Question regarding becoming a breeder

[WhiteMountainsRanch]

I am trying to avoid buying meat from the supermarkets.

Rabbits are VERY good at this! I don't make any profit off my purebreds (the most money I make is in the spring selling to 4H kids) but my freezer is always full!

 

[ZippyTheHappyChimp]

for now I am just going to sell what I do not plan on processing for myself. Just picked up another freezer for the Quail, Rabbits and Chicken. and every once in awhile I go to the local livestock aution for a goat or pig which I butcher myself.

I am trying to avoid buying meat from the supermarkets.

And that's the key.

When you're trying to raise for profit, you have to be a lot pickier, and all of your startup costs have to come from unallocated funds.

When you're raising for your own freezer, you still need to do a cost analysis, and still have to have a certain starting nest egg. But then a) your product is worth whatever meat you DIDN'T buy (when you ate your rabbit instead); and b) your animal upkeep costs come out of the food budget rather than some other bucket.

I'm pricing my rabbits I eat at $2 a pound, as that's the max of what I would of spent on some pork anyways. If your rabbits stops you from buying beef, at 3, 4, 5+ dollars a pound, then you make your investment back sooner and start making a "profit". If you primarily eat buck a pound chicken, then rabbits may never work out, moneywise.