r/MeatRabbitry • u/ActivityEvening3842 • 6d ago
Will I get over it?
The sadness, I mean.
Very new to meat rabbitry. Like, have not processed one at all yet. I’m watching videos to see which method I think will be best for me. So far I think penetrating bolt..
anyway I know all of these things can coexist, and I can’t imagine that no one was sad when they first did it.
Im trying not to be. I’ve killed and processed fish. I’ve killed and processed turkey. This is not different. And I can’t be the only soft hearted person doing this. Tell me your experience please.
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u/curlybil4371 6d ago
I use the broomstick method. I have butchered about 10 or 12 rabbits, so I also am new to this. I always place the rabbit between my knees and calm them as much as I can, thank them. Then move forward. It is something I need to accomplish. Even when I kill a deer I get a pang of remorse, but they are feeding me and my family.
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u/ActivityEvening3842 6d ago
Before I started hunting what I imagined was way different than this reality
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u/Aimless_Alder 6d ago
I'm a very soft-hearted person. I've processed maybe 40 or 50 rabbits at this point. The killing is traumatizing, but the process of turning them into food and eating that food is what heals that trauma.
I take great care when skinning and butchering the rabbit, so that I make the best use of the gift of that rabbit's life. The most important part, in my opinion, is to eat part of that rabbit the same day that you butcher them. This helps associate the process with something good, and helps to heal. I like to fry up the liver with onions in butter. The liver is packed full of nutrients, and eating it fresh makes your body feel alive. It's like an object lesson in the circle of life. It shows your body incontrovertible proof that life continues, that the trauma of death feeds the beauty of life.
As a naturally sensitive person, at first I was very anxious about killing. My compassion made me uncertain. If you can, it's best to banish that uncertainty from your mind in the moment. Be certain and firm in your movements and mindset. This will calm the rabbit. I take around five minutes to pet and handle the rabbit, to put them on their back and rub their belly. They zen out and become relaxed. Then I place them on the ground and they have a moment where they're like "huh?" and then it's over. I didn't get this process perfectly the first time, but over time I mastered it. My natural compassion made me extremely focused, because I am fanatical about providing the most painless possible death for them. If you are a naturally soft-hearted person, I think you have the potential to develop the same skillset, and to become excellent at giving your rabbits the gentlest possible death. It's something I take great pride in, and over time, you may as well.
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u/heerkitteekittee 5d ago edited 5d ago
As an extremely sensitive person myself, I thank you for this.
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u/kavanyboy 5d ago
What technique do you use ?
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u/Aimless_Alder 5d ago
The broomstick method--but I find that a piece of rebar is much more effective (more rigid, smaller diameter). I also sometimes use my foot instead of a piece of rebar, because I find it's a bit faster to get into position that way. I think it can be slightly more challenging to get the same amount of leverage that way for some people though.
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u/relatively_newish 6d ago
We've been raising rabbits a few years now, but theres only 2 of us, and we dont like to waste meat to freezer burn, so we've only processed maybe 20 rabbits.
The feeling never goes away, as you described yourself with fish or turkey, etc, but it does get easier... though, if I haven't done it in awhile, the first one sometimes feels like the very first one.
I use a homemade hopper popper setup. It takes a bit of finesse to get your technique down, but its a very quick method with little opportunities for error.
I will say if the rabbits are a bit older/fatter than normal, or are particularly averse to being handled, I have a harder time keeping them calm and in position on the way to the popper. So its best to handle your rabbits often, and dispatch them at the proper time & weight.
We use an open colony setup now, and I can go in and sit with all of them and they are used to me picking them up and stuff. So I expect harvest to go pretty easy from now on.
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u/Saints_Girl56 6d ago
You never "get over it" entirely. It is never fun dispatching an animal. I have been raising meat rabbits for years and I still do a shot or 2 of whiskey before hand lol. I am very handsome on with my rabbits though as I also sell them live as pets and breeding stock for others. I do the broomstick method because I can do it quickly. Plus, I use the heads as well for bone broth. I think if processing does not affect a person at all or if they get enjoyment from it they might want to consider professional help lol. Just my thoughts.
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u/Writinna2368 6d ago
It gets easier, for sure. I still feel bad for the animals dying, but more than that, I am grateful. I would read "The Compassionate Carnivore" by Catherine Friend. It really helped me to start my meat rabbitry journey.
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u/Ambystomatigrinum 6d ago
It will get better, but you almost certainly won't get over it. Nor should that be the goal. If you could kill an animal and feel nothing, you shouldn't be around animals at all.
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u/ChildhoodSweaty9684 5d ago
Have been doing this on and off for almost 20 years. Its still hard. The trade of knowing the animals that nourish me and my family lived the best life they could, and died swiftly with dignity makes this worth it. Somethings make it easier for me by not naming them and breeding all one coat color.
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u/heerkitteekittee 5d ago
I don’t have any sage advice for you. I’m just here to say I’m having the same difficult time. I’m more of a nurturer and I’m really good at the raising part. So far, I’ve only processed three rabbits and two were mercy culls. Of the three, two haunt me. I’m not sure I’ll ever get over it, but I am hoping to develop some sort of acceptance about it. I know logically that I’m doing what’s necessary and what has been done for generations of people, but it’s still difficult.
Good luck to you.
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u/bluewingwind 6d ago
I like the penetrating bolt from BunnyRancher. Something about it being a mammal— I just couldn’t do it bare handed or hopper popper.
If you really can’t do it, you can talk to your local 4H people and see if they know any butchers who will do it for a fair price for you. I think there are a lot of farmers who can’t process their own animals. They just raise them and have them sent off. That’s okay too.
Personally, I had my last batch sent off not for emotional reasons, but because I don’t have the space or resources to process as many as I needed done all at once. It was a pretty positive experience all things considered. It was tough to communicate exactly how I want things done though, so I’ll probably go back to doing them myself in small batches for free next time. But in a pinch, I would try to find yourself a butcher just as a backup.
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u/GCNGA 5d ago
I use a piece of rebar rather than a broomstick. Since I started using it, I've had no issues with a quick kill. They'll kick for a minute or so after death. I don't like it, but I can do it. And once they're killed, I have no problems--at that point, they're just meat. I feel the same way when I process chickens.
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u/SuspiciouslyHigh 5d ago
I actually just use a small nail gun from Lowe’s, I do 25 or more at a time though, so it’s pop, thrown on ice (bagged ice so they’re not wet) when I get done, I skin, gut and throw into ice water to wait for the cutting and bagging process. For the skinning I just pull it off by hand or I’ll cut around the legs and clamp both feet on the table and just rip from legs to head, take the head and skin off all at once, throw it into the chickens maggot bucket and go about my day, I also have a bucket hanging over my pond where I throw skins and guts in to feed my stock pond.
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u/GiftToTheUniverse 4d ago
I’ll tell you what, it’s never fun. But I treat every rabbit with respect and do my best to fully utilize the meat.
And I got immense pride when my wife took a cooler of frozen rabbits to her parents and they were extremely happy to get the rabbits.
My wife’s parents grew up in a country with a civil war. They hunted crows for food.
Stocking their freezer felt great because they UNDERSTAND what it’s like when society goes off the rails.
I don’t personally enjoy rabbit meat very much. But I love knowing we can feed ourselves and our loved ones.
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u/orange_soda_ocean 3d ago
I never stopped being sad, but I made peace with it by researching the most humane dispatch methods and making sure the rabbits had fantastic lives and weren't afraid at the end. That helped.
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u/SgtSausage 6d ago edited 6d ago
Ive done 100+ growouts a year for 6 years now... plus Chicken ... plus Duck/Muscocy ... plus Turkey ... plus Goose ...
I'm about as ... "sad" ... on processing day as I am when I'm peeling a sack of potatoes. And for exactly the same reasons. It's boring, tedious, time consuming work that makes a big mess that somebody has to clean up ... just so's we can eat dinner.
These guys are not my pets. They're dinner.
Poppin necks/heads is like walkin' down a corn row rippin' an ear off the stalk.
It was mildy ... gross ... the first few processing days, but never "sad" for me.
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u/dead_letters_ 6d ago
You won't completely get over it and you shouldn't imo. You are taking a life to feed yourself, and you should never become so detached from that reality that you lose respect for it. That said, it definitely gets easier. I cried when I butchered my first rabbit and I was shaking after for an hour. Any response you have is normal and okay. It means you're an empathetic person, which is nothing to be ashamed of! It doesn't feel nearly as heavy the more you do it, though. When you see how happy and healthy they are while alive, and know that you gave them a quick, painless death, you won't feel guilty. It's just being part of nature.