How do you prep your bunnies for dog tucker?

How do you all prep your bunnies for dog tucker? With possums we just collected the fur and removed the claws and left the dogs to it out in the paddock. We have a big rabbit problem on our farm and have been picking a bunch off every few days. If we take our young dog along she grabs them for us and will pretty much just help herself to them if allowed. Sorry to sound dumb but Should we be gutting, removing the feet or anything first? Is it ok for them to be eating rabbits often? We have enough rabbits around to feed the dogs every day
Also for those that sell rabbits To dog tucker people how are they meant to be prepped for the buyer? Do you just freeze them until you have X amount for the buyer?

Gut, skin, chop head and paws off, chop into half, throw to the dogs

Selling for pet food is very different.
Gut and cool as quickly as poss. In summer you have about 2hrs to chill them before they turn bad. Winter about 4hrs.
Don't freeze them. They want them fresh. You have a very short window to get them to the processor.

If our dog gets fresh rabbit and he does from time to time, then he'll need worming.
I gut and only take the best for meat, we uses it in many ways!, baits for pest control, wife cooks it and throws it to the chooks, feed the owls.
https://www.nzhuntingandshooting.co....tml#post939279
KH

my dogs eat the lot...if they go in house gutting the rabbits first reduces the fart factor.....one dog will eat heads and feet the other likes them removed and bunny naked.

I guy I shoot for runs 15 - 20 dogs so dog tucker is always an on going issue, any I shoot with a 10 min drive to his place I throw in a bin and drop off.
He skins them and guts them, then freezes for 3 days to kill the worms.
I knew possums were bad for worms but never really realized rabbits carry plenty also .

Mate throws them straight into the freezer then, later, chops them in half with an axe and gives them to the dogs.

I have two cats who love rabbit meat so I just cut off the back wheels and give them to the cats as they come. Cats meet me at the door every time I go shooting.

If I get a good one... it goes in the slow cooker and the cats go hungry.

Rabbit is too lean for dogs. Possum is good. I do pet food. Guts(paunch, runners n asshole out). Head n feet off. I deliver frozen to buyer.


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Small cut across the centre of the back, makes skin into two opposed socks. Stand on head pull skin off backlegs and feet, turn around head upwards, stand on back feet pull skin to base of ears, cut ear cartilage, pull skin off head. To gut, split from arse through pelvis to diaphragm in one cut pull out stomach and intestines, leave everything forward of the diaphragm for the dog.

Thanks all. Just got 4 yesterday so left the dogs to them out in the paddock. Younger dog manages to pretty much eat the entire thing and leaves the skin/fur and head. Older dog like to pretty much eat the whole bottom half. I’ll try and prep the bigger bunnies but we do get quiet a few smaller ones that I’ll probably just give them whole out in the paddock. I’m not brave enough to eat them. We laid bait down mid last year which done nothing so have resorted to just picking them off. Gives us and the kids something to do and if we can feed the dogs at the same time it’s a bonus. Was thinking of finding a dog food buyer but we probably can’t get the numbers for fresh pick up and it’s probably not worth the time.

I prepare rabbits for my dog by shooting them, she's to old to catch them herself.

Does anyone have a definitive yes / no on the presence of tularemia in the NZ wild rabbit population ? In the northern hemisphere gloves appear mandatory for handling the bunnies.

Me thinks someone with good video skills needs to do an updated video of rabbit prep, the ones on line are getting dated.

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Originally Posted by Puffin

Does anyone have a definitive yes / no on the presence of tularemia in the NZ wild rabbit population ? In the northern hemisphere gloves appear mandatory for handling the bunnies.

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From what I understand its either very rare or non existent here in NZ. Haven't found any mention of it being found here.

Edit:
https://dermnetnz.org/topics/tularaemia/

gut it, skin it, chop feet off (those claws are sharp) usually freeze them for 2-3 weeks to kill any nasties like worms. thaw and give them to dog.
having said that until the arthritis kicked in a few months ago Bo would just kill and eat his own ..............oh hell the farts were killers !!!

A farm that I used to work on used to skin them and throw them into an old copper and have a big cook up. After about 12 hours cooking it was all broken down, and let it cool off. Scoop out a shovel load, feed to dogs. They cant get enough of it.

We often used to get over 100 bunnies a night spot lighting.

Dont be down-wind while its cooking and its fine.

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Originally Posted by Puffin

Does anyone have a definitive yes / no on the presence of tularemia in the NZ wild rabbit population ? In the northern hemisphere gloves appear mandatory for handling the bunnies.

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Yes Tularemia is here. I reported it about 3/4 years ago in Hares but MPI not interested. Then it was reported again from one of the stations on the Inland Kaikoura road or possibly 'Muzzle' anyway positive culture, again Hares It does not seem to be widespread or virulent. Just chuck any sickly animals. Healthy animals in good condition are unlikely to have clinical disease.

I do push gutting on the spot not long after shooting.
Lay bunnies on side and pull front legs together and back legs together and a slight pull to elongate the body.
After cooling and the get a little firmer you meat cleaver off the rear feet the head and front feet in 3 swings.
To skin just grab the back skin and tear it open and jobs done

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Originally Posted by mimms2

I eat rabbit, so dog's lucky if it gets forequarters and frame. (I take the back legs and back straps off for me)
Possums she gets the back drumsticks if I'm not making biltong with em, rest of the carcass goes to my hawks.

If I let her she'll just eat the whole thing, hoof, claw, brain and bone... but she'll hoik up fur burritos which are unpleasant, so I take skins off and only feed her portions.

Rabbit tends to be very lean meat, so I'd be supplementing with fat (mutton or beef or what you have) and I try and get veges into them aswell.

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Possum biltong that could be interesting

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Originally Posted by mimms2

Meat's meat. The old bucks can be a bit gamey but other than that they're good lean meat. I biltong EVERyTHING.

Got a few peahens annoying me but that old "months with an R in them"... they'll keep till May... The eggs aren't worth a damn, either.

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once I move in to the new house gonna try and make some biltong worth a shot and allways goes good with a beer or 3 :thumbsup:

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Originally Posted by Dynastar27

once I move in to the new house gonna try and make some biltong worth a shot and allways goes good with a beer or 3 :thumbsup:

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sounds like you drink Waikato which would set you up to eat anything after a few :O_O:

Hares, rabbits, possums all thrown to the dogs whole, fully intact. If we had a good shoot and had spares we'd freeze them. Often we had one freezer full with animals we night shot, the other with old sheep/cattle/horse.
Growing up we never had less than 12 dogs on the farm, and as many as 20. Now at the farm there's about 8 or 9. And we have 6 here. Never ever had a problem with feeding whole rabbits or hares or possums to dogs, and they always do very well off them.

I had a staffy who learnt to run in the direction the band stick was pointing after it went bang. She learnt that there was something yummy to eat and if she got there quick enough she could down the whole rabbit before I got to it.

I have shot a rabbit and thought id take a leg back to my dog to see what she did with the leg , first time she buried it and it went all maggoty and shit, so I threw It out when I saw it on the lawn after she redug it up , Second time she turned her nose up at some fresh rabbit meat cut off the back legs into chunks. I don't think she knew what to do with it.
Any suggestions to get her to like it or is it more of a 'get used to the smell' ect….

Dog is a maltease , shitzu cross/handbag dog who thinks she is a farm dog lol....

@Frodo was at my place the other night and he shot a bunny so we made an impromptu rabbit stew.... it was bloody good! Bugger the dog, bunnies are for me to eat now!

Don't know if it was the bunny or the 1/2 bottle of wine which made that stew taste so good...lol.

The only prep is loading the firearm! :thumbsup:

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Originally Posted by mimms2

Don't feed it for 3 days, then put the rabbit where it normally gets fed.

Alternatively, if it's your boyfriend/wifes animal and gets fed off people-plates, have some on your plate at dinner and offer it.

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No the dog doesn't get fed from peoples plates , if I don't feed her for 3 days, that's just cruel and im not that hardup for her to eat rabbit.
I will just try again and be patient with her.