Efficient Methods for Slaughtering Meat Rabbits, Removing the Pelt, and Tanning the Hide
Rex rabbit fur has the characteristics of being short, fine, flat, dense, and beautiful, with large market demand and high prices, but the market also has very high quality requirements for purchasing rex rabbit fur. To sell rex rabbit fur at a good price, breeders should master the following six tips:
1. Feed formulation
The rex rabbit is a dual-purpose rabbit for both fur and meat, and must grow both fur and meat. Feed nutritional levels are required to be high, generally with digestible energy of 11.4-11.9 MJ/kg, crude protein of 18%-19%, crude fiber of 6%-8%, crude fat of 3%-4%, calcium of 0.88%-0.99%, phosphorus of 0.80%-0.82%, and sulfur-containing amino acids of 0.9%.
2. Treat diseases promptly
Once a rex rabbit suffers from mange, it will lose fur and develop ulceration, and must be treated promptly, otherwise the quality of the pelt will be seriously affected. According to the number and size of mange lesions on the affected rabbit, take 1-5 grams of realgar and grind it into powder. First use a small knife to gently scrape the mange lesions clean, preferably until a slight reddish color is exposed. Add an appropriate amount of diesel oil to the realgar taken and mix into a paste, then apply it to the affected area, once each morning and evening. Generally, applying it for 2 days is enough for recovery.
3. Remove the pelt at the right age and time
Slaughtering rex rabbits is generally chosen at 4.5-6.5 months of age, and the best period is around 6 months of age. At this time, the rex rabbit's second age-related molt has passed, and the fur has matured. In actual production, as long as the rex rabbit's fur meets the conditions for pelt removal, it can be slaughtered once its body weight is above 2.5 kg. The slaughter time is generally chosen in winter, that is, from December of that year to February of the following year.
4. Preservation and salting
Remove the blood, feces, mud, fat, meat scraps, and so on adhering to the hide. Then evenly sprinkle salt amounting to 35%-50% of the fresh hide's weight on the fresh hide and cure it for 6-8 days, or soak the fresh hide in a 24%-26% salt solution for 16-24 hours, take it out and shake off the water, then use salt amounting to 20%-25% of the fresh hide's weight for curing and natural air-drying.
5. Scientific storage
After the rex rabbit hides are air-dried, they can be packed in cardboard boxes with hide against hide and fur against fur. Sprinkle a small amount of naphthalene powder or place aromatic balls between the hides, and store them in a place free of rodent damage.
6. Correct tanning
The tanning process for rex rabbit hides is generally divided into: hide selection - soaking in water - degreasing - second dehydration - second fleshing - pickling - tanning - neutralization - centrifugal water removal - fatliquoring and drying - dry scraping - finishing. The parameter times for each procedure are: soaking in water 16-24 hours, degreasing 1 hour, pickling and tanning 48 hours each.