# Dehydrating Rabbit Ears



## Hilda

I've done a search on Homesteading Today but didn't come up with anything.

I've seen websites selling dehydrated rabbit ears as dog treats. I would like to use as much of the rabbits I butcher as possible, the less I throw away, the better. 

Does anyone know how to dehydrate rabbit ears? 
Thanks!


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## Reauxman

wash, dehydrate....


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## turtlehead

You'd have to get the fur off somehow. I've seen pigs ears and pigs snouts sold as treats, and the fur has been removed from them. I have no idea how you'd go about it though.


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## doodlemom

turtlehead said:


> You'd have to get the fur off somehow. I've seen pigs ears and pigs snouts sold as treats, and the fur has been removed from them. I have no idea how you'd go about it though.


Rabbit ears are marketed with the fur on as such:
http://www.hare-today.com/product_info.php?products_id=104


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## Terry W

Dehydrate one of several ways..

200 degree oven
Food dehydrator
Screen on front of firelace, or over wood burning stove
Warm sunny day, spread on a screen


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## Hilda

turtlehead said:


> You'd have to get the fur off somehow. I've seen pigs ears and pigs snouts sold as treats, and the fur has been removed from them. I have no idea how you'd go about it though.


Hey there Turtlehead,

I was thinking may-be scalding the ears in boiling water for a few seconds but not sure if I'd ruin the whole ear.

Thanks!


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## Hilda

doodlemom said:


> Rabbit ears are marketed with the fur on as such:
> http://www.hare-today.com/product_info.php?products_id=104


Hi Doodlemom,

What I'm wondering is while dehydrating, wouldn't the fur fall off as the ears dried out? I'm worried about the fur smoking and making a mess or horrible smell. Granted, it's not going to smell real pretty anyhow, but smoldering fur isn't going to add to the ambience.  

That's a great website, it's where I first got the idea for dehydrating rabbit ears.

Thanks!


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## Hilda

Terry W said:


> Dehydrate one of several ways..
> 
> 200 degree oven


Thanks Terry W! I'm dehydrating in the oven and it was the temp I needed.


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## MaggieJ

Be sure to let us know how it turns out.


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## Tracy

That is my website. I was the first to market dehydrated rabbit ears and feet and then everyone copied my ideas :grump: 
I have worked for close to 5 years developing my business. We work 15 hour days 7 days a week. It is not a get rich quick business. Shoot, some weeks we are lucky to break even.
We are licensed and do everything by the book. Even marketing pet food and or treats require licensing and specific labeling.
I pay a fortune for workers comp and this is only 2 employees.
Not counting the commercial equipment that is needed to do the processing, 3 phase electric to run everything. My electric bills alone run $600-700 per month.

I will be happy to post more later but I must get back to work.
If any one has specific questions about how to start a business I will try to help but please dont copy other peoples ideas.


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## Hilda

Tracy said:


> That is my website. I was the first to market dehydrated rabbit ears and feet and then everyone copied my ideas :grump:


Tracy, I have absolutely no interest in marketing rabbit ears. I'm killing rabbits for my own consumption and for my dogs. If I don't have to throw out the ears, then I won't. I'm not selling them so I'm not cutting into your market. They are for my personal use and if I can't make 'em myself, I'm not going to buy them anyhow so you're not losing any profit from me.

Your website is excellent. I don't know how many times I've seen it recomended on dog groups that I belong to. I have only heard positive things about your business.


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## MaggieJ

Tracy said:


> That is my website. I was the first to market dehydrated rabbit ears and feet and then everyone copied my ideas :grump: ....
> 
> ....If any one has specific questions about how to start a business I will try to help but please dont copy other peoples ideas.


That must be infuriating, Tracy, but in all fairness Hilda said nothing about selling dehydrated rabbit ears. She has a small rabbitry and - to quote - wants "to use as much of the rabbits I butcher as possible." I would think this means she intends to feed the rabbit ears to her own dogs and simply wants to know the best way to prepare them.


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## Tracy

In all fairness Hilda did not state that she wanted to market anything so maybe I jumbed the gun. If so I apologize.

We have commercial dehydrators. You could use any type of dehydrator that has a fan to circulate the air. The old Ronco dehydrators will not work.
Excalibur is a good dehydrator but pricey.

You could try drying them in the oven. I soak the ears in cold water to remove any blood, squeeze out excess water and dry. You will no when the ears are dry because they will be brittle.

Also, your dogs will like them raw also, espececially the feet. I have raw fed my dogs and cats for close to 5 years now. They will eat all parts of the rabbit but the stomach. 

Hope that helps.


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## turtlehead

Tracy,
You work very hard - harder than most people would - so that you can have your own business. I commend you for that; it looks like you have an awesome site and it sounds like you have a good reputation.

When I read what you wrote _If any one has specific questions about how to start a business I will try to help but please dont copy other peoples ideas._ I had a mixed reaction. On the one hand I certainly understand your frustration. You don't want someone else stealing all your hard work; it's like studying your hardest for an exam and having someone else copy the answers off your paper, only a zillion times worse. I'd be upset at that, too!

On the other hand, it's kind of like you've opened a steak restaurant and want to take offense that anyone would grill steaks at home or open their own steak restaurant. The true value in your product is that folks don't have to do it themselves. They don't have to raise the rabbits or buy the dehydrators.

If you truly want to protect this idea (dehydrated rabbit ears) try to patent it.

I admire you for your dedication and your professionalism.


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## Tracy

It has been a long cold day and I came across kind of snotty. I did not mean to.

I have thought about patenting my ideas. Not enough time in the day to do everything now let alone trying to do more.

When this site crashed a lot of old post were lost. I have on numerous occasions posted about our business and how to market rabbits. I have even went as far as helping someone on the west coast and refer her often to costumers that are closer to her.

The bottom line with this business or any other is that you truly have to believe in what you are doing. I belive feeding a raw diet is optimal for carnivores. Dogs, cats, ferrets are carnivores. 

Raw feeding is growing in popularity as more and more people realize the crap sold in a bag [dry dog food or cat food] is that..crap. There are many markets available and I have no intention of trying to monopoloize this. I am fortunate that I have a very loyal costumers. My repeat business exceeds 90% which is unheard of. I believe this is so because we offer high quality product, I do what I say and alway stand behind my products 100%.

I believe people have to do their own research. Many times I will see someone advertising dressed rabbit at a super low cost. These people have not done their homework. They have no idea what it costs to raise a rabbit or they would not be offering it at such a low price, as they surely are losing money.
These people will be out of business soon enough. The problem is that it makes the reputable growers, processers look bad as most consumers do not realize what it costs to do this and look at the cheapest price, period.

This has gotten way off topic from Hilda's original question and I did answer that question. Time to go do evening chores.


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## LadyGourdiva

:nono: Tracy,

The Name and purpose of this forum is Raising Rabits for Profit. Yet you often go off on people if you even think they are talking about making a profit by doing something you might already be doing. 

We all know how hard you've worked to build your business, you remind us all often enough. But, jeeese! 

LadyGourdiva


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## Tracy

LadyGourdiva said:


> :nono: Tracy,
> 
> The Name and purpose of this forum is Raising Rabits for Profit. Yet you often go off on people if you even think they are talking about making a profit by doing something you might already be doing.
> 
> We all know how hard you've worked to build your business, you remind us all often enough. But, jeeese!
> 
> LadyGourdiva



Raising rabbits for profit, not stealing ideas.
The poster not only posted here which I originally did not have a problem with and did not respond too this post UNTIL they emailed me off my business website using a different name asking about specifics. I always answer emails and legitimate costumers that want to know more is one thing. Pretending to be a costumer to copy some one else's idea is another.
This would be like me emailing another company asking how they make certain items so I could copy it.

As far as your comment about me posting OFTEN how hard we work. I remind people that this work is HARD and it is not for someone that is not willing to put the time or effort into what this business takes. This is NOT a get rich quick idea. 
The problem is that most people want to reap the rewards with out working, sorry but that is the truth. 
I have helped many people with their rabbitries and I do not appreciate the innuendo that I go off on people for trying to do what I have done. That is not the case at all. What I expect is that people do their own research. Experiment what work the best for themselves. 
There is a difference.


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## MaggieJ

Tracy, I am quite upset about the turn this thread has taken. 

if the person who emailed your business for specifics used a different name from the original poster on this thread, how do you know it was the same person?

Hilda has absolutely no interest in "stealing your ideas". She simply wanted to know how to dehydrate the rabbit ears from the rabbits killed for her own table, so she could use them for her own dogs. She was shocked and upset by your reaction and hasn't been back here since.

I really feel that you are over-reacting and that this is hurting this forum. I know that this is not the happy place for me that it was before. I would like to see this thread locked before more damage is done. I hope you will consider my request.


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## cvk

RAbbit hair isn't going to smoke and burn at low dehydrating temps. It probably is no hotter than the blow dryer people use on their hair. I would think that we would have to be careful about giving small dogs too many of these ears because of the hair. Mainly because small dogs eat less food and an ear could be a meal. LOL Maybe, not a problem but I could see where my taco dog might get too much fur compared to a black lab snacking on a couple of ears. This is such a fantastic idea. Next time we butcher I am going to dehydrate the ears!!!!!! Oh, and as for pig ears--they don't have fur. LOL!!! I remember when we used to raise little pigs and had to castrate and cut tails off--I had a Lhasa that just waited for lunch!!!!!! BARF!!!!!


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## dlwelch

> this is hurting this forum


It's certainly NOT hurting how I feel about this forum.

From Tracy in two separate posts:



> In all fairness Hilda did not state that she wanted to market anything so maybe I jumbed the gun. If so I apologize.
> 
> It has been a long cold day and I came across kind of snotty. I did not mean to


.




> how do you know it was the same person?


As someone who also manages a forum, it is possible (if certain
conditions are the same) to compare email origins against the IP 
address logged in the forum. Not a big mystery!


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## MaggieJ

Linda, I respect your point of view... and thank you for explaining how it might be possible to tell if it was the same person, _if certain conditions were the same_.

Nevertheless, my opinion remains the same.


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## Tracy

Linda,
Thanks, as someone else that manages a commercial operation you understand what I mean. Yes, I can match IP addresses.

Maggie,
I am not the one that keeps stirring the pot, so to speak. I have thought about locking this thread but I am not going to at this point. Know one knows on this forum if I have had private email conversations with the original poster or not. For the record, I did. I not only publicly apologized but also privately. This poster stated she would not return to the forum. So be it. I am not going to loose any sleep because some one got their feelings hurt. This was not my intention but I do stand behind what I said.


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## MaggieJ

Tracy, thank you for your reply. I was concerned enough to post my feelings on the topic but having done that, I have no more to add. The whole incident has been most unfortunate and leaves a very bad taste in my mouth.

Off to find some mouthwash!
Maggie


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