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greenspun.com : LUSENET : Raising meat rabbits for profit : One Thread

well,, we can start with where everyone is located,,Im in Mich,, have 5 rabbits,, was going to be a big money maker for me,, until I couldnt get the does to take,,, so,, right now,,IM trying to get them bred for Easter coming up,,I never have enough bunnies that time of year. Anyone else from Mich, with rabbits?

-- Stan (sopal@net-port.com), January 18, 2002

Answers

I am in PA. I have 40 breeding does. 10 bucks, 45 weanlings[they are going for snake food at 2.00 lb, dont feel guilty] I want to encourage everyone here to share the secrets to making money. PETA PEOPLE ARNT ALLOWED. This is going to be a forum to help breeders make money on the rabits that you raise... period. not how cute thet were when they were born. Lets all fgure out hou to be sucessful at this

-- tracy (murfette@stargate.net), January 18, 2002.

Hi; I am from Fla. We currently have 4 NZW does and 1 NZW buck. 2 litters with 2 more due in a couple of weeks. Rabbit page Ourfarm page

-- Ourfarm (ourfarm@noaddr.com), January 18, 2002.

Well, I am from New Mexico, and we have two NZ bucks, and two Californian does. One doe had a litter two weeks after we got her, and killed all 8 of them, I guess too cold and a new place. We are anxiously awaiting two new litters now. We have never raised rabbits before, and are learning as we go.

-- Gina NM (inhock@pvtnetworks.net), January 18, 2002.

Hi, I'm in northwest Florida. Have four breeding does and one buck,getting ready to breed all of them for easter bunnies.One mini lop and the rest NZ. The buck is a mixed breed, but he throws great baby bunnies. I can sell all my weaned bunnies in town for $4.00 each to a guy that takes them to Miami, but during easter I get $10.00 each for them at the farmers market. I find the manure is as valuable as the rabbits as it feeds my redworms at no extra cost,and free potting soil for my greenhouse when the worms are done with it. Daryll

-- Daryll in NW FLA (twincrk@hotmail.com), January 18, 2002.

I live in eastern Washington state... the dry, desert side, not the lush, wet, green side of the state. We get cold winters and very hot summers.

I'm currently the President of the Professional Rabbit Meat Association (PRMA). I've been raising meat rabbits for over 20 years and maintained 700 producing does for the past ten years. However, I'm now basically retired due to personal health problems, but still have a few NZW's and a breeding pair of Californians for our own personal use.

Tracy, I really wish you lots of luck with this list. At one time, I also maintained a public list for the same purpose, but became so totally overwhelmed with all the questions and requests that I had to turn it into an "announcement, only" list. Obviously, there are more "newbies" needing information than there are experienced growers capable of answering all questions. This is why the PRMA was formed in order to draw the true "professional" rabbit meat people together for providing information. It's so totally impossible for any one person to know "everything." And, like you, I also went round and round with that other listserve about the very same thing awhile back, but to no avail. They are strictly backyard "hobby" breeders and have no desire to make profits... and they prefer to keep it that way. I merely lurk on that listserve to watch for others like yourself whom I may be able to help. Unfortunately, I am also extremely busy, but I will make a point of popping in here on a daily basis when I can.

Pat Lamar

-- Pat Lamar (fuzyfarm@3-cities.com), January 18, 2002.



Hi all I am in North Alabama.Been raising rabbits for a hobby for about 2 years. We started with a NZ doe and a lop eared buck and have had all colors and even some fuzzy bunnies from those two. Someone said there was some Angora in their ancestry.Haven't tried to sell any yet.So far we have ate or gave away all that we have raised.We have 4 bucks and 4 does. I am going to try to sell some at easter.I am breeding one doe each week so I can have different ages to choose from.Glad to see the new forum on rabbits,I will be a regular visitor.

-- BamaJohn (jjjn@bellsouth.net), January 18, 2002.

Glad to see this new forum too. One of the things we wanted to get into went we bought our place a year ago. Things moving much slower than we had hoped. Even though the buildings were sound, still so much to clean up and get ready. Don't know if we will be able to get serious with it this year or not...but will be lurking daily :).

-- Lacey (cddllt@webtv.net), January 19, 2002.

Oh yeah....we are in south central MO :)

-- Lacey (cddllt@webtv.net), January 19, 2002.

I am located in Central North Carolina. I have 6 bucks, 7 breeding does and 45 kits !! I will be a regular to this forum!

-- Brenda in NC (CherokeeMaiden2@aol.com), January 19, 2002.

Hey there! Glad to see a good rabbit forum. I have Californians. I intend to keep 4 does and two unrelated bucks, and one as a pet as he throws kits with malocclusions. I could use him purely for meat kits as he is really large, but I think it would test my organizational skills and I don't want to have some kid buy a bunny and then have tooth problems.

I am mostly keeping the rabbits for their manure, and for dog food as I am a vegetarian myself. let me stress that I am not a member of PETA, but I do believe we should always do things as humanely as possible.

I'm in central Texas.

-- Doreen (animalwaitress@yahoo.com), January 19, 2002.



We are located on the eastern plains of Colorado-currently have three bucks and two does-looking for more NZ or Californian does. Had rabbits eons ago--too many to remember all the details, but I'm enjoying getting back into it. Raising them for meat for ourselves, and maybe a few to sell. Thanks for starting this up! Jan in CO

-- Jan in Co (Janice12@aol.com), January 19, 2002.

This site has just started at the right time for me. I am Alison and I live in England with my husband, parents and three children. This week we are off to visit two rabbit units, and a processing plant, as we are at the begining of our rabbit venture. I found this site from the cs forum.

Alison

-- Alison Homa (alisonhoma@hotmail.com), January 19, 2002.


Hi all, I am from NW Texas. I have 2 NZW does, 10 palomino does,3 silver marten does, and 3 dutch does. am planning on expanding someday to become full-time rabbits probably with the NZW. Right now my most profitable is the dutch rabbits we are selling to pet store. have just started with the NZW. Have been haveing hard time with my pals as they all seem to be bad mothers, they don't seem to raise their kits when it is cold weather, are in the summer when its hot they are hard to get bred. The silver martens are my sons, he likes to show, it keeps him out or trouble and interested in rabbits, and he has learned alot from them. I have been around rabbits most all my life, on and off, just can't seem to stay away from them, they are fun!

-- Ricky Jenkins (rjsjrj@yaho.com), January 19, 2002.

Hi I am Denise, I am the Sec.Tres of the PRMA Professional Meat Rabbit Association. I am also a near neighbor of Pat Lamar (see above) We both live in Eastern Washington. I raise rabbits to show and eat. I try very hard to make my rabbits pay for themselves, eventually would like to be more commercial but need a different location for that to happen! Like Pat, I am quite busy but will try to stop in and answer questions when I can. Denise

-- Denise K. (Rabbitmom2@webbworks.com), January 20, 2002.

I live in Indiana and am trying to get a meat Biz off the ground.Right now i have 10 Does but im looking for a barn ware i can have more.Started selling to pet stores thought about selling to butcher shops but the snake people pay the most and they need them every other week.Lookforward in meeting you all Rod Surber

-- Rod Surber (rjaysrabbitry@aol.com), January 28, 2002.


For Rod Surber... sorry to say, but in order to "sell to butcher shops," the rabbits STILL need to be processed in an appropriately licensed facility (i.e., processing plant). If the butcher shop does the butchering, they can NOT be used for resale purposes. One of my best clients was a butcher shop which purchased processed rabbits from me. Or... did you simply use the wrong terminology and really meant "sell to a processor?"

-- Pat Lamar (fuzyfarm@3-cities.com), January 28, 2002.

Hi, my name is Taylor, and I am from Ohio. I am looking for a rabbit raising farm in Ohio. If you can help me, and find a place where they raise rabbits, I will be very happy! So, please e-mail me if you find a place I can buy my new baby rabbit.

-- Taylor Ann Horras (snowbunny181@hotmail.com), March 03, 2002.

I am in NY State and am looking into raising rabbits for food and hopefully to find a market for money .

-- Patty {NY State} (fodfarms@hotmail.com), March 03, 2002.

Hi, My name is Liz Jones aka Buffy. I live in Dallas, Tx. I'm Just starting out. I have my cages and I'm buying a shed next week. :)

-- buffy in dallas (buffyannjones@hotmail.com), April 18, 2002.

what a great forum! thanks all for the info and especially tracey(?) not sure about the name, for letting the peta people know there is no need to be here. i think most of the rabbits that are raised are raised in great conditions and probably eat better than we do lol. my husband and i are about to start our own ventures with rabbits. we have a small shed to keep them in (used to be a milk house so it is nicely insulated) and we plan on having 30 cages for the rabbits.these will be meat rabbits NZ. we have a market for them already but would like more than one market for them. we have a friend that has a meat processing plant and they want all rabbits we can produce.we live in nothern illinois.we plan on starting out with 20 does and 2 bucks (more or less anyway). i have been looking all over the internet trying to find forums like this and havent had much luck because most forum are for the not meat market people. this was very frustrating because i dont want to offend people but i would like to get as much info before we begin as i can. thanks for this forum and i will be here as often as i can and let you know how things are going and maybe help with info too. thanks

chris

-- chris (dizzymom142536@aol.com), November 06, 2002.


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