# Can you make money raising rabbits?



## theawesomefowl

Okay, I don't like rabbits very much, and am somewhat allergic to the fluffy Angora bunnies. But I know they are good livestock and would consider raising a few if it was profitable. And I am sure I would learn  to like them if I kept some. 
So go on. Convince me to get rabbits! I probably won't but why would i?  
Thanks!  p.s. I would not be interested in showing as I much prefer poultry in that respect.


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## tortoise

theawesomefowl said:
			
		

> Okay, I don't like rabbits very much, and am somewhat allergic to the fluffy Angora bunnies. But I know they are good livestock and would consider raising a few if it was profitable. And I am sure I would learn  to like them if I kept some.
> So go on. Convince me to get rabbits! I probably won't but why would i?
> Thanks!  p.s. I would not be interested in showing as I much prefer poultry in that respect.


EVERYONE I talked to said rabbits is a money-loosing hobby.  This coming from a lady with hundreds of rabbits, spending $20K/year on shows.  I did and still do think she is crazy.  

I have angoras.  You *can* sell wool, but it is very hard to find a market for it.  I find it to be a good bartering item, tough to sell.  However, if you happen to spin, angora blend yarns can sell for a premium. 

If you can get into a 4H/ARBA show market, show buns are easy to sell.  I sell a few rabbits for $80+, I'm trying to breed a certain color that will sell at $150+ each.  If you can get a reputation for good temperament rabbits, you can sell pets at a premium.

Selling to the dog food market can be profitable at $4/lb.  There is one place that did this that just about put themselves out of business because they couldn't keep up with demand.  I initially raised mine for dog food.

Of course, you can butcher them to lower your food bill.  Does make money, but saves it from your grocery bill.

I think the secret to rabbits it to start small.  Only add cages as you sell rabbits.  MAKE them pay for themselves.  

Look for a breed that isn't the most popular in your area.  I am literally hours away from any other breeder with my breed.  That gives me a huge market.  Lionhead rabbits are popular, but they only fetch $5 - $15 in the pet market.  ...  Mine sell at $60 for the pet market.  

Rabbit breeders are in the dark ages with internet.  I've made most of my sales with cute fluffy bunny photos on a free site.  It's so easy.  I sit around with fluffy bunnies.  If they sell, I get money.  If they don't sell, I get dinner.  

If you are clever, yes, you can make a little money off of them.  But it won't come easy or automatically.


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## theawesomefowl

Oh. Than I'm not sure about them....what about raising them for meat and selling them? 
Do you have to show them to sell Pet rabbits? Thanks again!


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## theawesomefowl

tortoise, your bunnies are cute! Nice blog too!
But those dust-bunnies would make me sneeze myself into oblivion..... :lol 
I had a really bad reaction after handling some English angoras last summer.

I sort of like the looks of Lops, but should make sure I'm not too allergic to what ever breed before I get them IF IF IF I get them!


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## Bunnylady

theawesomefowl said:
			
		

> Okay, I don't like rabbits very much


Not meanin' to be mean, but this is an excellent reason for you _not_ to get into rabbits. If you don't really like your animals, it is unlikely that you will want to put up with the scratches that inevitably come with handling them, or the rabbit fur that seems to get on everything! The allergy thing -well, lets just say that I know a number of rabbit people that are allergic to rabbits (including a rabbit show _judge_!), they all find the Angoras to be the most problematic, and somehow manage to deal with it.

My husband is convinced that nobody makes money with rabbits, and I have to admit, I don't try very hard. Something that a lot of people overlook, is the time that is involved in caring for the animals. There are things you can do to minimize the actual hours spent, but your time has to count for something. Most rabbit people do it because they simply enjoy it, so they don't care how much time they spend! I'm sorry, but I think anyone that goes into breeding _anything_ with profit being the main motive is going into it for the wrong reason. Heaven knows, the frustrations and failures that always come with a breeding operation are tough enough to take when you are just doing it for "fun!" 

Rabbit personalities can run the full gamut from friendly to downright vicious. If you choose your breeding stock carefully, you may be able to avoid turning out really nasty-tempered animals, but "friendly" only comes with handling (and that, of course, comes back to time spent with the animals).  

If you just want to turn out pets, there is no need to go to shows. But if you care whether you are getting your chosen breed "right," there is no better way than putting your animals on a show table and having them judged against whatever else is out there. Rabbit people are generally a very cheerful, chatty bunch, always willing to "talk rabbit;" some will turn up at a show without entering a single animal, just for the fun of being there with their rabbit-raising friends! They also are notorious for suffering from "hutch blindness," so you really need to know what you are looking at - the rabbit's owner may not!


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## ksalvagno

I would say if you don't care for rabbits, then don't do them. All animals are a lot of work and you better like them with all the care that they need. And this is any animal, not just rabbits. To make money in any animal business, you have to put A LOT of time and effort along with money into it. Marketing your farm and selling takes just as much of your time as does caring for them. It is not for the faint hearted or for people just interested in the money end. Not trying to be mean here, this is coming from someone who has been in alpacas for 13.5 years and goats for 1.5 years full time and the majority of my day is spent caring for animals and at night working the marketing end of it.


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## tortoise

Angora are worse for allergies because the hair traps so much dander (people are allergic to dander, not hair).  If I blow out one of my rabbits, the entire room is COVERED in fine white dust (dander).  I do it in the bathroom with the exhaust fan on and the fan grill is completely covered with a thick layer of dander.  

A short, less dense hair would not trap so much dander, but it would still be there.

Bunnylady makes good points.  I don't count my time into costs because 1) I'm home anyways and 2) I like them!  :cool  Let's say you were to pay someone to take care of the rabbits?  No longer making money.  (Unless you have a sweet deal like me where I trade dog training lessons for help with the rabbits and petsitting.)  Also she is totally right about the scratches.  Rabbits can do some serious damage - especially for someone who is new to handling them.  It you don't like them, you're either 1) Not going to handle them and they're behavior will get worse, or 2) Going to get scratched up and quit rabbits altogether.



> They also are notorious for suffering from "hutch blindness," so you really need to know what you are looking at - the rabbit's owner may not!


That is SO true.  I was at ARBA convention this year and was going to buy a small pet rabbit for my son.  (He's 3 - the 10 pound rabbits are too big for him.)  I was stressing to one breeder that I needed good temperament.  She had this rabbits that she thought was so sweet and wonderful.  NOT.  She even said it got handled for 15 minutes a day.  Another breeder had a completely unhandled, unsocialized rabbit that was totally chill and calm and let my son handle her.  Guess which one I bought?  It's easy to get lost thinking your rabbits are the best thing ever.  So make sure you know what you want and need because you can't trust the breeder.


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## Lorelai

Here are my two cents on this subject - it depends on how you define "profit." If you are looking for profit with a cash value, then I would agree, you aren't necessarily going to get ahead with rabbits, unless you find a niche and then spend a lot of time cultivating your herd to fit that niche. However, if you think of profit like being able to eat healthier meat, that costs less cash than it would if you bought comparable meat at the grocery store, then, I think, you'd profit in that way. Also, it could make a good barter item if you have a market for it - we plan on trading our excess rabbit meat for BF's family's grass-fed beef, and I can trade with my family for free range eggs. It all depends on how you calculate profit, because it does profit when you think about health (yours and your animals), self-sustainability, and gaining real respect for the food on your dinner table. As someone who has a difficult time with the cute factor associated with bunnies, these are things I have to remind myself every so often, because for us, it's worth it. Plus, it tastes better than any chicken I've every had!  For us, raising our own meat rabbits, butchering and processing them ourselves for our own consumption... it's totally worth it. Their value is worth more this way than it could be if converted to cash, because the value of money is fickle, but we, and other people, are always going to need food. This is just how I look at it.


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## theawesomefowl

Well, in that case I am happy with my poultry. Maybe I'll still attempt rabbits some day though. Thanks for posting.


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## Caprice_Acres

Making a profit is possible with any kind of livestock - but you must have a demand, a steady market, and be profit oriented. 

As a HOBBY, animals in generall are NOT profit making. As a BUSINESS they can be.


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## oxdrover14

you can but it is definitely a hobby if you add up every single cost you aren't making that much but i do it because i really enjoy it if i sell a rabbit for $20 i usually make $8 $10 per bunny but its a very enjoyable hobby


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## Hop N'Tail

I've been raising rabbits for 6 years. No matter what you do it will be impossible to make money off of rabbits. So I will say no you can't make money of raising rabbits it is more like a hobby.


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## tortoise

Hop N'Tail said:
			
		

> I've been raising rabbits for 6 years. No matter what you do it will be impossible to make money off of rabbits. So I will say no you can't make money of raising rabbits it is more like a hobby.


Define "make money."  Like quit your day job?  Then no.  But to supplement income?  Absolutely.  But getting started with 2 mixed breed rabbits for meat isn't going to get a to a money-making place.  Every market is different, but when I can sell rabbits for $60+ each, heck yeah, I can supplement my income with rabbits.


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## Bunnylady

Yeah, but tortoise, you are talking about French Angoras. That  is a real specialty market. You can't even _give away_ Angoras around here, at least not as pets, because most people see that huge coat and believe it to be too much to handle (and for such people, it probably is). I know an Angora breeder near Charlotte that pretty much gives away his retired show and breeding rabbits as woolers, but how many spinners are there?


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## theawesomefowl

$60???


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## savingdogs

In my area, bunnies cost anything from free to 60.00 depending on what they are....

I would choose something you naturally feel you like and are not allergic to at all. We chose rabbits because we DO like them.


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## rockdoveranch

I think the key to making money is your networking system.

I am basically a recluse . . . so my pockets are not over flowing with money.


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## iajewel

I have found that anything you go into if you do it for the money.. you will never see your money again. If you go into it for the love of it, you could wake up one morning on top. There is a saying, "there is money in rabbits it just getting it out of them thats hard" I have had Flemish for years. The pens alone costs a fortune, then the fence, then hutches. My horses are very comparable in this as you buy a horse, then need a saddle, bridle, feed, horse trailer and so on. Its not the price of the animal, its all the crap that goes with them. Thats why I don't have a hermit crab. 
 After all the stuff that goes with them, then you can't really buy a 10.00 rabbit and make it pay off now can you? No.. so you have to shop around for the best, the very best. One little of 10.00 meat rabbits will bring you about 100.00 and not even pay for the feed it took to raise them. One 100.00 rabbit and 10 bunnies is 1000.00 and now you have paid the feed bill and maybe for the hutch they are in as well. It costs as much to feed a good one as a bad one. That is true no matter what you raise, dogs, birds, it doesn't matter junk costs more to feed then good ones. 
You also need to pick something you can stick with for a while. Reputations are worth money and it takes a while to build one. Rabbit people are like rabbits, patient, and humble, those that aren't don't make it very long. It will take you about 5yrs just to get your name out. Like starting any small business you won't be an over night success. You have to market, plan and budget to get you out of those first years. 
So.. is there money in rabbits.. yes.. but just like anything else, it takes work.


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## cattlecait

It is very difficult to make a reasonable amount of money in rabbits. They're very efficient in meat production. The annoying problem is that rabbits have a high initial cost, not only do you have to get the rabbits but you need cages, dishes for each cage, etc and so on.

If you have, for example, excellent show stock that you can charge a very good price for, and a strong market for your pet stock, you can make some decent extra cash. Other than that it'd be difficult to pay off your feed bill.


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## tortoise

theawesomefowl said:
			
		

> $60???


Reputation is golden.  People want super-calm, sweet rabbits.  That's what I have.  I've had people drive from out-of-state to get them from me.

Temperament sells.  I have a family coming up tomorrow to look at a rabbit ($60).  They want a rabbit that the whole family can enjoy.  I invited the whole family up.  They won't believe his temperament unless they meet him!

This ain't no show bunny either, lol.  I was raising him up to butcher.  Temperament sells.  

I'm still working on breeding a rabbit I would be proud to put on the show table.  I do things to WIN, lol.  I think I am 3 generations away from that.  Can't wait to see how they compete.  And if I do well, my prices will only go UP.


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## cattlecait

theawesomefowl said:
			
		

> $60???


Oh, for sure, and plenty for more! If it's a very good show rabbit, it can go upwards of $175 or more. I've heard of (eeek!) $1,000 rabbits, but I think thats going a little far. Some rarer breeds, such as German Giants, go for $500 because only one person in the country has them.


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## KristyHall

I have only met two people who make money on rabbits. A local hobby farmer who teaches classes in rabbit car and meat raising and that is where she gets the money.
And someone I went to college with. His family raised meat rabbits on an industrial scale. He sold the meat to the local specialty stores and to dog food companies, he sold the hides to fur makers and the local native groups who use it in their regalia making and art work, and their composted manure to organic growers
They made decent enough money and it was rabbit money that sent him to college, but he stressed the huge amount of work it is. We're talking thousands of rabbits run by five family members. He had to go home on weekends and holidays to help out.
He loved it, and intends on having a few rabbits for his own meat use once he graduates and gets his own place, but he pointed out to me that to make money you have to do it on a large scale, and you have to find a nitch, a buyer, and be willing to use everything you can.


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## sc00ter4900

I like the question Can you make money raising rabbits? LOL Yes you can . How much is up to you.   I started last may with 3 does and one buck By dec. I ended up with well over 50 Rabbits. I sold a few for pets , meat and of corse dinner. With there feed cost and what materials for the cages cost I didnt make a profit. My choice but I wanted a hobby that will keep me busy and some what pay for its self. Havnt broke even yet but this year I should if I dont buy any more cages LOL. I got into this to eat better , Have something to do since im not smoking and need to get some exercise. So far its working out for me.I really enjoy doing the rabbits and chicken. I have a hobby that me and my granson can do together. Thanks Scotty


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## Hop N'Tail

As a rabbit breeder for for about 9+ years you lose money with rabbits. Raising rabbits its more of a hobby, don't depend on making big bucks raising rabbits.


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