Cleaning A Domestic Meat Rabbit With A 24" Machete!

FortyTwoBlades

FortyTwoBlades

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Not quite hunting, but homesteading. Demonstrating the use of a big blade to do fine work! Please note that my usual processing knife is an F. Dick poultry and rabbit knife with a 4" blade--much more suited to the task. Watch full-screen for the annotations not to run on top of each other.

[video=youtube;22pP2ndl0ZE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22pP2ndl0ZE&feature=youtu.be[/video]
 
You'll put your eye out kid!! haha Good instructional video, always nice to have clean water nearby isn't it? I hate the goo and dried on mess when butchering.

Machetes do a ton of work around the world butchering large and small animals. Still I would use a smaller knife if I had the choice but in many cases in undeveloped countries you have one tool with an edge and it does it all. I just read Frank McCourt's book 'Tis and him talking about growing up hungry and threadbare in Limerick, Ireland then living in NYC and how the contrast of stark poverty there versus manageable poverty as he found it in 1950's NYC was striking. I am going off on a rift of sorts but in places without much the machete is the logical distillation of many uses tried and tested in harsh reality and limited resources.
 
Yeah using the dedicated rabbit knife gets the job done a lot faster and easier, that's for sure! :D But yes--I thought this an apt demonstration for the versatility of machetes and how a large blade is not necessarily a truly limiting factor so much as merely an inconveniencing one compared to using a smaller tool. :cool:

Thanks for the kind words guys--glad to share! And I highly encourage everyone that has a mind to try their hand at homesteading to give rabbit raising a go. Highly efficient, low impact, versatile, and delicious! :p
 
Excellent video. I grew up in northern Wisconsin hunting cottontails and hares. I always had a hard time keeping the hair off of the meat. I have never suspended them by their rear legs either, usually butchered on the ground or a good stump. Very good informative video. Thanks for posting.
 
Also, as a fun fact about rabbits, domestic rabbits are unable to interbreed with wild North American ones as they are completely different species that originated in Europe. Domestic meat breeds often hit their 5lb. live processing weight by 8 weeks and dress out to about 2.5-3lbs. of meat. They are much less gamey tasting and tender than wild rabbits, though both have excellent nutritional qualities. The US Navy actually used to serve rabbit in their meal plans and would substitute 6oz. of rabbit meat for 12oz. of chicken because of how much more protein and calcium it contained, as well as how filling it was. The USDA recognizes domestic rabbit meat as the healthiest commercially raised meat known to man. Their manure can be dumped straight into a garden without burning it, and is popular with gardeners for that reason--they'll pay top dollar for "bunny berries"! :D Their feed conversion ratio (how much feed generates a pound of meat) is six times as efficient as that of commercial beef cattle.
 
Rabbit hunting, we used to gut them immediately and then skin them later. You can actually sling the "guts" out pretty easily. Then cleanup what is left which isn't much other than the kidneys and heart/lungs.

Yeah, I know you can do a lot of things with a machete if you are experienced and willing. Interesting video. Always figured you were an older gent.
 
Nice work! :thumbup:

But this guy's got it down pat!
[video=youtube;q7trIwVMYZA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7trIwVMYZA[/video]
 
22-rimfire said:
Always figured you were an older gent.
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Not the first time I've heard that, but give me some time--I'm working on it a little every day! :D:thumbup:

markksr said:
Nice work! :thumbup:

But this guy's got it down pat!
[video=youtube;q7trIwVMYZA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7trIwVMYZA[/video]
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Quite! I'm unsure how that method would work on domestic rabbits, but I'll have to give it a go and see how it does. Domestic meat rabbits are about 5lbs live weight at time of slaughter, yielding about 2.5-3lbs of meat so they may be too large for that method to function effectively. Won't know 'til I try, though! :D Seriously, thanks for that. A very interesting clip. :cool::thumbup:
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
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Quite! I'm unsure how that method would work on domestic rabbits, but I'll have to give it a go and see how it does. Domestic meat rabbits are about 5lbs live weight at time of slaughter, yielding about 2.5-3lbs of meat so they may be too large for that method to function effectively. Won't know 'til I try, though! :D Seriously, thanks for that. A very interesting clip. :cool::thumbup:
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At 1:18 he mentions that "on some big buck rabbits this method can prove to be a little difficult until you've mastered the method", but the example in his hand at the time looks (to my eye) to be bigger than our typical domestic rabbits.
 
markksr said:
At 1:18 he mentions that "on some big buck rabbits this method can prove to be a little difficult until you've mastered the method", but the example in his hand at the time looks (to my eye) to be bigger than our typical domestic rabbits.
Click to expand...

It's not just the size--it's the skin thickness, too. But in general the ones he has look to be about 4lb. rather than the typical 5lb. mark that you hit with meat rabbits before processing.
 
A dressed whole domestic meat rabbit typically fetches about $15. Growers actually can't meet demand!
 
Wild cottontail must be pretty thin skinned compared to domestic. I always just poke a hole in the back, place my two index fingers inside, and pull off all the hide to the head and ankles. Cut those off, gut it, and your good to go.
 
Yup--wild North American rabbit varieties have skin more like parchment paper. The skin on domestic rabbits is a lot thicker.
 
This was interesting. I just skin the rabbit and then gut. The other method looks like it could get messy if you do it wrong.
 
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