass is hung on a hook by the right hind paw. The remaining limbs are cut off with the head and tail. A circular incision is made under the foot that remains. Next, an incision is made from the hock through the perineum to the cut-off point of the other foot. After that, the skin is removed from the hips with one movement of the hand to the place of the forelimbs. The last stage - gently with your fingers release the skin with hair from the forelimbs and neck.
A separate finished skin must be cleaned from subcutaneous fat and films. Then it is suspended on a rope or wire and dried in a draft.
Proper animal handling
1. Cut the rabbit with a small incision in the abdomen near the pelvic bone. To do this, move the abdominal wall, cut it with a sharp knife along to the sternum and eliminate the gall and bladder, which must be carefully cut with a knife. Then the pelvis is cut out, the rectum is disconnected from the calves and the intestines with the stomach are cut off.
2. The head must be cut off at the place where the first cervical vertebra ends.
3. Further organs are excised: heart, lungs, liver, trachea, esophagus. Kidneys and kidney fat are not removed.
4. The hind legs are cut off along the hock joint, and then bruises are removed, the cervical section is cleaned, and blood and wool are freed.
5. The last process - carcass molding - sections are made on the sides of the chest in the region of the third and fourth ribs and the ends of the front legs are inserted into them. But the hind limbs are fastened through the holes in the hock joints and aligned to the outside.
Now you know how to kill a rabbit, and found out that you can do this in several ways and they are not always cruel. It is important to not be afraid and know exactly how to take the animal, with what force to strike. They gathered important information for themselves on how to remove the skin and properly carve this animal.