Cost to Raise Meat Rabbits: Total Annual Expenses Breakdown

[@patricke.987]

I have a Rabittery too. Been doing it for decades and your numbers make sense. Kind of high but No Judgement from me. I have heritage breeds too. American Sables( 3 females), Chinchilla( a trio) and Califormias( 2 males). I am up in Quebec North of you. I would suggest a few things to reduce your cost. I feed this everyday about 10-15% of their feed. Fresh or Dried works great. I give them comfrey and sugar maple leaves or apple tree leaves (they love twigs).Both account for 25% of their daily feed. They love it! Comfrey helps them greatly with digestion. Also always have Pine cones in their cage. They love to chew those. I find that many time they eat because they need to chew. The pine cones actually reduce the feed cost. 1 big cone last about 3 weeks. They get lots of Timothy hay and pellets 1x/day I have been feeding them like this for more then a decade. I plan 6 liters/ year. 5 does total. This year I harvested 208 kits with an average weight of 2.5 to 3 lbs. My point is that I grow or gather these 3 things and the only cost is my time. It's about a 25% savings yearly. Good luck!

[@thestonehearthfarmhouse]

Thank you so much for the advice! I have comfrey and plenty of pinecones that I can offer them. That’s an interesting thought about what you said about them eating just to chew. I never thought of that! It makes sense.

[@patricke.987]

@ Happy to help! BTW the Pinecones should be opened and have lost their seeds. They need to be the dried Husks part that are on the ground (without being too old LOL!) Gather them in September/October when they fall off the tree. Keep them in brown carton boxes. Not a plastic bag. They must stay brownish and not go grey. A grey one as a winter under it's belt. Lastly, there will be much less manure/poop by about 20-25% but the grow rate will not be impacted. Thus what they eat will actually be absorbed and not just pass through...

[@tracybruring7560]

I do recommend leaving out the hay. spend your money on good pellet. last year I used purina complete and the grow out thrived on that but the breeders did not. The grow outs stayed at an "excellent rate" of growth on the meat rabbit chart on this. I have 1 buck and does but will be keeping a doe out of one of my litters this month. I like raising meat chicken about every other year and use them primarily to make dog food. I use the rabbit bones raw and ground as a dog food supplement.

[@59kuphoff]

This is great information. Thank you for sharing! A bale of grass hay here in Central IL is $5 / bale. I'm just getting started with meat rabbits (due to Kindle my 1st on Feb 4th). What I really learned in this video is that I can't depend on my does and bucks to perform well and the turn-around of 2-4 years of good production goes fast!

[@thestonehearthfarmhouse]

Thank so much! I hope you have a great first year raising your rabbits.:)

[@Greg-su8gt]

This brings reality to the forefront. I'm gonna keep at it anyway. Knowing where my food comes from is too important.

[@thestonehearthfarmhouse]

Absolutely, I agree with you!