# How to cull babies?



## MidwestMatthew (Mar 12, 2016)

I have no intentions of ever culling "baby" rabbits (e.g., considerably smaller than butchering size) if I can help it. That said, I've heard of some situations where that's the only decent thing to do.

My question is, how do you do it? If it should ever be necessary for me to "do the deed" on a truly tiny bunny, I'd like to know how to do a quick, clean job of it in advance rather than trying to figure something out on the fly.


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## Hollands (Jun 3, 2015)

I use a pellet gun in the back of the head. I've also heard of putting them in a freezer bag and put them in a freezer for a few hours.


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## MDKatie (Dec 13, 2010)

I'd think breaking the neck would be the quickest and most humane. I'd never want to freeze one to death...that's inhumane IMO.


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## nyhunter (Nov 14, 2014)

Feezing to death is anything but quick... Just break thier neck or pellet gun as said.


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## MeatCountry (May 20, 2015)

If really tiny breaking the neck would be easier and more humane.


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## Caprice Acres (Mar 6, 2005)

With very young kits I do the same method as used on piglet euthanasia. Smack the back of their head HARD on a surface. Trick is HARD and FAST. I usually did it twice to be extra sure, mostly to make me feel better. The brain is dead but there will be some reflex spasms as the body tries to 'go on' without it. On older kits I have done cervical dislocation quite nicely. 

Putting them in the freezer is not humane IMO. The only thing it does, is remove our visual interaction and emotions from the process. Just because we can't see it hurt, doesn't mean it doesn't.


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## thericeguy (Jan 3, 2016)

I like that you not only accept that you may one day have to do an unpleasant task, but that you face that by preparing in advance so you do what must be done properly. It shows responsibility as an animal owner.


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## MidwestMatthew (Mar 12, 2016)

thericeguy said:


> I like that you not only accept that you may one day have to do an unpleasant task, but that you face that by preparing in advance so you do what must be done properly. It shows responsibility as an animal owner.


I have been in a couple of situations where an animal needed to be despatched and I wasn't prepared to do so. Once the animal suffered needlessly until I figured out what to do. I walked away from the other one altogether, leaving it to die as best it could. (I was a teenage city dweller and completely inexperienced.) Neither left me feeling good. Now that I've started hunting and my wife and I are getting into livestock a bit, I feel responsible to make sure I'm prepared, both with knowledge and the proper mental readiness, to do what needs to be done promptly and competently.

Doing in the very small ones seemed a bit more complicated because of how fragile they are. I really do not want to let a dying baby bunny suffer - but I'd also like to avoid making a nasty mess while trying to end it quickly. Hopefully it will not be necessary often.


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## ChocolateMouse (Jul 31, 2013)

One option would be similar to Mygoat's way. This is the way I prefer. Put the rabbit in the bottom corner of a plastic grocery bag, twist and hit HARD against a wall or table, etc. It has to be very hard, no hesitation, etc. This will kill them almost instantly in several ways (broken back, concussion, ruptured organs, broken ribs, etc.) but it's instant. This is a good method for anything that's not walking yet. This is how reptile people dispatch mice and small rats.

For anything about 10+ days you'd want to do cervical dislocation, or broomsticking, just on a smaller scale. 

Newborn rabbit kits are VERY tiny and can't produce much of their own heat, so freezing them IS an option and is certainly more humane than letting nature take it's course over hours or days. Bear in mind that most of us loose rabbits to cold, kits on the wire, sometimes whole litters. It's sad but it's not heartbreaking and we don't cry ourselves to sleep over their suffering. If it's very cold out the kits may freeze before mom even finishes giving birth, cleaning them, feeding them and covering them. It happens. A very cold freezer and a cookie sheet can speed the process up so they are unconscious in minutes... And frozen solid in perhaps 15. That much cold can numb pain very quickly if a kit is suffering. Having said that I wouldn't try this on a kit more than 2-3 days old. Larger/older rabbits have too much body mass, insulation and fur for this to be humane.

You could also experiment with building a CO2 box, which is what is used for euthenizing animals in research labs and sometimes vet offices, and works slightly faster than freezing with a a similar biological response. Which is to say both with CO2 and freezing the animal will experience a short period (under a minute) of panic/pain before being slowly knocked out. But you'd have to also buy CO2.

I must say that the first method is much more brutal in concept, but much more humane in practice. But not everyone can handle that. Broomsticking is always the best method if you can do it and I've heard tell of some people who are dexterous enough to broomstick baby rabbits with a sturdy pencil, but I don't know if I could pull it off. Literally! Haha, butchering humor. But it might seriously be worth a try if you're deft with your hands.


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## Hollands (Jun 3, 2015)

Yes, I was assuming the babies were 1 to 3 days old when I suggested the freezer method. Babies are lost to the cold all the time. It could be very fast. But I don't know what could be any faster than a gun shot to the head. Lights out as fast as you pull the trigger.

By the way, what does IMO mean ??


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## ChocolateMouse (Jul 31, 2013)

A gun shot seems overkill to me on a 4 inch long baby bunny.... But it's irrelevant to me. Discharging a firearm here is thousands in fines and jail time. I'd let the kit die of natural causes first than go to jail for a week-old-kit.  There are options.

IMO; in my opinion. A useful abbreviation.


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## Hollands (Jun 3, 2015)

I hear gunshots here where I live all the time. The load I use is a 20 grain 22cal. It's just a "pop" sound. Or a pellet gun. But on a small baby rabbit you are right. It would be over kill. I just couldn't put it in a plastic bag and smash it on a table or against a wall. That doesn't seem right either. 
ChocolateMouse I'm sorry you live in a state where you can even fire a gun without getting into trouble. Little by little they are trying to take our gun rights away from us....


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## ChocolateMouse (Jul 31, 2013)

Lol, Hollands, that's not accurate at all. I live in a city suburb.  The state has pretty competent concealed carry and gun laws that I actually like a lot. It's totally legal to own, carry, shoot and use firearms. You need to have a licence to carry a handgun and complete a gun training course for concealed carry... And no guns in bars. We still have lots of gun shows and my mom used to take me to them when I was a kid. You only need a permit to carry a handgun. Hunting is a big deal up here, too. So I could own all the guns in the world, I could carry them concealed if I complete a month-long course, but I can't discharge one in my city. It doesn't make sense to drive out somewhere that discharging a firearm IS legal to butcher some rabbits or put down a baby bunny either.  So I don't own one because it doesn't serve me much of a purpose right now. If I wanted one it would be easy to get, though. TBH I wish it was a tiny bit harder. I wouldn't mind waiting a week, needing a background check or requiring a safety course to own a gun. Those all seem like smart ideas to me.


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## Caprice Acres (Mar 6, 2005)

The fact that kits die from cold all the time means nothing in humane euthanasia. We also try to also try to avoid chilled kits through management and saving them. The goal here is to AVOID slower forms of death. You'd be surprised how long a heartbeat can persist in very cold animals and even humans. Don't believe me? How many of you live by the rule of 'It's not dead till it's warm and dead' rule of saving litters found chilled? Slowed heart rates may not be deadly in animals chilled because metabolic and brain function also slows in tandem - so that is some what of a nice aspect, but UNTIL they lose consciousness, it is not a fun way to go. Baby rabbits do most of their own nesting once born, and have a VERY strong drive to avoid cold and seek warmth. I'd not suggest it. IMO, it's our responsibility to buck up and end their lives humanely and quickly. There are far better options than chilling to humanely euthanize.


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## ChocolateMouse (Jul 31, 2013)

I agree that it's less humane. I also think it's more humane than letting a kit die naturally if it would be slow or they would suffer. Not everyone can shoot a gun where they live and not everyone has the heart to "whack" a baby bunny, no matter how well intentioned. It's a much more violent-feeling act then broomsticking or shooting an animal even if the end result is about the same. 
Freezing (especially on a cookie sheet which will rapidly speed cooling and heat exchange making it over much more quickly) is not much worse than the CO2 they use in lab projects. And it's more humane then a lot of livestock are treated in commercial operations. In commercial rabbit operations especially the kits are often simply dumped in the trash to die on their own. So while I think there are better options for dispatching, I'm still willing to lump it into the "This is OK" category, even if we CAN do better. 

It's better to do something that's more humane than nothing at all. I'd rather somebody know that it's better to freeze a kit than walk away, and that it's even better to whack or shoot a kit than freeze it, rather then tell them that whacking the kit or walking away are the only two options. People are more likely to shirk responsibility under letting "nature take it's course" if they don't feel up to the task for whatever reason. So to me, options are good.

But to each their own.


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## Homestead Rabbits (Dec 31, 2020)

Here's a really good article on humanely dispatching or culling a baby rabbit. While freezing a kit is inhumane, there are plenty of other methods you can use like cervical dislocation. How to Humanely Dispatch a Baby Rabbit | Homestead Rabbits


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## LoveChrist (Jan 29, 2021)

ChocolateMouse said:


> A gun shot seems overkill to me on a 4 inch long baby bunny.... But it's irrelevant to me. Discharging a firearm here is thousands in fines and jail time. I'd let the kit die of natural causes first than go to jail for a week-old-kit.  There are options.
> 
> IMO; in my opinion. A useful abbreviation.


I'm sorry you live were you cant shot guns . move to MO!


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