calculating cost of raising meat rabbits

[zzGypsy]

ok, so I spent about an hour on line this afternoon looking for something that gave the costs of raising meat rabbits and couldn't find any calculations or actual cost studies...

anyone got a link?

in the mean time, I ran up some quick costs based on what I think I understand... but I'm new to this and if there's a thread or a reference, I'd love to see it.

here's what I think I have worked out:

basic assumptions:
1 buck and 8 does
6 kits per litter
8 litters per year
total of 576 rabbits harvested/yr ( 96 every 6 weeks)

raising to 5 lbs (aprox 4 months)
dressed weight 50% of live weight

equipment costs:

per doe: between $200 and $300 for new equipment depending on if they're hanging cages (cheaper) or racked cages with pans. this includes 1 doe cage and 4 grow-out cages (2 litters, separated by gender)

$60-75 for buck cage (hanging or racked)

feed costs based on:
$12/bag rabbit ration pellets
$7/50 lb bale grass hay
no free food (such as grass or weeds or other $0 cost feed)
feeding 75% pellets / 25% hay
feed rate 1oz/lb of live rabbit for growout
feed rate 2oz/lb of live rabbit for lactating/pregnanat does
feed rate 1.5oz/lb for buck

I amortized the doe's feed while bred and while nursing across the individual kit's cost
I amortized the buck's feed across all kits he produces
I did not include equipment costs in the rabbit's individual cost, those are capital expenses and are accounted separately.
I did not include labor or my time.
I did not include slaughter costs.

I calcuated kit's feed based on weight as it grows, with a 1.8 lb weaning start weight and a 5 lb final weight at 4 months.

It works out to about $6.65/rabbit (live weight 5 lbs, dressed weight 2.5 lbs) or a $2.66/lb.

<ouch>

ok, guess I'm not raising rabbits to feed my dogs unless I can get the price down.

anyone have actual numbers to compare my calculations against?

BTW, annual totals look like this:
576 rabbits harvested
1440 lbs of meat
$3830 in feed costs


oh, and I worked out a spreadsheet to tell me when my does are bred, due, when to wean, when to rebreed, and when to slaughter each litter. and it tracks weaning weight, slaughter live weight, dressed weight, litter sizes, mortality, color, lineage and gender ratios in the litters.

ok, I was busy tonight.

 

[SowdersHomestead]

http://www.poultry.msstate.edu/extension/pdf/rabbit_production.pdf

 

[that's*satyrical]

How many bags of feed is that? Ours is 15.99 a bag so that is a big difference in price.

 

[zzGypsy]

http://www.poultry.msstate.edu/extension/pdf/rabbit_production.pdf

ok, that's a useful item.
although I do wonder when it was published (didn't see a date on it)

my numbers are different than theirs -

they've got 15 lbs of feed to get to 4 lb, my calculation shows 11.5. that could mean my numbers are 25% too low.

they've got hutch setups at $35-50, I've got them at $45-70.
they've got feed at $0.14/lb, I'm currently paying $0.30/lb
and they're showing market price of meat at $0.60/live pound, and looking at rabbitry sales direct, price is $6-$13/dressed lb... and I couldn't find a local grocery/market price so I don't know what sales to grocers or restaurants would be. the only wholesale reference I could find was about $10/lb for whole dressed rabbits (in 25lb lots).

if my numbers prove out, here's what my margin would be, not including my labor, electrical, water, facilities or slaughter costs. this is per rabbit:
@$4/lb - $3.35
@$6/lb - $8.35
@$8/lb - $13.35
@$10/lb - $18.35

labor is free, as long as it's me since I'm getting paid with profit. elec/water should be minimal, and we have facilities, but would need additional cages. I haven't yet checked on cost of having them processed at a plant, so whatever that is would come directly out of the numbers above. looks like I'd have to get $6/lb minimum to make this worth doing for sale. and it's not looking good for the dogs to get rabbit as a staple, even if we did minimal processing on-site.

there might be a small price available for the rabbit hides, although perhaps not unless I clean/stretch them... with is probably more time than the value it would produce.

 

[zzGypsy]

How many bags of feed is that? Ours is 15.99 a bag so that is a big difference in price.

I calculated on feeding:
40 lb bag pellets / $12
50 lb bales grass hay / $7

1 oz of feed per live rabbit Lb per day (5 lb rabbit would get 5 oz feed per day)
75% pellets, 25% hay.

 

[that's*satyrical]

Ok so that is why the big difference our feed comes in 50lb bag.

 

[hemet dennis]

To start you need cages and such if you buy new stuff it will take for ever to get your money back but it can be done. If you make your cages you can save a lot or you can buy used. I found a good deal on craigs list. If you can find something like this you will be well ahead.

http://inlandempire.craigslist.org/grd/2805398122.html

When selling don't just look to the meat side look at selling breeding stock and for pets. On that production link it had each does making $32 something profit per year from each doe, but selling one breeder can net you $30 to $50 dollars.

Also they said not to raise worms. Well I raised worms and made money with hardly any effort. Once you have a couple months of poop just find someone local selling worms and get a pound, Just put them on the poop and forget them for 3 or 4 months then take a shovel and turn it over and you will not believe how many are there.

And don't forget the pelts there is a market for them. I used to sell mine just dried for a couple days on a stretcher to an old lady that made stuff from them.

Don't feed the hay feed good pellets and you will get better weight gain.

Do you live in where you get real hot summers ? If you do you need to protect the bucks from the heat it will make them sterile for a few months. And that can cost you a bunch to feed does that aren't producing for 3 months.

Good luck

 

[sawfish99]

Are you willing to share that spread sheet you made? I am a data junkie in all our farming activities and haven't made one for the rabbits yet because I've been too busy with cages.

I think there are significant savings to be had on the cages. I have picked up cages for 11 rabbits for a total of $150 off craigslist. They all needed a little rehab, but I only spent about $25 in additional lumber to get them all working again.

When you said 8 litters, was that per doe per year? That souds really high. I think 4 is tops, but we are just starting out (1 month pregancy, 6-7 weeks nursing, 1 week off).

Out feed is also a lot more. We are paying $17 per 50lb bag. In SE CT, rabbit meat brings $6/lb carcass weight. I am targeting 3lb avg carcass.

I think you can make money with meat rabbits, but probably not a significant amount unless you have a huge rabbitry. I don't know that I would be feeding it to the dogs...

 

[brentr]

When you said 8 litters, was that per doe per year? That souds really high. I think 4 is tops, but we are just starting out (1 month pregancy, 6-7 weeks nursing, 1 week off).

I agree on questioning litter size/frequency in original calculation. I came across a table that broke down breeding cycle needed to get X number of litters/year. I hope I'm not violating copyright...

Eight litters/year = 45 day cycle (consider kindle date to be day zero)
Rebreed on day 14, wean on day 28, next kindle is day 45

My own small experience tells me that a schedule like that will wear out a doe quite quickly. Does in sub-optimal body condition will struggle to conceive and bear smaller litters and wean lighter kits. OR the operator will have higher feed/supplement costs to keep a doe in good condition for such an aggressive breeding cycle.

I personally am trying to implement a 61 day cycle for six litters/year.
Kindle day zero, rebreed day 28, wean day 42, next kindle is day 61. I'm finding that my few does wean their litters before six weeks, so this works well for me. I'm only into it a couple iterations, but so far my does are doing great in their body condition and no feed supplements, just 16% pellets.

Six kit litter assumption seems reasonable, if that is the number AFTER mortality factors.

I'd love a copy of the spreadsheet too, if you are inclined to share!

 

[zzGypsy]

all the numbers are without equipment costs, so that's a separate item. I've been able to find some used equipment, but by the time I facter in my time for rehab, it's not any cheaper than new, and with new, everything comes in matched sizes. I currently have some of both (new and used) and keep an eye out for good deals from folks getting out of rabbits.

I'm using all metal cages, the wood ones look nice but are a lot more expensive, harder to maintain, and more likely to harbor germs, so even though I like the look of them, wood ones are out.

here's what I'm looking at on breeding cycle for 7 litters a year: (revised from 8)
day 1: breeding
day 31: kindle
day 51: rebreed
day 65: wean if mama hasn't already, and remove litter to grow out
day 82: kindle #2

what I've been reading says that to make a profit, you have to be intensive breeding, which means 7-10 litters/yr with an average of 7-8 weaned kits each litter. and it says that gives a breeding life of about 2 years for the doe, so that probably reflects burnout.

the schedule above has first week after breeding = 4th week of nursing, and two more weeks of overlap, when the doe may or maynot be still nursing but will still have the kits with her. then final week of gestation without kits. that is pretty tight overlap, and I'll have to watch how well it works, and how well the does maintain condition, so it's a bit of hands-on. since I'll be starting with just 4 does, that's not a big time challenge, just means I have to pay attention. the way the spreadsheet works, I can easily change the "days after kindling" parameter to adjust the schedule dates if it turns out to be too tight. I've got lots of experience in breeding sheep and goats, so I'm familiar with the process of overlap (or not) and how to watch condition as a general process.

that 'profit' number doesn't include selling pet or breeding stock, which I probably won't do a lot of anyway. pet selling is actually bringing a lower price than meat sales if I can get $6/lb or higher meat price... a 2.5 lb carcass @ $6 is $15 and pet rabbits here are bringing $10. besides, I worry about what happens to the animal once it's in a pet home - I can make sure animals have adequate care, and a humane death... once they're someone's pet, I may have sold them into torture and I can't control that. it makes it tough for me to sell into that market, and expensive on my time since I want to vet the home to some degree first.

for breeder stock, if I get this running and keep good production numbers, cull and breed for production effectively, I might be able to get better prices for breeder stock from serious producders, but given what I paid for mine, (without good production data) the prices for meat-production breeder stock are still pretty low.

the other way to get breeder stock / pet prices up is to show, or to breed registered stock, neither of which are particularly interesting to me as an activity. of course, that may change, but for now I'm looking for production values, rather than lineage and showability.

on the hay, lots of stuff says some hay is required to avoid digestive issues, and others say stick with pellets, and yet others say give hay only once you've got a problem with digestive issues. given that the rabbits may consume the pellets fast, at least some hay gives them something to do for more hours in the day. I guess from that standpoint, I think hay looks like 1) somewhat preventative and 2) improved quality of life, to me.

and of course all this assumes I can find or create a rabbit meat market - otherwise everthing gets sized to our consumption... and since we've never had access to a rabbit meat supply (or the willingness to pay $6/lb for meat in general) I don't yet know what our *actual* rabbit consumption is.