How to slaughter rabbits, take the hides and tan them more efficiently
Rex rabbit fur has the characteristics of being short, fine, flat, dense and beautiful, is in great demand on the market and commands a high price, but the market also has very high quality requirements when purchasing rex rabbit fur. To sell rex rabbit fur at a good price, raisers should master the following six tips:
1. Feed formulation
The rex rabbit is a dual-purpose rabbit for both fur and meat, and must both grow fur and grow meat. Feed nutrient levels must 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 hair and develop sores, and it must be treated promptly, otherwise the quality of the hide will be seriously affected. According to the number and size of the 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 slightly red is exposed, add an appropriate amount of diesel oil to the realgar taken and mix it into a paste, then apply it to the affected area, once each morning and evening; generally applying it for 2 days will bring about recovery.
3. Take hides at the right age and the right 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 hide collection and its body weight is above 2.5 kg, it can be slaughtered. 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 weight of the fresh hide onto the fresh hide and salt 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 weight of the fresh hide for salting 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 - acid soaking - tanning - neutralization - centrifugal water removal - fatliquoring and drying - dry scraping - finishing. The parameter times for each process are: soaking in water 16-24 hours, degreasing 1 hour, acid soaking and tanning 48 hours each.