Which breed?

[elevan]

We're considering getting into meat rabbits...if we can find a processor in Ohio that does rabbits. We know how to process them ourselves but this will be meat for sale and it must be processed in a state inspected facility.

Anyway...

What breed would you recommend?

Which one has the best meat to bone ration in your opinion?

What about best feed conversion?

Thanks!

 

[oddcluck]

Hello!
Personally I still think the old stand-bys, New Zealand Whites and Californians, are the best for meat production.

Quite a few people I know have switched to Flemish because of their size but a lot of the heft of these rabbits is bone. I would rather sell meat to my customers, not bone.

I'm thinking of infusing some spotted Rex into the herd for the sale of their pelts as a byproduct of meat production.

Just my opinion!

 

[VickieB]

If you're wanting to sell to a supplier, I've heard they want 8 week old rabbits that have reached 5 pounds or larger. There is a huge difference in what they are willing to pay for that, and a rabbit that may be just a little smaller. Before buying find out what size their kits average at 8 weeks.

 

[elevan]

No, we're not selling to a supplier. We need our meat processed in a state inspected facility in Ohio in order to sell the meat to the consumer. We have a lot of requests for rabbit meat.

 

[P.O. in MO]

I would agree with oddcluck and stick with the meat rabbit standard NZW or California. What VickieB is saying is that when buying your breeding stock, find out what to expect in litter size and typical weights at 8 weeks. Even if your just getting your rabbits processed and selling the meat yourself it is still important to get good breeding stock that will reach butcher weight as soon as possible. Saves on feed and cage space.
Which makes me want to ask: How would they know if they were 8 weeks old or not. Would they still want them if you had to wait 10 weeks to reach the 5 lb. weight?

 

[VickieB]

I've wondered about that myself, P.O. How can they tell if a rabbit is 8 weeks or 10 weeks. Yet, I saw on a fb page that suppliers were paying like $1.50 a pound for 5 pound 8 week olds, but anything under that weight would only bring like .25 cents a pound. It was crazy. And like you, I wondered, just how do they know how old that rabbit is?

 

[P.O. in MO]

Sounds crazy, 25 cents a pound for something a few ozs. lighter. Maybe somebody else will weigh in on this. I have started keeping better track of butcher wts. and age and my last litter of 10 was butchered at 10 weeks 5 days and only 4 out of 10 made the 5 lb. wt. although the rest were getting close, all over 4 1/2. The 8 litter before that went 11 weeks and only 4 made 5 lbs. I have to add that if they were paying $1.50 a pound that would be $7.50 a rabbit, I have posted before that mine cost 5.80 to feed out (this includes the doe and part of the bucks feed), nothing thrown in for overhead, labor or electricity. Plus the cost of gas to haul them to the supplier. I have read before that if you are going to make anything raising rabbits you have to raise a lot of rabbits. I have sold 8 rabbits since I started, not trying, just people I know that want some. I sold them for 10 dollars butchered and cut up. Too cheap!!!! I think the next time someone wants a rabbit it's 12 bucks and I'll butcher but not cutting it up. If they don't want it at that price I have freezer space to accommodate it. I didn't get into this to sell but when a chance comes up to sell 4 rabbits at 10 that amounts to a free bag of feed so I went ahead and sold them. I much prefer to barter my rabbits for deer meat. I still like some red meat and a friend of mine usually gets at least 2 deer in the freezer a year so that works out pretty good and I don't have to go sit in a tree for hours at a time in sometimes pretty crappy weather.

 

[VickieB]

I thought the price sounded a little low too. As much money as you put into the rabbits with their feed it really isn't worth selling, especially when you have them in stacked cages and are cleaning trays. That's a lot of work for a couple of dollars.

When I started with my rabbits my kits were pretty small too. I raised them up to 12 weeks, and only had one or two make the 5 pound mark. Then I had a couple of small litters. Those rabbits made it to 5 pounds at 8 weeks. When you figure out how much you spend on feed that last month, and you think of the extra work cleaning after that many for that extra month, you realize the importance of getting the kits to dispatch date at 8 weeks. For a while I was culling my litters down to 6 just so I could have them ready to dispatch by that 8 week mark. But then my doe had 8, and I decided not to mess with it and at 2 1/2 weeks 9 kits came hopping out of the nest box... smh (guess I overlooked one) At 8 weeks they all weighed between 4 1/2 pounds to 5 pounds. I dispatched 3. Today I weighed them (they are 9 weeks today) and they weighed between 5 to 5 1/2 pounds.

Several months ago my largest doe had a small litter, and every one of the kits had strong Altex markings (She is 1/2 Altex). They were huge bunnies. There was a buck and 3 does. At 8 weeks the buck weighed in at 5 pounds and the does weighed in at 5 1/2 pounds. I kept the does for breeding. They are 3 1/2 months old now and are weighing between 8 3/4 pounds to 10 pounds. I have an Altex buck I want to breed them to. I'll have to let you know how it goes with them. My goal is to see that 5 pounds at 8 weeks is the norm.

 

[P.O. in MO]

I guess I need to start working on improving my breeding stock. I am not even close to your weights. I have just been breeding what I have and trying to keep meat in the freezer.

 

[Hens and Roos]

I was told that anytime a doe can raise a litter of 5 kits to weaning she pays for her upkeep, any babies raised over the 5 is profit