Author Topic: Dispatching Breeder Rabbits (Read 7100 times)

The15thMember · « **on:** October 06, 2023, 12:24:50 pm »

As many of you know, my family raises meat rabbits, and we are going to be switching from New Zealands to Silver Foxes, so we are going to butcher our breeder rabbits along with our final litter of New Zealands next weekend. For our young rabbits, we use a kill board to dispatch them, where you put their neck into a groove cut into a piece of wood mounted on the wall, give a quick yank on their legs, and it separates the spinal cord below the skull. We are concerned however that this method won't work well with the older breeder rabbits, as they are bigger and more difficult to restrain and have more developed bone structure than the 12 week old ones we typically butcher. Does anyone have experience dispatching older rabbits? Will the kill board still work for them? If not, what is the best method?

animal · « **Reply #1 on:** October 06, 2023, 06:08:20 pm »

This video has 2 or 3 methods demonstrated.
My grandad used basically the same as what the video calls a "karate chop". The difference was that he used a tire billy (a short club for checking tires). He would also kill at least 50-100 at a time. I've used the chin push thing, also in the video, but only on wild rabbits which are probably much smaller than your breeders(and they will try to bite).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOnkVbcYXRQ

The15thMember · « **Reply #2 on:** October 06, 2023, 07:01:58 pm »

Thanks. We've been talking about it and honestly, we think we are going to be more comfortable shooting them. My mom saw a video where someone just set them in a cardboard box or a plastic bin and shot them with a pellet gun or a very high powered BB gun. We don't have either of those guns, so we'd probably have to use our .22. It's probably a little much, but as Brandon Sheard from the Homestead Meatsmith says, "On butchering day, there is no such thing as overkill when it comes to the kill." Any advice along the lines of shooting them instead would be welcome.

animal · « **Reply #3 on:** October 06, 2023, 07:41:02 pm »

In that case, maybe a .22 short out of a revolver, bore contacted to the rear base of the skull aimed at the brainstem / cerebellum.

but ... I'm a gun nut, and I'd still use a 1' - 1' 6" club (piece of axe handle or 3/4" steel pipe or something like that) or do it by hand. Gunshots aren't a magic kill .. unless it's a .50BMG (sick joke and pretty much true)
(rabbit screams kinda get to me and I like the fuzzy little buggers, so I try to err on the side of quick, sure kill. Using a gun in this situation can be a little tricky)

good luck, be safe, and try to not let your dinner suffer.

The15thMember · « **Reply #4 on:** October 06, 2023, 08:06:41 pm »

Quote from: animal on October 06, 2023, 07:41:02 pm

Using a gun in this situation can be a little tricky

What specifically about it would be tricky? Everyone except my dad is pretty new to guns, and he's no expert either, but we do butcher our own goats, so we know what it's like with a larger animal, but not a small one.

Terri Yaki · « **Reply #5 on:** October 06, 2023, 08:08:55 pm »

This is definitely the worst part of meat eating. I would have trouble with this.

gww · « **Reply #6 on:** October 06, 2023, 08:33:13 pm »

I have not did very many rabbits. The ones I did do. I used a board or bat and hit them real hard at the base of the skull and am sure it did the same as your kill board was doing. Mine were also mostly smaller wild rabbits caught in box traps. I have did a big rabbit the same with the same effect. I don't like it great cause I am not as coordinated as I could be and sometimes it takes two tries to get done what could have been one with a perfect shot. I would think though that a sharp blow should kill most rabbits regardless of size but don't claim it is the best way.
Good luck

The15thMember · « **Reply #7 on:** October 06, 2023, 08:41:42 pm »

Quote from: Terri Yaki on October 06, 2023, 08:08:55 pm

This is definitely the worst part of meat eating. I would have trouble with this.

It's hard at first, but when you are raising your own meat, you very quickly realize how little the animals suffer (if everything goes well, they don't suffer at all) compared to meat you purchase in the grocery store. You have the luxury of not thinking about it at all when you buy meat, but when you raise it yourself, you have the peace of mind knowing that the animal was treated with dignity and compassion, even on butchering day. Plus the meat is WAY cleaner and tastes WAY better.

I have actually come to really enjoy butchering day. It's a little emotional sometimes, and it's a lot of work, but it's interesting to break down an animal and learn what you can from seeing inside it, and it's extremely satisfying to eat that meat after all the hard work you put in, not only on butchering day, but over the course of the animal's life, especially when the animal's life was a good one.

The15thMember · « **Reply #8 on:** October 06, 2023, 08:49:10 pm »

Quote from: gww on October 06, 2023, 08:33:13 pm

I don't like it great cause I am not as coordinated as I could be and sometimes it takes two tries to get done what could have been one with a perfect shot.

This is the other concern I have about any of these methods where you are striking the rabbit. My father's job on butchering day is the actual killing of the animal, and his hand eye coordination for something like that is rather poor (he had a traumatic brain injury when I was young, so that sort of thing is difficult for him now). He can easily hold something steady, and shooting a gun is no trouble for him, but for example, when he's hammering, it's difficult for him to hit the nail every time. I think that sort of "strike a mark with an instrument" thing would be difficult for him.

BeeMaster2 · « **Reply #9 on:** October 06, 2023, 10:05:31 pm »

Reagan,
Rabbits are rather easily dispatched. Many years ago, rabbits were eating my in-laws garden. I took a BB gun to dispatch them. I shot three rabbits and each one jumped into the air and fall dead. I had never seen anything like it before.
I recommend that you try using your tried and true method before trying a new method.
Jim Altmiller

iddee · « **Reply #10 on:** October 06, 2023, 10:11:09 pm »

I have killed many young and old tame rabbits. I just set them on a table, holding them by the scruff, and using a stick of firewood or similar, give them what we call a rabbit punch. A sharp whack to the back of the head at the neck. Never had a failure.

gww · « **Reply #11 on:** October 07, 2023, 01:36:11 am »

I have just karate chopped them where the neck attaches to the skull and it worked ok too. You talk about butchering. I have did quite an lot of it in my life but it is hard work, I don't care what anyone says. I do not go as far as I used to to save every single scrap any more as I did when younger. I did pick a bunch of wild grapes and some autumn olives today and the wife is making jelly as I type and so I get it but it is hard. We made a bunch of acorn flour last year or year before and you can not tell me we didn't come out behind using the ovens and dehydrators for what we got. I grew tomatoes and made some spaghettis sauce and decided it was impossible to make that cheaper then I could buy it but did it anyway. I do get it but it is labor intensive and if is something that takes heat, even worse. I would say apple sauce is ok if you have a big copper kettle and all day and your own wood, at least money wise. It is good to know you can do it if you need to though. Keep it up and keep telling us about it.
Cheers
gww

salvo · « **Reply #12 on:** October 07, 2023, 09:06:53 am »

Hi Folks,

Copy and paste here, then see the link for the rest of the story:

I have used two basic processes for slaughtering rabbits. The first method is achieved by holding the rabbit and then hitting the rabbit on the back of the head with a blunt object. I use a short piece of re-bar, which seemed to work very well. Just use good aim and do not hit your hand. The second method also works well and is my method of choice. This method is called the ?broomstick method.? Basically, you lay the rabbit down on the ground, and put a bar across the back of the neck stepping down on either end of the bar, with a swift motion, you pull up on the hind legs, dislocating (breaking) the neck of the rabbit. This is called cervical dislocation. It is an extremely quick method for killing the rabbits, and leaves little room for any mistakes to be made. Others use a high powered pellet gun or a 22cal pistol or rifle. I have seen and used a ?Killing Board? this was a board with a V cut in it. The head of the rabbit was slid into the V and pulling fast and hard downward, it dislocated the neck and was extremely quick. I will be making some of these and will post more information on this.

https://riseandshinerabbitry.com/2012/04/10/slaughter-and-butchering-rabbit/

Sal

The15thMember · « **Reply #13 on:** October 07, 2023, 11:30:30 am »

Thanks, everyone. So it seems like even with older rabbits, it's still possible to kill them through some method of cervical dislocation, which makes me wonder if the kill board would still work. To sort of circle back to my question in reply #4, what would be a reason NOT to use the gun?

gww · « **Reply #14 on:** October 07, 2023, 12:22:05 pm »

Call me cheap, but using the gun is a more expensive way, and maybe even not as humane to do something that I don't believe is too hard. This statement does not make using one bad either. Do what you feel most comfortable doing that gets the job done.
Cheers

animal · « **Reply #15 on:** October 07, 2023, 01:24:41 pm »

As someone that has used a gun to euthanize animals from the size of newborn puppies to horses, IMO ... euthanizing a small animal( less than 40lb. or so) with a gun is harder than a larger one.(from the standpoint of making it instantaneous)

By "tricky' I meant They can move or jerk around faster and more unpredictably, increasing the chance of ruining the perfect shot. It's harder to get the perfect angle while immobilizing the animal yourself, unless you're using a pistol (and having an assistant is a HUGE NO-NO for the inexperienced). Pellet rifle wouldn't creep me out because the consequences of the shot going into the wrong animal would be far less.

I have never shot a rabbit except hunting so I'm inexperienced in that, but brains work pretty much the same way in different animals.

I'm almost certain that bore contacted to the head and into the braincase with a .22 would do the trick to instantly kill, likewise with a pellet rifle (except to the forebrain perhaps). Rabbit brains aren"t very big, after all, and bore contact would maximize overpressure inside the skull. Most probably, the overpressure without bore contact would be more than enough, so bore contact is in the "overkill" category. Destruction of the hind brain is ideal since it shuts off signals to the body causing instantaneous flaccid parylazation as well as stopping the heart and breathing. The overpressure provides a shock to the rest of the brain to take care of the "consciousness" aspect. However, I've never done this with a rabbit, opting instead for other methods.
If I had to kill a bunch of captive rabbits, I'd opt for the club, since in theory, it provides both partial internal decapitation and a physical shock to the brain. I also have never seen a kill board much less seen one used and that's the only reason I wouldn't use it. Since your dad's aim with a club may not be good, or if he's not comfortable doing it that's out. Salvo's broomstick method sounds really good, but with the kill board, the weight of the rabbit is working for you.

Your dad's comfort/confidence is what's important in choosing a method.

for those disturbed by mentioning puppies ... mother dog died after birthing them because of heartworms and it was long before there was a cure for them. I used a .22 rifle bore contacted to the head on them, but new puppies don't move around much in a shoebox. The dogs were owned by an idiot down the road. I got the job he supposedly "couldn't do" after he did nothing for her. Same with one of the horses, but a different reason and a different idiot. (I've gotten stuck with sucky jobs for no pay too often.)

iddee · « **Reply #16 on:** October 07, 2023, 03:04:03 pm »

Reasons to not use a gun.

Cost

Safety

The15thMember · « **Reply #17 on:** October 07, 2023, 03:05:30 pm »

Thank you very much, animal. I was figuring that the small anatomy of a rabbit was going to be the reason, but thank you for such a detailed explanation. Our rabbits are very tame, so there is not going to be any issue restraining them or with them moving suddenly, I wouldn't imagine. We have talked about the broomstick, but I can't see that something like that won't stress the rabbits out, so that's not really to our liking. I understand that the kill itself is humane, but there is no way the rabbits are going to be calm having a broom pressed down on their necks, it's too much like a predator restraining them. I'll pass on everything you said to my parents and see what they think. As gww said, whatever my dad is most comfortable with is going to be best.

And there is nothing disturbing about the puppies. Sometimes it's just better to not let an animal suffer any longer. We've used the BB gun on rabbit kits twice. Once we had a kit with a physical deformity who wasn't developing properly, and another time we had one get a really nasty sore that just wouldn't get better.

The15thMember · « **Reply #18 on:** October 07, 2023, 03:53:42 pm »

So we talked about it and we're going with the gun. The biggest concern is that the older rabbits are much stronger than the young ones, and my dad is pretty sure that he won't be able to hold them by the feet like he needs to to use the kill board. He feels like the stress on the rabbit is going to be much worse if they struggle, and they probably will, since we often have to wrangle them to trim their nails and such. Whereas if we set them in a cardboard box, they will just quietly sit, and Dad can easily shoot them with minimal stress.

Where do you think would be best to aim? We shoot our goats from behind, between the horns, aiming for the bullet to come out the mouth. (You shouldn't shoot a goat from the front, their skulls are too thick.) Would something like that be good here as well?

animal · « **Reply #19 on:** October 07, 2023, 04:18:47 pm »

You're welcome, but everyone else on this thread, without exception, has given good advise.

It seems to me, the broomstick method could be extremely quick and safe with 2 people. Your dad handling the rabbit while someone else handles the broom. The time between the clamping and the yanking could easily be reduced to a fraction of a second
The response by a prey animal being grabbed by the neck is often to go into shock/panic. Not necessarily a bad thing.

You guys are most familiar with the kill board.

Shooting a rabbit in a box sitting on soft ground sounds safe enough, but them moving around is still a concern, and the subsequent rabbits may well react to the smell of blood.

The way a death looks and actual physiological responses in the dying animal are often quite different. "Humane" is a subjective term and often defined by how things look to us.

As with everything in life or death, there is no perfect choice; only the best one according to your abilities.

gww · « **Reply #20 on:** October 07, 2023, 04:27:02 pm »

15th
Sounds fine to me. I remember trying to kill a penned bull one time and five shots to the front of the skull did not phase it but behind the ear got it. We all make mistakes but you should have no problems with your way and rabbits. My whole life I have used hatchets for chickens and they do not always seem to go easy even headless and it just is what it is.
Good luck.

animal · « **Reply #21 on:** October 07, 2023, 04:31:13 pm »

Sorry, posted the above without seeing your last post...

basically the same as a goat ..(though oddly enough I don't shoot goats or hogs either if given the choice) .....

Look at pictures of a rabbit head showing location of the brain from top and side. Cerebellum and brain stem are the targets.

The15thMember · « **Reply #22 on:** October 07, 2023, 05:00:31 pm »

Thanks so much to everyone, this has been extremely helpful in us reaching a decision here. We're going to go for the gun first, and if it doesn't work as well as we'd hoped, we'll go back to the kill board. Heck, we could also do the broomstick, if neither thing works well for us. We've only got 3 breeders to do, so it's not like this is a whole big production or anything, but we are attached to these bunnies more so than the babies, since they've been with us for a few years, and we do want to try and do our very best for them at the end. Hopefully it all goes well, but either way, at very least we'll learn for the future.

The15thMember · « **Reply #23 on:** October 15, 2023, 05:56:48 pm »

I just wanted to let everyone know that using the .22 went very well. It was simple, quick, and complete, and seemed very humane. It did make the front third of the rabbits inedible, since there were bullet fragments in the meat, but the older rabbits are pretty tough, so we were just planning on feeding the meat to the dogs anyway, so it was no big loss. The male was like impossible to skin oddly. We didn't have really any trouble with the females, we just pulled their skins off like the young ones, but we had to use a knife to skin the buck. Anyway, thanks again to everyone, and now we move on to Silver Foxes.

gww · « **Reply #24 on:** October 15, 2023, 06:05:59 pm »

Thanks for the update.

iddee · « **Reply #25 on:** October 15, 2023, 06:32:02 pm »

How many million wild rabbits have been eaten with shotgun pellets in the meat? Just pressure cook the older ones and "Bon Apetit".

The15thMember · « **Reply #26 on:** October 15, 2023, 07:20:53 pm »

We were just kind of worried about how sharp some of the shards seemed, and it just didn't seem worth it since the meat isn't very good anyway. We don't have a pressure cooker.

iddee · « **Reply #27 on:** October 15, 2023, 09:12:03 pm »

Homesteading without a pressure cooker/canner? I hope you aren't canning non-acid veggies, meat, or fish without one. Botulism is VERY deadly.

Kathyp · « **Reply #28 on:** October 15, 2023, 09:19:50 pm »

Quote

We don't have a pressure cooker.

Instant pot? You can't can in them but you sure can make meat tender.

Are you going to FD any of the meat?

animal · « **Reply #29 on:** October 15, 2023, 10:38:31 pm »

bullet fragments ... body shot with a .22 long rifle hollowpoint, perhaps? Sounds like yellow jackets or cci stingers. If so, they are way overpowered. Cheap lead round nose is better, (.22 short better than .22lr) and not many people eat the head.

Anyway, If you get a pressure cooker one day ... pressure fried rabbit, drain it, make some gravy in a skillet, plop in the fried rabbit and smother.

glad it went well..

The15thMember · « **Reply #30 on:** October 15, 2023, 11:17:50 pm »

Quote from: iddee on October 15, 2023, 09:12:03 pm

Homesteading without a pressure cooker/canner? I hope you aren't canning non-acid veggies, meat, or fish without one. Botulism is VERY deadly.

We aren't doing much canning yet, just jellies and pickles and stuff you can do without the pressure canner. We've been focusing on the freeze dryer so far, but we do have plans to do more canning in the future.

Quote from: Kathyp on October 15, 2023, 09:19:50 pm

Instant pot? You can't can in them but you sure can make meat tender.

Are you going to FD any of the meat?

No instant pot either. We are going to freeze dry some of it, along with the organs. Makes great dog treats.

Quote from: animal on October 15, 2023, 10:38:31 pm

bullet fragments ... body shot with a .22 long rifle hollowpoint, perhaps? Sounds like yellow jackets or cci stingers. If so, they are way overpowered. Cheap lead round nose is better, (.22 short better than .22lr) and not many people eat the head.

Sorry, I'm going to need that translated for someone who knows nothing about guns.

My dad could understand you, but he's in bed already.

Kathyp · « **Reply #31 on:** October 15, 2023, 11:52:59 pm »

Shouldn't have had fragments with the .22 unless you were shooting against cement or something. Handgun or rifle? and yeah, I'm cheap too. Cheap round for just about everything except PP.

Ben Framed · « **Reply #32 on:** October 16, 2023, 12:07:48 am »

Probably used 22 snake or rat shot. CCI makes a good one... As iddee said, many rabbits have been killed with shotguns.. (cleaned, cooked, and ate...) lol

Ben Framed · « **Reply #33 on:** October 16, 2023, 12:11:22 am »

Or you could just go in blazing like John Wayne with a colt 45... Rat or Rabbit. It will get the job done.

https://youtu.be/deFC_pkzEj8?si=fTqf-89PEnjNikpT

The15thMember · « **Reply #34 on:** October 16, 2023, 12:11:34 am »

Quote from: Kathyp on October 15, 2023, 11:52:59 pm

Shouldn't have had fragments with the .22 unless you were shooting against cement or something. Handgun or rifle?

Long rifle. We have a .22 magnum too, which we use for the goats. We had the rabbits in a bin on the ground up against a dirt bank. I'll ask my dad what ammo he was using.

Ben Framed · « **Reply #35 on:** October 16, 2023, 12:13:31 am »

Quote from: Ben Framed on October 16, 2023, 12:11:22 am

Or you could just go in blazing like John Wayne with a colt 45... Rat or Rabbit. It will get the job done.

https://youtu.be/deFC_pkzEj8?si=fTqf-89PEnjNikpT

You could serve a writ to a rabbit as well as a rat!!

animal · « **Reply #36 on:** October 16, 2023, 01:11:15 am »

ok, long winded translation ...

Most modern .22 caliber rimfire rifles and pistols are chambered in .22 long rifle. A fair number are in .22 magnum. Rimfire means the primer material is in the rim of the case. The .22 part is the diameter of the bullet; as in 22 thousandths of an inch in diameter. The rest of the cartridge name refers to the length of the chamber (with those lengths referred to by a name rather than a measurement). The chamber is the part of the gun that the cartridge is in when it is fired. The bullet is the part of the cartridge that flies. The case is the part of the cartridge left behind after the bullet flies. In the "case" of .22s (sorry, couldn't resist the pun) the longer the chamber(and corresponding case length), the larger the powder charge, and the more power/velocity the round has. The lengths, starting with the shortest are : BB "cap", Short, Long, Long Rifle, and Magnum. "Long" never was popular and I'm pretty sure it's no longer in production. BB is almost useless except for particularly large and aggressive cockroaches, and I'm not sure if it's still in production.

Hollowpoint and round nose refers to the tip of the bullet itself. Round nose has solid rounded tip. Hollowpoint has a cavity in the center of the tip. The cavity weakens the tip of the bullet. Upon impact with a soft wet object, it collects matter inside it and the forward motion of the bullet (as it packs more stuff in the cavity) creates pressure that expands the tip. Overexpansion from too much power/velocity causes the bullet to fragment rather than take on a mushroom shape. (When going through the air, the cavity also creates a pocket of pressurized air in front of the bullet to decrease resistance, but that's another subject, and applying to accuracy at a distance.)

I'm assuming he used a .22 Long Rifle (unless it was a .22 Magnum, if so OMG! no wonder!)
.22 Long Rifle is available in a fairly wide range of "powers" today ; ranging from the the lowest being Olympic grade hollowpoint match (exceedingly expensive and special order except for maybe 20 shops in the country) to cheap round nose ammo, and finally to very high velocity hollowpoints. (CCI stinger and yellowjacket are a couple of brand names of the latter). I was also assuming he would be using the cheap stuff from Walmart in the little cardboard box. That would be .22 lead round nose (specifying "lead" means the bullet does not have a jacket or metallic wash, just a dark gray oxidation layer).
If the box they came in was plastic with the cartridges individually hanging, they were probably overpowered for your purposes. Also, the longer the barrel, the higher the velocity/power (up to 20 or so inches). .22 LR is already a bit overpowered anyway, and another reason for recommending .22 short out of a pistol. .22 LR Subsonic would have been a better choice than the cheapest walmart stuff if it's still made. (It's also quieter because it doesn't break the sound barrier out of most barrels)

Also, it is perfectly safe to use .22 short in a "long rifle" chambered gun. Semi autos usually will not cycle properly so they usually have to be loaded and ejected by hand (effectively turning it into an irritating single shot). Often the shorter round will not feed properly from the magazine and they usually do not produce enough gas to work the action.

NEVER put anything in a .22 magnum except .22 magnum. The rim size and case diameter is larger than the rest of the .22 rimfire family.

Michael Bush · « **Reply #37 on:** October 16, 2023, 06:19:11 am »

When rabbit or squirrel hunting I use .22s so I don[t have to put up with the shot. Plus they are cheaper than shotgun shells. I have not had bullet fragments as a problem. I have not raised rabbits so I'm shooting them. But I think I would try the same method I use on chickens. If you get a good grip on the rabbits ears and reach into their mouth to the back of their throat you should be able to slice the carotid arteries and they should bleed out in seconds. With chickens I hang them by the feet on the clothes line, and debrain them first by pushing a small knife into the groove in the roof of their mouth and twisting it. Then I cut the carotids. Animal gave a good basic overview of .22s.

Ben Framed · « **Reply #38 on:** October 16, 2023, 02:36:05 pm »

I have used 22LR Hollow points from bull frogs up to beef, (bulls and steers),. Frogs the head shot, beef, the brain. They drop like a rock. No problems, no fragments, and no suffering.

animal · « **Reply #39 on:** October 16, 2023, 03:21:21 pm »

Quote from: Ben Framed on October 16, 2023, 02:36:05 pm

I have used 22LR Hollow points from bull frogs up to beef, (bulls and steers),. Frogs the head shot, beef, the brain. They drop like a rock. No problems, no fragments, and no suffering.

ditto... although there, but not the shooter, on the bull. and I've also seen people botch the shot.
Usually a .22 hp isn't even going to expand. On the higher powered stuff they often will. My favorite used to be Stingers, especially body shots on turtles because the results were spectacular (or head shots on beaver.) Sometimes the exit was 2" in diameter on the turtles and there was definite fragmentation. I've also seen good expansion and sometimes fragmentation with them on wet newspaper.

Against a hard enough surface, the hollowpoint will collapse and penetrate without expansion... unless the surface is too hard and strong, then the bullet will often "splatter". Round nose will often splatter against steel as well.

On squirrels, I usually use .22 short because they're quieter and because I still have a bunch of 'em left from a great deal 30 years ago.

Ben Framed · « **Reply #40 on:** October 16, 2023, 05:09:12 pm »

I've never had a problem with the 22 HP because that's all I usually buy (because I have never had a problem and see no need to purchase the round nose for my usages.). I will not knock the round nose though... here is how we do it....
Warning: the following is not for the squeamish..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2oI4ei6NWc&t=3s

The15thMember · « **Reply #41 on:** October 16, 2023, 05:32:42 pm »

I'm pretty sure the bullets we have for the .22 LR are these. https://www.remington.com/rimfire/22-thunderbolt/29-21241.html

Ben Framed · « **Reply #42 on:** October 16, 2023, 06:23:38 pm »

Those should not cause fragmentation Reagan. Personally I would simply follow iddees advice given in reply #25.

Kathyp · « **Reply #43 on:** October 16, 2023, 07:22:33 pm »

I highly recommend an instant pot. I have the 10 qt pot, but they come smaller. There's no bad meat with one of these things. + if you are like me and forget to take stuff out of the freezer...
And there are other brands. My first electric pressure cooker was not instant pot. I wanted to make sure I'd use it so I got a knock off. Used it until I broke it and then got a good one

They go on sale from time to time but aren't too expensive even at full price. Makes a great pot of chili too!

https://instantpot.com/instant-pot-home/

Ben Framed · « **Reply #44 on:** October 16, 2023, 08:22:08 pm »

Sounds good! How is it with roast?

Kathyp · « **Reply #45 on:** October 16, 2023, 09:03:20 pm »

Quote

Sounds good! How is it with roast?

Really good. There are different machines with different options, but the basics are the same. For some roasts, I brown them first, but usually, I just dump them in the pot with seasoning. I add the veggies later and cook again for another 20 min or so. I buy 1/2 a cow at a time so we have lots of roasts. + we buy pork and chicken in bulk when it goes on sale.

Makes great pulled pork and pulled chicken.

Ben Framed · « **Reply #46 on:** October 16, 2023, 09:12:20 pm »

Quote

On squirrels, I usually use .22 short because they're quieter and because I still have a bunch of 'em left from a great deal 30 years ago.

I like 22 shorts for squirrels also for the same reason. But I have a 22 that only handles LR so the '22 LR Subsonic' makes a decent substitute..

animal · « **Reply #47 on:** October 16, 2023, 09:20:34 pm »

Quote from: Ben Framed on October 16, 2023, 06:23:38 pm

Those should not cause fragmentation Reagan. Personally I would simply follow iddees advice given in reply #25.

ditto again

15th, are you sure the sharp fragments weren't bone ? bloody stuff looks the same sometimes

The15thMember · « **Reply #48 on:** October 16, 2023, 09:57:57 pm »

Pretty sure. I mean, they were shiny and metal.

Author Topic: Dispatching Breeder Rabbits (Read 7100 times)

salvo