← Rabbits H24-06 · Module 6 of 7 · Pages: 18 · Worksheets: 5

Meat and fur

When to harvest, how to dress and inspect the carcass, chill, joint and store rabbit meat, and how to keep and dry the pelts

€9Buy this guide

Secure checkout with Stripe · VAT included · The PDFs are in the language of this page.

Whole series: Rabbits, €39

Meat and fur

In short

  • Medium-breed growers are harvested at 10–14 weeks, at 2.3–2.8 kg (5–6 lb) live weight. The carcass is roughly 55 % of live weight.
  • No pellets for 8–12 hours before, water to the end. Catch the rabbit calmly.
  • Stunning before bleeding is compulsory, and only someone who knows how does it.
  • Check the liver, kidneys and body cavity before the meat goes to the kitchen. When in doubt, ask the vet.
  • Chill the carcass at 0–4 °C (32–39 °F) for 12–24 hours, then cook or freeze. At −18 °C (0 °F) rabbit keeps roughly 6–9 months.
  • The best pelts come from rabbits over 5 months old, killed in winter; tanning is in H63-06.

What's inside

Chapters

  1. When to harvest
  2. Growing on and the harvest plan
  3. Preparing for slaughter
  4. The kill in brief
  5. Skinning and gutting
  6. Inspecting the carcass and organs
  7. Yield and chilling
  8. Jointing and storing
  9. Rabbit in the kitchen
  10. Fur
  11. Waste and by-products
  12. Selling and regulations
  13. Common mistakes
  14. Printable checklist

Worksheets

  • Growing-on and harvest plan
  • Meat and value calculator
  • Slaughter records
  • Slaughter day
  • Freezer labels

Fields and checkboxes can be filled in with Adobe Acrobat Reader (desktop and mobile), and the calculator adds up by itself. Filling in may not work in some browsers. A print version comes with the screen PDF.

This guide in other languages:

BalkanDeutschEspañolFrançaisPortuguêsTürkçeالعربية