Best way to Kill a Rabbit

Discussion in 'Back to Basics' started by pgrass101, Nov 29, 2007.


  1. pgrass101

    pgrass101 Monkey+++

    My wife and I have decided to start raising rabbits for food.

    Rabbits because we live in a small town and they are not considered livestock (chickens are)

    I need a discrete way to kill them so as not to let my neighbors know That I am sluaghtering our pet rabbits

    I thought about cutting the throat or a sub sonic .22 to the head.

    I've hunted rabbits but never sluaghted them

    Please help.
     
  2. BAT1

    BAT1 Cowboys know no fear

    My aunt and uncle used to break their necks, or just hit them in the head. That was in 68 though. You don't have to shoot them. Rabbit's are low in fat like deer.
     
  3. Seacowboys

    Seacowboys Senior Member Founding Member

    lethal injection?
     
  4. Tango3

    Tango3 Aimless wanderer

    I understand itcan be done by hand; bending the head backwards with the left hand (small finger toward the nose), grabing the rear feetwith theright and pulling upoquickly.
    I read this in a homesteading book somewhere.Never done it. Think 'I'd opt for hatchet/stump with a couple of nail to help hold the head and stretch the neck
     
  5. ozarkgoatman

    ozarkgoatman Resident goat herder

    Heres how I do it.

    If it's a frier (ie...young rabbit) take the hide feet in your left hand and hang it upside down. Then take your thumb and index finger and wrape them around the base of the skull right behind the ears. Give a sudden jerk and this will break their neck. Next chop their head off and butcher as normal.

    If it's a mature rabbit then it tends to be a bit harder to break the neck and you have a higher chance of it squeeling. I usally just grab the hinde feet like a frier and hang it upside down. Lay the head on a chopping block and hit it in the back of the head with a hammer, then chop the head off.

    OGM
     
  6. pgrass101

    pgrass101 Monkey+++

    Thanks OGM,

    We want to use the rabbit pellets as fertilizers in our small raised vetegable beds. Does anyone have plans for a hutch that as an easy way to collect the pellets?
     
  7. hacon1

    hacon1 Monkey+++

    If you use the hanging cages, you can attach a piece of corigated roofing to the bottom on one side and fix it so that it slopes downward. Most everything will slide off and into a pile or container for easy clean up.

    I suggest that you purchase, "Storey's Guide to Raising Rabbits". It's a great book that tells you everything you need to know about raising rabbits. Price ranges from $15-$20. You will referance it frequently when you first get started. I found it very helpfull.

    Good luck!
     
  8. Blackjack

    Blackjack Monkey+++

    A sharp blow with a solid object (like pipe) to the rear and base of the skull. That's why it's called a "rabbit punch".
     
    Ganado likes this.
  9. slots

    slots Monkey+++

  10. Rancher

    Rancher Specialist

    I hold the rabbit upside down by its rear legs and strike the back of the head with an eighteen inch length of 3/4" steel pipe.
    Quick clean and quiet.
     
  11. sniper-66

    sniper-66 Monkey+++ Moderator Emeritus Founding Member

    If you don't know it, don't throw the pellets right into the garden, you need to "compost" them first to break down the acidity or it can burn your plants. We had a turning barrel and would mix it with yard debris and let it break down before putting it in the flower beds and such.
     
  12. BAT1

    BAT1 Cowboys know no fear

    Let's send peta that video and listen to them squeal! I used to have some rabbit fur gloves and they were warm. My cat just went and hid.
     
  13. pgrass101

    pgrass101 Monkey+++

    Thanks guys, that video made it look easy.

    Sniper we are planning on just adding the pellets to our compost pile and not directly to the vetegable beds.
     
  14. sniper-66

    sniper-66 Monkey+++ Moderator Emeritus Founding Member

    Excellent, you will still have to turn it a little more than normal though. Rabbit poop can get pretty warm.
     
  15. Tango3

    Tango3 Aimless wanderer

    that was a great video...and looks like a pretty good site to explore.
     
  16. monkeyman

    monkeyman Monkey+++ Moderator Emeritus Founding Member

    It looks like its been pretty well adressed as to some of the options I would have mentioned like the pipe to the base of the skull, another option though would be a pellet pistol and shoot them in the back of the head if you have a problem getting the pipe thing down.

    On the pellets for fertalizer, if the hutches are inside a shed or some such you could just put totes under them and take the totes to the garden when its time to till it and shovel them out then. We just shovel out from under the hutches into a wheel barrow when its time to till the garden ad till them in and its worked well for us.
     
  17. ozarkgoatman

    ozarkgoatman Resident goat herder

    Actually rabbit manure is one of the few manures that you can use directly in the garden without the worry of burning your plants. Llama manure can be used as well. Other manures need to be aged though, due to high nitrogen content.

    OGM
     
  18. pgrass101

    pgrass101 Monkey+++

    Thanks Guys,

    Any suggestions on some good Homesteading websites.

    I probably need to start a new thread with that question
     
  19. RVM45

    RVM45 Monkey+++

    .....The way my father taught me to humanely slaughter rabbits was to lay a stout stick across the back of the rabbit's neck. Stand on either side of the stick. Pull up until the rabbit's head comes of. It will be dead of a broken neck well before the head comes off; but that saves having to cut the throat as a second step; and they will bleed out very well.

    .....RVM45 [chopper]
     
  20. monkeyman

    monkeyman Monkey+++ Moderator Emeritus Founding Member

    I have used pretty much that same meathod with chickens before and it works pretty well for them.
     
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