Anybody breeding meat rabbit?

[KFhunter]

I wanted to make round top hutches you can put hay in between them

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[jackelope]

I wanted to make round top hutches you can put hay in between them

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They have a name. Can’t remember what they’re called. They’re cool. Used without trays with a manure pit under them. A dutch breeder we know in Michigan has a top notch rabbit barn with manure pits. She goes so far as to have worms in the pits.

[jackelope]

These are them. These ones even have nest boxes in the floors.

[KFhunter]

Quansit or something like that

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[Airnip]

  Oregon State University was a rabbit research facility. They came up with this design of cages including the drop down nest box. They published a monthly newsletter for commercial interests. The authors of "Rabbit Production" worked there. One excellent book that has been upgraded in reprints over the years.

[Machias]

I've always wanted to make my hutches like that with the drop down nest boxes.  Nice!

[jackelope]

If anyone is in the market, 4-H kids in Benton county could use some bidders.



There are at least 4 meat pens going up for auction.

[KFhunter]

FYI.  bio-security

https://www.newsweek.com/deadly-hemorrhagic-disease-that-kills-80-percent-rabbits-spreading-across-us-1670688#:~:text=A%20deadly%20disease%20fatal%20to%20rabbits%20in%20around,fatality%20rate%20of%20between%2080%20and%20100%20percent

[Jpmiller]

Thinking about getting into this mainly to expose my boys to killing and butchering. I love eating rabbit but not looking to have a freezer full of them, nor to have a whole bunch on hand. If I want just a small scale operation would a single doe and buck suffice? If I understand correctly a doe will put out several litters a year and if we butcher all of them and just keep the two adults that would be my ideal. Is that a bad idea or? I don't know how long they produce for before we would need to acquire new blood for breeding.

[jackelope]

Thinking about getting into this mainly to expose my boys to killing and butchering. I love eating rabbit but not looking to have a freezer full of them, nor to have a whole bunch on hand. If I want just a small scale operation would a single doe and buck suffice? If I understand correctly a doe will put out several litters a year and if we butcher all of them and just keep the two adults that would be my ideal. Is that a bad idea or? I don't know how long they produce for before we would need to acquire new blood for breeding.

This might take a while

It’s not a bad thing at all. My kid breeds does twice a year. She shows them. She doesn’t eat them. A good commercial breed rabbit will kindle 6-12 babies per litter. Harvest them at 70 days old, they’ll be 3.5-5.5 pounds a piece.  That’s prime rabbit meat age. No fat yet. A healthy doe is a doe that has babies consistently. Don’t breed her once a year and expect much. 2-3 times a year is great. Mother Mature put rabbits on this earth to reproduce.  Figure 8-10 3-5 pound carcasses every 4-6 months. It’s not that much. It’s super good meat. People will buy them too. I’ve sold them for $15 a piece to people for meat. Killed, skinned, gutted. That money goes back to the feed bill.  Your doe will produce good for 3 years or so. Take one of the offspring and move her into the breeding lineup. Line breeding is fine. There will come a time where you’ll need to get a new buck once the line is too tightly bred. You’ll need new blood.

[Jpmiller]

Other than the breeding aspect and butchering is there a difference in care than pet rabbits? We had them growing up but just as something to chase around the yard and pet never for anything useful.

What's a typical meat yield on a 3.5-5.5 pound rabbit?

The more I look into rabbits the more I like so far. The barn needs some work before pigs would be an option, we don't have room for bigger animals right now and I'm never going back to chickens or turkeys if I can help it.

[jackelope]

The biggest cluster I see repeatedly with rabbits is their diet if you ask me. They don’t need salads and such.  They need a quality pellet from a feed store, not from a pet store, and maybe a little grass hay once in a while.  Hay is good source of fiber and good for gut health. The biggest thing we use Timothy hay for at this point is filling nest boxes. Eating a quality feed will put meat on a carcass. Feeding them treats and green grass and carrots will give them bloat and make them fat. You don’t want fat rabbits.  A good buck and 3 quality does will give you a beef cow’s worth of meat in a year if you breed enough times.

I think they say 60% meat. A commercial breed rabbit is built to yield more meat than bone. They’ll eat to put meat on, not build bone. You don’t want big boned rabbits.
Once they get to 12 weeks or so, they’ll start forming fat. That will degrade the quality of the meat, and they won’t get too much bigger than they are at 12 weeks either.

Set your cages up so the kids can harvest the poop too. People will buy it off of Craigslist or your local dahlia club or something like that for a few bucks per 5 or 10 pound bag. My kid has buyers for that too.

[jackelope]

Also. Don’t buy rabbits off of Craigslist. When you’re ready, let me know. I’ll get you set up with a quality breeder with good stock to get your kids going. I know lots of people who raise rabbits.

[mountainman]

Helped out at a commercial rabbits for a friend's parents back in '80-81. Butchering was down to a science. Manure was sold for earthworm production

[Jpmiller]

Thanks! I'm hoping either this spring or fall to get our mini operation up and running. Slaughter and butcher was a common occurrence growing up and I hated it at the time but now I see it's value. Really would like to get the kids normalized to it before they're too old.