Very fair and balanced information concerning efficient meat rabbit production. I agree with all of your points except for the one about the choice of foundation stock rabbits. I will guarantee that no crossbreed $4 rabbit will convert feed to meat even remotley close to a quality purebred New Zealand or Californian rabbit. these breeds have been bred specifically for over a hundred years to have the most effecient feed conversion, and maximum dress out ratio. They have also been selectively bred to produce large, healthy, disease resistant litters. It costs exactly the same amount to raise excellent rabbits as it does inferior animals. Sure, you can get mixed mutt rabbits to produce meat, but compared to animals engineered to do nothing but that, would be like entering a donkey in a thoroughbred horse race. I have raised rabbits on and off for over 30 years, and have seen just about everything. I currently have a herd of some of the finest NZW stock in the country. I efficiently produce more meat than I need and also sell quite a few excellent breeders to people who are specifically looking for the best foundation stock that they can afford. The extra money spent on the first quality trio will pay huge dividends for years to come.
I also wouldn't shop around for the cheapest feed you can find just to cut corners. Rabbit feed is one of those things in this world where "you get what you pay for". You don't neccessarily have to buy the most expensive, but do understand that the cheapest feeds usually are jammed full of corn and other non-beneficial fillers that do nothing for the rabbit but put on fat, which you can't eat. Read the ingredients tag, not the price tag. It is totally possible that someone could do well using the type rabbits and feed that you describe, but if he is, he should also be aware that there are others out there doing it much, much, better.
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I also wouldn't shop around for the cheapest feed you can find just to cut corners. Rabbit feed is one of those things in this world where "you get what you pay for". You don't neccessarily have to buy the most expensive, but do understand that the cheapest feeds usually are jammed full of corn and other non-beneficial fillers that do nothing for the rabbit but put on fat, which you can't eat. Read the ingredients tag, not the price tag. It is totally possible that someone could do well using the type rabbits and feed that you describe, but if he is, he should also be aware that there are others out there doing it much, much, better.
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