Butchering Day

[pintail_drake2004]

Plenty of rabbits to butcher this week. I've processed close to 200 so far this year. Shame, the summer pelts are still pretty. But lack the quality of the fall/winter/spring hides. I waited an extra 9 days to process because of the weather. I'd rather butcher in 70* vs 97*. That's a fair trade-off to feed them an extra week.

Rex hides. Its a shame these are summer coats, the quality and density just isn't the same as Fall/Winter/Spring pelts


Pot full of meat.


Packaged up, ready to freeze and sell.

 

[Lacy Duckwing]

Ah. I clicked on this thread expecting Cornish X chickens!
You're complaining about the pelts... Why did you do them now, instead of winter?

 

[pintail_drake2004]

Not complaining at all. I raise rabbits for fur, food, and fertilizer. I try to get the most out of every animal. I butcher year round, to provide meat for us and my customers. Just sucks, they are not the high quality hides found during the winter. I process Rex rabbits for meat at 12 weeks of age, regardless time of year. Fall, winter, and spring I have a buyer for the hides. This time of year, they are too thin making it difficult to find a buyer for the pelts. To feed them until fall would not be cost efficient, and they would not longer be considered "fryers" at that age.

For contrast, these are prime winter pelts worth some decent money.