How to properly preserve rabbit pelt?

[poussin_noir]

Anybody with meat rabbits or hunters know how to preserve/cure your pelts if you want to keep them.
Is there a simple method after skinning I could use, I would hate to waste their fur.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Mac in Wisco]

Here is a good article: http://www.cahe.nmsu.edu/pubs/_l/l-103.pdf

It discusses commercial tannins and brain tanning. There are plenty of resources online if you search google.

You may be able to find a market in your area for rabbit pelts. We used to take all of our deer and rabbit hides to a local leather shop where they would buy them and make gloves and winter caps and such. Typically we bring them a frozen deer hide and walk out the door with a pair of rabbit fur lined gloves.

 

[poussin_noir]

Quote:
Thanks for the link.

I have ben looking online but was unsure of what method would be best and was wondering if anyone could recommend there tried and true technique for this.

 

[Mac in Wisco]

I can't help you much with the tanning side of it. We only dried the hides and saved them for up sale. I did hundreds of muskrat pelts over the fall and winter and would sell them to the furriers in the spring.

To dry them you would skin them, removing the pelt as a sleeve and then pull it onto a wire stretcher. Hang them in a cool place until dry and remove from the stretcher. They can then be bundled, wrapped in paper and stored until you have enough to take to market, have enough for a fur coat (40-50 pelts), or just want to try your hand at some of the different tanning techniques.

Here's a picture of the type of stretcher we used;

 

[mountaintopchicken]

Hi - I have to figure this out too, because I want to start processing the hides from our meat rabbits.

I went to an organic agriculture conference last winter, and one of the seminars was on meat rabbits. I remember the person giving the talk said that curing the hides was fairly simple, and that they used bars of Ivory Soap. I have to find my notes because I can't remember the details. Don't have time now, but when I find the notes I'll post the method they were using.

 

[poussin_noir]

Thanks that would be great! I haven't heard of the soap method before, this should be interesting.

 

[Mac in Wisco]

Here is a good article from Mother Earth:

http://www.motherearthnews.com/Modern-Homesteading/1983-01-01/How-To-Tan-Rabbit-Hides.aspx

 

[poussin_noir]

Quote:
Thanks a good read and useful info!

 

[herbandteas]

Here is a link to see a video of how they skin rabbits

 

[mountaintopchicken]

O.K., I found my notes, but they're pretty spotty. It looks like I was desperately trying to write down every word he said, but couldn't keep up.

So, my hastily scratched notes only say to tack up the pelt (I think I remember them talking about tacking them to boards), and then when it's dry, scrape it. I would have to google how to scrape a pelt, because I don't know how that's done.

My notes say to use a 'natural soap' (but I somehow remember them talking about bars of Ivory Soap), spread it on the leather and let it soak in, let it dry, and then rub it. I assume you must have to wet the bar of soap to get it to spread? Not sure.

The talk was on raising pastured rabbit and this was only a side note. It looks like I'll need to do some more research before I ready to try this!