3rd November, 2019
By Isa Isawade
Rabbits can be reared for any of the following reasons- to be domesticated as pets; to be reared for consumption of the meat at home or to be farmed for income.
Any of the above three reasons is very beneficial, especially, the second and the third purposes because rabbit meat is reputed to be one of the most nutritious and healthy meat for man’s consumption. It is considered an excellent source of vitamins and minerals, and said to be high in vitamins B3, B12, phosphorus, potassium, selenium, and very rich in omega 3.
For this reason, therefore, its meat becomes highly demanded for among informed members of the public. Most rabbit farmers have also testified that meeting consumers’ demands is presently a challenge.
Rabbit farming is more convenient and profitable than farming in most of other animals, because to start off entails just little capital with a small space, and it is an animal that is very prolific.
Starting with just 2 does and 1 buck, within one year could give you 50 rabbits or more. If you start with 10 does and 5 bucks, within a year your stock would be 250 rabbits or more, by which time, you already have a steady income.
The biggest advantage of it all is that, almost all parts of the rabbit turn to money for an informed farmer. This means there are many departments or sources through which farmers can make money in rabbit industry.
Following are the many sources of income in rabbit farming.
1. Selling of live rabbits: Selling live rabbits to varieties of customers such as new rabbit farmers who are just establishing their farms (They are many out there because more and more people are going into the business on daily basis); old farmers who want to either beef up or augment their stock to meet customers’ demands or individual rabbit meat lovers, restaurants, hotels, and so on.
2. Barbecued rabbits: Selling of barbecued ones to various consumers in homes; offices; market places; restaurants; hotels; events; and so on is a way of making more money and gaining loyalty of consumers who would naturally prefer to save themselves the time and energy they would have to spend in preparing it by themselves.
3. Operating a slaughterhouse for income: One could decide to specialize on this aspect of the rabbit industry. That is, slaughtering and preparing rabbits for a fee for farmers and other customers as well. Some farmers may not have or be interested in slaughter facility. What such farmers need to do when they receive orders for prepared or barbecued rabbits is to move them to the third party slaughterhouse, pay the fee to get the stock prepared and deliver same to their customers.
4. Selling rabbit kittens: By specializing on selling fully weaned rabbit kittens to farmers or other people who may want to rear them as pets, you will have feeding cost reduced and profit maximized. You only have to feed the bucks and does which produce the kittens. It also affords you the opportunity of having more space available for the breeders.
Fully weaned rabbit kittens
5. Selling rabbit feeds and medications: This is another money-spinning department in rabbit industry. Outlets which trade in rabbit and other animal feeds and supplements make good money on daily basis. There are even individuals without shops who supply hay to farmers on regular basis. They relieve the farmers of the task of going into the bush to fetch grasses and get paid for it by the farmers.
6. Rabbit fur: It has also been discovered that rabbit pelts are used to make a number of items such as slippers, woolen garments, hats, and so on. It has been a big source of income to rabbit farmers or individuals who gather the fur in large quantity and sell to agents of manufacturers of the aforementioned items. Some breeds like the Angora and Rex rabbits are said to be mainly raised to get their high-quality fur.
7. Rabbit waste: Their feces, otherwise called rabbit manure, is also found to be very rich in nitrogen and phosphorus. It’s a highly recommended manure for crops planting. According to research, it’s one of the best manure because its application goes without any possibility of it burning the plants. It is being exported in large scale to countries which use it for plant farming.
In conclusion, whichever department you wish to focus on will guarantee steady income for you, and if you have got the time and energy to supply all the services by having all the departments under your portfolio, you have charted a path to wealth. But you must do your feasibility study and business plan well, and also undergo adequate training in rudiments of rabbit farming in order to avoid trial and error that could spell doom for the business. It’s also important to know that rearing rabbits on a large scale demands full time.