# Anyone raise rabbits for meat?



## audrey (Jul 17, 2012)

Tell me about it. I would love to see photos or videos of your setups too


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## COgoatLover25 (Dec 23, 2013)

We used to , but we didn't have a really good setup so it was a lot work so it didn't really work for us . But I think if you had it setup right and had a market for it you could do really good.


Home to Reg. Nubians, Nigerians, and meat goats.


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## audrey (Jul 17, 2012)

I was more thinking just for myself. I desperately want to get away from the mass produced, store bought meat industry. I buy a half a beef from a place a mile up the road from me, and I was going to raise meat chickens this year, but after really thinking about it, its going to be too hard to set up a spot for them and all their gross chicken poop that they make. I do have a spot that I could easily finish and turn into a nice, large pen for a bunny doe to raise up some litters of babies though, and I already have a very large, mix breed (he was a dump off, I know nothing about him) male bunny who I think would sire some wonderful meat rabbits. I am thinking of starting with a new zealand doe, and maybe eventually adding an american chinchilla doe as well. 

I have friends who I am guessing I could work a deal with for butchering them for me, but if they decline, there is a butcher near by who charges $4.08 each to kill, cut and wrap. 

If I put a wether in the freezer ever year too, that should be plenty of meat for me and will get me SO much closer to my goal of not buying meat. 

What about your setup didnt work for you, and how did it make a lot of work? How many rabbits did you have? For sure knowing what doesnt work, is really helpful!


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## COgoatLover25 (Dec 23, 2013)

We had about 40 breeding rabbits , so it was a lot to handle. We didn't have a way to keep the water bottles from freezing. plus, since we raise hogs ( breeding and butchering stock) , chickens, goats, cattle and horses, it was just another thing to take care of . One thing that i can say for it though is that the meat is very tasty. If I ever did it again, I would look into getting american blue rabbits as they are supposed to be a low stress breed. Only reason I say that is because we must have had 5 fullgrown rabbits die just from hearing someone elses voice.


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## COgoatLover25 (Dec 23, 2013)

We raised New Zealands also


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## lovinglife (Jun 6, 2013)

We did, I LOVED it, we will be getting some more this year. We had a super hot summer last year and it took out our buck, so we just butchered the rest. Now we are out of bunny in the freezer so we will get a doe and a buck and start again. It is the most wonderful meat ever. I always just crocked potted them and deboned. I then froze the meat or canned up some taco soup with bunny instead of chicken. It workes great for any recipe involving chicken.


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## audrey (Jul 17, 2012)

Ah yeah, that sounds like really a lot to manage!


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## milkmaid (Sep 15, 2010)

We do. We have no big setup, just a Rabbit Zinger and a piece of high-tensile wire, hung over a tree branch and bent to hold the back feet for skinning and gutting.
IMO the Zinger (while expensive) is the only way to go for killing rabbits. It's quick as a wink, and most of the time the rabbit doesn't even know what hit it.
Rabbits are SO much easier to kill than chickens!
We raise NZ, but I don't think they are purebred. They are really pretty, lots of colors - orange, brown, gray, black, ermine. We're hoping to get some Iron Gray and Black Torts this year - we have the right genetics for both colors, if we can choose the right matings!


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## gegegoatgirl2698 (Feb 1, 2014)

We had 4 does two Californian and two new Zealand's and a new Zealand buck. We would breed all four does and usually get 8-10 kits per doe. We would raise them for 8 weeks on Pen Pals rabbit feed and the last two weeks and sweet potato slices and some oats two put fat layer on. Then we would sell what we had as breeding stock or for someone else's freezer. We didn't have a rabbit butcher in area. We lost all our rabbits last year to heat with a mix up in feed, it was too high in sodium, a mistake I will never make again. So right now I have one doe and a buck from my meat pen from county fair and am just going to breed for show.


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## Dodgerdoob (Feb 11, 2014)

My brother raised rabbits for 5 years and then I did for about 7 after he stopped. We were a family of 6 and in all that time we never bought any chicken. It sounds like you are getting a lot of advice about commercial production, but you just want them for yourself right? Just figure out how many you would and work backwards. Say you want to eat 4 rabbits a week, you need 16 a month or 2 litters. A doe's gestation is a month if I remember correctly. So if your does produced a litter every 2 weeks you'd be set. 3 does and a buck would do this. You need 4 cages for them and maybe 4 more for the weaned fryers. I used to have an 8 bay wire cage (4 on each side) that we suspended in a stall in our barn. Once a year we cleaned the manure out. Best quality manure you'll find. Less than 10 minutes of care a day. And butchering is super easy. The domestic rabbit is the easiest animal to clean.


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## audrey (Jul 17, 2012)

Yes just for my family, I can't imagine we would eat more than one, maybe 2 at the most a week, I am going to start out with 1 doe. I have a lot of beef to eat too Lol.


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## LGFarm (May 30, 2013)

From an inexperienced breeder, I would recommend getting at least 2 does, preferably, 2 does and 2 bucks, or proven breeder does and bucks, because invariable, the first one that you go to breed is not going to be interested. Ruby was our first doe, loved people, we could do anything to her and she had no problem with it, but she was a terror to the bucks. We tried a number of different tricks, nothing worked, and the bucks were a little rougher for the wear. We have the rabbits for meat, as we can not have pork and this was decided to be the replacement. We currently have 4 breeding does, 2 grow out does, 2 breeding bucks, and 2 grow out bucks. So far we haven't eaten a whole lot of our meat though, as we advertise them for sale between weaning and butcher age and we have been selling them live as breeders.


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## audrey (Jul 17, 2012)

Thats awesome that you sell them!


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## wyomingtrapper (Mar 27, 2014)

It has been said two good does and a buck can produce 125 lbs of meat in a year. Double is possible, though it would be hard on the does. Californias and New Zealands are common meat rabbits as are the Florida Whites. These are the proven breeds for the best bang for your buck in food to meat ratio. There are larger rabbits out there, but they often take much more feed to get to size. There are some good books that will save you a lot of learning curve. If I remember, Raising Rabbits Successfully, by Bob Bennett was one of the better ones. I've not raised them in a few years and often get the itch to get back to it, but we have so much meat available in game, added to the odd lamb and pig I slaughter and butcher, there really isn't need.


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## oakshirefarms (Jul 5, 2013)

We raise rabbits for meat for our family. I always wanted to raise them because my Grandfather did so as a means to help his family survive during the Great Depression. Also, we have been striving to remove ourselves from the collective chemically induced hormonally charged meat markets and this was a great option. So when the opportunity arose, we took it. We have 4 does and 2 bucks. We have California Giants, Holland Lops, New Zealand, and Harlequins. It is a family affair, so we never really feel any extra pressure to take care of them. We do all the butchering and tanning ourselves, and even the kids have learned what needs to be done. We have six hutches that I have built from mainly reclaimed lumber, discount wood, and pallets. I used hardwire for the bottom of the cages, so clean-up is as simple as a shovel or just taking the bins out from under the cages and dumping them in the garden [it is Grade A fertilizer]. I don't overbreed them because we raise several other sources of meat as well. Mainly we feed them garden scraps, hay or grass and supplement them with occasional organic pellets. 

I would encourage anyone to give it a shot. With proper management it can be a safe and clean alternative besides the fact that rabbit meat is excellent!


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## farmchick897 (Jul 2, 2013)

I'm looking to get into meat rabbits. Have no idea if I even will like the taste but are different breeds known for different flavor/ fat content? I hear the meat is very lean and that usually means tough is there a way to get more marbling in the meat? Also, would it be better to start out with pure stock of some medium variety or would a mix be the same?
What do I look for when getting them? I went to some local farmer and passed on his mixed flock of Flemish Giants and New Zealand because the conditions they were kept in and they looked sick. Plus I have a hard time supporting a person that handles their livestock with a lack of kindness (I don't care if you are eating them or not). One of the bunnies had a swollen eye and he pulled it out of the cage by its ears forced the eye open (pus started coming out) so he leans down picks up a piece of twine on the ground and rubs it off with that. :/



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## oakshirefarms (Jul 5, 2013)

Well I will throw in my :2cents::

The first thing I would do is purchase/obtain/harvest a rabbit, find a recipe you like and sit down to dinner. I wouldn't dig any deeper until you determine if you enjoy the taste or not. It is a very versatile meat just like chicken - can be used for just about any recipe! 

The only time I have had 'tough' rabbit was if I overcooked it [left it on the spit and got preoccupied]. It is a different texture than chicken, but I would not call it tough - especially if you are raising them. I have seen the difference between wild and meat rabbits. As far as a different taste by breed, I personally haven't noticed a real difference - though I have only tried Wild, California Giants, New Zealand, Holland Lop and Harlequin [and cross breeds]. 

As far as what to start with, I would say try to get a variety if possible. From there you will be able to determine how you want to manage your breeds and how 'deep' you want to go depends on you. Definitely make sure though that you are obtaining meat breeds if that is what your purpose is. The 'pet' breeds are not good stock and are considerably smaller and do not have an efficient growth for the purpose of 'meat'. As far as numbers, that depends on what your goal is and others have commented in this thread in regards to that. Just remember that you will need space for your rabbits. For best results each doe will need her own hutch as will any bucks. Keeping them together is asking for trouble for you and them. Does tend to be very territorial and protective, especially while pregnant/nursing and need their own space to 'control' for best results. Sadly, interference from other rabbits can and usually will result in the loss of the litter. Also once the kits are weaned they need to be harvested or removed from the doe and placed into their own separate hutches. Rabbits are very prolific breeders, as I am sure you know. :lol: Once you have a good set of does that are great mothers you will be set.

As far as what to look for, that varies on your needs. I am sure you can find plenty of info by doing a search on the breeds you are interested in. It sounds like you have a good idea though. Just remember rabbits are extremely good at hiding illness, so you will want to gage their behavior and activity levels as well as clear, bright eyes, good coats and feet, clean ears and nose, etc. I always look also at their living conditions, diet, and history. We started out with 3 does ['virgins'] that we had bred by the individual we bought them from and 2 bucks. From there we have done our own management.

As I said in the beginning, this is just what experience we have gained from our own rabbits and watching what my brother has done as well with his rabbits. I am sure there are a lot more experts out there who will give different information, but this is what has worked for us so far.


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## audrey (Jul 17, 2012)

THank you for your great input Oakshirefarm!


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## oakshirefarms (Jul 5, 2013)

My pleasure! Hope it helps.


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