Tell Me About Meat Rabbits

[Akane]

I haven't seen any of the Argentes if pure go for less than $20 and generally adults all go for $40 around here. Most of those would be for show but they've been regaining popularity as a meat breed as well and occasionally people do want the larger rabbits for pets since they tend to be more laid back. The person we got most of our champagne d'argents from has gone to selling nearly all his champagnes and flemish for pets and still gets $40/rabbit. Although he has a tendency to give them away free if they don't meet his standards. All our starting stock from 4 different people was $40 each except one champagne doe he gave me free cause she was smaller than her siblings but she died of a prolasped uterus with her first litter. Our mini rex we spent $10 to $40 on and sell for $15 to $30 depending which bloodline and there is 1 to 2 out of every litter that has an exceptionally dense coat. You can tell because the coat is so thick it makes curls and wrinkles on the kits due to lack of space for the hairs so that would be one of the things that makes me charge a little more. Every now and then I sell a mini rex for $10 as pet quality due to too long of ears or something like that but that is restricted to one particular line I'm working with who have wonderful type but are a little too big. I've seen both mini rex and creme d'argent surpass $100 for an individual. A lot of cremes here have a little new zealand because they were getting so inbred that people crossed them out so a creme not crossed with any of those lines sells for a lot more. Mixes seem to only sell for $5-$10 here irregardless of what you are mixing except for the pet stores who just call them all "dwarf" rabbits (most are poorly bred dutch or mini rex crosses) and charge $40-$60. Even my creme x champagne d'argents which despite their only difference being color are recognized as 2 different breeds don't sell for more than $5 because they are now thought of as crosses instead. Common pure meat breeds like new zealands will only run $10-$20 but most people breeding for meat don't bother to keep those pure. All the other people I've seen selling meat rabbits have new zealand crossed with everything under the sun to the point they probably aren't very predictable breeders anymore. Which is probably one reason crosses sell so low and our purebreds are filling a little niche in the market.

 

[Mykee]

I have cinnamon rabbits. I really like them because they are rare and beuatiful, and extremely friendly. We never actually bred them or used them for meat, but that was our intention. Cinnamons are heavy, about ten pounds, and they have beautiful and soft fur, if you are going to use the pelts.

This is my doe, about one year old. She has a bare nose for some reason, but I couldn't figure it out.

 

[rickerra]

Very interesting info. I have much to learn about purebred rabbits.

I look forward to this years county fairs... and the rabbit and chicken exhibits. I know so much more about them now and can appreciate all the different breeds.

I can see why "Storey's Guide to Raising Rabbits" says to get pedigreed purebreds. That's where the big money is! haha

Guess I'll just have to enjoy my mutts for now. See if rabbit raising is for me. Then expand later.

Cheers!

 

[hippiehen]

Beautiful rabbit Mykee!

I'm having a hard time finding breeders for rabbits and I've noticed most are "up north." Is it too hot here for rabbits? We've already hit 100+

 

[Louise's Country Closet]

We have meat rabbits. 13, actually.

We raise New Zealands and standard Rex. Mixed together makes one big rabbit! My favorite are the NZ though, they're easier to handle and don't flip out as much. As for the money, we really don't make any profit from them. The babies that we do sell, goes right back into feed but we go through the winter without breeding so we stick more money into them anyway. If you want them for food and to ease the cost of their feed, their a great thing to get into! The babies usually pay for at least half the feed during the summer so the meat we get from them is pretty cheap.

Here's our setup:

Outside

Doe cages

Male cages (there's a fourth one down there now too)

Cages for the babies (we have one outside too)

 

[Anianna]

We raise New Zealand whites for meat for our family. We never intended to sell any, but we have had several people ask if we are selling. Around here, a NZ without papers goes for $30. Our first buck never matured (his balls didn't drop) and we had to go out for a new buck and we discovered a bit of a learning curve for winter litters (our one doe didn't stick to the expected schedule and then would have them on the wire in the night when we didn't realize she was ready). We've got it down now, though, with warmers for the winter and ice sheets in the summer. You can even buy self-warming water bottles that only come on if the temp drops to a certain point and warming pads designed for nest boxes. If you don't lose your litters, they pretty much pay for themselves considering you spend money on their feed instead of buying meat at the store, but this is high quality, high protein, you-know-where-it-came-from, humanely raised, and sustainable meat. People keep telling me the meat is tough and dry, but I cook ours in the crock pot and it always comes out tender and moist like quality white meat chicken.

We house ours in a single row of hanging wire cages. Poos drop to the floor and can be shoveled straight to the garden or into the composter. I don't find that they stink at all, but our shed is not entirely enclosed, so that may have something to do with it. We give them treats of timothy hay from time to time and put straw on top of the cages. Straw gives them something to munch on for bored munching that doesn't get them too fat and putting it on the top of the cage gives them some exercise getting it. We also give them bits of branch from our fruit trees to play with. They love to chew the bark off and then spend time tossing the bare wood about.

 

[rickerra]

Quote:
Thank you for sharing the pictures of your setup! I am inspired. I need to build a large shed to also house my rabbits. I currently have them in my garage... but I worry about the hay and feed and attracting little critters into my home. Caught and eliminated my first little mouse today. Not sure if it's the buns or the chickens (still in my garage) that attracted them. A shed would be far enough away from the house to minimize that risk... I would hope.

I like how you used pvc pipe to sit the cages on. I too did this... using galvanized conduit... which I had left over from another project. Works very well. I love your poop trays. I need to make these for my stands... and I think I'll copy your design. I also need to ring my buck's cage with a urine spray shield... he's been getting some distance! haha.

Cheers!

 

[rabbitgeek]

Quote:
When you start getting over 80F degrees you start having issues with rabbits. You have to be sure they are in the shade and well ventilated. But we have had rabbits outdoors in the summer over 100F with no losses. Some stress, but no losses on meat rabbits. See my article about outdoor housing.

Have a good day!
Franco Rios

 

[dewey]

Quote:
As for those temps, we here in the low deserts of AZ have, too, or have been close to it, or just over it...it's hard to keep track this time of year, lol. Some of us in the hotter states have cooled rabbit barns making year round breeding standard. Others that do not have cooling systems may ride out the hot months then begin breeding again when temps come down...that could be part of the reason you're not finding breeders right now. Hopefully you'll locate a breeder or breeders with nice, soon to be weaned litters...that way you could start your program in Jan after growing them out.

 

[Louise's Country Closet]

Quote:
Thank you for sharing the pictures of your setup! I am inspired. I need to build a large shed to also house my rabbits. I currently have them in my garage... but I worry about the hay and feed and attracting little critters into my home. Caught and eliminated my first little mouse today. Not sure if it's the buns or the chickens (still in my garage) that attracted them. A shed would be far enough away from the house to minimize that risk... I would hope.

I like how you used pvc pipe to sit the cages on. I too did this... using galvanized conduit... which I had left over from another project. Works very well. I love your poop trays. I need to make these for my stands... and I think I'll copy your design. I also need to ring my buck's cage with a urine spray shield... he's been getting some distance! haha.

Cheers!

Thanks!! My husband will be happy knowing people like his poop trays

lol He has them covered with plastic and when it starts to wear through, he changes it out so that we very rarely have to replace trays. The pvc pipe really does work nice, doesn't it? I love being able to do a quick wipe when they start getting nasty, but have the sturdiness of the boards for the stand.