Are you making money or losing money with your rabbits?

[skysthelimit]

Raise em, kill em, freeze em, ship them overnight UPS in a styro lined box with dry ice to buyers elsewhere. Just because your local market is bad/small doesn't mean there isn't a market to put yourself into somewhere. You have to look outside the box, let the little things add up.

I have a full time job. That's too much work to put on top of that.

It's ok that they don't make any money, that's not why I am raising them to begin with.

 

[Miss M]

Also, the whole USDA thing is :angry: .

 

[Wyldrose]

Losing money! Haha I'm not taking in anymore rescues 4 this summer alone... Seems like rabbits are give away's here and I'm too soft to say no lol! I sold my lionhead doe and buck, kept my lion rex crosses though. Going to check out other stores for their feed costs. It keeps going up I'm sure they where $14/50lb bag and now it's $20/50lb bag.
On a positive note my flemmy cali flop nzw babies are 3lbs at 8 weeks soon they will be ready for supper.

 

[skysthelimit]

Also, the whole USDA thing is :angry: .

It's actually illegal for me to sell meat or eggs from my home in the city.<br /><br />__________ Mon Aug 26, 2013 6:04 pm __________<br /><br />

Seems like rabbits are give away's here

Pretty much the same.

 

[ckcs]

My $87 profit dwindled to $30 because I had no rabbits for sale. I put 5 up for sale yesterday and sold 4 of them today. Woohoo I'm over $100 and a new record high for me. Once my last one sells I will be out of rabbits for about 7 weeks until my current litter is ready. After that I should have a steady supply as I have begun breeding at 2 week intervals.

 

[currituckbun]

I am loosing money, if I look at it as feed cost out, sales of rabbit meat and live rabbits in. Then I look at it this way. My garden , fueled by rabbit poo, produced 30 jars of organic spaghetti sauce, 40 jars of salsa, 20 quarts of kosher dill pickles, 20 quarts of frozen green beans, 25 quarts of frozen squash, and countless salads of spinach and fresh lettuce . I have a freezer full of rabbit meat and a small business deduction for it all on my taxes. Tell me what other venture will give you all of that and allow you to take off your grocery bill on your taxes. I think I am way ahead. I am not an accountant but I think the $60 a month in rabbit feed has been off set.
Did I mention that I get countless hours of mental relaxation from my animals and distress from work everyday by simply walking in my back yard.

 

[Demamma]

Sometimes I make money sometimes I don't. This summer I had no rabbit sales so I canned most of the young rabbits and cooked up a lot for meals. This month I spent about $120. On hay and grains that should last me 3 months. I will need more hay but that's all. I sold $75. Worth of rabbit meat, hides for $10. And made $100. On live rabbit sales. At this pace I will be doing quite well. I don't figure in though the start-up cost of cages and rabbits. I will be selling my triple stackers soon so I plan on making back the cost on those. Our main meat we eat is rabbit. We love the taste and knowing it's a healthy clean meat. I also feed 3 other households rabbit meat for free. My grown daughter gets a few rabbits a month as do my x and my best friend. Raising rabbit is paying off for me. This last summer when sales dropped opened my eyes to needing to plan ahead for slow months. The joy my rabbits give me makes it the most profitable venture though. I suffer from severe depression and the rabbits get me up and give me purpose. I love caring for them and having success with them. They have pulled my children and I closer in a shared adventure.

 

[TwoAcreDream]

Over 20 years ago, when I had rabbits, I tried really hard to make a few $$ from them. The kids did 4H. We ate a few of the rabbits. No one wanted to be the person who had to put them down. We all liked the meat. I did sell some for pets.
I kept records and the pellets were the biggest expense. I was able to get my hay for part of my pay. We both worked for a dairy farmer and lived on the farm.

This summer, we got gifted with 3 mini rex. The 2 does were pregnant and I had to scramble to get cages together, etc. I ended up with 3 used wood/wire hutches off of craigslist for less than half what one cage would have cost me new. Now I am buying used cages cheap and fixing them to use for the rabbits inside this winter. So far, I have sold 4 babies from the 2 litters and have hopes to sell 2 more. I will be keeping 4 young does. I plan to stay small with the number of animals. It will be more a hobby and keep me busy and active.

The rabbits will have to pay their way. I have to keep expenses down. A family member can get me good hay for nothing. Right now, I am feeding pellets. The rabbits really like wheat and I can get that for half of what pellets cost.

I won't be able to track exact feed costs except for the pellets. I have 80 chickens currently and am trying to get downsized more before winter gets here. Problem being I am way too soft hearted and have about 15 senior hens that should have been long gone by now. I have 13 young pullets, who just started laying recently. Another 7 who will be probably be 2 months yet. And then 4 who are 10 weeks who won't lay till probably late winter, early spring. We keep 2 adult roosters. We hatch our own babies using broody hens. All ways of keeping costs down. So I am trying to use what I know about chickens and my past 10 years of raising rabbits to help me in the future.
Key for me is to stay small, and keep food expenses down. We do have 2 acres and I keep telling the hubby we need to raise more of own feed for the critters. He likes to feed the wild birds and that has been a expense. I did put the brakes on that this summer, and stopped buying regular bird seed. He now feeds cracked corn, oats, and wheat from my grain barrels for the chickens to the wild birds. So I cut the wild bird feed cost to less than half. I have hopes of growing some sunflowers next year. We have in the past and it helped with costs.

 

[bobqdevon]

I don't look at it from a money perspective. I enjoy the buns, and I see it as a renewable supply of meat on hand should it be required.

Under the law here, I can sell, from the "farm", 1,000 lbs of chicken and unlimited rabbits per year, without any govt involvement, as long as I mark the meat packages "not inspected". It has to be here on the property, can't go to a meat market or farmers' market or anything like that. Honey, on the other hand, which requires almost no human intervention or extensive processing, I would have to have a completely sterile processing facility to sell one ounce.

However, I have not, nor do I intend to, advertise that I have rabbits. If the guy at the feed store in town, or at TSC happen to mention he has someone looking for rabbit for whatever reason, then I might consider it IF I have any available.

Seeing as how I only have 7 cages and 2 isolation cages, I don't see a lot of expansion this year. Plus I need to make space in the garage for more rabbits. Currently they are housed in a 6x12 enclosed trailer, which is fine, as I will be able to use that eventually as a kindling location, as we get snow from mid october all the way into may and june. Opened up too many cans of worms this year already, with getting rabbits AND honeybees... Still didn't get the chickens set up yet, but that's another barrel of fun.

 

[Zass]

I think I'm actually up on this:
I sell a few as pets, a few more as brood stock for small meat operations. It doesn't pay for the feed.

what does pay for the feed:
freezer full of one of the healthiest meats money can buy, the best pet food in the world for my dogs and cats.
sale of pelts
poo becomes worm castings and
plenty of red worms for the hens , a well stocked garden
fun times with the kids at bunny shows
TONS of healthy exercise! (haha, my figure as improved dramatically since I started on rabbits, muscle up, waistline down, and no money left over after buying rabbit feed to spend eating out!)
road trips with the husband to who-knows-where to pick up stock (a special bonding time for us)
and the aforementioned hours of relaxation to spend with my rabbits.

Yep, the profit margin is much higher than any other vice!

 

[lonelyfarmgirl]

I didnt read most of the thread, but I'll answer the question. I buy my feed a ton at a time. The bill is 800$ a pop. I think it lasts 6 weeks or so. If I can break even on feed and still be able to buy replacement stock as needed, Im happy.

 

[jollysrabbits]

If anybody is interested, I wrote a very detailed list of my start up cost, rabbits sold, feed, gas, water bottles etc. it was for educational purposes on another site i belong too. they are my "books" I included everything except customer names. I had to keep a detailed list to prove to my wife we were not losing money on my hobby. I talked her into 3 rabbits which soon turned into a full blown rabbitry of 15 does and 5 bucks! oops LOL.....I decided I would just post it, will start a new thread. hopefully it helps.

 

[Ramjet]

Sales of $530 in the last month with another $120 pending tomorrow , after those , I'll be sold out until the current litters grow out. Really wish I had a bit more space as I haven't had any to eat as they have all sold .... I only have space for my current breeders & about two grow out litters.

Not a bad outcome for an 11 hole operation. Been getting between $30-$80 each for my Rex.

My wife doesn't hate my rabbits anymore ...

 

[ckcs]

Sales of $530 in the last month with another $120 pending tomorrow , after those , I'll be sold out until the current litters grow out. Really wish I had a bit more space as I haven't had any to eat as they have all sold .... I only have space for my current breeders & about two grow out litters.

Not a bad outcome for an 11 hole operation. Been getting between $30-$80 each for my Rex.

My wife doesn't hate my rabbits anymore ...

That is a really good price for a standard Rex. Glad you are able to make money doing this. We had a guy around here that was selling them for $15 and his ad was on craigslist for quite a while. Possible he sold them and didn't take the ad down. I would have love to have gotten some but lacked the cage space. I sell Lionheads to the pet market and generally can cover all my costs and have some extra for improvements or fun. After a string of 7 small litters / missed does though I'm barely covering costs and I am likely loosing some. I've added some French Angoras and am hoping to sell them for more than the Lionheads and have much larger litters. Still at least 2 month away from starting to breed them. Once again congratulations on your success.

 

[skysthelimit]

All the sudden people want rabbits. But no ones been breeding. I just watched $200 of sales go to another breeder because I had no kits this winter. If I could get the demand to coincide with the supply.

 

[Ramjet]

That is a really good price for a standard Rex.

There is a very limited number of Rex breeders in the area. OneAcreFarm being the only ARBA registered breeder in the state of Texas (I'll be registering soon)& she's an hour and a half from Houston. Being located in a city of 4million plus gives you a lot of potential buyers.
Starting with good stock had to help .... having desirable colors does too (Chocolates go FAST) and my kids handling them from day one , giving me friendly bunny's is a huge plus. More often than not when customers come to buy rabbits my daughter helps , especially if there are children wanting pets. People are surprised to see an 8 year old handling full grown rabbits. I'm sure they think "If she can do it .... So can I."

All of the above play a role in the price I'm able to get.

Glad you are able to make money doing this. Once again congratulations on your success.

Thanks!

I really didn't realize I'd sold that many until last night when a guy arranged to buy my last 4. Then I went thru my sales records after thinking , where did they all go?! .... and got a nice surprise when I did the math.

All the sudden people want rabbits. But no ones been breeding. I just watched $200 of sales go to another breeder because I had no kits this winter. If I could get the demand to coincide with the supply.

Yeah , I wonder how much of this recent sales is due to Easter ... Now I'm out of bunny's for the next ~8 weeks. Might be good timing.

I think next year I'll plan an extra litter or two in January to be ready to go around this time .... Maybe I'll have a few left over to eat.

That doe I offered you delivered 11 on the 13th .... on the wire.

__________ Sun Apr 20, 2014 7:03 pm __________

Just thinking how nice it would be if I could sustain the last months sales over the entire year .... Sold my last one today , total sales from litters born in Jan. is $705.

Thing is , I haven't had another litter born until very recently due to lack of space. Wont have any to sell until the end of June.
No way I could sustain that as I have space for my breeders & ~two litters growing out. To sustain that type of sales , I'd have to have room for four grow out litters. Just not in the cards.


Still wondering how much of this was Easter. The majority of the sales were 2-3 weeks prior to Easter. Is that typical Easter sales or does it appear there is a solid market ?!

Have to plan for the future , may have an extra litter next year.

 

[GetYourGoat]

I'm just getting started so not much to go off of. There seems to be a pretty big black hole when it comes to Netherland Dwarfs here around Vancouver so I'm guessing I'll do pretty well with all the people who want a tiny pedigree pet. If I were to do some of the larger rabbit breeds that I'm interested in, I don't think I would do as well as the market likes little and cute.

That being said, I'm not expecting to make money at all. I need something to get me outside and off of my work, so rabbits will be my "therapy" and hobby which is worth quite a lot to me in itself.

 

[skysthelimit]

All the sudden people want rabbits. But no ones been breeding. I just watched $200 of sales go to another breeder because I had no kits this winter. If I could get the demand to coincide with the supply.

Yeah , I wonder how much of this recent sales is due to Easter ... Now I'm out of bunny's for the next ~8 weeks. Might be good timing.

I think next year I'll plan an extra litter or two in January to be ready to go around this time .... Maybe I'll have a few left over to eat.

That doe I offered you delivered 11 on the 13th .... on the wire.

Most of it seems to be 4H. The fair is in August, and they need to have rabbits they've raised for a few months.

I was thinking about this the other day.

Alot of the lack of sales has to do with my rabbit raising philosophy.

My main breed is Rex, then SF then Angoras.

I show with all three. Angoras will go a few years, but Rex and Silver Fox usually age out of coat quickly or don't show well after kindling.

So I breed for new stock every year (which is why I have so many litters) . Most of the time, in a litter of 8, you are fortunate if you have 2 keepers. So with all the breeding I do, and not selling anything that's not show quality, and keeping show quality, I leave myself with very little to sell.

Not selling pets leave me very little to sell.

Someone is going to drive to pick up 25lbs of rabbit meat on Friday. Big score for me. Someone was supposed to pick up breeding rabbits, but if they don't do it by Friday, $3/lb is better than waiting for $40 for a rabbit I have to feed.

__________ Sun Apr 20, 2014 9:17 pm __________

I think next year I'll plan an extra litter or two in January to be ready to go around this time .

This rabbitry shuts down September through February. No amount of ACV, raspberry, cage swapping or artificial lighting has been able to counteract it.

Now that a major breeder of Rex and Silver Fox is lost in this region, it seems I will need to pick up the slack. Where as I could not compete with her before, now that I again have the rest of her stock (got the last bit two weeks ago) I think she's fielding people to me. I set up a waiting list on my website.

It's odd how things work out, losing my job and having to cull/sell my stock, cause now I have the space to really breed. It forced me to let go of some rabbits that would not move me in the direction I needed to go. Not bad ones, just not the right ones.

 

[ckcs]

Now I'm out of bunny's for the next ~8 weeks. Might be good timing.

I think next year I'll plan an extra litter or two in January to be ready to go around this time .... Maybe I'll have a few left over to eat.


Just thinking how nice it would be if I could sustain the last months sales over the entire year .... Sold my last one today , total sales from litters born in Jan. is $705.

Thing is , I haven't had another litter born until very recently due to lack of space. Wont have any to sell until the end of June.
No way I could sustain that as I have space for my breeders & ~two litters growing out. To sustain that type of sales , I'd have to have room for four grow out litters. Just not in the cards.


Still wondering how much of this was Easter. The majority of the sales were 2-3 weeks prior to Easter. Is that typical Easter sales or does it appear there is a solid market ?!

Have to plan for the future , may have an extra litter next year.

I can't ever seem to get things to go like I want. I get frustrated when I'm out of kits for 6-8 weeks. Each time I've tried to get my does delivering on set intervals something has gone wrong. I had one doe miss two times in a row which has never happened. Then I was plagued with 1 and 2 kit litters. This pass time I decided to try and breed 2 of my 4 does at a time, 6 weeks apart. I figured then I'd have 2 litters to sell every 6 weeks. First set was born April 9th. One had 6 which is great for my Lionheads. The other had 4 which was ok but 3 were too small and didn't make it.

I had 2 kits for sale about 2 weeks prior to Easter. They sold in 3-4 days. Usually I get calls right away but this time it took a few days. I noticed a lot of breeders ads on craigslist didn't sell over Easter. <br /><br /> __________ Sun Apr 20, 2014 11:17 pm __________ <br /><br />

I'm just getting started so not much to go off of. There seems to be a pretty big black hole when it comes to Netherland Dwarfs here around Vancouver so I'm guessing I'll do pretty well with all the people who want a tiny pedigree pet. If I were to do some of the larger rabbit breeds that I'm interested in, I don't think I would do as well as the market likes little and cute.

That being said, I'm not expecting to make money at all. I need something to get me outside and off of my work, so rabbits will be my "therapy" and hobby which is worth quite a lot to me in itself.

Market seems to be similar here. The small breeds do quite well. I will be breeding a larger breed in the next few months. I have a trio of French Angoras and am hoping there is a spinning market here. The breeder I got mine from, just put up his second litter for sale so presumably he is selling them.

 

[GreenhornBunnyGirl]

bad arm, typing one handed ergo will be brief.

rabbits = profit.
i sell
- pets - most are private sales, some are pet store
- breeding rabbits
- show rabbits
- hides
- heads
- entrails
- feet/tails
- for critter feed
- manure - free if picked up and I have to do zero work, the more I handle it the more it costs
- what's left of my for sale rabbits goes on my table

Sorry if it's bad etiquette to revive a dormant thread, but I'm actually really interested in hearing how you're able to sell the heads/entrails/feet/tails!

Do you market them as pet food or fish chum or something? How do you prep/package it for sale? Who do you usually sell to and how did they know to come to you?

I'm a big fan of not letting things go to waste, and was worried that since I don't have chickens to feed the guts to I'd have to discard those parts.