Raising Meat Rabbits For Fun and Profit

Have you ever thought about raising meat rabbits? If you are tired of eating store bought beef or chicken that contains medications, steroids, hormones, or other artificial and potentially harmful ingredients, you may want to start raising meat rabbits. They are the easiest, cleanest, most space-efficient animal for growing your own high quality organic meat. But to do it properly, you will need an initial rabbit plan before you get started in your "raising meat rabbits" hobby.

If you want to start raising meat rabbits for the dinner table you have several options; cow, pig, chicken, duck, other poultry, or rabbit. When you look at the amount of work, space requirements, quality of meat produced, and other factors, you can't go wrong raising meat rabbits. They will require less space and less labor and you'll be rewarded with a higher quality of meat.

Rabbits are well known for their high reproductive rate. One mature 10-pound doe can produce up to 10 times her body weight each year. With just one male and female breeding pair you can end up with 100 pounds of dressed meat each year. And they will produce it in a space the size of your kitchen table. Backyard chickens will do well if giving a little grazing room, but rabbits can be kept in very small areas without the need for grazing. Even if you didn't have a yard you could still begin raising meat rabbits in your home or apartment.

When it comes to producing meat you can't go wrong with raising meat rabbits. They require very little labor to maintain and can be kept in a meat rabbit hutch. About all you have to do is check their food and water once each day, do a quick visual health inspection, and keep a breeding journal so you'll know if they're productive or not. In addition you'll need to clean their cages once every 3 or 4 weeks, unless you keep them indoors of course.

The mother will provide all of the bunnies' meals until they're weaned at about 6-8 weeks of age. She feeds her bunnies rich nutritious milk until they have pretty much reached fryer size, so little or no food needs to be provided by you. This makes it especially easy raising meat rabbits. And speaking of meat, they provide an all-white meat that is lower in fat, lower in cholesterol, and easier to digest than chicken, beef, or pork.

When raising meat rabbits, in addition to being rewarded with large amounts of high quality meat for relatively little labor, they also produce excellent organic fertilizer. Their droppings, unlike other farm animals, will not burn your plants.

Rabbits are very easy to dress out. There is no plucking required, just a simple slide of the hide off the carcass. Once you know what you're doing a rabbit can be completely dressed out and in your refrigerator in less than 10 or 15 minutes.

New Zealand and Californian rabbits are the most common breeds when raising meat rabbits. New Zealands come in several different colors, but the most popular for meat purposes is white. They can weigh up to 13 pounds at full maturity, but are usually slaughtered as fryers at about 8 weeks of age in the 4 to 5 pound range. The average litter for a doe is about 8-10 bunnies.

Californians are another good meat breed. If you want a color selection with this variety you're out of luck; they only come in white. However, they have black ears, nose, feet, and tail. This breed is a little smaller than the New Zealand, weighing up to 10 pounds at maturity. The litter size is also a bit smaller at 6-8 bunnies. Breeders will often cross breed the New Zealand and Californian because they produce vigorous offspring. Raising meat rabbits is a great way to put high quality meat on the kitchen table for very little money or effort.

Raise Rabbits for
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