Rabbit Processing Day.......

With the move to our new home I have gotten way behind on butchering rabbits. My old butcher station was a porcelain sink on two saw horses, thanks to my husband Rick, my setup has had a makeover.

My new butchering station is between two sheds. This gave me a wall to mount things on, access to water and shade. The two shelf brackets mounted to the wall are my rabbit station and the orange cone is my chicken station. 

The porcelain sink makes a nice workstation and cleans up well with a little bleach. 

Once I get going rabbit processing goes pretty fast. It takes me about 5 minutes from cage to cooler. I made it through 16 rabbits this afternoon.

I save the livers and kidneys to add to pet food.

The carcasses start the cooling process in the cooler. In the summer I put ice blocks in the water in the cooler, this time of year it is not needed. After they rest in the fridge overnight I will bone them into serving packages and vacuum seal for the freezer.  We eat a lot of "furry chicken nuggets" around here. I bone the back legs and the loin. Ribcage and forelegs along with the bones from the rest go in the broth pot. One rabbit goes a long way!