Meat rabbits age/weight to process

[songdog]

Ive been raising rabbits for show, but really want to start utilizing them as a meat source. I have satins and silver fox (flemish too) that im looking at using for meat. What age or weight do I process them at? Fryers are younger rabbits, broilers older? Thanks

 

[VickieB]

8 week olds = fryers
12 week olds = roasters
12+ week olds = stewers

Many people wait until their rabbit is 4 or 5 pounds.

 

[songdog]

So depending on the breed, 5# rabbit could be a stewer? so however old they are at 4-5# determines if they are fryers or roasters?.... Thanks!

 

[Hens and Roos]

you can use both age and weight to determine, so yes a 5# rabbit who is 12+ weeks could be a stewer.

VickieB posted good information to use!

 

[songdog]

Thanks for the information!

 

[VickieB]

I may be wrong but I don't think people use weight to determine if a rabbit is a fryer/roaster/stewer. I meant to say that some people wait until the rabbit is 5 pounds to dispatch. The age will depend on if the rabbit is fryer/roaster/stewer.

I prefer to dispatch at 8 to 9 weeks, for several reasons. The rabbit is more tender and can be used as a fryer. Plus, you have less money invested in the rabbit. Every day after the 8 week mark you lose tenderness of the meat, and you pay more for it (in terms of rabbit food and in your time involved in raising it.)

Some people have no problem with raising the rabbits out to 12 weeks, but if you are limited in space, and you want to raise your meat as economically as possible, you want to dispatch as close to the 8 week mark as possible.

 

[happy acres]

So the best bet is to get a breed that tends to be #4-#5 at 8 weeks?

 

[songdog]

VickieB: what breeds are you using? I have satins and silver fox. Thanks

 

[VickieB]

My main breed is called Production White. They were bred by Texas A&M by breeding NZ with Altex. The Altex are a breed Texas A&M came up with by breeding Flemish Giant with NZW and Cali's. I have 3 Production White does, and one Cali doe. I have two bucks, a Production White and an Altex.

Like I mentioned earlier, I live in town and my space is limited. In some ways that has been good because it has forced me to think about the whole process. The cost of your meat is an important issue to most people. If you wait to 12 weeks to dispatch, that meat is costing you twice as much, and it's not the same quality as if you had dispatched at 8 weeks. (Of course the rabbits will be larger, you'll be getting more meat, so I can't really say it's twice as much...)

Rabbits really don't eat much pellet at all until around 4 weeks. And I don't know about you, but my 4 week olds don't eat but half of what my 8 weeks olds eat. So your feed price is much higher by waiting to dispatch, plus you have to have those extra cages if you have more rabbits coming up. If you are only breeding occasionally, then that probably won't be a problem.

But when I started this it was with the intention of replacing the chicken I was buying at the store with rabbit. We ate a lot of chicken in my home. Since the day I've dispatched my first rabbit I have not had to buy any chicken from the store. That's been nearly a year. And I've been able to do it all on my back porch. But... I have to be organized. I breed one rabbit every two weeks, and I dispatch half a litter a week. What doesn't get eaten will go in the freezer to cover for those months the rabbits take a break in the summer.

I also cull litters. I know some people have problems with that, but I have found it really helps my production. I try to keep a litter down to 6, or no more than 8. First, Altex does do not have as much milk as the NZ, and I've found that my best does (producing the best kits) have enough milk for only 9 or 10 at best. They can (and generally do) have larger litters, but there are going to be babies starving to death. I hate watching some of them starve.

I have also found that the smaller the litter the faster the babies grow. Since I only need about 3 to 4 rabbits a week (My daughter takes rabbit for her family too) I keep the largest 6 to 8 kits and cull the others. If you live where space isn't a problem, you could probably plan on a foster mom for the extra kits. I did that at first, until I realized that having that many kits born at once was too much of a problem for my space.

One of the nice things about what I'm doing is that I can always have fresh rabbit ready for the week, I don't have to freeze it. I've turned one of my crisper drawers in the fridge to the rabbit drawer, which is where I brine the rabbit, and keep it until it's cooked.

That's probably a lot more information than you wanted but I love talking about my rabbits. This has been a fun endeavor! It's amazing what a person can do in town. I have a small space set up beside my rabbits for quail also, and have enough eggs for all my needs, and am now starting the meat birds. I'm hoping to be able to cook some quail once a week or two.

 

[Ebers]

Thank you for sharing vickieb that was very informative to someone like myself just getting started