# cost of raising meat rabbits



## sawfish99

I know the cost of raising meat rabbits is frequently discussed, but rarely analyzed in detail.  I keep very detailed expense records for our farm and I am always crunching numbers to see what is profitable, and what isn't.  Also, I look at how much work we do to make that little bit of profit.  So, I decided to share my numbers for others to consider as you are starting with rabbits.
Entering arguments - we don't pay ourselves for labor.  We have no employees on our farm.  You may be able to do better or worse.  I made some broad assumptions over the course of 10 months of data (such as, all rabbits eat at the same rate, kits that died didn't contribute to the cost basis, and others).

Until recently, we were feeding Manna Pro Rabbit feed for bucks and dry does.  Lactating does and kits ate Manna Pro Grower.  For my area (SE CT), the Manna Pro cost about $17/50lbs and the grow was $18.50/50 lbs.  However, prices have continued to rise, so we switched all rabbits to Producers Pride at $15/50lbs.  Even though it is lower protein, the cost difference got too big to avoid the change.  All rabbits get free choice hay.  We raise litters for 7-8 weeks before weaning.  Does are bred back at 8 weeks.  A more aggressive breeding cycle would likely increase profits slightly, but we have been experimenting with supply and demand and didn't want too many in our own freezer.  I usually harvest for a 3lb average, which varies from 12-16 weeks depending on the doe.  We have about a 50% live to packaged conversion, so a 6lb live rabbit gives me a 3lb packaged rabbit.

Rabbits are sold for $6/lb, packaged weight. (probably going up due to feed prices)
Cost per lb (as meat) $3.78
Profit per lb $2.21
Avg profit per rabbit $6.63

As you can see, when the margin is that low, there is little incentive for me to cut a deal on live sales vs packaged sales.  If a live rabbit is ready for harvest, I sell it for the meat value.  I had a conversation with a potential customer this morning that wanted to pay $2/lb live weight when they were ready for harvest, which would equate to about $1 profit per rabbit.  I politely declined.

I would be interested to hear how others compare.


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## Harbisgirl

Thank you very much. I myself don't raise rabbits yet, but I appreciate your work in putting that together. How do you do track your data?  I'd love to see your spreadsheets


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## Four Winds Ranch

I have just started raising meat rabbits, and I thank you for some valuble tips you have given me through your feed/cost analysis!!!   
Thanks for sharing!!!


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## shan777

Excellent topic and post.

My analysis is probably not as in depth as yours.
I sell breeders for $50, and meat rabbits whole for $20.
To raise one of mine I worked out approx $4-5.

I am getting my rabbits to 5lb at week 11 and they are dispatched straight away.
Dressed weights are usually 2lb 12oz or better.
What I have found once they reach 5lb is their weight gain slows down rapidly, but the feed costs only rise. This eats into my proft drastically.

The best advice I got was get good initial breeders that are successful with raising litters to 5lb in 10-12 weeks, and to not delay to dispatch.

I also use a 6 week breed back cycle.

I never expected to make a profit doing this, just to cover cost, and have free meat for my family...... heading towards this goal anyway.


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## s&kfatrms

I am looking into raising meat rabbits and this was very helpful info to me thanks


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## sawfish99

I use Quicken to track all the finances for the farm, however, I built an Excel spreadsheet for all the formulates and detailed analysis of the data.  If anyone wants the spreadsheet, I don't mind emailing it 1 on 1.  Contact me at rob"at"thesawyerfarms.com.

I was generally targeting a 3lb rabbit, for the freezer (therefore 6lb live weight), however, I am starting to think that is too big.  I think I might shift to the 2.5lb range and see how we like that for our own usage.  It would also make the rabbits a little cheaper for sales, which might help.

The other night, we cooked a 2.9lb rabbit in the crock pot.  It was cooked all day and then deboned.  we got 1.5lbs of meat off the rabbit.  

Shan777 - what breed are you raising for 5lbs at 11 weeks and how big are the litters?  Also, what feed are you feeding to only spend $5-6 per rabbit?


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## shan777

sawfish99 said:
			
		

> I use Quicken to track all the finances for the farm, however, I built an Excel spreadsheet for all the formulates and detailed analysis of the data.  If anyone wants the spreadsheet, I don't mind emailing it 1 on 1.  Contact me at rob"at"thesawyerfarms.com.
> 
> I was generally targeting a 3lb rabbit, for the freezer (therefore 6lb live weight), however, I am starting to think that is too big.  I think I might shift to the 2.5lb range and see how we like that for our own usage.  It would also make the rabbits a little cheaper for sales, which might help.
> 
> The other night, we cooked a 2.9lb rabbit in the crock pot.  It was cooked all day and then deboned.  we got 1.5lbs of meat off the rabbit.
> 
> Shan777 - what breed are you raising for 5lbs at 11 weeks and how big are the litters?  Also, what feed are you feeding to only spend $5-6 per rabbit?


I use NZW's and Cali's. The cross of these two makes the superior meat rabbit, nice and plump.

Maybe my figures are incorrect with how much it costs to feed them. Please disregard this as its most probably not accurate. I use 18% rabbit pellets, some hay, and some free range clover.


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## rabbitgeek

Thank you for posting your figures.

That will be a big help for newbies since most people don't share their numbers.

It looks like your numbers are showing that you are doing better than covering your costs.

I usually did not even cover my costs because of all of our showrabbit activities like entry fees and travelling gobbled up most of the proceeds.

Have a good day!


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## Prairiechick

Sawfish- Thank you for this post.  I hadn't figured out what we put into the rabbits I raised this summer and was curious of cost and how much folks selling were getting.  I have some excellent quality Calis from one of the top breeders in the state here.  I just processed 5 of the 13 and they were 6-6.5 live and I got  3-3.5 dressed on all of them so far.  They were all very uniform, and I am surprised by the amount of meat on just one rabbit.  When the breeder I got them from said one rabbit should feed my family of 5 for one meal, I thought that was crazy, but she was exactly right.  I am new to meaties and eating rabbit, so this is a whole new venture for me.  I have been breeding Mini Rexes for 6-years before taking on these bigger Cals.
I am seeing where many of the meat breeders are breeding back almost right after weaning off a litter.  I am concerned that this wouldn't give the does enough recovery time?  I don't need that many rabbits anyway, so I will let the girls rest until I know I need more.
I am feeding Kent Show Ration.  The cost for a 50# bag is $16 right now after the cost went up this summer.  It is the best food I have ever gotten for my buns, is fresh and smells wonderful, every bag with very little fines.  A friend of mine is a dealer and introduced me to it.  It is what I feed everyone all the time.  If I feel the does need a boost in protein when nursing a litter, I add a spoon or so of Calf Manna.
I want to continue breeding the Cals for both meat and for show purposes.  I am considering the financial advantage to raising them for selling the meat as well if I can set up to do more processing.  It sure could help offset the feed and cost of raising them since they consume a lot more of the feed than my MRs do.
I would also like to see pictures of your set-up for raising rabbits.  I am building a new rabbit shed/chicken grow-out shed and would like to have a better design for being able to clean out everything than what I have now with just stacked cages and pans, if there is one.
Thanks again.
PC


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## PrairieDweller

Sawfish, what breed are you raising? I have Florida Whites. I recently purchased a New Zealand buck and a doe (different breeders) and thought about cross-breeding with the Whites to get a larger rabbit. Here in Colorado we can not sell the processed meat, but must first sell the rabbit, then offer to process it on the premises. Since Colorado's Pro Manna isn't as pricey as CT (about $15 for regular, $12 for grower), I want to make sure when I sell, I make a little bit of profit without charging too much. Like you said, feed is going up, so I will soon be making my own. Any suggestions on feeding the adults certain fresh greens? I have a garden in the summer and would like to cut down the use of processed feed if I can.


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## lexibot

What we do here is butcher at 2 month, after calculations, we only got 1 lb more per fryer but they consumed a buttload more food during their 2nd to 3rd month. 

Now i am still trying to experiment, so when my new breeders begin to mate, i am gonna see about leaving kits in with a couple mothers and see if they will weigh more compared to removing them when they reach 30 days old. Im doing mine more for off setting meat costs on the grocery bill.

Mine cost roughly $16 a month but im having issuses getting them to breed right now, they are all first timers.. when the babies come im sure the cost will double. After the first 3 months, i should have a constant supply of meat. Rabbits seem to be priced $7-10 here be it live or processed. I should have around 32 kits a month. If they weigh more when they are allowed to stay with mom, then ill rebreed a doe every six weeks. All depends on what gives me the most weight with the least cost and in the shortest amount of time.


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## sawfish99

Prairiechick said:
			
		

> Sawfish- Thank you for this post.  I hadn't figured out what we put into the rabbits I raised this summer and was curious of cost and how much folks selling were getting.  I have some excellent quality Calis from one of the top breeders in the state here.  I just processed 5 of the 13 and they were 6-6.5 live and I got  3-3.5 dressed on all of them so far.  They were all very uniform, and I am surprised by the amount of meat on just one rabbit.  When the breeder I got them from said one rabbit should feed my family of 5 for one meal, I thought that was crazy, but she was exactly right.  I am new to meaties and eating rabbit, so this is a whole new venture for me.  I have been breeding Mini Rexes for 6-years before taking on these bigger Cals.
> I am seeing where many of the meat breeders are breeding back almost right after weaning off a litter.  I am concerned that this wouldn't give the does enough recovery time?  I don't need that many rabbits anyway, so I will let the girls rest until I know I need more.
> I am feeding Kent Show Ration.  The cost for a 50# bag is $16 right now after the cost went up this summer.  It is the best food I have ever gotten for my buns, is fresh and smells wonderful, every bag with very little fines.  A friend of mine is a dealer and introduced me to it.  It is what I feed everyone all the time.  If I feel the does need a boost in protein when nursing a litter, I add a spoon or so of Calf Manna.
> I want to continue breeding the Cals for both meat and for show purposes.  I am considering the financial advantage to raising them for selling the meat as well if I can set up to do more processing.  It sure could help offset the feed and cost of raising them since they consume a lot more of the feed than my MRs do.
> I would also like to see pictures of your set-up for raising rabbits.  I am building a new rabbit shed/chicken grow-out shed and would like to have a better design for being able to clean out everything than what I have now with just stacked cages and pans, if there is one.
> Thanks again.
> PC


I'll try to get some pictures and post soon.


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## sawfish99

PrairieDweller said:
			
		

> Sawfish, what breed are you raising? I have Florida Whites. I recently purchased a New Zealand buck and a doe (different breeders) and thought about cross-breeding with the Whites to get a larger rabbit. Here in Colorado we can not sell the processed meat, but must first sell the rabbit, then offer to process it on the premises. Since Colorado's Pro Manna isn't as pricey as CT (about $15 for regular, $12 for grower), I want to make sure when I sell, I make a little bit of profit without charging too much. Like you said, feed is going up, so I will soon be making my own. Any suggestions on feeding the adults certain fresh greens? I have a garden in the summer and would like to cut down the use of processed feed if I can.


We have a variety pack.  Some are pure American Chinchillas.  We also have 2 New Zealand does (1 is going away because she has not yet produced a litter after 3 breedings), a 3/4 Am Chin - 1/4 Flemish Giant doe, and some mix does being raised for adding to the group.  We have been using our pure Am Chin buck and a New Zealand mix buck (doesn't appear to be pure, but makes a good meat buck).  

My wife manages all the feeding decisions.


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## JRabbits

I don't think it makes any financial sense to sell rabbits for butcher unless you're actively trying to get rid of them or just raising them to eat yourself. Here in California, a buck (Californian/NZ) is going to cost you at least $30 and a doe is going to cost you ate least $40. Its the difference between getting $12+ per lb alive and only $3.75 per lb dead.


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## sawfish99

JRabbits said:
			
		

> I don't think it makes any financial sense to sell rabbits for butcher unless you're actively trying to get rid of them or just raising them to eat yourself. Here in California, a buck (Californian/NZ) is going to cost you at least $30 and a doe is going to cost you ate least $40. Its the difference between getting $12+ per lb alive and only $3.75 per lb dead.


I haven't met anyone raising meat rabbits that is able to only selling breeding stock like you describe.  Yes, we have started charging slightly more for breeding stock.  The way I determine pricing on a live rabbit is, if they want to know sex, they are after breeding stock.  If they just want a couple of rabbits and don't care about sex, they are purchasing to slaughter themselves.  It's a feel of the discussion.

So why bother selling a rabbit for only $6-7 profit?  Because if I want to keep about 50 rabbits for my family, then I need to raise an additional 85 for sale to break even.  So basically, I could raise about 6 litters a year for my family (1-2 does) or raise 16 litters (4 does with 4 litters each) and break even.  For the incremental work of having the extra litters, it is worth it for us (for now).


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## Prairiechick

I don't see us eating a lot of rabbit, but we will do some.  We also have our freezers full with chicken (since I am a poultry breeder and have 13 breeds + others, and ducks and turkeys), duck and turkey, and we just got a 1/4 of beef from a friend.  But, we also breed to show, and so there is no way with 3 does and 2 bucks I want to just feed them for 2 or 3 litters a year.  Plus, I don't want the does getting fat from only breeding once a year, so I am planning to sell the extras.  I appreciate you sharing the information you have because now I have a good idea of what to sell them for.   I know there are people on Craigslist looking for rabbits to eat from time to time.  If I can get a few regular customers, it would make it worth it for me.
I also have a connection for a person who buys to make raw food for dogs, and they pay market price.  And I have 3 Standard Poodles who I am trying to feed at least a partial raw diet to, so I can take care of most of the production of offspring here, I think.
All that being said, the folks I got my Cals from laugh when someone is looking for rabbits to run a meat operation with them because there isn't enough in it to make it profitable.  I am just hoping to re-coop the cost of keeping them and having some healthier meat options for my family and my dogs as the primary reason for keeping them.  Oh, and maybe offsetting the cost of having my foo-foo Mini Rexes, since I am not up to tanning rabbit skins.  Frannky, it sounds like a very gross thing to try, as in smelly and too long of a smelly.


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## Harbisgirl

JRabbits said:
			
		

> I don't think it makes any financial sense to sell rabbits for butcher unless you're actively trying to get rid of them or just raising them to eat yourself. Here in California, a buck (Californian/NZ) is going to cost you at least $30 and a doe is going to cost you ate least $40. Its the difference between getting $12+ per lb alive and only $3.75 per lb dead.


Yep, sure is expensive where I live in Ca too. I'm concidering raising them for meat for our family as well. To buy a dressed rabbit at the butcher shop it's $20-$25. Where did you get your rabbits? I'd like to get 2 does and 1 buck to make CA/NZ kits but I can't find a breeder nearby. I see them on craigslist but they are usually people selling pets - not breeders. I don't want the hassle of people freaking out when I say I want to raise meat rabbits.


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