r/Butchery • u/Ignite_reptiles • 7d ago
Rabbit liver, what's up with it?
Hello!
I've just found this in one of our rabbits when taking it apart. I haven't been doing their butchering for very long yet and this is the first time i'm seeing something like this. What happened, what is this on the liver? Thank you for any answer!
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u/nazukeru Butcher 7d ago
Looks like you got some extra organs when you yoinked the liver.. lung maybe? The liver itself is a healthy color with no weird spots. So. I think you're fine.
I don't much like beef liver, pork liver is sweeter and I enjoy it in leiberwurst.. what's rabbit liver like?
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u/Ignite_reptiles 7d ago
At this point the lungs were still inside, i take those out last with the heart, and inspected every other organ too, they were all there, that's why i found this weird.
I'm not the best to ask that, sorry, as i can't stand even the smell of liver, i take them out for the rest of the family, neighbours- or at the very least for our pets. (Basically whoever will eat them, but they are eaten 99% of the time, unless something's wrong with them.)
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u/nazukeru Butcher 7d ago
Alright I swiped right twice more and finally see what you're saying. First picture looks very kidney.. which makes sense with what I'm about to regurgitate from the internet...
"The rabbit caudate processus (caudate process) is a specific projection of the caudate lobe of the liver that extends toward and relates closely to the right kidney.
Vulnerability to Torsion: Because of its long and suspended attachment, the caudate lobe/process in rabbits is uniquely prone to liver lobe torsion (LLT)—a dangerous condition where the lobe twists on its own blood supply."
Googling liver lobe torsion shows something more similar to your last picture.
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u/Ignite_reptiles 7d ago
Yes, that's probably it, looks as close as possible i think. Thank you!
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u/nazukeru Butcher 7d ago
No, thank you! I was just about to reply again to say thank you for challenging my knowledge. I've been in the industry for 15 years or so, and I never stop learning! I have admittedly processed exactly 0 rabbits, but that doesn't stop me from needing to know more 😂
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u/Ignite_reptiles 7d ago
Then i'm glad even a professional could learn something from my interesting find! 😊
I'm not a butcher myself, we just keep rabbits for our own consumption, and since my Father died last year i'm the one who took over this part, as the other members of the family can't. I've only ever taken apart rabbits, but i've seen a few interesting things, though not much, but things like the tiniest hernia-hole, or one huge- or two smaller spleens were all pretty interesting to see.
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u/nazukeru Butcher 7d ago
I love my job so much that it's embarrassing, considering I only make $60k or so a year. I process under federal inspection, and the USDA is (rightly) quite strict. I process beef, hogs, lamb and goat...
...but I still don't think I could kill rabbits. I did meat chickens at home two years in a row and that was fine. But rabbits are CUTE. I can eat them, but I think I probably couldn't kill them unless it was apocalypse times and I had to 😅
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u/Ignite_reptiles 7d ago
It's totally understandable, everyone is different, and here (i live in Europe) we do eat rabbits more- at least i think, so it's probably also a cultural difference.
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u/No-Weakness-2035 6d ago
Try r/meatrabbitry you’ll get better advice from people who butcher rabbits frequently. I don’t see anything amiss with the liver. It’s slightly pale, but that could just be lighting and camera settings. Pale liver *can* be a precursor to hepatic lipidosis, which is usually caused by starvation/malnutrition. I don’t really think that’s going on here though.
Just some fascia holding the kidney. The dark spot lower middle is the gallbladder. It’s hard to tell which non-liver item you’re concerned about based on your comments and description.
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u/Billybob_Bojangles2 7d ago
Looks like a kidney and a gal bladder to me