Rabbits for dinner

Are they financially profitable. Not just the selling of bunnies but if you just raised them for meat. Do you really break even or save? They seem like high maintenance. Chickens vs. rabbits, which from a financial stand point is better?

 

Mmm that's a loaded question. Each has their pros and cons, and it changes based on your management system. I remember reading once upon a time that the ancient Romans would dig a pit a few feet deep, build a sturdy wall around it, fill the pit with straw, and toss a breeding trio of rabbits in there. They'd make sure food and water was available, then just go pull out a rabbit when they wanted to eat one. It was on the internet so it must be true, of course. But there are people who have very hands off setups that feed almost entirely hay and assorted garden and tree clippings, who keep their costs and labor to an impressive minimum.

I don't raise the top meat producing breeds any more. If I didn't have a market for breeding stock and pets, I'd be in the hole big time feeding 100% commercial pellets because the litter sizes and weaning weights don't compete unless I crossbreed.

Good breeding stock of any species commands a decent price, but you won't get rich on them. One of the reasons I have Mini Rex is because I get $40-50 a head as pets, and I've sold show quality ones for upwards of $150. My Blancs are super rare in the US so they command good prices too, which makes up for their abysmal showing on the butcher block. But that's not always a sure thing either. My best Mini Rex doe's litters average 4 kits, and maybe none of them are show quality, or one is a peanut, or two are red eye whites which no one wants. I went a solid 18 months straight once without a single doe getting pregnant. They just clamped their butts to the ground and refused to breed. I even went in and held some in place (talk about a new low for me), but they'd never stick. THAT was an expensive 18 months. Some other big breeders in my area were having similar issues so it was something in the air or the water or the alignment of the stars, who knows.

Chickens are by far more self sufficient and easier to raise in my opinion, but rabbits are quiet and easy to conceal, easier to butcher, and I think they taste better.

 

If you position the tote, so the output valve is going directly through the wall, make it metal and wrap it with heat-tape then insulation, it should not freeze, but if it does, plug in the heat tape, and it will thaw quickly. Expose no more pipe than necessary. From the tote to the wall, and put the valve inside the structure. Heat tape could be run from a car battery /inverter from solar if needed. Wrapping the tote with insulation and black plastic (or even just black paint would help) should keep it from freezing.

 

Not feasible given the current setup, unfortunately. There will be a minimum of 3 ft between rabbit house and tank no matter where I put it. Another case of me putting something in place without carefully considering what else might need to go around it.

 

Three feet is no problem at all. Assuming your output line were 1-2", simply put it inside another PVC pipe about 3-4" and insulation.

 

My rabbits pay for them selves for now until they have to feed us every week. I sell enough breeders and meat rabbits to pay for all the hutches and feed. I get my alfalfa hay real cheap and dont use much as far as pellets go. My entire yard is feed if shtf I have 10 acres and about 1/3 of it is grass and alfalfa. .

 

Sloth, on the portable pens I move them twice a day so they never get a chance to do a lot of digging. There were a few times I was out of town until after dark and just left them in the same place over night and the next morning there was quite a bit of mining going on along the fence edges. Only had escapees once, and that was when the tarp got blown half into the pen and they used it as a ramp to run up and jump over the top. These are juniors too, all in the freezer before they're 6 months old. My older rabbits would dig out of that pen in about an hour.

The colony pen I have now, there's a digger determined to reach China in there. We were just about to line the bottom with chain link fencing when the ice hit us, hoping things will clear up enough later this week we can get that in place before she reaches Beijing.