Are you making money or losing money with your rabbits?

[ladysown]

Oh, time to update what I do.

All rabbit waste goes into my garden now. I ran into some super picky people, and then one guy came in a left a huge mess for me to clean up and hubby said "enough of that". Ruts in the ground and everything. It was a mess. and then customer who wanted me to transport an hour a way and then lug bags of poop to (what seemed like) the back 40 with a small garden door as the entry point. NUTS TO THAT!

Since I'm now feeding three cats a homemade diet.... about half the rabbits produced go to feed them (or my family).

I did dog and cat food people for a number of years, but then people got picky about what they wanted and how it had to be presented and HOW DARE I charge a fee for each additional step I took. That got old really really fast. What I didn't magically have a de-headed, fur on, no intestines, but everything else in the freezer ready for them right this moment? When the previous person wanted no fur, no internal organs, human quality carcass for less than the previous animal? GAH, I got so tired of that.

Right now I sell about 1/2 of my excess rabbits to a raptor rescue. They take EVERYTHING but the intestines and internal organs. The internals feed my cats or me. The intestines feed my garden (or the local possum......)

I've sold heads to crab and catfish guys. Feet, tails, heads, skins, etc to dog food people. Sold rabbits in various disguises to raw food people.

How? By keeping my ears open. Joining local raw feed groups for cats and dogs. Advertising on kijiji using an account that couldn't easily be traced to me. Passing the word at feed stores etc.

 

[GreenhornBunnyGirl]

Oh, time to update what I do.

All rabbit waste goes into my garden now. I ran into some super picky people, and then one guy came in a left a huge mess for me to clean up and hubby said "enough of that". Ruts in the ground and everything. It was a mess. and then customer who wanted me to transport an hour a way and then lug bags of poop to (what seemed like) the back 40 with a small garden door as the entry point. NUTS TO THAT!

Since I'm now feeding three cats a homemade diet.... about half the rabbits produced go to feed them (or my family).

I did dog and cat food people for a number of years, but then people got picky about what they wanted and how it had to be presented and HOW DARE I charge a fee for each additional step I took. That got old really really fast. What I didn't magically have a de-headed, fur on, no intestines, but everything else in the freezer ready for them right this moment? When the previous person wanted no fur, no internal organs, human quality carcass for less than the previous animal? GAH, I got so tired of that.

Right now I sell about 1/2 of my excess rabbits to a raptor rescue. They take EVERYTHING but the intestines and internal organs. The internals feed my cats or me. The intestines feed my garden (or the local possum......)

I've sold heads to crab and catfish guys. Feet, tails, heads, skins, etc to dog food people. Sold rabbits in various disguises to raw food people.

How? By keeping my ears open. Joining local raw feed groups for cats and dogs. Advertising on kijiji using an account that couldn't easily be traced to me. Passing the word at feed stores etc.

That's fantastic, thanks for such a thorough answer!

 

[TKT]

I'm glad the thread was brought back to the surface because I read all of it and it was very informative. Of course prices are way different than they were 10 years ago, but easy to convert to current prices.

I'm very happy to be selling bunny berries to local gardeners. I asked my Poodles' breeder if she wants me to save the heads and she said yes. I think they are probably marketable as raw food for dogs. She would just grind them into her usual mix. I keep the ears for my dogs. I have hides in the freezer. I don't know if I will be any good at tanning them but I thought I would try a few. I will also try cutting some into strips as dog chews or just feed raw. Both the ears and the hide could add a lot of cash equivalent to my balance sheet because my dogs love the commercial rabbit ears. We all really like the meat so there's that, which is my number one reason.

I only started this fall and I have two litters that are a week old. I need one more breeding age doe so that I can breed two does about every 2 months. We are adding an extra 10 ft to our rabbitry which is built alongside our house. Because we do have cold winters with rain wind and snow, it's up against the garage side of the house, and we can walk through the garage to get to it when it's cold. It started out as a dog run just so the dogs could go out at night to potty and be safe since we have a lot of predators, then became a greenhouse, then a quail run, and now is a rabbitry.

I know I have over $2K invested and plan to add it all up this week. I have nine adults and 12 kits. I have American Blues and New Zealand Reds, plus some New Zealand crosses. My goal is to have six breeding does in rotation so that I can make our freezer meat fall through spring, and give them the summer off as it's so hot. If I can get their feed to pay for the meat I think it will be very worthwhile. I expect supply chain issues to probably get worse and meat to go up in price. The store I used to use hardly has any selection in cuts of beef right now. Also not much good selection in chicken. I would love to find turkey but it's all full of chemicals and makes me sick now. I cook for my dogs and that's a big part of my meat expense. If the rabbits are doing well by this time next year I'm thinking about adding ducks. I have 2/3 of an acre and I'm pretty much out of space to put animals but I might be able to make it work. We love to sit on our back patio and look at our backyard which has four big 200-year-old oaks and six apple trees, so I don't want to make it ugly, but I do have space in my second garden, which is fenced with 6 ft 2x4" welded wire. I would probably have to electrify the fence to keep the foxes and raccoons out. Hawks would also be an issue. I also don't want to make more work for myself and my partner. However we both like the self-sustainability aspect of everything we do with the animals and gardening. We're retired so we have the time and so far between the two of us still have the energy and ability to care for everything.

 

[Her Farmstead Rabbitry]

I have 1 hutch and 5 breeders. I just spent $400 on 18 holes. I had just broke even from startup costs of about $500. I have people coming to get 5 rabbits in the next few days. Right now I'm in the hole $620. If the people come pick up the rabbits I will be down to $500 in the hole. Once I finish my pole barn I will buy more breeders. I will be able to have 10 working does. Right now I have 2 ( 1 had her first litter dies so doesn't really count.) working does and I'm doing pretty well.

 

[TKT]

18 holes added so cheap! YAY!

 

[Her Farmstead Rabbitry]

18 holes added so cheap! YAY!

It's actually not so cheap. Right now it has cost a total of $650 and I still have to get the stuff to hang the cages. The $400 was just the cages.

 

[TKT]

I bought two KW cages that are 30x36x18 for my pregnant does that cost me $460 without the nest boxes, feed bowls, hay racks, and resting mats.
So to me that's still a big win!

 

[Sapphire16]

Our last KW with shipping was almost $700 or was it over $700...with the coated floors. Same size as above. Can squeeze in one more triple but will be looking for a used set!

 

[TKT]

Good luck!

 

[GreenhornBunnyGirl]

I bought two KW cages that are 30x36x18 for my pregnant does that cost me $460 without the nest boxes, feed bowls, hay racks, and resting mats.
So to me that's still a big win!

How do you like them, TKT? I've been considering going for the KW 42x30x28. But it's a toss up between starting out with separate "proper" cages for each rabbit, or a shared rabbit tractor with an attached hutch like the Eglu Go .

(Note: I may not be able to breed for a while and would need to get a few does to start my herd rather than the standard breeding duo/triplet which is why I was considering the Eglu Go. I'm not sure it'd be a good idea to a house a buck, doe AND nursing kits in something like that.)

 

[TKT]

I'm investing in the cages up front because I don't want them on the ground. We have Valley Fever and I don't know what else here, and a ton of predators including cougars, foxes, raccoons, hawks, plus rattlesnakes, and there's nothing for them to eat on the ground except stickers. I have a friend who raises hers colony style a couple miles away, but hers live on dirt and she has some housing and throws hay and straw down for them. She is not very hands-on with them, just lets them do their thing and does not control their breeding. She still gets some really nice rabbits! I do own a New Zealand trio that was kept in a tractor part-time by the previous owner. Apparently they did very well, but they were on grass. I have no grass, I'm up in the mountains and my land is sand and clay.

For me I think the KW cages are somewhat overpriced. They are a small company and seem to have mediocre customer service. But they have a loyal following so that says the quality that they make works for many rabbit and cavy people. I have not tried building them myself out of the same wire. I may get wire and try it myself, it's not too difficult if you have the tools and can measure properly. But that's what you're paying for is the time to cut all various pieces to size, partially assemble, and box for shipping. I would like to check Klubertanz more thoroughly for materials to build my own. I don't hang mine but I think they do offer the metal trays prebuilt, which I need since mine are on benches. But again by the time you cut, finish, and assemble, you have to figure the cost for you to do it yourself. We are retired so we price our time accordingly.

I only bought two so far for my pregnant does to kindle in and raise the growouts. I've looked at Bass cages and they would be a little bit cheaper for the same size, but I don't have any yet and haven't seen any, so I can't do a fair comparison. I've only found a couple of references to them whereas KW has lots of glowing references. I'm currently figuring out how to adjust my space to put a three stack KW in. Something like that might be better for you so that each doe has their own space and the buck can be kept separate, which is how I have mine.

I do have the advantage of being able to afford the cages, though I would prefer not to invest that much. The rest of my individual cages are Midwest Wabbitats, which are the large size of 37"x24"x19". They run $50 each from Chewy or Amazon and are pretty solid, and are stackable in stacks of two. They are a decent size for a single New Zealand size rabbit. If you want to not spend a lot, and they have shelter already where you can put cages, and you don't need to breed right away, that might be a decent option.

 

[TKT]

Our last KW with shipping was almost $700 or was it over $700...with the coated floors. Same size as above. Can squeeze in one more triple but will be looking for a used set!

That's a triple stacker right? How do you like the accessibility? I'm thinking I would like two of those eventually so that I can keep my rabbitry the size it currently is, but I'm not sure about being able to reach the bottom cage if I set it up so that I can reach the top cage..

 

[RABBITGIRLFORTHEWIN]

Nothing but loosing...
If these new rabbits don't start making dinner or $, they're going out the door and I'm moving on.

I know right, I thought rabbits were supposed to breed like crazy lol.

 

[RabbitsOfTheCreek]

I know right, I thought rabbits were supposed to breed like crazy lol.

They should really change the saying to "Breed like mice"

 

[Skai]

I choose not to think about costs since my rabbits are for a clean meat source. I might lose my appetite if I thought they were costing as much as Fillet Mignon.

 

[TKT]

So just FYI, I went to Klubertanz and added up all the cage parts KW uses, plus two 50' wire rolls in 14 gauge GAW wire in the proper sizes, and adding everything up it came out to just about $100 under what it would cost me to buy the three stacker 30" x 36" x 18" cages. That's using 14 gauge for the sides and top instead of 16 gauge, which would make for a stronger cage. I also chose the more expensive lighter Dura trays they offer as well. I would have leftover wire but I would also have to pay shipping on the wire, which I didn't even account for. Or I would have to find the wire locally. Or I would see if I could buy six flat pieces for tops and bottoms instead of one 50 foot 30" wide roll which would be cheaper. However my husband is grateful that I will just buy them, even though there is still a lot of building to do on the broken down shipped flat cages.