Cost to raise a litter

[P.O. in MO]

I said in a previous post that I was keeping track of the cost to raise a litter and would post the results. Here they are. These were NZW.

It was a litter of 10 and I butchered at 10 weeks. 1 was over 6 lbs. , 3 were over 5 1/2 lbs., 4 were between 5 and 5 1/2 pounds, and 2 were just under 5 lbs.

This is all the feed for the doe and the kits and includes half the feed for the buck. I started keeping track when the doe kindled and rebred her at 6 weeks and included her feed until she kindled again. So these costs cover the whole cycle.

176# feed at .31/# 54.50
Hay 1.50
Electricity for fan and AC 2.00
Total 58.00

So each kit cost 5.80 cents to raise. The total litter dressed out right at 30#. So that figures out to 1.93/# for the meat.
I thought about waiting another week to butcher but they were eating almost 4# a day at this point. Sawfish99 did a cost analysis in a previous post sighting the amount gained by waiting from 11.5 wks. to 14 wks. Their average wt. at 11.5 wks. was 5 lbs. and I was in that range now so I decided to go ahead and butcher.

Really no way to factor in the value of the manure but it definitely improves the output of the garden!!!

 

[nawma]

Very interesting info. I was told just this week that rabbit meat is selling for up to $16.95# Quite a profit. But of course I noticed you didnt include anything for your labor or equipment. Still seems like you have made quite a profit.

 

[nawma]

I did a little bit of research online and was amazed at the disparity of prices for rabbit meat. Anywhere from about $4.00 # to $15.00 # So I guess it all depends on market and availability in the area.

 

[animalmom]

I did a little bit of research online and was amazed at the disparity of prices for rabbit meat. Anywhere from about $4.00 # to $15.00 # So I guess it all depends on market and availability in the area.

Last time I looked on Amazon, for giggles and grins, they wanted close to $50 for ONE frozen rabbit. There's gold in them thar cages!

 

[VickieB]

Yeah, well my babies are too small still to dispatch, but making lots of poo so I'm having to clean cages at this point 2X a day. Gold never smelt so bad...

 

[P.O. in MO]

It sounds good but you have to find someone willing to pay that much for it. I am eating pretty much all I produce at this point. I am giving a couple of this litter to a buddy who has supplied me with deer meat in the past. And selling a couple to a friend of my sisters(too cheap). I did look on Craigslist in my area before posting this and 10 to 12 dollars for one of butcher age was the cheapest I found. I would sell 10 week old rabbits for $12. I just don't know how many people would want to buy and butcher them themselves. I know it took me about 4 hours to butcher 10 including the time to clean up my mess. That was not cutting them up. I cut them up today and it took me about 2 hrs. including cleaning up the mess. I would definitely want 5 or 6 dollars to butcher one and another 2 to cut one up. So I can see where people say 5 dollars a pound for rabbit meat. Still gotta find someone willing to pay that much for it. I know I wouldn't, I won't pay that much for meat that's why I started raising rabbits. I got 2 breeders coming of age in another month so might reach a point where I can throw an ad up on Craigslist and see if any takers.

 

[twg.jenn]

So I can see where people say 5 dollars a pound for rabbit meat. Still gotta find someone willing to pay that much for it. I know I wouldn't, I won't pay that much for meat that's why I started raising rabbits.

That is what I have heard for the average that rabbit meat sells for. I know a local family owned grocery store has agreed to buy the meat for that price once I start to harvest. Have you tried to get a contract with a small store??

This is a great post btw, thank you very much for your info

 

[sawfish99]

Thanks for the info. I was thinking about running another round of records with mine, but we are at 10 does and 2 bucks, so the effort to keep feed separate on some probably isn't worth it. We sell meat for $5.50/lb packaged. I have a butcher shop nearby that sells for $7.25/lb packaged.

FYI - you will get faster with practice. It takes me 6-8 minutes per rabbit and then my wife packages all at ones when I am done, which takes her about 10 minutes for 5-10 rabbits.

 

[sawfish99]

BTW - we figured out how to maximize the profit margin on our rabbits. Sell a lot of breeding stock. Since we shifted to American Chinchillas, we have had a much higher demand for breeding stock (and trios in particular). We didn't even have unrelated trios, but people we still happy to purchase pedigreed, tattooed 7 week old rabbits for $30 each. Now that we bought out a portion of another Am Chin rabbitry nearby (who was selling stock for $65 each), we will likely raise our breeding trio price slightly. When you can sell 75% of a litter the day they are weaned, profit margin improves.
NOTE - the feedback from our customers has been they buy from us because of the quality of the breeders and we have enough rabbits to prove the quality. It took a little time and learning to get to this point.

 

[shan777]

BTW - we figured out how to maximize the profit margin on our rabbits. Sell a lot of breeding stock. Since we shifted to American Chinchillas, we have had a much higher demand for breeding stock (and trios in particular). We didn't even have unrelated trios, but people we still happy to purchase pedigreed, tattooed 7 week old rabbits for $30 each. Now that we bought out a portion of another Am Chin rabbitry nearby (who was selling stock for $65 each), we will likely raise our breeding trio price slightly. When you can sell 75% of a litter the day they are weaned, profit margin improves.
NOTE - the feedback from our customers has been they buy from us because of the quality of the breeders and we have enough rabbits to prove the quality. It took a little time and learning to get to this point.

Yes here in Australia I have used this niche. I sell my quality NZW's and Californian X NZW's for $50. The left overs from litters which is usually 20-40% of the litters gets sold as meat or to our freezer ( struggle to get them into our freezer these days... good problem to have)
The key I have found is like you said quality of the breeders, and promoting the lifestyle of backyard food supply.