OK, hunting, fishing, trapping, chickens, garden.. I have checked the box on all of those but something I’ve always been interested in but never ventured into are meat rabbits… What’s your favorite breed and set up? Because Commercial feed may be hard to get in the future, I was thinking something similar to a chicken tractor as I have plenty of grass and pasture land… Would like to have the hutch as part of this set up… not looking for a huge herd... just something for my family of 5.
thoughts ...comments?

I don't think a chicken tractor would work. Rabbits dig.
New Zealands are probably the most popular breed for meat.
Fast growing .
One male will service several females.
Inbreeding is common.
We used what I called a growing cage. as many as 20 young in one cage. Feed was in center of cage and a couple of waterers.
Time to butcher when the males figure whats what.lol
I got to where I was making my own feed Tthey need more than hay.
By the time I had feed figured out my 4H kids weren't interested any more so I gave raising rabbits up
good luck
just.

I enjoy my rabbits a lot. I started off with New Zealand Whites, because they look possessed so my wife wouldn't have an issue dispatching them. After she got comfortable with them, I started raising Standard Rex as well. I don't care what people say, a NZW hardly ever reaches 5 pounds by 8 weeks. Conditions have to be PERFECT to achieve this. When I got my NZW breeders, the kits hit butcher weight at 12 weeks (free choice hay and feed). I have selectively cross bred my rabbits over the last 3 years to get a kit that will reach butcher weight in 9-10 weeks, and I'm happy with that. Remember, breed the best and cull the rest!
The white rabbits are NZW, and the brown are NZW/Rex


Rex grow slow, even when crossed with a NZW. I figure on 10-12 weeks to butcher for the ones I don't sell.
One of my Black Otter Rex does with a litter. She throws: Black, Blue, Lilac, and Otters


I run my rabbits in a 30x30x18" cages, suspended from the ceiling. If I did it over again, I would use 36x24 cages because its hard to reach the rabbits at the back of the cage with my short stubby arms. I have the Large "J" style feeders and have an automatic water set up on a nipple system. The waterer works well in the spring, summer and fall. But I go back to crocks and bottles for late fall and winter.

Thanks for your input!
What’s up the pine cones?

We just had our first litter. We started out with two Mama's and a daddy, and one of the mamas was terrible (didn't build a nest, only 7 babies, killed 3 of her babies, etc) so we just ate her last night. The other mama was awesome, had 9 babies and they grew way faster than the others. We'll save one of hers for a new mama. Ours are Rex rabbits, they have the nicest fur. We raise them in the basement, I can take pics of our setup tonight.

I have an abundance of pine cones, since they are free I give them to the rabbits to gnaw on. It helps keep them occupied, as well as keep their teeth worn down.

A few things to maximize growth good meat stock bloodlines not pet stock. Make terminal meat crosses for hybrid vigor (NZWxCalifornian, NZWxAltex).
Keep them cool, rabbits heat stress easily. The Altex meat sire was developed by Alabama and Texas A&M to tolerate heat better.

Yep, rabbits like to chew. We have a cage that has places where the wood has been worn down from them chewing.

About 3 pounds of rabbit feed, in normal temperatures, will produce 1 pound of meat. Last week, I paid $15.15 per 50 pound bag of rabbit feed, which comes to 30.3 cents a pound, so it costs about 91 cents in feed to make a pound of live rabbit.

You can usually by cull rabbits for not much more than you can produce rabbits for. I usually buy 6 to 8 tons of rabbit per year at $1.25 a pound delivered here, which is more than most other Ohio buyers pay. This year, I am already approaching 6 tons of rabbit purchased. I started paying $1.85 a pound a couple of months ago, because rabbit is hard to find right now.

There is a meat panic going on right now. I have been buying and reselling adult Californian and New Zealand does for $50.00 each and adult bucks for $40.00 each. I have been selling slightly younger Californians and New Zealands for $10.00 less.

For meat, I would only go with New Zealand rabbits or Californians. White New Zealands sell for more, to most meat buyers, than any of the colored New Zealands. Colored rabbits usually sell for 30 to 40 cents less a pound, because the colored hair shows up better on the carcass than white hair.

Keith

I want meat rabbits. I will be getting Californians and new Zealand whites. A rabbit tractor is a real thing cage raised meat is more fatty and rabbit fat is gross pastures rabbit meat is very clean. Just but a wire bottom on the tractor

In my area, even now, $20 is about the most you can get for NZW's. My does sell out as soon as I post them, but I have some 4 month old NZW bucks I can't give away right now. I've been holding on to them just in case I needed a replacement buck or someone wanted a trio. They are too big to fry, but would be wonderful roasted.

KY trapper: rabbits raised on the ground can also have issues with parasites. Not that it can't be fixed with medication. My father taught me to raise rabbits the same way him and grandpa use to. They had a large operation (500 breeding does, along with mink and chinchillas). I am not opposed to raising in a tractor, different strokes.

Free range

You can make much more for your rabbits if you go to a multi tiered price system and breed for specific markets.

The 4H meat pen market rabbits probably pay the best, typically $40.00 to $60.00 per rabbit for white New Zealands and Californians. You have to breed your does 28 days before you want the kits, to have the kits born in the birth date window for the various fairs in your area. I had a guy buy 9 does off of me a few weeks ago, who sold 444 just weaned rabbits this year, so far, for $60.00 each for 4H meat pen rabbits

Small, just weaned rabbits at Easter sell very well too.

I can sell around 6 times as many does as bucks to people who want to breed rabbits, so most bucks go off to my meat buyer and I save more does. I charge $10.00 more for does, than I do for bucks. I only save very close to perfect rabbits to sell to people interested in breeding. The price for breeding stock goes up as the rabbits age. Since your does are immediately selling out, you should raise their price.

Meat buyers, selling for human consumption, pay the most per pound for white fryers. Fryers are typically 3.5 to 5 pounds. Typically over and underweight rabbits are significantly docked in price.

What age and weight do you sell rabbits for $20.00 each?

Keith

Thanks!

Lots of good info here... thanks everyone!

Buying meat pen rabbits at the ends of fairs is a great way to get cheap, really good stock, if you buy the rabbits that showed well, but didn't win. Usually you can get rabbits like that for about a buck a pound live weight.

Keith