# Economics of meat rabbits



## Millroad (Oct 15, 2010)

I have been wavering in my resolve to raise our Palominos for meat. The babies are so cute and our friends give us a good-natured hard time about it when they are over and holding them. Then I added up the cost to raise meat chickens :shocked: - between buying the chicks ($2 each) and paying for the processing to do 30 at one time ($3 each), add another $3-4 for the feed to get them to market weight, and it is a $9 chicken.

So, I'm looking at these rabbits again. We have a litter of 8 2-week-olds - we'll probably only keep one out as a 4-H show rabbit for my son this fall. Our only cost to obtain them was the extra feed for the doe (not sure how to calculate the cost of that as I didn't keep track). I assume that we will process them ourselves. We have a 13-acre grass/alfalfa field that we can use to either pasture them or at least feed them the hay from. So, I'm looking for ideas on how to raise them to butchering weight as cheaply as possible (i.e., without pellets or with reduced amounts of pellets). Can I just use a combination of pasture and grain? Which grains should I use? Will the alfalfa pasture take care of their protein needs? Would I need to give them a vitamin supplement if I wasn't using the pellets? What would be the ideal weight to butcher them at? We just weighed a 7/8 week-old kit and she was 3 pounds. That seems pretty small?

Thanks for any help you can give with this!


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## MaggieJ (Feb 6, 2006)

It is certainly possible to raise rabbits without feeding pellets. I've been doing so for several years. Most of what you need to know is in the sticky threads on Natural Feeding and on SAFE PLANTS.

I feed my rabbits a good quality alfalfa hay, some grass hay, small amounts of whole grain (wheat, barley or oats) and as much gathered forage (weeds, twigs and leaves of certain trees) as the season allows. In summer they eat mainly the fresh forage. In winter I feed smaller amounts of fresh foods: grain grasses grown in dishpans, root crops, pumpkins, vegetable trimmings etc. to supplement the hay and grains. They eat a lot more alfalfa hay in winter.

Rabbits raised on natural foods grow more slowly and will not reach the 5 pound butchering weight until 14-16 weeks compared to 8-12 weeks on pellets. The meat will not be quite as tender either, simply because the rabbits are older. But the flavour is excellent, much nicer to my taste than pellet-fed. 

Natural feeding works out significantly cheaper per pound than pellet feeding for me. Good hay is about $3 a square bale here. In some areas, where alfalfa hay is hard to come by, this may not be the case. 

Natural feeding is a lot more work and you must be dedicated. Rain or shine you're going to be out there gathering big buckets of weeds. It takes time and knowledge. I like it, but it is not for everyone.


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## switchman62 (Oct 19, 2007)

I just wanted to point out that with the cost of the chickens you figured $3 for butchering each and $3 to $4 for feed but for the rabbits you said you would process yourselves and pasturize or grow hay for food. If you did the same for the chickens (processed and freerange, etc) you could save a large portion of the cost. We raise both so I am not trying to talk you into either one. Just thought I would point it out.


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## XLT (Apr 7, 2005)

that is smaller at 8 weeks than I like, but not out of the ballpark. I dont' really know much about palominos though, either. 

I think that meat chickens and meat rabbits are similar in economics (as long as comparing apples to apples, as was pointed out). I just hate to process chickens


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## kirkmcquest (Oct 21, 2010)

I don't know how you can kill a baby bunny....I known it sounds lame but i tried it once and couldn't do it. I hunt and fish and have no problem killing generally....but those bunnies just tug on the old heart strings!


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## XLT (Apr 7, 2005)

don't generally kill the baby ones... just the teenagers...makes it easier.


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## Millroad (Oct 15, 2010)

Maggie, I would probably put the rabbits I am growing out for meat into a movable pasture pen. We do that with our meat birds and our laying hens already. Winter though, yeah, I don't know. Perhaps I would not breed the rabbits in the winter.

Switchman - I hear ya, perhaps it is not a fair comparison, but in reality I think the rabbits will be relatively easy to process ourselves, but the chickens will be enough of a PIA that we will have it done. And everything I've read says that you can't raise meat birds on range alone - range might cover about 20% but no more? (In terms of feed)

Which brings me to my next question - what the heck is in the pellets that promotes such fast growth in rabbits, and why can't it be replicated with grains and greens? There's no corn in there, is there?

I don't know that we'll be able to butcher them either. We only had one survivor from our first litter and we all got really attached and decided to keep her even though she is REW. But we either start butchering or stop breeding ASAP!


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## Whisperwindkat (May 28, 2009)

It definitely is doable to raise the rabbits on grains and fresh greens. During the summer they get very little grain and as many greens as I can pick and tote. I at one time thought about a rabbit tractor, but decided against because of the chance of my rabbits getting hold of some toxic weed. I would hate to lose a whole litter because they ate something they shouldn't have. Like Maggie said they take longer to grow out, but the wait to me is worth the flavor of the meat. As far as how can you butcher the cute little buggers...when the feed bill is rising steadily it becomes quite easy. We love rabbit and much prefer it to chicken. It is also much easier to process in my opinion. Blessings, Kat


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## SquashNut (Sep 25, 2005)

the pellets have vit., fat and minerals the plain hay and grain don't have.


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## rabbitgeek (Mar 22, 2008)

There is no law that says one has to butcher at 5 pounds. If rabbits are 4 pounds at 12 weeks, then it will be 4 pound fryers on the menu. Europeans tend to like their rabbits older, Americans not so much.

If one waits until 5 pounds that last pound of weight consumes a disproportionate amount of feed. 

I harvested Dutch for meat and would get 1-1/4 pound fryers.

Have a good day!


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## MaggieJ (Feb 6, 2006)

SquashNut makes a valid point about the possibility of a lack of trace minerals. I neglected to mention the need for a trace mineral salt if you are feeding a pellet-free diet. It is important.

Fats can be added to the diet by supplementing with BOSS (black oil sunflower seeds) or pumpkin seeds. Both are full of nutrients as well as healthy fats. The fresh component of the diet should take care of the needs for vitamins... After all, the weeds and other plants we feed are what the wild European rabbit (same species as our domestics) eat in the wild. These aspects of natural feeding are discussed in the Natural Feeding sticky... which is why I recommended it as well.


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## SquashNut (Sep 25, 2005)

I don't think the weeds have the protien needed to produce litters though. And if you try to make up for it with BOSS or alfalfa hay, you end up with fat rabbits.
It is a balancing act feeding rabbits. But any one who says they have it perfect is wrong. Even with the pellets I get fatty fryers.
Right now I am feeding a 50/50 mix of 16% pellets and All Stock, some boss, grass hay and fresh grass.I have 7 litters in the box, but I wish the fryers would grow faster. I know I could get them raised faster if I went to all comercial rabbit pellets, but they would be little fatties. And we don't like the rabbit fat.
The difference between All Stock and COB is the All Stock has some minerals and vitanins, so it doesn't dilute those items in the rabbit pellets. Also the All Stock is pelletized in pellets the right size for rabbits, while the COB I was feeding was loose grain. less waste with the All Stock.


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## Haven (Aug 16, 2010)

rabbitgeek said:


> There is no law that says one has to butcher at 5 pounds. If rabbits are 4 pounds at 12 weeks, then it will be 4 pound fryers on the menu.


At what age do rabbits generally reach 5-ish lbs? I'm talking Cali meat rabbits, etc.


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## LoneStrChic23 (Jul 30, 2010)

One of the reasons I got out of rabbits was the feed bill was killing me! 

I had Calis & Standard Rexs.....had fryers processed at 7-8 weeks and they were generally 5lbs at that point. My Rex x Cali crosses grew even better....but the local feeds I liked that gave me fryers like that jumped to $17.99 ~ $19.99 (Manna Pro & 18%ADM) per bag!! 

I want rabbits again, but my rabbit barn is in the process of being turned into a milk room so I'm researching colony raising........ I think I could make that work, especially now that my Dane passed away I don't need quite as many litters (he was raw fed and went through a lot of rabbit).

Squashnut- Are you liking the results cutting your feed with All Stock? That is cheap here and could possibly make raising rabbits possible again...

I kept one heat sterile rex buck as a pet. Turned him loose on the property ages ago..he forages on whatever grass and such he finds, I keep a handful of alfalfa pellets next to his water dish under the porch and at every milking time he follows me to the goats pen and gets a bit of their milk stand grain on the ground under their stand.....he looks great, better than he did in the cage in fact....


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## rabbitgeek (Mar 22, 2008)

Haven said:


> At what age do rabbits generally reach 5-ish lbs? I'm talking Cali meat rabbits, etc.


Pat Lamar says a good target is 5 lbs by 8 weeks. 

Meat pen contest is goal is 5 lbs by 10 weeks.

Usually I want to butcher by 12 weeks.

Have a good day!


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## Mavors (Mar 30, 2007)

XLT said:


> don't generally kill the baby ones... just the teenagers...makes it easier.


Pretty sure everyone would agree that it's easier to kill them when they are teenagers......


oh wait we are talking about rabbits. Never mind.


Mav


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## repete (Aug 4, 2012)

Good one, Mav! I just understand ... I understand -- we have 11 kids! 'Nuff said ...


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## Pat Lamar (Jun 19, 2002)

To clarify.... 5 lbs. by 8 weeks is an ideal *GOAL* to strive for! Most, however, will hit 5 lbs. by 10 weeks, and that's good enough. LOL!

Good one, Mav! We raised 9 kids, so I understand, too. 

Pat Lamar


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## Shayanna (Aug 1, 2012)

This might not be what you are going for, but we are doing it just for the free meat, but I came up with a plan like this. We have 3 does that will be on a rotating breeding schedule, and one buck, so we will have litters each month and each doe gets a 4 week break between weaning and the next breeding. Estimating low on the surviving kits from the litters, we will say six surviving kits per litter, we can sell two thirds of the litter for anywhere between 6 and 8 dollars a bunny as pets/meat, keep the other third of the litter for personal meat, and profit 8 dollars a month on the rabbits. Its not a big profit, but the money for the bunnies sold pays for food for the atleast a month as our feed costs about $23 for 100 lbs, puts 8-10 dollars in our pocket, gives us a couple rabbits to put in the freezer/on the table. With just me and my husband, I don't think thats too bad.

At first we were going to do cals/nzs but where we are in michigan there is nowhere to really market rabbits, so we are sticking to small scale.


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