Big chonky New Zealand Reds. 6.6 pounds live weight at 12 weeks. I'll weigh them again tomorrow at 13 weeks, see what they added.
Rabbit meat cost , price for sale
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In order to sell, don’t you need to have a resteraunt grade kitchen? Who do u sell to? I’m wanting to sell meat, fur and live and am new. I was thinking farmers markets where I have whole or quarters smoking as well as sausage. Can I also sell frozen or fresh vacuum packed at farmers market type place? Restaraunts?
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I take my meat rabbits to a local butchering facility and gets inspected by a USDA inspector while they are getting dispatched. We freeze the whole carcass and deliver them to the restaurants. You need to have a Meat Distribution License to do this. Farm to Table restaurants love them.
Check the USDA in your state to learn the details.
Check the USDA in your state to learn the details.
And having them butcher, doesn’t that significantly cut into profit?
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We are fortunate that my husband is able to help them to keep the cost down. $7 per rabbit.
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I forgot to mention that you need to get a Meat Distributor License from the USDA also. Which is fairly easy.
Thanks guys! I don't have pictures But I agree with Ladysown I am under selling my self. I have been harvesting at 10 to 12 wks and have realized 2.5 to 3.25 lb dressed rabbits. If I went 14wks and could sell them for 25 to 30 $ it should definitely off set the pellets and oats.
Thanks Sodekirk1961 the pictures make a believer out of you. worth a thousand words. This helps a lot.
Thanks Sodekirk1961 the pictures make a believer out of you. worth a thousand words. This helps a lot.
Woops thanks dlynn for the Pics.
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I just can’t imagine butchering them when they are only half grown. Good luck!
If you wait longer than around 10 weeks, you no longer have a fryer, you have a roaster. The meat gets tougher. After 12 weeks the feed to meat conversion ratio also drops, so they put weight on more slowly. Since I either roast or Instant Pot mine and like them bigger, I go a little longer depending on freezer space and cage space.
Possibly, after years of eating home grown rabbit, I have gotten largely immune to this slight change in texture. I often harvest at 12-16weeks and still treat the meat as a fryer. I do notice a bit of a shift at 6 months or so, which is what I consider a real roaster/stewer. I sometimes raise my last fall batch to full adulthood to evaluate for breeder replacements and to capitalize on the prime winter coats.
I find that with an adequate period of rest in the fridge they remain tender much later than reported.
In my herd, the feed conversion rate stays fairly level for about 16 weeks. The growth rates stay level up to 20-ish weeks but by then they are definitely eating more, so the feed conversion rate goes down.
We still usually butcher at 12 weeks since at that age the sexes need to be separated, and space always seem to be at a premium around here.
I agree, the big texture shift comes at around 6months. Mostly what we notice then is that they take a lot more work to skin, although when we have the cage space to keep them that long, it's worth it for the prime pelt.
I wouldn't cook an adult rabbit (6mos+) on the grill (unless I pressure cooked it first). But I can most of our rabbit meat, so texture differences really don't amount to much for us. Butchering age is more about the carrying capacity of the barn!
Nice! I seem to have already hit carrying capacity of the run, now it's time to see what my freezers can carry...
Edit: Alaska Satin I have a wee bit of rabbit envy for your herd!
I like to go 16 weeks as well, I get a little better weight and one rabbit feeds us and the dogs for several meals. The instapot makes even the old tougher rabbits tender enough, so I'm leaning toward going for a little bigger size since I'm not selling to market, and also it lets me keep my meat on the paw maybe a little longer. Also for me, older rabbits lose some of the cute factor that the 12 week olds still have! I don't know how people can butcher at 8 weeks, or even 10. My heart is too soft.
I am still such a noob, but I don't think there's any subject where there's no room left to learn new things!
Edit: Alaska Satin I have a wee bit of rabbit envy for your herd!
I like to go 16 weeks as well, I get a little better weight and one rabbit feeds us and the dogs for several meals. The instapot makes even the old tougher rabbits tender enough, so I'm leaning toward going for a little bigger size since I'm not selling to market, and also it lets me keep my meat on the paw maybe a little longer. Also for me, older rabbits lose some of the cute factor that the 12 week olds still have! I don't know how people can butcher at 8 weeks, or even 10. My heart is too soft. I am still such a noob, but I don't think there's any subject where there's no room left to learn new things!
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I could adapt to the 16 wks if I had the barn space. right now I have 10 grow outs at 8 wks and 17 kits 3 wks old. I had been separating kits by sex until last litter I tried separating by litter, that didn't work the bucks started mounting the does and fighting in the cage at 10wks, Now we went back to separating by sex and have run out of cages. Maybe I can add on to the barn with my Tax Return. (then all will be well again}
Thanks tllav. I'm going to 14$ a lb or 35 for a whole.
