Raising our New Zealand Meat Rabbits *Start to finish - Birth to processing* Possible Graphic pics*

[Triple Willow]

Where do you guys sell your pelts, or to who? I don't want anything to go to waste.

 

[Angelicisi]

Any easy way to tan a hide?
Once a group is tanned can I sew together to make fur throws/small rug? My Aussie would love like a "bear rug", but made of rabbit fur. Would they hold up to being slept on? My dogs not a chewer...

 

[Angelicisi]

I know there's a taste difference in young vs older butchered rabbit. Is there a taste difference in breeds?

 

[ChocolateMouse]

TW, I sell under the table to freinds in a medevial reenactment association that I am part of.

Angel, hide tanning is a lot of elbow grease. Tanning them is easy, you throw them in a bucket of water, salt and either battery acid or alum and wait a couple weeks. Peel the flesh off, then toss em back in for a while. Then they are tanned. Making them soft and usable is harder because you have to work and stretch and break the hides constantly while they dry to get them soft and pliable. I am still working on that part.

My dogs only chew their toys typically but rabbit hides smell salty, feel like bunnies and still taste like a hide to them. You would have to train the dog to "leave" the rug alone but it could certainly work.

As for the breeds some say yes or no, but I say no. It is like how chicken is chicken to me.

 

[Angelicisi]

Battery acid or what?! Aluminum? Why!?
There has to be a way to do it naturally right?

TW, I sell under the table to freinds in a medevial reenactment association that I am part of.

Angel, hide tanning is a lot of elbow grease. Tanning them is easy, you throw them in a bucket of water, salt and either battery acid or alum and wait a couple weeks. Peel the flesh off, then toss em back in for a while. Then they are tanned. Making them soft and usable is harder because you have to work and stretch and break the hides constantly while they dry to get them soft and pliable. I am still working on that part.

My dogs only chew their toys typically but rabbit hides smell salty, feel like bunnies and still taste like a hide to them. You would have to train the dog to "leave" the rug alone but it could certainly work.

As for the breeds some say yes or no, but I say no. It is like how chicken is chicken to me.

 

[Angelicisi]

I'll do some research, my grandpa kept hides off his and my uncle keeps coon and deer hides and us kids never learned. His were super soft leathery on one side and fur that hardly shed on the other. But it did take months to get them done. I only remember them tacked up on a drafting table after being washed. (never thought it could have been battery acid in the tubs...whew) is love to make some things out of them. I might try this and post it if I can find a way to do it naturally.

 

[Triple Willow]

Thinking about pelts reminds me of watching "Daniel Boone" and the fur traders on there.

I wonder how much a pelt is worth...? I know a woman that had a long fur coat made out of furs her son harvested from coons. Really pretty coat if you are into that.

 

[ChocolateMouse]

Angel, there ARE natural tanning methods. Most of them require rubbing some condition of salts, oils and tanning based plants into the hide and the simple fact is that it takes forever and you will spend 30 hours tanning a hide that is worth about $5. One of the popular methods for example is brain tanning. First you take your fresh hide and spend an hour or so delicately scraping flesh and fat off of it without tearing the skin. Then you rub salt on the hide after stretching it. Then you mash the brain of the animal into water and make a mush. Then you rub that into the hide until it soaks in like a lotion (takes a long time). Then you keep stretching it and breaking it until it dries. It stains the hide quite badly, too, because brains aren't exactly super clean.

I also know there is some sort of egg tanning solution.

With the salt/acid/alum solution you just toss the hides in for a week straight off the rabbit or you can freeze the hides to save them up. You cant do that with other tanning. Then after a week the flesh peels right off with very little effort. Then you put them back in and in another week they are done! With other tanning you have to process them one hide at a time, you have to flesh the hides while everything is still gooey, you have to use a lot of strange things to tan them... It is just more work than it is worth when you can get tanned hides off of ebay for $10 for an adult, soft hide.

The battery acid method seems super toxic but you only use a little and it is safe to get on your hands (although it will dry them out) and you can neuteralize the acid by adding a scoop of baking soda to it, rendering it inert. Then you just pour the used salt-heavy solution somewhere that you don't want weeds like on a driveway or sidewalk.

 

[Angelicisi]

"brain tanning"

My brain just left.

I just started the executioner part of farming , I dunno if I could dig out a brain to smush it! Buuuut I DO love zombies... oh my. I love learning new things lol scared to google that!

Angel, there ARE natural tanning methods. Most of them require rubbing some condition of salts, oils and tanning based plants into the hide and the simple fact is that it takes forever and you will spend 30 hours tanning a hide that is worth about $5. One of the popular methods for example is brain tanning. First you take your fresh hide and spend an hour or so delicately scraping flesh and fat off of it without tearing the skin. Then you rub salt on the hide after stretching it. Then you mash the brain of the animal into water and make a mush. Then you rub that into the hide until it soaks in like a lotion (takes a long time). Then you keep stretching it and breaking it until it dries. It stains the hide quite badly, too, because brains aren't exactly super clean.

I also know there is some sort of egg tanning solution.

With the salt/acid/alum solution you just toss the hides in for a week straight off the rabbit or you can freeze the hides to save them up. You cant do that with other tanning. Then after a week the flesh peels right off with very little effort. Then you put them back in and in another week they are done! With other tanning you have to process them one hide at a time, you have to flesh the hides while everything is still gooey, you have to use a lot of strange things to tan them... It is just more work than it is worth when you can get tanned hides off of ebay for $10 for an adult, soft hide.

The battery acid method seems super toxic but you only use a little and it is safe to get on your hands (although it will dry them out) and you can neuteralize the acid by adding a scoop of baking soda to it, rendering it inert. Then you just pour the used salt-heavy solution somewhere that you don't want weeds like on a driveway or sidewalk.

 

[GentFarmer]

Where do you guys sell your pelts, or to who? I don't want anything to go to waste.

Any easy way to tan a hide?
Once a group is tanned can I sew together to make fur throws/small rug? My Aussie would love like a "bear rug", but made of rabbit fur. Would they hold up to being slept on? My dogs not a chewer...

I don't like the battery acid for its abbrasiveness. Alum, not aluminum. It's just a salt. When I tan, I go with the alum mix. first soak is 3 days, then you flesh the hides with the edge of your choice (I actually prefer a fleshing knife), but anything works. Then you make a new Alum solution and soak them for a week. After that, you let them hang to dry for a day, and take them off while they're still just a bit moist and pliable. Then you get to put on your favorite movie marathon and sit down for what seams like forever to "break" the hides by rubbing in mink oil to loosen them up.

And yes, you can do any sort stitching you like. Some methods are better than others. But it takes a lot of hides to make a blanket. There are plenty of youtube videos on the tanning process, and you can find lots of info on tanning recipes online.

Battery acid or what?! Aluminum? Why!?

Alum is a natural salt.