11 Reasons You Need to Raise Backyard Meat Rabbits
They're not worth the effort. If you're serious about keeping rabbits for meat, you need a breed built for the job. Meat rabbits are longer, fatter, and fluffier than your typical wild bunny. These are generally regarded as the best rabbits for eating – though some make good house pets as well.
Colony Raising Rabbits: The Basics
Raising rabbits is one of the simplest things you can do on your homestead. Not only do they require little attention, but they also provide a great amount of meat. Raising rabbits is simple and economical. Two does and one buck should produce 180 pounds of meat per year.
Ultimately, raising rabbits in outdoor runs on the ground is much more labor intensive, but allows the rabbits to live a more natural life. Another alternative, if you have the land for it, are rabbit tractors. You move the rabbits to a new spot each day, and they leave behind perfectly good fertilizer.
Rabbit meat is expensive because fryers are not able to be effectively fed in large groups, require a more expensive feed ration than most other livestock and processing costs are higher per pound of meat sold.
Unlike beef, pork or venison, rabbit meat does not have a special name, it is simply called, "rabbit meat." Despite it being a rarity on many North American menus, it is a very popular dish across different parts of the world. Rabbit meat is unique from other meats in that it is entirely white meat.
The reason people raise California and New Zealand rabbits for meat is that they are very good at growing to five pounds in 10-11 weeks. If you are growing rabbits and they only grow to three or four pounds in 10-12 weeks, then you should cull the breeding stock and replace it with better stock.
Raising rabbits for meat is quite a simple production to start if you have the time and space. It can be highly lucrative, especially if you plan to raise your rabbits on grass and market your product as grass-fed rather than as raised in hutches.
Rabbits breed and grow so quickly that one pair of healthy does (females) can produce more than 600 pounds of meat in a year. Compare that to the dressed yield of 400 pounds for an average year-old beef steer.
You can get alfalfa in hay bale form or in compressed chopped cubes in 50lb bags from the feed store. Also make sure your rabbits are on a pellet feed that's 16-18% protein. For a more au natural food you can load them down with some sweet potato vines. I've heard kudzu can be good in moderation as well.
Although companion rabbits are capable of living 10 to 15 years, the vast majority of “meat” rabbits are killed at three months of age. Referred to as “fryers,” these baby rabbits weigh only 1.5 – 3.5 pounds. A small percentage are slaughtered at 8 months old or 4 pounds; they are known in the industry as “roasters.”
Typically, feeding 1 to 3 cups of leafy greens a day, along with an unlimited amount of hay, will be sufficient. Other fresh items such as other types of vegetables, herbs and flowers will need to be offered minimally. Remember, fruit is a sweet treat to rabbits and should be offered sparingly.
Yet No Comments