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[Bevanron <erthnsky AT bellsouth.net>]

Last night, we butchered 8 rabbits, and since I haven't done the math on
rabbits in a while, I spent some time this morning calculating costs.
There are plenty of ways I could have done better, but this is
representative of an 'average' growout period.

Rabbits born 4/10/06
Rabbits butchered 6/28/06
Age at butcher day 11 weeks
Average weight at butcher day 5 pounds (Three rabbits picked at random
and weighed in a 5 gallon bucket on a dairy scale to determine average
weight)

Feeding  regime
Left on mother for first 4 weeks
Supplemented with grass hay throughout life
Commercial 16% rabbit pellets (mostly alfalfa)
Once weaned at 4 weeks, rabbits moved to separate cages, 4 per cage.

Fed via large bin feeders, bins filled every third day at first, then
progressing to everyday as rabbits grow out, averaging a fill rate of
every other day, bins hold 2.5  pounds of pellets; therefore during the
7 weeks of pellet feeding, each cage gets 61 pounds of feed over the 49
day feeding period from weaning to butchering.  For 8 rabbits in two
cages, that’s approximately 132 pounds of feed total or 16.5 pounds per
rabbit.
One 50 lb. Bag of rabbit pellets is $8.75, or approximately $0.18 per
pound.  This equates to right at $3 per rabbit to feed them to butcher
weight, not including the feed given to the mother during the first 4
weeks of life.
That’s calculated as follows….
Mother with 8 kits in nestbox….feeders filled every third day…..grass
hay supplemented.  Ten fills per 30 days time equals 25 pounds of feed
to mother and 8 kits. Total feed cost $4.38 for the 9 rabbits or
approximately $0.50 per rabbit.  Grass hay comes from my own pasture.

Therefore, adding up feed costs….
First four weeks…$0.50
Second seven weeks  $3.00
Total $3.50 per rabbit to get them to 5 pounds butcher weight.

Butchering and processing information (Picked one rabbit at random of
the 8 butchered (eyes closed) for weights
Head, fur, and feet…15 oz  (remains buried in garden)
Guts and organs…..1lb 3 oz (saved to become dog food)
Final Freezer weight……2 lb 12 oz

For human consumption, that equates to $1.27 per pound for the rabbit meat
If I were to add in the liver, heart and other edible organs that were
placed in the dog food category, the price would be lower.

This analysis is just a quick assessment a down and dirty calculation on
meat costs.
There are about a million ways to lower the cost.  Most  I sometimes do
and should do more often. It all just depends on what’s growing and
what’s available. Off the top of my head..

I could feed more garden refuse and less commercial pellets
I could feed more grass hay and less commercial pellets
I could raise sunflowers every year and get faster growth rates (I did
not raise sunflowers this year)
I could do more selective breeding to keep and maintain ONLY those
rabbits that grow the largest kits. (Right now I am sentimental about
some of my does and don’t want to bop them just because they have slower
grow-out rates)
I could reduce the number of rabbits per cage to two, but I was too lazy
to set up additional cages off the automatic watering system.
I could leave the kits with the mother another 4-7 days longer


For $1.27/lb, getting a product that is homegrown without steroids or
antibiotics is a good deal, I think.  I generally boil my rabbits, save
the broth, and debone them.  I get three meals per rabbit or more,
depending on what I am making.
We eat rabbit about twice a week, at least, so I need approximately 100
meals of rabbit, or about 30 rabbits in the freezer to have a year's
supply for eating rabbit twice a week.
I had one left from last year, plus these 8, plus 8 more next week, and
then there will be another 12 a month from now.  Two does are rebred.

In previous years, I have sold frozen whole feeder rabbits for $1.75 per
pound at the age of 4 weeks when they weigh out at about 1.5-1.75 lbs
per rabbit.  On an average litter of 8 bunnies, that equates to $25 per
litter, enough to cover the feed costs which were $4.38/litter.
I have had bad luck in the past year or so with the rabbits and getting
them on a regular breeding schedule, and my feeder rabbit customers have
wiped out my supply, so this year, I told them that it would be really
late in the year if I had any at all to sell.  That is allowing me to
put meat in my own freezer, as well as grow up some replacement does.
I only had 3 does and a buck, and we took one of the does out of
commission last night.  Her replacement won't be breeding age until this
winter. But consider this....
With 3 does, each kindling 4 times a year...producing 8 kits each..(all
these are averages, btw...) Two doe's litters sell for snake food
bringing in $200/year.  One does litters, total of 32 rabbits, goes into
my freezer.
All things considered, The ACTUAL cost is far less than $1.27/lb.


I hope this analysis helps someone....

Bev



--
erthnsky AT bellsouth.net  BevanRon of EarthNSky Farm      NW Georgia USDA Zone 7
34.498N 85.076W