# Rabbit Prices?



## Blair (Sep 3, 2007)

What are the prices of breeding stock in your area? I'm looking at NZW or Californians to start my rabbitry and am interested in what the going price is for some decent breeding stock. Looking for a trio to start.


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## SquashNut (Sep 25, 2005)

I paid $50 each for my senior does and bucks and $25 for 5 pound does. These are pedigreed stock.


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## jen74145 (Oct 31, 2006)

Depends what you want. Pedigreed stock goes for about $20/rabbit here for the full size guys, but mini babies tend to be $35 or more. For some reason, the babies cost more than adults. Cute sells, I suppose.

I have bought perfectly good, sweet does for $5, the feed store often has freebies, or I can pay ten dollars at the flea market per doe. I don't take the feed store freebies unless they're something I really want and in good shape; most were a pet someone got tired of so they're very tame and usually pretty fat and sassy.


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## maidservant (Dec 10, 2007)

Breeders go for about $6 here, but then again, there is only one guy in the county selling meat rabbits and they aren't pedegreed. They are healthy. Sometimes a bit stubborn though. One of my "new" does is from him. She never wants to breed, but I think her last meeting with my buck took. 

There is a livestock auction in Lexington (I've heard this from word of mouth) that sells meat rabbits for $2, but I wouldn't use them as breeders. 

Emily in NC


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## Beaniemom (May 25, 2007)

$6? Really? I mean, have they seen the price of feed and gas lately? I wish I could charge that and not loose my shirt (or have the rabbits eat if off me if I'm too slow!)


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## SquashNut (Sep 25, 2005)

All the $6 rabbits i ever bought ended up as culls. In this case you get what you pay for.
I know I paid alot for mine but they put bunnies in the box and breed first time every time. They've been worth it, cause I know their off spring will continue to produce as well as they do.
I wouldn't be able to sell a full sized doe for $20 either, with the feed, and cage space that would be needed for the 25 or so weeks.


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## Blair (Sep 3, 2007)

I don't need papers but I am looking for good stock. I figure a starting price will be $20-30. Around here in the classifieds mostly what I'm seeing are the dwarfs. Last year the local rabbit club was set up at the local TSC store and when I told them I was interested in NZW's, they basically blew me off. So I may have to do some serious searching to find some purebreed meat rabbits locally.


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## SquashNut (Sep 25, 2005)

last july there were alot of mini rabbits at the show for $15 with pedigree, In january this year they were a $40. I a new NZW buck, because I wanted to breed my bucks off spring to a new buck, rather than back to him. But passed on buying any mini lops for my pet line. 
There is one guy near here that sells for less, but I had to cull some I bought from him because of coccidiosis.
I wouldn't get too discouraged it takes time to find good rabbits. Have you tryed the ARBA web site?
Also beware of older rabbits, for cheap. They can end up costing much more in the long run.


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## KSALguy (Feb 14, 2006)

i was just told today that there is a sale down in FL where i can get rabbits from anywhere between 3 and 5 dollars, can we say WOW,

i will be going to check it out next thursday and see what i can find


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## Beaniemom (May 25, 2007)

Thank goodness, I haven't seen any Cocci (shhh, don't tell Murphy)


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## maidservant (Dec 10, 2007)

He can charge $6 because he doesn't feed hay, which I do not agree with at all! Mine are getting cubed hay right now because a square bale is upwards of $12, and that's not horse quality! 

I charge $25 for mine if they are pets, and $20 for meat breeders. I don't usually ever have enough meat rabbits to sell to people for food. 

My little ones I have now get fresh grass daily. Not much, but it eases the stress on their mom and cuts down on her pellet eating. The babies are nibbling at the pellets, but they don't like them yet, lol. Same with the hay. I wish I could find them some good hay that wasn't shipped in, but that's not going to happen for at least another year. 

Emily in NC


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## Reauxman (Sep 14, 2002)

Feeding hay would reduct the cost for me to product rabbits. 

That said, most meat breeders don't feed hay. It takes to much time. Research companies have put many years into formulating a complete diet, so there is really no need.


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## XCricketX (Jun 7, 2006)

A good high production proven-pedigreed meat rabbit, with width, muscling, and good attitude to boot is well worth over $50. There are a lot of pretty high quality rabbits for less though... shop around, it's like anything else... just make sure you get the best you can afford, and it will help you in the long run, and you can always breed-up whenever you can afford to later! ^_^

Cricket


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## XCricketX (Jun 7, 2006)

Reauxman said:


> Feeding hay would reduct the cost for me to product rabbits.
> 
> That said, most meat breeders don't feed hay. It takes to much time. Research companies have put many years into formulating a complete diet, so there is really no need.


I find that hay alone, even though it is good quality alfalfa/orchard mix, does not help retain muscle. It just doesn't provide all the protein they need alone, especially in the winter months.

Good hay is like a filler with some vitamins... it's like if you ate a bunch of rice the rest of your life, and took the occasional vitamin.

For dietary suggestions, if you do not want to feed pellets, please look at the sticky post in this forum by MaggieJ. There are several of us on here who have meat rabbits, and do not feed pellets.

Cricket


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## Blair (Sep 3, 2007)

I will be exploring different avenues of feeding and I have a lot of learning to do. I prefer a more natural way of feeding. I prefer a natural diet for myself and the poultry I raise get a lot of sprouts and whole grains, grass, bugs,worms and etc. So I will have to experiment to see what will work for the rabbits. 

I know that it will take some time to switch them over for I know of no raiser around here that is using natural feeds. So I will have to take baby steps with them, do a lot of reading here and definitely ask a lot of dumb questions here. 

My goal is to buy the best that I can afford and improve my stock over time through breeding. Such things don't happen overnight.

So you all will hear a good bit from me over the next few decades as I get over this learning curve.


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## turtlehead (Jul 22, 2005)

Price of rabbits around here... I've only ever bought 4.

NZW doe kits, $10 each. Very young.
Male proven Californian buck, about 2 years old, $12

Supposedly purebred, no pedigree, no papers.
They've done very well for me.


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## AprilW (Nov 25, 2007)

Rabbits around here go for $5-$15 each. Most of the ones advertised are pet breeds though...it doesn't appear that a lot of people sell or use rabbits for meat. This is making it difficult for me in my rabbit search.


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## whinnyninny (Aug 17, 2005)

Wow, are those seriously the prices for rabbits? Then why is my local Petco trying to sell them for $99?


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## AprilW (Nov 25, 2007)

Because pet stores always jack up the prices. They have to make a profit in order to stay in business. I don't know about Petco, but a locally owned pet store near me has them for $40...those rabbits look small and sickly. 

I would definitely go to a breeder for better prices and higher quality animals. A good breeder doesn't keep or sell anything that doesn't produce well, so you are almost guaranteed to have good stock (occasionally good rabbits produce offspring who are not as good).


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