How to cut a rabbit properly
Many rabbit breeders, especially beginners, do not know how to butcher a rabbit when it comes time to let animals eat. If the meat is to be sold, the moment like butchering the rabbit plays a key role in generating income.
Butchering a rabbit
Incorrectly cut, unattractive carcasses are unlikely to attract many buyers. How to cut a rabbit carcass at home?
When rabbits are cut
Young rabbits from winter okrol are allowed to eat meat at 4 months of age. Slaughter time will depend on the production orientation of the rock. If these are meat rabbits, then the time does not matter. Fuzzies weigh 3 kg already at 3 months of age.
For skin rocks, slaughter time is of great importance. Animals are allowed to eat meat only after the molt has passed. This can be verified very simply. If there are small hairs under the bulk of the hair, then the molt is not over yet. You can also determine the end of the molt by the color of the skin: if it is over, the dermis will be white under the fluff.
Tools
To carry out the slaughter and butchering of the carcass, you will need the appropriate equipment. First of all, it is a tool that will be used for slaughtering. You can use wood scrap. It is not recommended to use metal objects. Experienced breeders who have been doing this for a very long time can kill a rabbit with the edge of the palm of their hand.
A spacer stick is needed to hang the carcass while skinning. Its approximate length is about 30 cm. Such a stick is fixed to the ceiling at eye level.
A knife, or even better two. One is cut off the skin, and the second is cut. Separate plates for offal and portions. For further use of the skin, you will need a frame. It is imperative to put water near you in a separate bowl so that you can wash your hands and take a raft.
Preparatory work
Before slaughtering a rabbit in home farming, it is put on a starvation ration. In 12 hours, the animal's gastric tract will be emptied almost completely. This method helps to simplify exsanguination and gutting.
The skin of an individual intended for slaughter should be cleaned with a special brush. First you need to prepare a well-sharpened knife, as well as a crowbar or hammer. A live rabbit is taken by the hind legs with one hand and is well fixed by turning it upside down. You should hold the crawl in this position for some time until it calms down.
With a stick or a hammer, you need to strike an accurate blow on the back of the head, behind the ears. The rabbit dies with lightning speed from a ruptured spinal cord. The appearance of blood streams from the nose and ears will testify to the correctness of the blow. Then the carcass is hung on special hooks by its hind legs and incisions are made in the area of new passages or the eyeball is removed.
There is a certain scheme for slaughtering rabbits. This is done in several ways:
- you can pierce the skull with a hammer;
- roll the neck, clasping the head area with the fingers of the right hand from the back of the head to the chin and making a sharp movement to the side;
- the most humane method is slaughter by means of an electric charge.
To have a more accurate idea, it makes sense to watch a video on how to slaughter and butcher a rabbit. When slaughtering, it is very important not to damage the skin and remove it correctly. Most often, the skin is removed using the stocking method, which can also be learned from the video.
How to remove the skin
The shelf life of the skins and the quality indicators of fillets will directly depend on the processing speed of the carcass after slaughter. Cutting a rabbit carcass at home begins with skinning. You will need a well-sharpened knife. After complete exsanguination, incisions are made from the tip of the tail to its root, and then from the hock joint of one leg to the other along the inner thighs. After that, incisions are made around the metacarpal joints of the paws. Skinning instructions:
- grab the edge of the skin with one hand;
- with the index and thumb of the second hand, separate it from the muscle mass alternately on both limbs;
- go to the groin area;
- move smoothly to the abdomen and upper limbs;
- put your thumb and forefinger under the skin and grab the shoulder joint;
- similarly separate the skin from the muscles at the opposite joint;
- pull off the skin from the head, while cutting off the cartilaginous tissue of the ears, eyes, nasolabial region.
Leather processing
Every farmer strives to make his farm waste-free. As you know, rabbits are not only tasty dietary meat, but also valuable fur. However, in order to use it, it is necessary to learn how to make the skins correctly. The quality of the skin and the cutting of the rabbit are interrelated concepts.
The first step is to remove the remnants of subcutaneous fat and flesh. To do this, you need a special blank. The blank is an A-shaped board with a movable horizontal bar. The skin is scraped off, holding the knife at a 90 ° angle to the skin. After scraping, the skin is pulled over a blank and dried. Put on the skin with the fur down.
The lower part is carefully straightened and secured so that it does not wrap up when drying. Place the frame with the skin in a well-ventilated dry area. Overdrying should not be allowed, otherwise the skin will be brittle and its quality will significantly decrease. In a damp, cold room, the skins will quickly mold and deteriorate.
Then the skins are soaked in a disinfectant solution. Before the skin is ready for industrial use, it must go through several stages of processing.
Next stage
After the skin has been removed, its inner side is cleaned of fat and muscle and soaked in a saline solution. Cutting a rabbit carcass begins with an inspection of the meat mass. The fillet should be pink.
How to cut a rabbit carcass? There is a certain scheme for cutting meat into pieces.
A neat incision is made along the white line of the abdomen along the carcass. The by-products are taken from the inside. It is necessary to separate the gallbladder from the liver with extreme caution: if it bursts, the whole carcass will be spoiled. The liver should have a bright red tint, but if it has spots or it is lighter than it should be, you will have to get rid of the carcass.
After evisceration, the head is cut off in the region of the first cervical vertebra. More accurate information can be gleaned from the video on how to properly cut a rabbit.
Stages of butchering a rabbit carcass
The carcass must be cut to avoid chopping bones. All incisions should only go through the articular parts. First, the limbs are removed. The next stage is the separation of the fillet, it is divided into portions depending on the size. Some do not separate the sirloin, then the dorsal pieces are fleshy.
After the hind limbs are cut off, if the carcass is cut for itself. If you plan to sell meat, you will have to leave the limbs and tail intact.Having separated the hind limbs, the carcass is cut into 2 halves, cutting the ridge in the lumbar region. Then the ribs are cut off with kitchen scissors. The size of each piece depends on the size of the crawl. Meat should not be cooked warm. Refrigerate it first, but never freeze it. Cooling significantly improves palatability.
What should be the blade
To prepare the fur for subsequent processing, do not use a knife that is too sharp, otherwise there is a risk of tearing the dermis. The rabbit's skin is very delicate, so you can tear it even if it is carelessly removed from the carcass. Particular care must be taken in the groin area.
Cut off rabbit tails are often used to make all kinds of souvenirs, crafts and amulets. Immediately after cutting, it should be gutted from the internal cartilage. Drying and processing of the tail is similar to the removal of the skins.
To handle the carcass, you must use very well sharpened knives. This will make it possible to quickly cut the tendons of the joint capsules. A sharp sirloin knife is perfect for separating meat from bones.
Output
Rabbits are bred for meat and quality fur. Many novice farmers are faced with the question of how to properly hammer and cut a rabbit. Of course, the easiest option is to find a person who is involved in this business. If you are going to breed rabbits and build a business on this, you need to learn how to do everything yourself.
Before slaughter, rabbits are placed in separate cages and starved for 12 hours. This approach empties the stomach and simplifies the subsequent meat processing process. Rabbits are killed in several ways. The most humane is electroshock. After slaughter, the carcass is hung upside down, making incisions in the nasolabial region or cutting out the eyeball so that it bleeds.
This is followed by the process of skinning with fur. If you plan to sell the skins, you should be very careful when removing them from the carcass. The skin of rabbits tears very easily, therefore, it is far from immediately possible for beginner breeders to remove it correctly. Then, the remains of fat and muscle tissue are removed from the inside of the skin.
Before proceeding with cutting, the skins should be properly treated. After that, they begin to gut the carcass, gently pulling out the insides. Particular attention should be paid to the color of the internal organs. If the liver is not dark red, then the carcass cannot be eaten. Then the carcass is cut into portioned pieces, if desired, having previously separated the fillets.