COMMERCIAL RABBIT RAISING 



59 



83079-B 

 Figure 29. — Steps in skinning rabbits and removing internal organs. Small jets of 

 water from pipe beneath rack wash blood from back panel and trough. 



the left leg. Carefully separate the 

 edges of the skin from the carcass, 

 taking special pains to leave all fat 

 on the carcass as the skin is pulled 

 down over the animal. This makes 

 a more attractive meat product, fa- 

 cilities drying the skin, and pre- 

 vents "fat burns" on the pelt in 

 drying. 



Even small cuts lessen the value 

 of a skin. As soon as you remove 

 the skin, place it on a stretcher, 

 secure it and hang it up for drying. 

 (See section on "Rabbitskins.") 



After skinning the carcass, make 

 a slit along the median line of the 

 belly and remove the entrails and 

 gall bladder. Leave the liver and 

 kidneys in place. Remove the 

 right hind foot by severing at the 

 hock. Take particular care not to 

 get hairs on the carcass; they are 

 difficult to remove, detract from 

 the appearance, and are unsani- 



tary. Rinsing the carcass in cold 

 water facilitates removal of hair 

 and blood and also cleans the car- 

 cass. Brush the rabbit's neck 

 thoroughly in water to remove any 

 blood. Do not leave the carcass 

 in water more than 30 minutes; 

 prolonged soaking causes it to ab- 

 sorb water, and water in the meat 

 is adulteration. 



Chill the carcass in a refriger- 

 ated cooler. Arrange the carcass 

 on a cooling rack so that moderate 

 air movements and a suitable tem- 

 perature within the cooler will re- 

 duce the internal temperature of 

 the carcass to no less than 36° F. 

 and to no more than 40° within 

 24 hours. 



Hanging by the hind legs for 

 chilling may cause a carcass to be 

 drawn out of shape, so that the 

 pieces will not fit satisfactorily 

 into a carton. Some processors 



