[leena]

Hi from a newbie. what a great site

i shoot rabbits on my land , skin and gut them and what we dont eat the dogs get.
What should i do with the skin and guts.

Household bin does not seem the right place. Compost bin? I would bury it but i dont want to attract foxes. i suppose the same applies to the chickens. guts and feathers? Its not loads 2/3 rabbits a week. 1/2 chooks

[MrRee]

If your compost bin is sufficiently hot,then they will rot down in there. But,it will attract rats and foxes,and with the amount you would be putting in,might not rot down enough by the time you come to use your compost. The bin seems the easiest solution,it's organic matter so no green issues there. You could always dig a largish pit and either burn with diesel or lime over after each addition,but that seems a lot of work and expense and not particularly green. Bin 'em I say...... Ree

[doganjo]

Slightly different but same problem - my cat brings back half eaten rabbits - he takes the best bits so nothing left for the dogs even - I wrap them in anything that is going in my green bin and put it in there.

[oink]

I know rabbit is only small but you could always try tanning a few of the skins, maybe stitching them together.  I did it with a wallaby hide.  Can't say I've ever used it for anything but it is pretty cool!

With regards to the guts, couldn't the dogs eat those as well, along with the bones?

[doganjo]

Nope - worms!

[oink]

Fair enough.  My dad gives his border collies ALL the leftovers from the walloby he shoots though and they've never had a problem.  Bear in mind, most medium size dogs can survive in the wild so they aint as delicate as we sometimes think.

[doganjo]

Maybe not, but mine are house dogs, show dogs, breeding dogs, gun dogs - don't need a bellyful of worms or heart worm neither so they don't get bunny.  I don't eat it either anyway.

[Tullywood Farm]

I used to have a rabbit skin coat back in the 70's and everyone thought it was mink it was so well sewn into chevrons up the back - it would have made a wonderful throw or rug and I wish I had kept it now - it was only a size 8 so gave it away.

I would look into curing the skins - such a waste to throw them and its not as hard as you might inagine - most stuff is available at the chemist.  Or you could advertise the skins in a local paper or freecycle for someone else to collect and cure.

As for the guts - if there are large forests around put them in their go for a walk and spread it - the foxes will soon eat it and it will keep them away from your land.  We usually do that, but we don't eat rabbit as often as you, its a rare treat here.   

Any good rabbit recipes to share?

Julie

[VSS]

I know rabbit is only small but you could always try tanning a few of the skins, maybe stitching them together.  I did it with a wallaby hide.  Can't say I've ever used it for anything but it is pretty cool!

With regards to the guts, couldn't the dogs eat those as well, along with the bones?

We fed our farm dogs almost exclusively on whole rabbits for about 2 years and they were never healthier. 2 rabbits per dog per day and one day a week with no food. They were fit, healthy and they didn't smell either.

Complete dog food NOT in a bag!

[doganjo]

Just as well we don't all feed our dogs the same or the dog food industry would grind to a halt .  Sorry, still no raw rabbit guts for mine - flesh yes, but not guts, and not bones in case they split, and only best quality bagged food too (Pinkerton's Challenge Salmon and Potato - Sharon is a friend so I know EXACTLY what goes into it), but a varied diet as well.  They love pheasant and partridge and occasionally hare, with a rare treat of venison.  They haven't tried Wallaby yet though  Don't see much of it over here.

[leena]

Thanks for your replies,

I just wanted to be sure that i was disposing of the waste in the best possible way.

I cant ever imagine my self treating the skins, yak.   It just made me laugh the thought of rabbit skin slippers

I wonder if i could leave the head and ears on like the children's novelty slipperes. a dead bunny bobbing around on my toes

is just down right spooky.

The dogs would not leave them alone

[aparker155]

My dog gets the odd rabbit for dinner that she goes out and catches herself - if she can she does so AFTER she's been given her dinner (greedy lab)  She does need worming more often as a consequence.

I think you're fine to put the leftovers in the bin but I guess you could burn them if you wanted, we did that with a hen that died suddenly and it didn't seem right to put it in the bin and I didn't want to encourage foxes (or my dog to kill chooks). We built a good hot fire with some useless old bits of wood and cremated her!

[Bodger]

I usually gut the rabbits that I catch out in the field shortly after I catch them. The guts are then consumed by foxes, crows and all the usual suspects.
If for any reason I havent done this, then any guts and skins are carefully wrapped and popped quite legally into the bin. I'm sure that given time they'd rot down in a farm muck heap or compost bin but you might find that this practice will attract pests both large and small in the form of foxes and flies.

[Birdie Wife]

If you get a Bokashi compost bin you can compost carcasses, cooked waste and raw meat - google it, they are great!  A bit pricey, but really good, especially if you have a cooler climate where compost doesn't break down so quickly.

[kp]

I know someone who wraps fish guts and skin and then puts it in the freezer until the day the bins are emptied it saves the smell and flies especially as they only get emptied once a fortnight