This spring after I wrote “Anyone Can Raise Rabbits” my wife and I decided to get back into rabbit raising – something that we did for a while almost 20 years ago. I haven’t mentioned this up until now because I wanted to have something more informative than just cute pictures of our rabbits.
We started out with 4 young “New Zealand” rabbits – 3 does and a buck. The reason that I put New Zealand in quotes is because we did not buy pedigreed stock from a breeder. We bought Easter bunnies which we found in online classifieds. However our rabbits conform pretty well to the New Zealand standard. New Zealands are especially good for meat production, and make good mothers – not very nervous or prone to lose, abandon, or kill their litters like some other breeds might often do. New Zealands are the stereotypical “white Rabbits”.
A 2 day old baby New Zealand Rabbit
We’ve just completed one “cycle” of backyard rabbit raising and I thought that some of you might be interested in how it comes out in the real world.
One week old baby New Zealand Rabbit - Grow fast don't they?
We raised a total of 10 baby rabbits from two litters. In the 10 weeks beginning with when the two mothers were first bred we fed 3 – 50 lb bags of commercial rabbit feed at $15 per bag – for a total of $49.00 more or less including tax.
As soon as the bunnies were old enough to ween (7-8 weeks) we advertised them for sale on Internet classifieds and eventually sold 4 for a total of $38.00. When the babies were 10 weeks old they were almost as big as their mothers, and the time had come when they could no longer remain in the same cages with them any longer. We would have been happy to have sold all of them if possible, but the plan had always been to use any that we couldn’t sell by 10 weeks for food. So that is what we did.
The remaining 6 rabbits yielded about 18 pounds dressed weight of meat at a total cost of 61 cents per pound based upon the cost of rabbit food minus the proceeds from the sale of live rabbits.
In addition we also got quite a lot of weed free high quality organic fertilizer for our garden. According to the university of Maine ag department fresh rabbit manure has an analysis of 2.4-1.4-0.6 NPK ratio which is about 1/2 that of store bought “organic” fertilizer from the home improvement store – which is actually pasteurized, processed chicken feathers, manure, and by products from a commercial factory farm. If you compare it to that stuff we got an easy $25 worth of fertilizer out of the deal.
So to sum up:
- We bought $50 worth of feed
- We sold $38 worth of live rabbits
- We got to use $25 worth of organic fertilizer
- We harvested 18 pounds of dressed rabbit meat
In addition to the breeding does and their litters we were also maintaining the buck / sire, and one idle (unbred) doe during the same time period – both of which were also fed out of the same allotment of rabbit feed as the working does and bunnies. So the total feed conversion rate of our little rabbitry was about 5 pounds of feed consumed per each pound of dressed meat produced – including what would have been yielded by the 4 that we sold. Really not too bad for a very small first effort.
I might point out that even though this isn’t all that bad (nor all that great) That we can conceivably improve our efficiency in the future. For one thing we won’t usually have an unbred doe just taking up space and consuming food. Also, 5 offspring per litter is low, and I believe that will improve – these are first litters for these does, and subsequent litters are likely to be larger. Also there is a breeding technique that I wasn’t previously aware of that is supposed to increase the litter size.
Obviously I’m not including the cost of the initial investment in cages and other equipment or breeding stock. Even so this is certainly not a get rich quick scheme, and if you value your time at all then it’s an exercise in futility. You would certainly be better off financially to work an hour or two of over time and just buy your food at Wal-Mart. Of course from that point of view it’s probably also cheaper to just feed your kids happy meals than to fix them a home cooked supper. Though if that’s how you looked at it you wouldn’t be reading this blog would you.
Can you elaborate on the breeding technique that is supposed to increase the litter size, or post a link to a description of this technique?
I knew that someone would ask that. Here it is:
.
Breed the female in the usual way by placing her in the cage with the male for 20 seconds of paradise – then when the male has completed his business (and falls over on his side) return the female to her cage.
.
Do this twice – once in the evening and again early the next morning about 8 hours later, because the eggs descend into the uterine horns for fertilization AFTER the first breeding takes place. The second breeding improves fertilization with fresh sperm.
.
I guess I should have just put that in the article to begin with.
First, I would like to thank you for you site. I enjoy your articles and first-hand experiences you share. My wife and used to have a farm with all the critters, but due to a family tragedy, we now live in the city. I have gardens, but so badly wanted to get livestock again. Chickens are out of the question, so rabbits definitely are where I’m headed.
We used to have mixed breeds but kept a California or New Zealand buck for breeding. I’ve noticed many books on rabbits recommend buying purebred stock. Why do you think they push that? Many of the local breeders here have ‘commercial’ stock and do just fine. I’m only interested in filling the freezer with good meat.
Also, thanks for getting rabbits again! I look forward to any other articles you may share on your experiences with them.
Gardening – after reading your article on your homemade hot bed. I started one too and look forward to extending my growing season this Fall.
Thanks for sharing your life with us. There are others out here who are inspired by what you do!
Doug
Thank you very much for your supportive comment.
Why do I think they push pedigreed stock? – In all fairness it is probably really a good idea to start with pedigreed stock if you can. The cost is going to be higher of course, but the other costs of raising rabbits – cages, equipment, feed will still be the same. You should be able to get a bit more out of any breeding stock that you sell, and over time that will probably make it more profitable. You will also know what those bunnies are going to grow up to be. No doubt, people who produce pedigreed stock are going to promote it as being better because it is in their interest to do so. If you hope to make money I have no doubt that you should start with pedigreed stock simply because you will be able to get more for your product.
If you are able to consider them as livestock instead of pets you can always upgrade to pedigreed stock once you are all squared away (which I might do). If you are going to consider them as pets you better get the right rabbits on the first try.
Good luck with your cold frame and rabbits let us know how it goes.
Thanks for your interesting post. Most people should learn about the ease and low cost options of raising their own meat – especially with e.coli constantly popping up here and there in the food chain! Thought your other article Anyone Can Raise Rabbits was also really informative and it makes a lot of the same points we’ve made in our blog and ebook.
Hope the breeding continues to go well for you and many happy rabbit feasts
Great article. They so darn cute!
Did you kill and dress yourself or did you send to a butcher?
What are you going to do with the skins?
I processed them myself at home. All of the by products including the skins were buried in a trench about 2 feet deep under a bed that was being renovated and wouldn’t be planted in food for several months. I’ve actually experimented (I currently am in fact) with tanning (deer) hides using salt, wood ashes, and walnut hulls. If I ever perfect that I might try it on rabbit hides. Until then though they are fertilizer – which is a worthwhile use. The grass really is greener over those spots.
Great information sharing by all. Thank You!