Keeping Meat Rabbits

[EarthView]

I suggest you get the book Storey's Guide to Raising Rabbits by Bob Bennett. It is inexpensive and I have found it to be very helpful. I got mine on amazon.com. A note on raising show rabbits. You are going to end up butchering most of them anyway because in a litter only a few will measure up.

I actually have that book, however I've no idea where it is. I spent a good two hours yesterday looking for it as I remember it being very helpful. I might just end up buying a new copy. This is partly also as I miss having and breeding rabbits, I actually have one mini rex doe who's a few years old now but she's more of a pet and frankly a little overweight.

 

[cassie]

I actually have that book, however I've no idea where it is. I spent a good two hours yesterday looking for it as I remember it being very helpful. I might just end up buying a new copy. This is partly also as I miss having and breeding rabbits, I actually have one mini rex doe who's a few years old now but she's more of a pet and frankly a little overweight.

I have found the surest way to find something is to buy a new one. A friend of mine goes around chanting, "Dear St. Anthony come around. Something's lost that must be found". She swears it helps. Can't hurt.

 

[EarthView]

Also, while I'm at it, I might as well ask. I was curious how Mini Rex's do as meat rabbits? They would dress out smaller obviously but the only other thing I've read is that they tend to grow out a bit slower.

 

[ChocolateMouse]

Altona said what I came in here to say. 24x24 is just too small for such large rabbits. My cages on the smallest side are 2'x3' and I like to use those only for small rabbits (6-8lbs). My bigger rabbits are in 2x5, 3x4 and 4x4 cages (the 3x4 are the best from my experience).

Also breeding for show and breeding for meat are radically different. Show rabbits are difficult to actually get right. In a breed as popular as NZW, only the best of the best could win anything. Even just an ear being tilted a little wrong could wind up just not winning shows for just that. (Ok, that's sort of true of any rabbit but it's more true of a breed as consistent as a NZW.)

If you're going to breed for show - breed for show and eat the extra offpsring anyhow. All rabbits are made of rabbit meat. But you're going to see a significant difference between that and a really nice meat rabbit. I've had some amazing NZW meaties and crosses dress out at 75% at 10 weeks. My more show-y rabbits are lucky to hit 60% at the same age and the feed conversion ratio's much worse.

Mini rex are OK ish meat rabbits. Personally, I find the effort of butchering fewer larger rabbits much better than butchering a lot of smaller rabbits, and they do grow out slower. Much worse FCR. Also the dwarf gene many mini rex carry is homozygous lethal (they die if they get two copies of it), so about 1/4 of your litters of one nice dwarf to another will be born as peanuts and die in a few days if they're born at all. If you're interested in Rex and have the space I would 100% go for the standard rex. They're really nice rabbits, not as meaty or efficient as a NZW but man those furs are amazing if you ever want to tan some hides and the colors are lovely. I like the personalities more as well.

 

[EarthView]

Also I have one more question (the last I promise). I love Netherland Dwarfs but I'm not sure if I could justify breeding them. If I happened to have extras, could they be butchered? I understand they would probably be single serve meals (One rabbit per person) but could it be done? Sorry about all the questions, people are so helpful here and I havent found much information that would awnser my question. Thanks a bunch!

 

[ChocolateMouse]

All rabbits are made out of rabbit meat. It's up to you to decide if it's worth the effort to process or feed out such a scrawny rabbit, though! Probably not much there other than bones and skin and organs. Might be better to process a bundle of them and slow cook em for a stew or debone after and make em into a pie or something if you're insistent on eating such tiny animals.

To me it seems a little like keeping tiny bantam egg chickens and then eating the skinny hens after. So much work, so little reaward...

 

[EarthView]

All rabbits are made out of rabbit meat. It's up to you to decide if it's worth the effort to process or feed out such a scrawny rabbit, though! Probably not much there other than bones and skin and organs. Might be better to process a bundle of them and slow cook em for a stew or debone after and make em into a pie or something if you're insistent on eating such tiny animals.

To me it seems a little like keeping tiny bantam egg chickens and then eating the skinny hens after. So much work, so little reaward...

Thanks for the reply! I've wanted ND's since I first started with rabbits but instead went with the more popular Mini Rexs as well as Lionheads. I would probably still have the New Zelands and the Netherlands would be more show quality and than I would butcher whatever didnt sell and use them as stew meat. We eat alot of soup/stew at my house anyways.

 

[erehwon]

We raise rabbits for meat, our cages are all wire 100 x 60 x 60 cm. Four cages suspended on a wooden frame. Offspring are butchered when they reach 3.5 kgs in weight which for us is around the 10/11 week mark though sometimes we bring them on further. However we put the adults and babies (when old enough) out on grass most days in pens and one of our breeding females has a complete free run and lives in the porch. If it was not for our current house rabbit she would have free rein inside as well.

Good luck, its is something we thoroughly enjoy (they are amusing and cute) but they are the hardest thing I have ever had to dispatch due to their "lovability" factor.

 

[cassie]

Just a comment. If you are interested in a small meat rabbit, check out Florida Whites. They are smaller than the standard meat rabbit and they would take a little longer to grow out, but they are very meaty and the dressing percentage and yield is outstanding. I have thought about getting rabbits again and if I did they would be Florida Whites. However, the thought of going out in sub zero weather to take care of any critter does not make my little heart go pittypat with glee. We'll see.

 

[EarthView]

Does anyone know of a good method to dispatch them? I was thinking of getting the "hopper popper". It seems like an easy way to go about it.