# Can you save money on meat with rabbits?



## Hoppy (Aug 9, 2012)

Or does it end up costing more? From all the practices I have seen with slaughtering, I want my own meat, not mass produced. No offense, but the mass chicken farms and beef make me sick to watch, and yes I still eat it. I'd just like to have a "cleaner" alternative.


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## PD-Riverman (May 24, 2007)

Hoppy said:


> Or does it end up costing more? From all the practices I have seen with slaughtering, I want my own meat, not mass produced. No offense, but the mass chicken farms and beef make me sick to watch, and yes I still eat it. I'd just like to have a "cleaner" alternative.


Hoppy, you could spend most of your day running around the farm and woods collecting food for the rabbits and save ALOT of cash on rabbit food. You could probably feed them with out any commercial food, but it would take some of your time. There is no way you can buy commercial feed as cheap as the places that "mass produce" the animals. I can walk into Tractor Supply and buy 50lb of shelled corn for $10 or I can throw my tank in the back of the truck and go buy 500lb at bushel price which comes out to about $7.30 for 50lb. What if I could use a tractor trailer load every week or two and get it for $5 per 50lb. So I look at it this way---If you buy all your rabbit/chicken feed it will cost you more to raise them than it would a big commercial farm BUT if it cost me a dollar or two more and I know how my "Meat" was raised, what they were fed, how they were treated etc-----Having peace of mind is worth alot to me so I Raise my own. I also grow alot of their food in the garden so my actual cost is a good bit less than if I bought all of their food. I did not get into raising rabbits because it was going to be ALOT cheaper than buying them---I wanted to Know how my meat was treated, fed etc. Now that I am raising them I am always looking for ways to feed them good but save some bucks on their feed. Good Luck!


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## arnie (Apr 26, 2012)

Me to .I raise my own beef .chicken ,pork,and rabbit .if you compare feed cost to the cost of these meats from wall mart .it don't look good .but when compared to the gormiet guality no steroids,antibiotics arsonic.that can't be bought at any price the secure feeling of having plenty in the root cellar and frezzer.I,m getting quite a deal .the pride of ownership having a rewarding hobby improving the breed of rabbits instead of somthing like modle airplanes .but in all trouth if you have land for pasture .for a cow free range chickens can getgood hay and weeds to strech the bought feeds you can as I do save a lot of money by investing your time in careing for livestock .who needs to go to disney world to see a duck play around or a rabbit hop .when the cow will come in to be milked you don't have to spend 4$ for a gallon of gas to buy a 4$ carton of milk your price comes down even more so much depends on your situation and mind set .your cost also continue to go down as your cages and equipment last for years .


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## Macybaby (Jun 16, 2006)

I'm more than willing to spend a little more $$ on food and skimp somewhere else. I pay a lot more for my meat than I could if I bought only the cheap stuff at Walmart.

However, I don't know if I'll ever recoup the cost of the initial setup - I rationalize that I could have easily spent the money on a trip or other "experience" and you never recoup the cost of those items either, but that isn't why you do it. So I'm fine with spending money on some things I enjoy even though I'll never recoup those cost (sort of like raising kids, you sure don't do that to save money!) Same with my garden - but now it seems like I'm saving a ton of money because the setup was paid for a few years ago. 

It sure is nice having the control - knowing what was food for your food.


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## jolly rabbit (Apr 30, 2012)

i agree, initial setup is gonna be hard to recover, but depending on how much you spend on feed per month (ours is $18 for 50lbs) and you do a small operation, 2 or 3 does and a buck. you might do alright as opposed to what you would spend in the grocery store buying a healthier meat. and depending on what breed you get you may do even better, i have heard great things about florida whites for small backyard raisers.


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## Shayanna (Aug 1, 2012)

I'm doing it small scale. 2 or 3 does to a buck, and if I sell half the kits in the litter for 8 dollars a piece, I can keep/butcher the other half of the litter myself and keep that meat. The money from selling the kits pays for food and upkeep once you already have your initial set up, and your family gets to keep anywhere from 4-5 rabbits a month for meat depending on your litter size.


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## Hoppy (Aug 9, 2012)

Do you sell the kits to other folks for meat rabbits or pets? both?


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## Shayanna (Aug 1, 2012)

Whatever they want to buy them for. I post on Craigslist, I tell them they will make great pets or meat. I sold two out of this litter as pets, and a guy bought two to increase his breeding stock (he raises for meat.) That right there is 32 dollars, which pays for 100 lbs of food (about 2 months worth for our 4 adult rabbits), plus leaves us with 10 dollars left over and we have one bunny left. If that rabbit doesn't sell within 3 weeks (time for the next litter to go in the pen), then it will be time for it to become freezer stock.


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## craftyfarmgirl (Oct 24, 2011)

I have been doing the same as Shayana.. sell a few and keep what doesn't. It makes it pretty much free meat. Also I bought my cages used from a MUCH larger breeder for really no where near the cost to buy them used or even make them for that matter. I do now have pedigree rabbits and a few pet breeds we want to see how that goes to make a little more $. We will see..


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## Joan (Apr 12, 2012)

We got into raising rabbits for meat mostly because we had watched a show about how chickens, pigs, cattle were raised and butchered. Disgusting!!! Since we have our own meat now, and know where it comes from and what's in it, I hate buying meat at the store. Raising rabbits isn't a money saving proposition, but it's alot healthier. My hubby got his first great checkup this year after we changed our meat source. Besides, it gives him some exercise to build and clean hutches, go find food for them and check on them. To us, it's a win-win situation.


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## FlaGuitarGrl (Feb 19, 2012)

I think that, in the long run, you are saving money on your medical bills.


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## Treewhisper (Nov 24, 2010)

i agree with everyone else. If your going to be in it for the long haul like 20 yrs i think you'll come out ahead after your initial start up costs. I sell some too which pays for the feed and the rest my family eats. I got cages way cheap off of craigslist and got plenty of free lumber and other building supplies from the town dump that construction workers leave there which cut my start up costs. But when you consider quality of life for the animal and eating something thats completely organic you cant put a price on that.


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## Shayanna (Aug 1, 2012)

Treewhisper said:


> i agree with everyone else. If your going to be in it for the long haul like 20 yrs i think you'll come out ahead after your initial start up costs. I sell some too which pays for the feed and the rest my family eats. I got cages way cheap off of craigslist and got plenty of free lumber and other building supplies from the town dump that construction workers leave there which cut my start up costs. But when you consider quality of life for the animal and eating something thats completely organic you cant put a price on that.


When we moved in to our house, we had to tear down an old rental trailer sitting next to it. We used EVERYTHING we could from the tear down. Some deck boards and 2 x 4's the tar paper ( roof) made great hutch rooves (roofs?), cinder blocks to lift the hutches off the ground, plywood to block wind, leftover chicken wire we had lying around for walls, and then I think the only thing we had to buy was a 20 dollar roll of 30" x10' cage wire for their feet. Oh, and we are using an old cat carrier (door taken off) for a nest box, and some old dog/cat dishes for food/water. If you know where to look, you can get a lot of stuff at little to no cost.


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## silverseeds (Apr 28, 2012)

Only way to actually save money is to grow most or all of their food. Unless you do real well selling them I guess, which I havent bothered to try myself. Getting back start up costs wont happen anytime soon just raising them for meat, but like others said, you know what your animals ate, and that they were treated well. Which to me is a big deal. I cant wait to see what next years garden will be like though, Im really racking up the manure! Which itself is a major bonus, my soil on the new homestead is rather poor. not sure what Id do without the rabbits. I also find them relaxing to hang out with. I just sit in the colony sometimes, and watch them hop around in their content bunny world. Its very peaceful.


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## gracie88 (May 29, 2007)

If you compare only your per pound price to the supermarket per pound price, you may not come out much ahead, but it's a little like comparing apples to oranges. I like to go down to the co-op and check prices on the most organic, sustainable, pasture-raised, politically correct meat in there since that's what mine most closely compares to (you can indulge a couple backyard critters in all sorts of greens and goodies that would be cost-prohibitive commercially) and it always makes me feel better  I also try to not waste any bits so the chickens and dog get the innards which saves in feed, and the bun poo goes on the garden where I have gigantic leafy greens this year. Those savings are hard to quantify monetarily. I will say though, it takes enough time that if you don't enjoy it at least a little, you're better off doing something else and spending your money on good food.


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## MaggieJ (Feb 6, 2006)

Last time I calculated my cost per pound, it was something like $0.75. It would be a bit more now, but not a great deal. There is no way I can buy any meat in any store for that price! WalMart here in Ontario is not cheap. 

I feed naturally: alfalfa hay, whole grain and lots and lots of free gathered greens and a trace mineral salt block. It takes me about 20 minutes a day to gather the greens for my small rabbitry.... but then I am not so spry as I used to be! I currently have 11 rabbits in the colony.

Alfalfa hay here is about $3.50 a square bale, so pretty reasonable. Grain is about $10 per 50 pound bag... but it goes a long way. I realize that in many areas the way I do things simply won't work out so cheap. But it works for me.


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## arnie (Apr 26, 2012)

Hoppy said:


> Do you sell the kits to other folks for meat rabbits or pets? both?


Most of the young rabbits I sell trade or give away from home have gone to people looking for breeding stock.After taking some fried rabbit to a local comunity pot luck barbique a couple years ago i'v had lots request to provide fried rabbit at other gatherings .:nanner::nanner: though admitadly my reputation as a chef gets request for local favorites like chicken n dumplings ,mallases cakes, ect.the rabbit still made the biggest impresion :teehee:


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## arnie (Apr 26, 2012)

Hoppy said:


> Do you sell the kits to other folks for meat rabbits or pets? both?


Most of the young rabbits I sell trade or give away from home have gone to people looking for breeding stock.After taking some fried rabbit to a local comunity pot luck barbique a couple years ago i'v had lots request to provide fried rabbit at other gatherings .:nanner::nanner: though admitadly my reputation as a chef gets request for local favorites like chicken n dumplings ,mallases cakes, ect.the rabbit still made the biggest impresion :teehee:


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