Looking into meat rabbits....

[yankee'n'moxie]

Hello everybody!

I need to know specifically if the cost and effort is worth the amount of meat that is produced. So here are my questions:

1) How much grain is your typical meat rabbit (californian, NZ, etc) going to eat per day? Will that amount go down if I offer free choice hay (I realize that the answer to this question could vary in regions, just the general idea of it would be great)

2) How much cage space (in square feet) is needed for a buck, and for a doe with a litter? (I would rather keep does in grow out cages instead of switching them when they have litters)

3) If I slaughter at 5lbs (that is what I understand the norm to be), how much meat can I expect to get, when it is deboned, etc?

I will have more, but this is what I need to know for now... Thank you all so much! I really appreciate it!

 

[MaggieJ]

1) How much grain is your typical meat rabbit (californian, NZ, etc) going to eat per day? Will that amount go down if I offer free choice hay (I realize that the answer to this question could vary in regions, just the general idea of it would be great).

If you can feed good alfalfa hay free choice, they only need a small amount of grain. I prefer to feed mine about 1/4 - 1/3 cup per rabbit per day, but sometimes we get careless and they get a bit more. If they are not getting pellets, they need a trace mineral salt block, either the reddish brown ones for general livestock or the ones for goats both are fine. You can knock off chunks with a hammer and offer it in a crock.

2) How much cage space (in square feet) is needed for a buck, and for a doe with a litter? (I would rather keep does in grow out cages instead of switching them when they have litters)

There is no carved in stone cage size for bucks. When I used cages, I preferred 8-9 square feet. So 30 x 36 inches or 24 X 48 inches

3) If I slaughter at 5lbs (that is what I understand the norm to be), how much meat can I expect to get, when it is deboned, etc?

Dress out for rabbits is generally 50-60 percent, bone in. What I do is debone the loin and hind legs and add those bones to the intact front legs and rib cages for soup. The boneless meat is frozen separately, allowing about 1 pound for three people. We usually raise ours to 15-20 weeks so I cannot give you weights for boneless fryers. We harvested two 10-month-old rabbits recently and got about 20 servings from them.

 

[tm_bunnyloft]

I feed 1/2 cup of feed per rabbit and give them free choice alfalfa/timothy hay. They may just be being over fed a bit so I would listen to MaggieJ on that one.

In my family of myself my husband and 4 boys we generally use one rabbit per meal. And tend to butcher between 3.5 and 5 pounds.

I raise my meat rabbits in colonies so couldn't tell you about cage size.

 

[Miss M]

I have my buck and working does in 24"x36" cages. They aren't as large as I'd like, but they are the largest I could go when we built our previous rabbitry. They are sufficient, but not generous.

We, too, tend to use one rabbit per meal, for a family of 5. Three adults (my mom lives with us) and two children (16 and 11).

 

[yankee'n'moxie]

Thank you all! That is very helpful! Now I should be able to estimate how much it will cost to raise them. And THANK YOU (big time) for telling me a rabbit per meal. There is 4 people living here, so we could probably stretch the meat a bit.

 

[GBov]

With four of us eating ONE rabbit, sometimes five if mum is here too, we usually get a really filling dinner and left overs teh next day.

Home raised rabbit is VERY satisfying and rich so you will find that you eat much less to feel full than you would a comparable size portion of supermarket chicken.

But be warned, if you get bit by the rabbitosis bug, no amount of space is going to be enough :twisted:

 

[yankee'n'moxie]

Well, thank you for the warning!! :lol:

I will be sure to use that comment about the amount of satisfaction in the pitch to my family! LOL Thank you!!

 

[jollysrabbits]

I just want to add a few things to this also, it seems like you got most of the answers you were looking for but there are so many other benefits, you can definitely save money growing your own meat but besides the economical aspect, rabbit raising is one of the best things i have ever picked up, you learn so much about life, death, responsibility and honestly it is a great way to spend time with the family, I know, no matter what i did today when i get home tonight i will get 20-30 minutes with my wife while we feed and water the buns, it gives us more to talk about and plan things around (cooking, cleaning, "rabbit care days". just thought i would add that little tidbit

 

[yankee'n'moxie]

Thank you Jollysrabbits! That is just one more GREAT reason to take it up!

 

[Miss M]

Now I should be able to estimate how much it will cost to raise them.

When I was paying $16 per 50 pound bag of 16% protein pellets, I was getting rabbit at $1.25/pound cleaned and dressed, but bone-in. Every week past 12 weeks that we did not butcher, the cost went up 25 cents per pound of cleaned, dressed rabbit.

I counted ALL the food that ALL the rabbits in the rabbitry ate during the time in order to reach the $1.25/pound figure, not just what the doe and kits ate. This figure actually included the food intake of a nonworking buck and a nonworking doe, though the buck at the very least did not eat much.

Deboned, obviously, the price of the meat itself is higher. But that is offset if you use the bones to make broth or soup, which we do.

 

[yankee'n'moxie]

OMW... Thank you soooo much! That was like THE most helpful post yet! Now, if my cost of grain is about the same (which I think that it is...) I don't have to measure how much bunny food is a pound! THANK YOU!!!

 

[Mary Ann's Rabbitry]

I would like to add something.. the manure is great for worm beds or just in your garden. This stuff is worth gold. It is the best manure going.Some gardeners have rabbits just for there manure. You can take it and put it right in the garden. You can sell it buy the bag or use it for yourself . ANd the furs. Keep the fur and do it yourself. You can use it to make hats or mittens ect ect. or you can sell it ..
here is one link to my furs that i just did.
post117869.html#p117869

 

[yankee'n'moxie]

How do you "do up" the furs? There has to be a market for that stuff...

 

[Mary Ann's Rabbitry]

How do you "do up" the furs? There has to be a market for that stuff...

http://www.motherearthnews.com/Modern-H ... Hides.aspx

The market can be yourself. You can make christmas gifts out of them. You can sell them on e-bay. The list is endless.

 

[yankee'n'moxie]

Thank you for the link! Perfect! I always thought that tanning was a long and hard process, but it is really only long. Not hard at all! Good thoughts, and it would pay for the feed bill too!

 

[Mary Ann's Rabbitry]

your welcome. It isnt hard at all. The hardest part is fleshing .. Once you get past that point . the rest is easy.

 

[GBov]

Rabbits = so much a pound. Manure = so much per square foot. Selling weened kits = enough to buy a bag of feed.

The joy of doing it all?

Priceless!

 

[yankee'n'moxie]

Thanks guys! I think that I prooobably have enough evidence to prove that it is worth it! What do y'all think?

 

[3mina]

Thanks guys! I think that I prooobably have enough evidence to prove that it is worth it! What do y'all think?

I think you're right and we're looking forward to seeing what breed(s) you choose to bring home.
Fair warning, you are probably already infected with Rabbitosis Aquireosis, a nonterminal incurable disease that can only be managed. You're best hope for comfortable survival is to infect your family as well. :lol:

 

[MamaSheepdog]

:welcomewagon:

Hi YankeenMoxie!

I would rather keep does in grow out cages instead of switching them when they have litters

I would suggest having additional growout cages. You will probably be sending the kits to Freezer Camp between 8 and ten weeks. You can breed most does pretty intensively- some do an immediate breed back once the doe has kindled, some wait 2-4 weeks. Say you wait until 4 weeks- you will have another litter due when the current litter is 8 weeks old. If you have superior stock, they may be ready for FC then, but most likely they wont be quite up to weight yet.

One of the things that hasn't been mentioned is the sheer joy of having the rabbits themselves. They are my favorite edible livestock animal by far. (We have chickens, goats, and not-for-consumption-horses. Our steer and several pigs are on an extended holiday at Freezer Camp.)

My herd is a joy to feed- I get so much pleasure just by listening to them all chomping happily away.

The excitement of waiting for a litter, and handling those little kits... watching them go from hairless, sightless, deaf little critters to fuzzy and cute, then onto little mini bunnies... ahh, bliss!

The daily chores don't take much time at all, and the occasional work of raking out the soiled bedding and adding it to the garden is satisfying too.

Regardless of the cost of the meat, there is great satisfaction in knowing that the food on your table was loved in life and well cared for until the end... and they sure do make a fine meal! :dinner: