BunnyGirl
Well-known member
Hi, I was wondering about people who own large rabbitries. Can you make a living out of it :? ?
To the large rabbitry owners out there...
- Thread starter BunnyGirl
- Start date
Help Support Rabbit Talk Forum:
Kyle@theWintertime
Well-known member
The short answer is, probably? 
I personally plan to stay small, though, so I can't really answer this.
I personally plan to stay small, though, so I can't really answer this.
During my first breeding season I saw a little extra spending cash but cost of cages and barns is almost impossible to make back. I don't want to burn out my does either so I only breed each doe twice a year.
You can breed your does more than that and not worry about burning them out.
You risk more that they won't continue to produce if you don't keep breeding 'em.
SarahMelisse
Well-known member
ladysown":2yins9ad said:
What would you say is the minimum amount of breeding you could do per year?
3mina
Well-known member
I'm small but I breed for meat and I breed my does when I wean at about 4-5 weeks. I wean when the kits stop nursing.
Sorry, forgot to answer the question, I think it depends where you are and what market you're going after.
Sorry, forgot to answer the question, I think it depends where you are and what market you're going after.
I also wean at 4-5 weeks. I breed back at 1-2 weeks after kindling depending on the doe, the health of the litter and the size of the litter. I'll let a larger litter with small kits nurse for an extra week or two. I would like to be able to breed back even sooner but I need to watch my does and see how they handle the quick turn around.
As for profitability, it really depends on a few factors: do you have a constant client base; what prices can you charge; how many rabbits do you need to meat your customer demand.
We have a customer who wants 6 rabbits a week. We can charge $6/lb wholesale and $7.50/lb retail. We do not have enough rabbits to meet this one customer's demand let alone everyone else who keeps asking us for rabbit meat. Our start up costs are relatively low because we have used 80% recycled products to build our pasture pens and nesting boxes. Our rabbits take longer to grow out because they are on pasture so we end up spending more in feed costs than a conventional commercial operation.
My goal is to be able to supply 5 restaurants year round plus a market and be able to sell at a farmer's market ourselves. To do this, we'd need 20 working does at a minimum. It would be a lot of work for us to take care of them. Both my boyfriend and I work full time (well, I do when I'm employed. I was laid off.) and have three kids between us. We also have the rest of the farm to take care of. We're already stretched pretty thin. So getting to the point of having a minimum of 20 working does is going to require a lot of time and effort. As we ramp up, we'll constantly be watching to see if this is a profitable enterprise or not. If it cannot become profitable, then we'd need to scale back, reassess our goals and limit our client base.
There's usually a breaking point when your quantity finally puts you into the black. I don't know where that is for this venture.
As for profitability, it really depends on a few factors: do you have a constant client base; what prices can you charge; how many rabbits do you need to meat your customer demand.
We have a customer who wants 6 rabbits a week. We can charge $6/lb wholesale and $7.50/lb retail. We do not have enough rabbits to meet this one customer's demand let alone everyone else who keeps asking us for rabbit meat. Our start up costs are relatively low because we have used 80% recycled products to build our pasture pens and nesting boxes. Our rabbits take longer to grow out because they are on pasture so we end up spending more in feed costs than a conventional commercial operation.
My goal is to be able to supply 5 restaurants year round plus a market and be able to sell at a farmer's market ourselves. To do this, we'd need 20 working does at a minimum. It would be a lot of work for us to take care of them. Both my boyfriend and I work full time (well, I do when I'm employed. I was laid off.) and have three kids between us. We also have the rest of the farm to take care of. We're already stretched pretty thin. So getting to the point of having a minimum of 20 working does is going to require a lot of time and effort. As we ramp up, we'll constantly be watching to see if this is a profitable enterprise or not. If it cannot become profitable, then we'd need to scale back, reassess our goals and limit our client base.
There's usually a breaking point when your quantity finally puts you into the black. I don't know where that is for this venture.
Most of that is that I have mine outside, no barn or anything, other wise I would only give them a month between weaning and rebreeding. I breed for show to and mini lops arn't a great meat breed so my market is limited depending on the time of the year. I do think a profit is there depending on what you want to write off. A fancy morton building with power and water would be hard to pay off with the profits made from rabbits.
skysthelimit
Well-known member
At the moment, I'm way in the hole. There is no market here for anything. If I sell something I do the dance for joy. Check your market.
SatinsRule
Well-known member
Be mindful of what sells in your local area. If the only kind of rabbits (if any) is a bunch of small breeds, it doesn't make any sense to raise a bunch of commercial breed rabbits and believing they will sell, too.
Where i am , Yes there is a big market .But to make money you have to go big. I have done it and yes i did make money at it. In order for me to make more money i had to even go bigger. Being the only person doing it . At that time i had 60 working does. It was just a full time job doing that. I wanted to get up to 100 does. The market is there. I breed 8 litters a year per doe. So ya lots of babies and lots of breeding and replacing does. It wasnt my cup of tea. I hated that. So i stopped it and still into meat rabbits but more for showing and improving my stock. More for a hobby and not a job.It was wearing me out and the does .BunnyGirl":2z1hy1w8 said:
I'm doubtful I'm making my money back on my rabbits. I've been breeding pretty consistently. A week or two after weaning at 7 weeks. I also run a rabbitry of 15 holes and I'm hoping to grow to 25, but no more than that. I'll be switching to a new feed this week since my bag of feed was running me up to $25 per bag. So I pretty much end up buying $50-$75 bags of feed per month, sometimes more, depending on mothers and if I had litters. I'll be switching to a feed that is $15-$16 dollars that a former Mini Lop breeder uses now on his Rex stock with great results. I do sell my jr Mini Lops for the minimum of $50 & up a piece and older stock for a bit cheaper. I had no problem selling in the winter, slower in the summer, but it seems to be picking up again now for me with a lot of request from FFA kids starting up showing rabbits. Fortunately, I'm just so conveniently located in my state that it brings many people my way unless they really want to make the 4-5 hour drive to the Flordia Coast to pick up a Holland Lop from another breeder since I simply do not breed/ raise those. I also have someone bringing in stock from ARBA Convention....so I'll be in the hole a lot more there since I'll be purchasing from some of the best Mini Lop breeders. I just want to have some exceptional lines & rabbits, so I can sell exceptional rabbits to the future of the rabbit fancy. It's a hobby for me and not a buisness.
i have 20 holes.
I mostly sell to the pet crowd.
I make money.
Totally pays for my son's homeschooling plus usually part of our holiday expenses.
Selling my culls to the pet food crowd simply opened up options for me. I'd rather sell 'em than eat 'em, but that's always money in the bank as well. Even polish make good soup.
I mostly sell to the pet crowd.
I make money.
Totally pays for my son's homeschooling plus usually part of our holiday expenses.
Selling my culls to the pet food crowd simply opened up options for me. I'd rather sell 'em than eat 'em, but that's always money in the bank as well. Even polish make good soup.
skysthelimit
Well-known member
Peach":249pg2hw said:
I am now up to twenty five holes. I have another doe coming tomorrow, two more bucks and hopefully another doe this fall. I haven't decided if someone is to get culled to make room, or whether I might squeeze in more cages. I don't need that many bucks, but there are some Rex colors that are just hard to get right unless they are bred to themselves. I would like to have enough does to sell meat for raw feeders, but I would quite a few to make money, because the meat price would be so low.
BunnyGirl
Well-known member
So whats the way to make the most money without selling the rabbits for meat? Breeding for show quality?
Kyle@theWintertime
Well-known member
I don't know offhand of any non-meat breeders who make a living from their hobby but I could be wrong.
That said I think it would be very, very difficult.
That said I think it would be very, very difficult.
If you want to breed for show quality. YOu should have show quality breeders. You will also need predigrees. You dont need them to show. But if someone wants to buy from you to show. They will want that. YOu will also ask more money for them that is for sure. But really ,i dont think there is money in pet and show rabbits. Depending where you are of course. The trend here is if you have a rabbit with a cool color. Then everyone wants that color. Then you go onto the next different color. And so on. Just like those hybrid dogs. They go like hotcakes. And they ask for the same amount of money for those dogs as a purebred .
skysthelimit
Well-known member
BunnyGirl":2p89us90 said:
Unless you are showing a lot, and winning a lot, and you corner the market on a breed, this is not a likely solution. Not to mention the highest percentage of kits in the litter will still only be pet quality, most of the time.
