Dressing Whole Rabbit on Your Own

Has anyone here ordered the whole rabbit from Hare Today and then done the skinning, gutting, grinding on their own?  Ordering the whole rabbit is just so much more economical.   For instance, 55 pounds of whole is $198.88 while the same amount of course ground is $345.76!  The same amount of dressed rabbit is still almost $250.00.

I would have no problem doing the skinning and gutting but I read on a hunter's site that freezing a whole rabbit with the guts intact damages the meat.  Perhaps that's only for human consumption?

I'm curious if anyone here has ever done this.

Thanks!

I've never done it with rabbit. I have ordered some of the adult quail before with the intent of gutting it and cutting it up into meal size portions. It did not go well for me at all. I had no idea what I was doing. I made a complete mess of the first quail, it smelled so "gamey" and I couldn't handle it lol so I had to throw the 8 adult quail away =(

I did want to mention, though, that if you order 11 of the 5lb chubs of WHOLE CARCASS GROUND RABBIT,55lbs, the cost is only $246.95...oh, is that what you meant when you said the dressed rabbit was almost $250?

Anywho, I wouldn't think that it would be worth it to save $50 per 55lbs of rabbit if it meant I had to gut it myself but if it's worth it for you, try it out! Maybe don't order the whole 55 pounds at once, just get a rabbit or 2 to practice on to see if you really want to do that.

I think it would be worth it to get the dressed rabbit. Once you take out the guts and fur and stuff, the price per pound will probably be about the same. Not to mention that you'd have to thaw them first and then re-freeze, plus your time and the mess. . .

Whole rabbits are mostly for snakes and dogs who are big enough to eat a whole rabbit.

I think leaving the guts in makes the meat taste weird to humans. I doubt cats care, they might even like it better .

Hmm, yeah, this says you lose almost half the weight after dressing: "The rabbits are butchered at 8-10 weeks old. They weigh 5-6 pounds live weight and sell whole for $18 each. They dress out between 3-3 1/2 pounds"
http://www.rabbitsetc.us/id14.html

So I really think the dressed rabbit would be a better value.

Thanks so much for the answers here.  Of course, you've all made me realize that I'm a cheap imbecile but I do appreciate the way that you guys delicately phrased that for me.  It just never occurred to me that I would lose weight when I dressed the rabbits!  Plus, Tracy at Hare Today very graciously responded to my email request and said the same thing that you guys did.  She suggested the rabbit parts as the most economical.  

I can actually get frozen rabbit locally for, I think, around three fifty a pound  . . . but the rabbits are from China.  Not so sure how I feel about that.  I'd rather have a more locally sourced product.

Anyway, thanks so much for the advice.  It's why I've come to rely on this site so much!

You might be able to find a rabbit breeder closer to you to buy from if you look hard enough, I buy whole ones for $2/pound or less and dress them for my carnivores but yes you lose quite a bit to guts/hair. Herbivores have a lot of waste inside. I always bought the ground from HT for my cat as it seemed the most bang for the buck.


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Believe me, I've searched high and low and still can't find a local breeder.

I'm continuing to look though.