# Dispatching rabbits with ether



## MaggieJ (Feb 6, 2006)

This was discussed in another thread, but as the original topic there was safe treatment for ear mites (Al. Countryboy "Need a little help") I thought I'd post this separately.

Bernadette mentioned that ether was used for women during childhood in the not-so-remote past. If it was considered safe to use then, I am wondering if it could be used to render rabbits unconscious before killing them for meat. Is starter fluid pure ether or are there other ingredients?

Would the ether make the meat inedible? I'm thinking that if the rabbit was unconscious, one could just bleed it out and proceed. I hate bopping them :viking: and due to our strict gun laws I have not gone through all the hassle of getting the necessary permit to own a .22.

I once saw a plan for a rabbit guillotine that looked very efficient but it was years and years ago, long before I had rabbits. I tried Googling the topic without success.

Anyone have any good ideas for a less hands-on method than bopping? I can't use the broomstick method because arthritis in my knees limits my agility.


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## james dilley (Mar 21, 2004)

Do NOT use either to kill rabbits (or any other critter used for meat) As the animal will have chemicals in it system.And may poison the meat. So No do not use to kill the critter . Useing either. It is not safe for the meat or your health..


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## bob clark (Nov 3, 2005)

Im pretty sure it would spread threw the meat very fast.


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## doodlemom (Apr 4, 2006)

Maybe find a farmer that will do in the rabbits for you for a few free rabbits like I did originally- got culling lessons and now can do it myself. If I saw a rabbit guillotine for sale I might buy it and was wondering if such a thing existed. There are clear restraining boxes available for lab rabbits which might help you. I've heard some people actually use a nail gun or screw gun from the hardware store.


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## MaggieJ (Feb 6, 2006)

doodlemom said:


> I've heard some people actually use a nail gun or screw gun from the hardware store.


I've been doing some reading on the subject. Apparently "captive bolt stunning" is considered humane. I suppose the nail or screw gun would have a similar effect, but would it be efficient enough to provide instant unconsciousness?


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## Hilda (Sep 10, 2006)

Well, this is something I'm thinking about, too. The starter fluid would be good for tiny baby rabbits that weren't going to be eaten. I don't want a .22 either, too much hassle, but I've heard that a high-power (Co2)pellet gun/riffle will do the job quickly and effeciently, that's what I'm looking into. I think broomsticking is a good choice as well BUT without a very experienced someone to show me exactly how to do it and be around while I do the first few, I'm not going to try it. Same with bopping them on the head, there are just some things I can't do unless I have "hands on" training. 

The pellet gun riffle, well, I hunted as a kid so I do have some experince with that.


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## Honorine (Feb 27, 2006)

I'll check the can, but I think that starter fluid has stuff other than ether in it. I think it would taint the meat. I've really only used it on small kits, and I don't butcher for meat(yet) so I don't have any more helpful suggestions.


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## Reauxman (Sep 14, 2002)

Just hit them in the head with a bat or hammer. 

It's not like it takes all kind of force. If you can drive a mail you can kill several rabbits with a single swing(not literally)


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## 6e (Sep 10, 2005)

I can tell you from personal experience on using ether for rabbits. It doesn't work like it shows in the movies! LOL
It takes A LOT to bring a rabbit to even a semi sedate state and then they come out of it really quick too, but it makes them sicker than a dog. We used it on a rabbit as a last resort to try and dig the ear mite stuff out of his ears. It was a neighbors rabbit and this rabbits ears were so full of brown stuff that the oil you put in their ears couldn't penetrate it and that rabbit was so mean you couldn't hold it long enough to get it out. What a mess!!!! 
This was years ago when we were young and dumb enough to try this. Yeah, didn't work. 
The quickest way to kill a bunny if you don't feel you can break the neck is with a .22 in the back of the head. :shrug:


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## MaggieJ (Feb 6, 2006)

Okay, okay... no ether. It was just an idea. :shrug: 

We do bop them and it does work, but I hate it. So I am looking at alternatives. 

I would prefer to be able to manage this without relying on Brian to *always* do the "dirty work." Right now he does the killing, bleeding out and skinning and I take it from there. By then it is just meat.

22 is out - too much hassle and too expensive for registration fees and purchase of the rifle. We're pretty broke at the moment. I wouldn't even care to shell out enough to buy a high-powered pellet gun, if I can avoid it.

Broomstick is out - I haven't the agility.

I have very small hands and a touch of arthritis in the fingers - so snapping necks is not an option for me.

I'm looking for a quick, clean, certain, humane method of killing or rendering unconscious the rabbits we raise for meat. A method that someone with my physical limitations can handle and that doesn't cost much to make or buy. Something less hands-on than bopping because I find it so distasteful that I am afraid I would "pull my punches" and botch it.

Anyone ever actually tried the nail gun method? It sounds creepy but only because it is a new idea to me. If it is effective, I could get past that.

Likewise the "captive bolt" method, although it sounds as though it might be expensive.

Actually, the rabbit guillotine sounds better and better. The weight of the blade and the sharp edge would make it just about instantaneous and it would be just about impossible to botch it, as long as I kept my fingers out of the way.


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## Jennifer L. (May 10, 2002)

Maggie, my elderly uncle told me once that the small general store in town (long since closed) used a little guillotine to do in chickens that they raised themselves. So there was something out there like that at one time. You could probably build something if you spent some time at it. With rabbits I think the problem would be getting their front feet out of the way so they wouldn't get hit by the blade.

It's an interesting idea.

Jennifer


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## 6e (Sep 10, 2005)

Shouldn't have mentioned the nail gun. My hubby said he's going to have to try that. LOL 
He asked if you could use an ice pick right at the base of the skull? It would be quick and humane. 

I think rabbit guillotine sounds like a winner. 

I know how you feel. I don't do any of the killing. I tried to chop off a turkey's head once and I missed and ended up wounding it real bad. That was the last of that. So, I leave the icky work to him. I skin and the kids gut.


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## doodlemom (Apr 4, 2006)

6e I can relate to that- when I was a young girl I tried to chop off a duck's head, but the duck was big like a goose and strong hissing and beating me with it's wings and ended up taking an off swing not quite fatal and then drowning the duck so I wouldn't fail on my mission. My mother and grandma must have been watching through the window laughing because when I came in with it and was cleaning it my mom piped up-"You know how they tell if a person drowned? They put the lung in water and see if it sinks. Then she put a little chunk of lung in a mason jar of water and sure enough it sank. I was so embarassed I started crying.They never sent me out to get a duck again.


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## Terry W (Mar 10, 2006)

MaggieJ said:


> Anyone ever actually tried the nail gun method? It sounds creepy but only because it is a new idea to me. If it is effective, I could get past that.
> 
> Likewise the "captive bolt" method, although it sounds as though it might be expensive.
> 
> Actually, the rabbit guillotine sounds better and better. The weight of the blade and the sharp edge would make it just about instantaneous and it would be just about impossible to botch it, as long as I kept my fingers out of the way.


 A NAIL gun? Okay-- one would have to be real sure about where they placed the working end-- and they would need one that would not require a lot of pressure to get it to fire-- my brother's nail gun has a safety feature that does not permit it to shoot if the gun is not pressed FIRMLY against the work surface.

Perhaps the BB gun at the base of the skull-- to "blow apart" the connection between brain stem and spinal cord. And the brain stem is the important part-- it is that part that keeps the heart beating and the lungs functioning... It 'processes' pain, as well...


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## doodlemom (Apr 4, 2006)

They really do use pneumatic nail guns to kill- maybe the pig farmers or cattle farmers can reccommend the exact type as they are used on larger animals- I personally use a hammer for banging nails in the walls and to the back of the skull for processing- next time I'm in Lebanon I'll ask, but I could probably surf for the answer as well.


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## doodlemom (Apr 4, 2006)

finding lots of references to nail guns and even a game where you have to kill as many rabbits as possible with a nail gun to win- I registered with ashok forums just to check it out lol, but there's a delay just like when I registered for this forum.


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## MaggieJ (Feb 6, 2006)

Jennifer L. said:


> Maggie, my elderly uncle told me once that the small general store in town (long since closed) used a little guillotine to do in chickens that they raised themselves. So there was something out there like that at one time. You could probably build something if you spent some time at it. With rabbits I think the problem would be getting their front feet out of the way so they wouldn't get hit by the blade.
> 
> It's an interesting idea.
> 
> Jennifer


Thnaks, Jennifer, for posting that information. Makes me feel that I'm perhaps not crazy after all. 

I've been Googling in my spare time. They use a small animal guillotine in some research labs. They start at about $500. But it is considered to be acceptably humane.

I've also been checking out the history of guillotines - French Revolution style. The actual principal is simple enough. I think if there was a box to hold the rabbit that tilted slightly downhill, the front feet would be out of the reach of the blade and the tilt would help to bring the rabbit's head forward, positioning it correctly. It's pretty interesting stuff, in a grim sort of way. 

The hardest part would be gauging the necessary height of the frame and necessary weight attached to the blade to make it come down with sufficient force to make a clean kill. Guillotines used for human executions were over twelve feet high and the "mouton" attached to the blade weighed about 60 pounds.

I wonder what one would need for a rabbit?


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## MaggieJ (Feb 6, 2006)

doodlemom said:


> finding lots of references to nail guns and even a game where you have to kill as many rabbits as possible with a nail gun to win- I registered with ashok forums just to check it out lol, but there's a delay just like when I registered for this forum.


Thanks for checking into this, Doodlemom, and please let us know what you find out.

I draw the line at making a GAME of slaughtering rabbits - even virtual rabbits - but I really think a device to handle the slaughtering for meat cleanly and without error would make things a lot easier to MANY homesteaders.

TerryW - Would a BB gun would have enough force to be effective? Perhaps someone out there can tell us.


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## bigbuc (Oct 29, 2013)

I know this thread is very old but I'd like an update on what y'all are all doing now.
i tried clubbing but i got bloodshot shoulders and it seemed one good bop wasn't enough i had to bash their heads in.
I'm using a .22 rifle now.
BUT, I'm thinking of building a scissor guillotine with a retraining cage. I've not seen any plans so anyone's help or alternate advice is appreciated.
The wringer just turns me off. The .22 cartridges are expensive in 2013.
thanks


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## bigbuc (Oct 29, 2013)

On the nailgun. Why not just a long nail through a board?


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## redneckswife (May 2, 2013)

Try a pellet gun if 22's are to expensive. Hubby has used a blunt stick,pellet gun, 22, running noose, slit throats,etc.

My father in law(who is very backwoods) said "Son, just choke them":runforhills:

I've also saw flat steel attached to a garage wall with a round bar attached to it on one side to and they pulled the rabbits head thru the opening on the right side to the side that was attached on the (the left side) and pulled said rabbit up and out-I think it was their method of broomsticking.

I have never saw a de-header.

I guess we've tried various things at different times looking for the most efficient and quickest method.

It depends on whether you want to get your hands "dirty" or what you feel is most dignified for the animal(and to some, this doesn't matter).

I guess it depends on what your comfortable with.

We use a pellet or 22 now(depending on age of rabbit which either would work anyways) to make it the most dignified and quickest(because we want our rabbits to die that way) and that is what works best for us.


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## redneckswife (May 2, 2013)

I don't like the nail gun idea, as a daughter of a job superintendant for construction, I have seen the damage those can do to the person using them or due to error or from mechanical issues and I'm not real thrilled from the kick back(think about trying to use one on a knot hole), I wonder if a rabbit skull would have the same resistance...?

Besides, the room for error with this method may still leave you with an alive bunny in the vegetable state that you have to still kill.

Plus I have a nail gun, and I hate buying the nails for it...I think they are more expensive than bb's for the pellet gun.


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## Wolfy-hound (May 5, 2013)

I know they use CO2 for mink, so if you're very squeamish, you might look into that. CO2 is fairly inexpensive and I know it's humane for rats.


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## redneckswife (May 2, 2013)

bigbuc said:


> On the nailgun. Why not just a long nail through a board?


it would take the same force as a blow to the head with the stick.A nail on a board might give you the same result that you didn't want - the bruising I believe it was :shrug:

It's just a more modified version.


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## froebeli (Feb 14, 2012)

After using the blunt force to the head method, I have found broomsticking to be much more to my liking. Bunny knows nothing about whats to happen until a few seconds before its done. I'm a medium sized woman and have no problems standing up to dispatch a bun. Bleed out and move on. 

I do get bloody neck areas, but that is easier to clean up than bruised shoulders and the shoulders are clean with this method. Had a few bruised front leg/lower joints with the first batch, but no problems since.


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## redneckswife (May 2, 2013)

Frobeli, I had thought about trying the broomsticking method(hubby said no way was he gonna try balancing 275lb ,lol)..but I'm afraid that I'm not coordinated enough. I hate to share the secret but I'm a bit clumsy:teehee:


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## froebeli (Feb 14, 2012)

I'm not the most athletic person in the bunch, but it doesn't require much if any balancing. There are lots of videos out there to watch, but the basics include the stick and holding the bun by the back legs... one leg on the end of the stick, bun head under and front legs back and step on the other end and pull up. 

Hardest part I found was getting the front legs out from under the stick and not letting the bun try to run off. Over and done with in one movement. 

15 more to process in a week or two, so this should be old hat by then. Just weaned 19 others at 5 weeks, so more to come. Trying to fit a little deer hunting in until then


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## MaggieJ (Feb 6, 2006)

Talk about zombie threads! It makes me cringe even to think of some of the methods I considered back then. We continued to bop the rabbits (effective, but distasteful to me) until we discovered that a pellet gun fired at point-blank range at the back of the neck, just below the skull was effective. This is the method we have used since then.


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## Oakshire_Farm (Dec 4, 2008)

I raise rabbits for a snake food company. They require that all the rabbits are killed with CO2. So I had to build myself a CO2 gas chamber. It was pretty cheap to build, and I only had to do it once! 

Here is what I did. I went to Walmart and got me a cheap plastic tote with a lid that sealed nice a tight. I online to our local craigslist, I found someone selling off some paintball supplies. I bought 2--20oz CO2 bottles for $20 each, then I bought a "Remote Hose" this is the hose that paintball people use to connect their CO2 bottles and their guns.... It is a coiled hose. The end that should get screwed into the bottom of the gun, I drilled a little hole in the bottom of the tote, and used a big bloob of hot glue, and pressed the end through the hole. This end easily clips on and off the hose. I attach the other end to a CO2 bottle, When I am ready to dispach some rabbits, I hook it all up, put a handful of fresh shavings in the bottom of the tote, place rabbits in. Then SLOWLY turn on the gas. I have found if I turn the gas on to fast, it scares the rabbits and the scream. But if I go nice and slow, they are ok, just looked worried. But within 2 minutes they fall asleep, another minute after that they are dead. I take them out. 

If you would like more info I can post photos. It works great! The whole thing was built for about $60, I could have done it cheaper , if I looked harder for a better deal, but I had to get some rabbits processed and bought the remote hose new for $30, the used bottles I got for $20 each, I bought 2, you only need one. and the tote was under $10 from walmart. CO2 cylinders are easily filled at Canadian Tire for $4 each fill.


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## Wolfy-hound (May 5, 2013)

I like CO2 for rodents too. Done right, they go to sleep and then they die. Easy and clean and humane.


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## bowbuild (Aug 2, 2008)

I have suggested this before, better for 2 people to use, but I have done it myself.....very efficient, and quick death....don't laugh it works good! http://www.harborfreight.com/catalogsearch/result?q=paper+cutter It breaks the neck, NO it does not cut the head off as it is NOT a knife like edge.


Bowbuild


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## bunnytech (Oct 26, 2013)

The most humane way is to snap neck before cutting their head off
Put your left hand under your chin and your left thumb behind their neck grab the back legs with your right hand and 1 motion for your left hand right hand opposite directions pushing down with your thumb on your left hand and pulling the head back towards your left thumb cut the head off and let em bleed out
Sent from my ZTE-Z990G using Homesteading Today mobile app


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## Lookin4GoodLife (Oct 14, 2013)

Why does the Rabbit Wringer turn you off BigBuc? I think that's what I'll go with when I get started, either a purchased one or one I fabricate myself. The video on their web page looks pretty easy and the rabbit doesn't move at ALL after he's dispatched. Everything else I've seen leaves the rabbit kicking and flopping..... I know they're probably dead and don't feel anything, but I'd always have my doubts. 

As for nail guns, I'd hate to have to claw hammer a rabbit's head off a killing board after I nailed him down.  I think I'd stand a better chance of just snapping their necks with my bare hands than nailing them down like that. I couldn't do the CO2 for chances of them screaming like Oakshire mentioned. I've been at our animal shelter when they offed dogs like that and they started their low wailing. If I did that to a rabbit, I'd probably never be able to kill one again. Not knocking his method, just don't think it's for me.  

I too feel a little clumsy for the broomstick method. I've watched several videos of that and I'd probably fall over when the dang thing started squirming. I think the Wringer is going to work well for me or else I'll probably just give them some treats to eat and lop their heads off clean with a big, heavy meat cleaver I've got.


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## MaggieJ (Feb 6, 2006)

There are several acceptable humane methods of dispatching a rabbit, but for various reasons not all of them are good for each individual. The Rabbit Wringer is an excellent method, but they are fairly expensive. Pellet gun or .22 both work well. Broomsticking is just fine, if you have the agility. Bopping works, but some people have concerns about their aim or how hard they need to hit. Snapping their necks work fine also, provided you have the strength in your hands to do it well. 

Choose the method for yourself that seems to offer the best results and least distress both to you and the rabbit. There is no "one right method".


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## bigbuc (Oct 29, 2013)

Just the sound of the vertebrae unzipping. I'd manufacture one if I opted for that method too.
Bopping them is the way I did the first batch but my aim was off. I didn't hit myself but got some bloodshot shoulders. For the time being the .22 is working and cheaper than buying a pellet gun.

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## RiverPines (Dec 12, 2006)

Pellet gun. Legal, quiet and quick. Its all I use.


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