Sophie has now been on a RMB diet since July last year and is thriving. After hearing the benefits of rabbit, Andy has shot a couple while fishing at the weekend.

We have stuck them in the freezer and Andy is currently trying to chop it in the garden.....

I thought I would be ok with rabbit, but having seen "Thumper" I'm having 2nd thoughts

Anyway I have a few questions... shall we feed rabbit with its jacket on (my Mum was horrified at this thought)?, is it better to be fed frozen or defrosted??, should she eat "everything", ie head,entrails etc.....?

I'm really not looking forward to this

Oh and final question, how much of bunny should she have?

Waiting with apprehension......

no expert on barf at all but seem to recall it being absolutely fine for them to eat jacket an all - aslo remember reading somewhere that in the wild they eat the whole lot as the fur (or feathers in case of birds) protects the stomach from any bone splinters

Jacket on is good Give her 1/3rd of it to start with, I don't feed with the entrails in, I gut them but leave the heart, kidney and liver in. Chop in 3 , just behind the front legs and just in front of the back legs leaving a nice middle or saddle of rabbit. What were they shot with? Shotgun, watch for lead shot or pellets and remove, you'll feel them embedded just under the pelt and see them in the flesh too. Air rifle and rifle head shot should pass right through so no problem there.
I defrost mine but Jill and Selina have and do feed frozen, choice is yours but leave them out for a bit first and don't feed straight from the freezer

How'd he shoot them with a fishing rod then

Sandy

I want to ask how big are these bunnies? If its a young un, do you cut in half and thirds for fully grown?

Well I assumed that as she called it Thumper it was a biggun! Good question Cath, small rabbit say under a kilo chop in 2, bigger then chop in 3, ours weigh around 1.5 kilo and we do 'em 3 ways

Great Advice as always Sandy.
Always freeze First to get rid of any parasites etc.Feeding any Food frozen is fine and will not be a problem. with rabbit this is probably preferable as rabbit is very very messy. Like sandy says don't feed straight from the Freezer
Tell my two that they need to be cut up Pete guts them we freeze them and they eat them whole coat and all whatever or anything they leave I just Put in the freezer for the next day etc. I don't worry about freezing, defrosting and refreezing food like you would with humans. This has never bothered my dogs.Great poos the next couple of days a bit furry though sorry
Depends on what size the rabbit is to how much they will eat. I don't weigh anything . If my girls have a whole rabbit and don't eat the next day I don't worry about it.



Jill

I would gut them too, before you freeze them. It's not very nice but it's quite easy once you get used to it then as the others have said chop into portions depending on how big the rabbit is, and how hungry your dog/s are !!!

I buy mine gutted but with jacket on, i cut into 3 then freeze. I defrost before ellie has them but as said can be messy.

I can just see him sat there with a carrot dangling on the end of his line.......

He is very accurate with his casting and can "hit" a rabbit at 160 paces...



Anyway a quick update - OH finally managed to cut through bunny and he's chopped it into 3. When I asked him was size it was, he came back with "bunny size" We gave Sophie the odd bits that flew off while chopping and she loved it.

Took a middle chunk out of the freezer this morning and let her have it this evening in the garden - not even a furball left Didn't take her long either!

Still can't touch bunny yet though - can cope with chicken, offal, pork, lamb etc

When i get my rabbits i get 10 at a time, when i chop them up ellie sits transfix watching me, i treat her with the odd foot which dont even touch the sides.

The girls always sit and are very obedient when pete is gutting a rabbit They are always waiting for some of the prize lol
He always gives them the offal and they eat it with relish
So why do I have to flash fry other offal for them

So .................. do you gut them before freezing ............... ............. and can anybody do me an "Idiot's guide to gutting a rabbit", if so probably by PM would be best, rather than on an open forum. Might have chance of a few freshly shot rabbits before too long so best brush up on mi' skills (or lack of)

and ............. if I suggested Mrs O_D do it I'd probably end up on the wrong side of the cleaver

Cheers Guy's n' Gals

O_D

I get mine freshly frozen now and they are so easy to prepare, we use a good hacksaw and just saw em up, no blood, no mess, and then they go straight back in the freezer.

They then get defrosted in the sections as we need them sometimes mine will have them still partly frozen, Rufus and Titchy have them with jackets on, Ollie has his with jacket off, once they are in sections really easy peesy to skin as well.

heads and legs get sawn off at preperation stage and these are used as treats, gone in seconds.

We were lucky Sandy's Paul gave us a demonstration on how to skin a rabbit, I was really squeamish at first, I hated it but now I just get on with it, don't worry you will get used to it.

Easter Sunday tomorrow, guess what my three have got for breakfast

Good heavens, not the Easter Bunny????

You'd better hope that he's finished delivering his eggs