Dinner rabbits, Journal

[Mini Horses]

In the green is always good.

 

[ChickenManwithDogs]

I came across a claim stating that with one male and ten female rabbits, you can produce 900 pounds of rabbit meat per year. Is this accurate?

 

[secuono]

I came across a claim stating that with one male and ten female rabbits, you can produce 900 pounds of rabbit meat per year. Is this accurate?

Uhhh...I have no clue. Probably, if you're raising all of the kits. But I cull hard and often, most aren't grown out long enough to make it into my freezer, and instead, end up in the dog's bowls. Though, if they keep improving on speed of growth, eventually, most will be in the freezer, but then I'll have less adults.


Lets see how my math is today.....

10 does with 10 kits each is 100 kits. 100 kits at 5#, 500# live weight. Half of discarded parts makes it 250#. But 1/3-1/2 is bone, 166-125# pure meat. Need 5.4-7.2 litters per year.

Most would get about 8 kits each. 80 kits at 5#, 400# live. Half will be guts, hide, head, feet n such. So, 200# bone-in meat. Then about 1/3-1/2 in bones. So, 133-100# of pure meat. That's one round of breeding, staggered at about 2-3 does bred a day. A month gestating, 2mo growing, to get 133-100#. Rebreed mom when kits are 6wks. To get 900#, would need to have does produce kits 6.8-9 times.

7 litters born a year, 6 litters will have 2mo to get to 5# live weight. That's mom bred back when kits are 3wks, wean kits when they're 6wks, gives mom a week alone to remake colostrum before new kits arrive. But this falls under intensive breeding. Some go so far as to wean at 4wks, rebreeding mom immediately after birth or 1wk later. I've noticed kits are stunted when weaned before 6wks. None of my stock is from high intensity breeders, just regular joe shmoe. The moms loose condition and fail to regain it fast enough, usually, before next kits arrive, when I bred at 3-4wks. Some could do it, but either way, the does needed to be replaced by daughters, as kit numbers soon dropped.
My does tell me when they're ready to rebreed. They'll suddenly grumble, hide, lift when I open the door to check on kits. Or I catch them humping their kits. Usually when kits are 5-6wks. And I take them to the buck then, they lift sky high!

Then you have summer issues of bucks being sterile, pregnant does dying due to heat stroke and stress from being heavily preg in heat. Extreme heat makes kits not want to do anything, but lay there hoping for cooler weather. Winter kit loss by bad moms. No water 24/7(freezing & needing 2-4× replacement around the clock, more in even colder temps) which reduces feed intake, which reduces growth. Then just one buck means a doe may not like him and refuse to breed or he is lazy randomly. Wait too long to breed and they're fat and won't breed.

Last, few breed to the goal, 5# by 8wks. Most you'll find are joe smoe stock, 12-14+wks before they get there. Totally unacceptable. Show breeders want slow, steady growth, so they're not too big for each class and they have a fear of adults being too big, too. ️ (lol, wat?? Not how that works) Minimum is 5# by 12wks. And worst of all, you can get lardy rabbits by breeding for speed. Might be 5# live, but lard can make up 1-1.5# of the weight. And just because they come from fast growers, grew fast themselves, doesn't mean they'll produce any individuals or whole consistent litters of fast growers! It's a huge gamble. Such a mess I ran into and discovered first hand.

So, while it is possible, it comes at a cost, hard to find good stock, is tricky to maintain and honestly easier to just get 5 more does and a back up buck.

Red is bred, teal is birth.

 

[Mini Horses]

@ChickenManwithDogs There is nothing out there that breeds, raises, matures to perfection consistently. Rabbits DO usually breed often. As @secuono has explained -- the intensity of such breeding "wears out" your does. Production& growth isn't a given.

If your looking for family freezer food, you might consider meat chickens. That's 8-12 weeks of daily, watchful care. Much longer & they'll drop dead from breeding issues to make them grow too fast. But, fast meat if you do it right. One batch, a couple extreme butcher days & done for year.

 

[secuono]

@ChickenManwithDogs There is nothing out there that breeds, raises, matures to perfection consistently. Rabbits DO usually breed often. As @secuono has explained -- the intensity of such breeding "wears out" your does. Production& growth isn't a given.

If your looking for family freezer food, you might consider meat chickens. That's 8-12 weeks of daily, watchful care. Much longer & they'll drop dead from breeding issues to make them grow too fast. But, fast meat if you do it right. One batch, a couple extreme butcher days & done for year.

Yes. Even Pekin ducks grow FAST and are easier than rabbits. I grew mine in hutches.