processing day aproaches

[happy acres]

Tomorrow I will be processing 6 twelve weekers. I'm a bit (read heck of a lot) apprehensive about it. This will be my first time. Does anyone have any advice to make it go smoother? Or ways to steel my nerve? I've done chickens before. How do they compare? A friend has offered to shoot them for me. I don't know if I could club them. I'd probably miss, causing needless pain HELP!

 

[GLENMAR]

I had a friend shoot them for me too. It's easier for me if someone else does it.
They went down real fast, and never knew what hit them. They just thought they were getting to
eat grass in the yard. Not sure it I could do it myself. I know how you feel.

 

[VickieB]

Shan777 posted a very good processing video on the forum. I use the broomsticking method. I started raising rabbits so I could have a way to supply meat for my children and grandchildren if the time came that we couldn't buy meat. I work for Life Today, and get to see videos of children starving to death quite frequently. Once you become aware of how fast a child can starve to death you have no problem with the idea of humanely dispatching a rabbit to feed your family. Ask yourself why you are raising meat rabbits, and what good is it to raise them if you can't dispatch them?

 

[OneFineAcre]

Good luck

 

[happy acres]

I know why I'm doing this, and I don't think I'll have a problem with skinning or gutting. It's the actual killing that gives me pause. I'm the same way about my chickens. I have to steel myself to do it.

 

[happy acres]

Okay. D-day has arrived. Wish me luck! I'll post later how it went.

 

[SA Farm]

Good luck!

 

[happy acres]

So it went well. Instead of shooting, did the head bash thing. Took a couple tries to get the hang of it. Skinning and gutting was the easiest part. Didn't save any hides, because I don't know how to tan them. And now I have about 30 lbs of meat to cut up and freeze. Thank you all for the support!

 

[VickieB]

The first time is the hardest, but when you remind yourself what you are doing it all for... I've learned to treat my animals with more respect. They do have a noble purpose. Watching the Bundy thing in Nevada.. I can understand why they felt the way they did about the feds coming in and killing their animals. I saw a reporter ask a legislator in the area why she was upset with the killing, since these were animals meant for the butcher anyway. If you raise animals for food, you know they have a noble purpose and they are treated with respect and killed humanely. What happened in Nebraska with those animals was a travesty...