Quote for 520-hole Flush-Kleen System from Bass

I think if it could be afforded the flush kleen system would save a lot of time and cut down on illness and disease. I am starting to think about starting my rabbitry earlier than planned. My x has told me I can put a mobile on his property and raise rabbits there. If I sell my home I could get a start up to do it. I would want to convince him though to let me use his detached garage as his barn is not in good shape. I think I would want to start with 100 does and stay small.

tm_bunnyloft":1t9x1zjj said:

Please consider starting out a bit smaller. I am sure you could find plenty of restaurants in Seattle to buy your rabbit meat. But you can start out smaller and work up to that. Say you start with 50 holes and then expand a few cages at a time off of profits. It will save you on initial start up expense. I buy new cages from the money from selling kits to house those in the litter that I intend to keep.

Click to expand...

starting smaller also helps you 'find' your market.

I think that if I were to go beyond 30 does in production, I would invest the money in setting up a USDA certified processing station on the farm. Even though there are processors within 60 miles of where I live, the profit lost in transport and processing fees is overwhelming, especially with current feed prices factored in. A processing station is no different than establishing a restraunt kitchen - you have to research what the standards are, what equipment is needed, and what cost it will take to build and to license the facility. Many small farms do exactly that in order to sell meat and dairy products off the farm.

Large scale commercial poultry barns are typically paid off over 10 years with the builder seeing almost no profit for that 10 years and living on peanuts. Large scale farming is not a easy way to get rich quick but rather a long term investment that may not be profitable until you are to old to run it and the kids take it over. Everything about a undertaking of this size needs to be considered especially in the marketing and feed supply departments. Even small things can make a huge difference including what way the wind blows in relation to the barn and how that will impact the ability to heat or cool the place and provide ventilation. 50k on cages is going to be a drop in the bucket on the total cost of something like this. Insurance will be a real pain as would be butchering 10k rabbits per year on the farm and then shipping them around the country. You will also be competing with imported rabbit meat and poultry that will always be less expensive than rabbits. I honestly think a 50 hole rabbitry that was well managed and the owner maintained good relationships with customers who were willing to pay a premium for quality would see more profits than someone trying to start out on a massive scale.
No matter what you decide to do plan way ahead because there are profits in farming it just takes someone very business minded to sniff them out.

oops
grump.

Looking at this system for 16-20 cages, anyone have any experience with this company or any idea on what the cost would be, starting out so much smaller than this quote originally mentioned? This seems really pricy, but still looking into it until I get the actual quote for what I am looking for.......

I really like Bass and its products and always ooh and aah at this system when I see it advertised. Their 3 high systems with trays and urine guards are about $100 a hole, but you still have to buy the feeders, etc. just like with the quoted, but obviously those flush kleen are a lot less labor intensive.

just be sure to sharpen your pencil before figuring all of this out-- try not to be too optimistic about litter size, feed conversion, and labor . and-- spend a lot on a good ventilation system....