New Comer: New Zealand Doe

When I first started having rabbits, I had 2 does of New Zealand breed but I lost them soon after for unknown reasons and I was devastated. I have always wanted to have some rabbits with red eyes. So when a neighbor who started raising rabbits ahead of me came to ask if I wanted to buy one of her New Zealand does, I readily agreed but asked if I could take a look at the rabbit first. She told me that she bought this rabbit from a pet shop when it was still small. Then she brought this doe to be mated with one of our neighbor's breeding buck and she kindled a litter but all the kits died. She thought that maybe what caused the death of the litter was the cold temperature because the doe gave birth during the rainy season. The reason why she is selling this doe is because she only wanted to maintain just 3 breeding does. She said that this doe has shown some aggressive behavior towards her whenever she tries to clean out the cage and she is kinda afraid of her. So when I went to visit her house to look at the rabbit, I noticed that they had a stray dog that is loose in their property. I pointed this out to her saying that the dog must be kept in a leash as this may be the cause of the stress in the rabbit which is why she is exhibiting an aggressive behavior towards her. So anyway, I paid 500.00 pesos for the rabbit and brought her home. So here is a picture of this New Zealand doe that is the latest addition to my rabbitry.

Slaughtering Meat Rabbits

It has been awhile since I made a post about my rabbitry so I thought I will update you on what is going on now with my rabbits. Well, we've been breeding my initial stocks of one Cinnamon doe and one Chinchilla doe since August of last year. We've even slaughtered some 10 meat rabbits during Christmas time when it was time for them to go into the pot. Luckily, we got more males among the litters and these were fattened for table food while we kept the females as replacement does. We are raising meat rabbits after all and that is the purpose for going into this rabbitry, to learn to be self sufficient in producing our own food. We had no hesitation in slaughtering the meat rabbits knowing that what we fed them were healthy vegetation minus the growth hormones and antibiotics that are normally being used in big factories for growing chicken broilers. Please stop reading if you are squeamish about this subject, it is not for the faint of heart.  

  


We slaughtered the meat rabbits in the most humane way possible and it was done very quickly so as not to make them suffer. Using a 1-inch pipe metal rod about 1.5 feet in length as a tool in holding the rabbit's head on the ground and with both feet on both sides of the pipe, we give a quick pull of the hind legs to snap the rabbit's head. It only takes seconds and it is the most painless way to slaughter them. It is now time to cut off the head and the front paws. Then we tie the hind legs with a rope and hang the carcass upside down so the blood will drip down to the bucket underneath the carcass. Then we start cutting the skin around the hind legs but being careful not to cut the inner flesh, just the skin. Then with a sharp knife or scissors, make a slit from the anus going upwards to cut the skin on each hind legs to open them up. Make a slit also from the anus down to the belly and the neck. Then just pull down the whole skin and it would all come off in one piece and this is dropped into the bucket as well. Once the skin is all out of the way, then we make a slit in the flesh of the belly section to bring out all the intestines, the heart and everything else that has to come out. Then it's just to wash the flesh off and it's ready for cooking. My nephews can now do the slaughtering and it's easy peasy for them now that they know how to do it all by themselves.