There are probably no farmers, both established and those just beginning their journey in agriculture, who would not pay attention to rabbit breeding. Getting acquainted with business plans for breeding rabbits, the profitability of even small farms is simply amazing.
For example, a farm with 100 female rabbits can bring the owner 100–150 thousand rubles. every 1.5 months, and this, “for a minute,” is about one million a year. Moreover, such a business can be located on its 10 acres, without damage to the garden. By the way, biological waste from the farm is one of the best fertilizers for plants.
Rabbit meat is so valuable in its composition that it is actively used in the preparation of baby food, so it is not a shame to feed your family with such a product, and it is pleasant to sell. Therefore, today’s guest of the magazine Reconomica , considering the possibilities for making money on his farm five years ago, had no doubt at all what he would do.
Where did I start
I live in the north of the Krasnodar Territory - warm climate, 300 km to the nearest coast of the Black Sea, 60 km to the Sea of Azov, abundant food supply, developed agricultural infrastructure, distance from Krasnodar - 120 km.
Cells of our own production
I decided to keep the rabbits in cages of my own making. I made the frame of the cage from wooden beams, used mesh for the floor and walls, and built a wooden canopy with a profile roof. We have almost no cold weather; winter is like a long autumn with rare frosts. The canopy was necessary for protection from rain and sun; its size was 8x9 m.
Since I was going to start with 30 queen rabbits, the total number of cages was 60: 30 cages for females with offspring, 30 for young animals from 1.5–3 months. If you raise rabbits longer, problems arise.
- It is not economically feasible - rabbits begin to eat a lot and grow little.
- Males reach sexual maturity, battles for females inevitably occur, and inbreeding results.
Breeding rabbits in cages.
Where to buy and where to sell rabbits
I decided to purchase breeding stock from amateur rabbit breeders. It is best to purchase females at the age of two months - it is cheaper and there is a guarantee that the animal has not yet been used for reproduction. It is better to take males when they are sexually mature to see them at work.
The most important thing in any production is sales. There is no point in producing something in large quantities if no one will buy it.
The calculation was as follows: acquaintances, the market, buyers of live weight. I agree, it’s a shame to give it to buyers at a bargain price, but to find a good buyer, you need a stable volume. And if you start from scratch and without experience, then you will have to rely on buyers.
It took three weeks to build the shed and I had to do most of the work myself. Relatives and friends, of course, helped whenever possible. It took much longer to manufacture the cells. Initially, three cages for young animals were made in order to place 30 females there for additional feeding. And two months later, I put the females in new cages with houses, having previously introduced them to the males, and continued collecting cages for the young.
Why is Petrovskoe private household plot better than other rabbit buyers?
Here are our arguments:
- Payment for accepting live weight rabbits is issued immediately.
We pay for the rabbits on the spot, without any “for sale” or “the accountant is on vacation, wait a couple of days and we will pay” - NO, you handed over the rabbits, we weighed them in front of you, paid for them, you went home.
The only exception is when you supply a large batch of rabbits - in this case we pay part of the cost in cash, and part by transfer to a card (this may lead to slight delays of up to 2-3 days). We understand that this is not convenient, but shops and restaurants pay us by transfers to a bank account. Sorry.
- We do not require veterinary certificates.
It is enough for the rabbits to look healthy in appearance: without lichen, ulcers, wet noses, ticks and the like. A local veterinarian will personally examine the rabbits and take any necessary samples.
We have already encountered the fact that veterinary certificates can be easily purchased and therefore do not trust any paper documents - it is easier for us to look at the rabbits on our own.
- In the Nizhny Novgorod region, we are the largest buyer of rabbits by live weight.
LPH Petrovskoe buys rabbits not only in the Nizhny Novgorod region, but also from neighboring regions, territories and cities, for example, Moscow and the Moscow region, the Tatar Republic and Kazan, Ivanovo, Sverdlov, Tyumen, Kemerovo, Krasnodar.
We have a reputation and we don’t want to spoil it. We do not deceive, unlike other buyers.
So I got rabbits
A month has passed. The females began to fussily gather hay into their mouths and pave a nest for lambing. I first cleaned the houses and put clean shavings and straw on the bottom. Most females kitten at night, but they can kitten at any time of the day.
After long weeks of work, it was extremely pleasant to watch the lumps appear in the morning, swarming in the rabbit fluff.
It is extremely undesirable to touch baby rabbits with your hands in the first week (the mother rabbit can wean the baby rabbit from milk), but you can lift the fluff to look and count the offspring.
Sales
By this time, summer had begun outside the window. First of all, I sold 10 carcasses to my friends for about 5,000 rubles and, after waiting for Saturday, I went to the market.
In two market days I sold 3 more carcasses for 1,500 rubles, the work week began and trade stopped.
Buyers
It's time to call the buyers. We have large processing plants in the region. But in order to cooperate with them, you must have slaughter documents, respectively, you must have a slaughterhouse or slaughter in a slaughterhouse, and also have a stable volume of at least 500 kg.
Therefore, the only option is to work with buyers who supply markets and stores.
I called them and they told me that the rabbits need to be grown to 4 kg, since with a large selection at the moment, the buyer prefers large carcasses. Later I learned that it was not a matter of the buyer’s whims.
During slaughter, the ratio of carcass to waste is more favorable for a large rabbit: there is more meat and less waste. But this is beneficial only for the buyer.
Features of sales in summer
They also need to bide their time, since they are calling a lot, and the demand is currently limited. The fact is that covering a female in summer is much more difficult than in winter.
It's very hot here in the summer - even in the shade it's up to 30 degrees Celsius. Female rabbits do not go into hunting well; the percentage of successful inseminations is an order of magnitude lower than in winter.
By summer, the population accumulates a huge amount of rabbit for sale, and since people eat less meat in the spring, demand drops sharply. But my third litter is approaching and everyone needs to be fed, but there is nowhere to sell them. I had to wait my turn for delivery, look for new buyers, go to the market and return with meat. It was a hard summer.
Let's start breeding eared ones
My husband and I moved to the private sector of a million-plus city three years ago.
It seemed stupid to us to live on the land and not have a farm, so the first thing we did was buy three rabbits: one male and two females, in case one did not feed the offspring, which is what happened in the end.
We took the babies in the summer at the age of 3 months, paying 1000 rubles for them - a minimal investment.
We built a cage for our animals using technology we read from the Internet. But each breeder does what seems most convenient to him.
Someone builds enclosures, someone digs holes, and we make cages, since our plot is limited to six acres. The cage consists of 2 compartments: for boys and girls, so that they do not start mating ahead of time.
Female rabbits who become pregnant at the age of 4 months will, of course, give birth safely, but they are unlikely to be able to feed and warm their offspring. They can give birth, but not always feed them.
Our first cage for rabbits with a hay barn in the middle
Material for construction was taken from what was available, without thinking about durability. But in vain - they began to quickly fall apart. Subsequently, boards 170-180 cm long and 5 cm wide were taken.
With the onset of cold weather, the big-eared household moved from the street under a roof to a warm barn, where they all lived together. Rabbits do not mate in the cold. But it’s warm in the barn.
After 1.5 months, taking into account adaptation of 2 weeks and a gestation period of 1 month, one rabbit gave birth! But our inexperience was fatal.
We did not prepare the queen cell, did not move her separately, so we lost all the babies - the mother did not feed them and ignored them altogether, eating them partially.
Quickly realizing her mistake, the second rabbit was moved to a separate cage with a queen cell, where a week later she safely gave birth to our first successful litter!
We rejoiced like children that the rabbits were alive and well, with full, round bellies, and all were in the downy nest that their mother had prepared for them.
The first unfortunate mother was left with the male, but again they did not keep track of the timing, so she also lost the second offspring.
The only mistake here was ours - after giving birth, the rabbit drinks a lot, and our pets spilled the water, since the drinking bowls were ordinary bowls and were not attached either to the floor or to the nets.
Yes, and rabbits have this manner - the female gets used to giving birth and not nursing if the first time was unsuccessful. Therefore, rabbit breeders, if a female has lost her offspring, rarely abandon her.
Weaknesses in business
Feeling the profit in my hands, I realized that you can really make money on this, but you need to solve several important problems.
- Unstable sales. It is impossible to plan business development with such unpredictable income.
- Microclimate on the farm. The optimal temperature for raising rabbits is 24 degrees. At this temperature, animals eat well, grow well and thrive. Also, a mosquito and, in general, no disease will be able to enter a closed room if sanitary standards are observed.
- Stop losing live weight. The difference in price is 100 rubles per head, which is at least 25,000 rubles per litter. I lose 200,000 rubles a year. It's scary to think about.
Since I am a veterinarian by training, the idea of opening my own slaughterhouse for my rabbits quickly interested me.
And then, if sales appear, you can gain volume with the help of animals purchased from the population, everyone will benefit.
Californian rabbits.
About the farm Petrovskoye
LPH Petrovskoye was founded in 2007 and continues to actively exist to this day. It's been 12 years now!
We deal with large breeds: White Giant, Gray Giant, German Riesen, Obers, Californians.
Our main specialization is the supply of rabbit meat to shops, restaurants, cafes and catering establishments. In addition, we sell rabbits by breed, but this is not our main profile. You can read more here.
Our rabbit breeding farm began purchasing rabbits around 2012, when the number of wholesale buyers and clients reached such a quantity that we no longer had enough of our own rabbits, in other words, when the demand for rabbits became excessively large.
New level
After reviewing all the requirements for the slaughter of farm animals and talking with colleagues from the veterinary department, I realized that there was simply no official slaughterhouse for rabbits within a radius of 120 km, but organizing it would not be so easy. I had to run.
It is simply unrealistic for an amateur without money to organize such a facility from scratch - it is very expensive, but renting an existing slaughterhouse is quite possible.
The only obstacle was that not all owners were ready to accept the increased attention of officials to their property. At that time, active motivation of the population began to engage in alternative livestock farming, since pig farming was in decline after the plague epidemic, and keeping pigs at home was prohibited. And each object of alternative livestock farming immediately attracted attention.
How I started purchasing rabbits from the public
I had my last litter on my farm in May and haven’t started any rabbits yet to avoid last year’s problems. I decided that I needed to first conduct a full market research on purchased animals.
And it's summer again
The situation was the same as last summer. The population has a lot of rabbits; they can be bought cheaply, but sales are very poor.
Even with documents for meat in hand, finding a buyer in the summer turned out to be very difficult. Krasnodar shops and the resort coast were taken with pleasure, but with delivery and at a minimal price.
By and large, it was completely unprofitable for me, but I had to establish sales and didn’t want to lose a client. Considering that the rabbit cost me 20 rubles more (rent and veterinary certificate), I was losing the competition.
Requirements
- We buy rabbits by live weight - there is no need to slaughter rabbits. Our veterinarian must examine the rabbits and make sure that they are healthy and that the meat is not dangerous to health. We are strict
. - Rabbits weigh from 2.8 kilograms live weight. A little less is possible, no big deal.
- Breed, gender and age do not matter. Rabbits are needed for meat, not for breeding.
- Rabbits should not be pregnant. Not only is it unethical to slaughter pregnant rabbits, but pregnancy also gives them extra weight, which we end up paying for.
- Rabbits must be healthy . No ulcers, wet noses, lichens, etc. The rabbits are examined by a veterinarian.
- Minor physical injuries that do not affect the quality of the meat (for example, half an ear missing or a broken leg) do not matter.
Our farm complies with all veterinary standards and regulations. Each batch of rabbits is checked by veterinarians within 3-7 days.
Don’t even think about deceiving us and assuring us that the rabbits are healthy!
Firstly, our rabbit farm has existed for 12 years - we know how to determine whether a rabbit is healthy. Secondly, traces of treatment and vaccination (marks) remain on the body for up to six months - we can recognize them. Thirdly, even if you trick us, you won’t fool the veterinarians for sure.
We draw a conclusion
- Your own farm needs a slaughterhouse. Slaughter provides stability in partnerships. Any store needs documents for meat and will not change the supplier without serious reasons. Also, only stores stick to meat raised on private farms and mini-farms, because they look people in the eye when they sell it.
- Seasonality in rabbit breeding is very harmful to the business. Since the meat is a delicacy, it is quite expensive and not for everyone. In the summer and with a lack of funds, the buyer is more likely to buy broiler, pork, beef than rabbit, so large volumes will always be at risk.
Rabbit with rabbits.
So there are two options
- The Department of Agriculture has developed several proposals to support rabbit farms. At the moment, there are subsidies on a competitive basis for decent amounts, up to 20 million rubles. If you have land, money and a great desire, you can build a large farm with a slaughterhouse and go on the “high road”. The sales issue will most likely be resolved, and supply contracts will provide at least some guarantees during a seasonal decline in demand. I can’t say anything about the risks, since I haven’t been involved in rabbit breeding at this level, I think most likely there will be. Don't forget that these are animals, and there are always risks.
- Continuing to raise rabbits at home and supply a chain of stores is a small family business. In summer - less, in winter - more.
Don't judge strictly, but I chose the second path. If you feel you can handle it, move on. Wherever you go, there is already someone, at any level. They will always advise and help.
Sale
Friends, having learned about our farm, asked to try pure rabbit meat. And then they started buying. So we decided to sell the surplus, because long-eared pets reproduce quickly, and space in the freezer is limited.
In our region they sell rabbit meat for 330-400 rubles per kg. We raised the price tag for our meat to 500 rubles per kg, since we don’t even use compound feed to eliminate hormones in the diet. One rabbit costs about 1000 rubles.
By selling 10 carcasses a month, you can provide your family with significant additional income. 12 females and a couple of males are enough to support such production volumes.
It is possible to expand the business, but the question is implementation. The demand for rabbit meat is not particularly high, since the meat is expensive, although dietary.
Keeping pets vertically saves space on the property
Stores offer cheap chicken, loaded with antibiotics and hormones. It is soft and cooks quickly. And rabbit meat needs to be simmered. Therefore, consumer preference comes down to cheap meat in the store.
We found buyers among people interested in health and provided with the means to do so. They learn about us through word of mouth - from acquaintance to acquaintance, we did not give any advertisements.
We also sell rabbits. Month-old babies cost 100 rubles. a piece. An adult sexually mature individual is sold at a price of 1200-1500 rubles. More often, females are taken for brood, and males remain for fattening.
This year we decided to legalize relations with the tax authorities. I registered as self-employed and pay 6% of my income.
Some tips for beginners
- Try to initially raise rabbits indoors.
- The room should be divided into several parts. If an epidemic occurs, you will have a chance to save the livestock. Also, the female rabbit and her offspring are very sensitive to noise.
- Be sure to consider ventilation.
- Aim for a year-round temperature of 24 degrees. If animals are poorly fed, they grow poorly and do not hunt. Both extreme cold and heat are equally bad.
- Grow only broiler breeds; others are unprofitable.
- If possible, feed a pellet containing hay. The finer the food is ground, the less energy the body needs to digest it; if you simply pour it into the feeder, the rabbits will begin to inhale dust and cough, and may get sick. Also, the grass in the granule undergoes heat treatment, so it does not carry pathogenic microflora. And the farm is simply cleaner without hay.
- Cages are made of stainless steel only. Do not use wood, it rots and collapses. Only wooden houses, they can be easily replaced.
You can make money from rabbit farming if you take into account all the nuances. I hope my article will help someone avoid my mistakes.
Gaining valuable experience
Difficulties of rabbit breeding:
- illnesses
- inept animal keeping
- case
- non-feeding of offspring
- can eat each other
- injuries
All of them are overcome with experience and knowledge. Diseases usually occur in the off-season, when the weather is unstable, and in the summer, when the heat causes a lot of insects that are carriers of diseases.
Some rabbit breeders vaccinate their pets against the most common diseases. But they are not a guarantee of immunity, and rabbits can still die, so vaccination is not advisable.
Vitamins are desirable, but not required for good food.
Rabbits reproduce quickly and in large batches of 5-12 babies, so with a mortality rate of 30%, the loss is easily compensated by the number of newborns.
A good female, who has shown all her maternal qualities brilliantly, can stay for several seasons. From one female you can get no more than 3-4 offspring, then the number of babies decreases due to wear and tear on the body.
The breed of the animal also matters a lot:
- Flanders The weight of an adult is 8 kg, but the meat yield is only 50%. Of the minuses: it does not tolerate frost well, is prone to bloating, females mature only at 8 months.
- French Ram. At the age of 3 months the weight is 2 kg, by 6 months - 5 kg. Meat yield 62%. These cute animals have unusually long ears, so they can step on them and cling to protruding objects. They need special spacious cages.
- Californian. Cute face and very good quality. The weight of adult rabbits is 4-5 kg. 60% meat yield. The breed has one of the best indicators of specific feed consumption per kg of weight gain. The downside is that it is difficult to find purebred individuals. But buying at exhibitions is a bit expensive.
- Rex. They have valuable plush fur up to 2 cm. By 4 months they gain weight up to 3 kg. They do not tolerate heat well. The offspring are very weak, since the breed was obtained from intraspecific crossing.
Rabbit breed "Grey Giant"
There are many breeds, and rabbit breeders do their own breeding. We chose the local breed “Grey Giant”. They were bred in the USSR based on Flandres.
These rabbits have low quality fur, but are easy to care for. Since within the region all the rabbits are related to each other in one way or another, the weight has decreased. By the age of 6 months, our adult specimens show a clean meat yield of 2 kg - carcass.
This suits us quite well. We started breeding rabbits for pure meat, without the impurities of hormones and antibiotics. For a family of 4 people, 40 kg of rabbit meat per year is enough.
This is about 20 carcasses. Two females can produce this amount, giving birth twice a year, as recommended.
The farm will not produce meat right away, but the rabbits produce manure with enviable regularity. And this is something that needs to be taken care of right away.
Rabbit manure is second in quality after horse manure, so it can be sold at the agricultural market for 100 rubles per bag. Rabbit cages need to be cleaned at least once a week, and in the summer every other day or every day.
