Other animals, like pigs and chickens, can live without supplemental feed, if the have the right genetics, you are willing to accept what is likely to be lower production/slower growth and have the animals in an area of abundant other food sources. And as experience is the best teacher, Im here to share with you how to bake better bread at home. This makes my husband sound sortof like a jerk, which he totally not, we do this to each other in the garden all the time, because really we dont know anything about anything. Another thing to keep in mind with rabbits is that after about 5 pounds live weight, feed conversion rates go from pretty good to terrible. Not so much. Stay away from wet greens, wet grass, head lettuce. These foods can cause diarrhea (as can too much lettuce or fresh greens). How Many Meat Rabbits For A Family Of Four? Thecheapestmeatanimaltoraiseisthebroilerat$0.97perpound. Notify me via e-mail if anyone answers my comment. Free food. One rabbit is enough for a pot roast. I feed my rabbits commercial feed and whatever else I can find. Raising Rabbits for Meat - Cost, Legalities & How to Start Farming We wanted to know what our rabbits were actually eating, and we wanted to grow as much of it as possible. Free fertilizer. They believe that animals raised for meat should be free-range, natural production, and humane. It's easy to find people showing you how they raise their rabbits, but tough to get the numbers, especially feed costs! This is AWESOME. If you decide to get feed from the feed mill you will save money. Can you save money on meat with rabbits? | Homesteading Forum If you want to feed lots of fresh greens, it might be a good idea to select and breed your own line that is resistant to diarrhea problems, or purchase breeding stock from someone who feeds a lot of greens. For example: it costs us $6.60 per 100 pounds to make a broiler feed that would cost $16.30 to purchase at the feed mill and $30.00 to purchase at the farm store. I found if we move them often enough, they are less likely to escape. Rabbit poop is not acidic and can be directly added to your garden. 52 weeks x 1.25 pounds of feed at $0.163/pound=$10.60. Rabbits are usually butchered between 8 and 12 weeks, but some people butcher at 14 or 16 weeks for larger carcasses. The cheapest meat animal to raise is the broiler at $0.97 per pound. High in nitrogen. I am not sure where to put the cost for the breeding stock, since price varies substantially by breed and location. About Me. According to RabbitBreeders.us, a single commercial doe can produce offspring to yield 300 # of meat per year! I just hopped into the meat rabbit realm with both feet! , Rabbit manure does not need to be composted. Heres a table put together of results we have had with various types of feeding programs. But we have lots of rabbits for our family because we use them as meat instead of eating chicken (personal preference) and use them for our dogs all meat diet. We are a family of four and between our pigs. Avoid feeding anything with mold on it. If you are looking at one of the more unusual breeds, you may easily see feeder pig prices that are higher still. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Im only a few weeks away from having my third baby since starting this blog (way back when I didnt have any fine lines surrounding my eyes). Use a blunt object such as a spatula handle to carefully part the fur covering the young. LayingHenswill vary in cost depending upon if you raise the pullets (young hen) yourself or buy it. Do this every two or three days to ensure no young have died. Consider adjusting the time of year that you start your meat animal project, even pushing back the start date by a few months can make a huge difference. Pressure canning can be another way to preserve your meat. If you purchase your feed at the farm store it will cost $15.50/ 50 pound bag so 21 pounds x $0.31/ pound feed=$6.51 in feed per duckling. And yes! Weve never had weaning enteritis, and over the last two years, as weve kept selecting and breeding rabbits who thrive on our diet, our kit growth rates have steadily improved. I guess the fatality rate is like 80ish percent and dead in only a couple days. #1 Okay first, I am not trying to starve my rabbits, just want to cut back on costs so I can feed a raw mainly rabbit diet to my dogs Right now I am feeding TSC 5# rabbit pellets,$14 a bag plus grass hay, (I pull it off of my round bales for the horses costs me $20 for 1200 # bale).. Rabbits are calm, quiet, and easy to care for. For instance, baby chicks need a reliable heat lamp, but it could be from another animal you raised or you could borrow it. We got into raising rabbits for meat mostly because . Doing this will allow the does milk to dry up gradually, naturally. I fill up their little waters that you can get for $3.85 only twice a month. Thanks! Usually, that means I have plenty to sell or give away, but in a bad year, Ill still have enough to feed my family. Where are the pictures of the babies? This didnt make sense to us, for several reasons. Have raised rabbits for over 17 years, and am an avid gardener and can tell you, rabbit manure is one of a very few that can be put straight from the rabbit to the plant. How Much Are Rabbits And Cost To Raise Them If feeding wild fodder or high-quality hay, feed costs can be lowered dramatically. I put rabbit poo and guinea pig poo right on my yard, garden, shrubs and they thrive. Heres a tip on breeding meat rabbits: Always take the doe to the bucks hutch, otherwise she can become very territorial and protective of her own cage. Or do you have to forage and keep them in their cage to eat? Your kids can start their own rabbit business all on their own and actually make money. Commercial breeds are expected to gain weight quickly, have a high meat-to-bone ratio, and be efficient with feed. If you feed your rabbits whole food, you can let them choose between different types of food and balance their own diets, up to a certain point. Required fields are marked *. This is probably more information than you wanted to know on a rabbit's diet and poo. Unlike other livestock, you don't need land. What a great article. If you have never eaten tame rabbit, I suggest you try it. The cost to butcher is $100 plus $0.30/pound packaging costs. I DID have a bunch of rabbit poop. Some breeders wean at 4 weeks to allow them 5 breedings a year to maximize meat production. Naturally Feeding The Meat Rabbits - Shaye Elliott We saw some warnings about pelleted feeds on some of the online forums, where small farmers shared their experiences. They seem to really enjoy the fresh food. I have fed them fresh grasses from the beginning along with alfalfa and pellets. There are definitely different opinions and ways of raising meat rabbits, as well as reasons why. So, let's get to it. Now, on to cost. Members; FAQ; Dark Mode Menu Log in Register Home. You do need to be aware that it can be really easy to overfeed pellets and end up with obese rabbits. D'artagnan. I had HUGE strawberries and a really crowded bed that DID NOT CARE that it was crowded. Watch closely, sometimes the breeding is over within seconds after you have closed the hutch door. Obviously, their produce scraps will change with the season. $3.00 chick price + $1.85 in feed= $4.85. Older bucks are prone to becoming temporarily sterile. No thanks. Feeding commercially prepared feed is easy because it contains all the nutrition that rabbits need, but its costly. Journey to Sustainability Creating a sustainable income, home and life About About Steve Disclosure Income Home Life Contact Resources How to Raise Meat Rabbits for Free May 11, 2013by Steve Ive also considered rabbit tractors but then what about the worm issue? You will be feeding your pig up to 250 pounds live weight. When I can I give my pigs food scraps like vegetable peelings or edible weeds, like pigweed (which is an amaranth) to eat, rather than buying hay to go with their normal feed ration. [optin-monster-shortcode id=wqmf7nrjr7tt6hrmageb]. Slumped shoulders and sad face but I scrapped as much out as I could and put it into the compost. I am figuring youll want your steer to be just a summer project so he needs to be 750-800 pounds to start giving you 200 days for him to put on 2 pounds of weight per day. The total cost is $295.41 which is $1.69/poundofmeat. No other livestock can have a feed conversion of 2:1 outside of a factory farm setting. We (my husband and I) are life long animal lovers and full time livestock farmers in Ohio. Plus the butchering cost which is $9.50 each. Four pounds of meat will generally net one pound of jerky. Any other meats we purchase are supplementary. We have feed available in town (10 minutes away) but routinely drive 45 minutes for feed since there is a huge price difference. I'm barely even a novice. The total costs for your beef are $1223.20. Look around and see where people who are raising animals that are not show animals are buying their feed. Off The Grid News is an independent, weekly email newsletter and website that is crammed full of practical information on living and surviving off the grid. With their help, we learned to feed our own rabbits with locally available ingredients. The Easy Low-Cost Rabbit Feed You Can Grow At Home What was the advice of expert rabbit farmers? In addition to the plants listed above, we feed weeds including grass, redroot pigweed (Amaranthus retroflexus), prickly lettuce (Lactuca serriola), chickweed (Stellaria media) and plantain (Plantago spp), and garden extras including parsley, borage, kale, chard and the tops of turnips, carrots, radishes and parsnips. I'll talk you through each breed's reputation for taste, size, and growth time, as well as ease of handling. You should know that feeding rabbits can be as expensive as you want to make it. The result should be approximately 35 growers per doe, times two would equal 70 dressed fryers for the freezer. Jump to Latest Follow 1 - 13 of 13 Posts . Not mixed with soil or anything. The kits will be weaned onto a small amount of pellets and lots of natural feed. I raise various types of livestock in . Heres how to bake better bread at home. Wed love to hear from you if you have any questions! When I do feel pellets, I feel Timothy Hay pellets! I've read about some growers who say that young kits can't handle all the natural feed that it will upset their gut. If you can get your steer for a better price and have plenty of grass to feed them, then grass feed beef becomes the cheapest meat to raise using the current prices. we never had any problems with diarrhea while switching the rabbits over to this new diet. Lets say you begin with two does and one buck, then expand your stock as needed. The Best Ways To Feed Rabbits (Besides Pellets)! Rabbit meat is very low in cholesterol and high in protein. Cost to Raise Rabbits for Meat (2022 complete guide) B. Levine http://www.dogislandfarm.com/2013/03/what-fodder.html. Each rabbit gets a large handful. I see very little difference in the performance of feeding high-end pellets and a budget option. The doe normally pulls fur from her underside to expose her nipples and to cover her young. A beginner's guide to raising rabbits, including a rabbit barn, pens, feeders and waterers, breeding stock, care and feeding, breeding, butchering, and meat sales. Copyright 2023 The Elliot Homestead | Privacy Policy, http://www.dogislandfarm.com/2013/03/what-fodder.html, http://thenewdaybringshope.blogspot.com/2014/05/rabbits-weeds-and-kits.html, http://www.amazon.com/Beyond-Pellet-Urban-Rabbit-Project-ebook/dp/B00FZF1FCW, How to Butcher a Rabbit (and which breed we raise! According to Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners, rabbit pellets should have 18% fiber, 14% protein, no more than 3% fat, and between .5 and .8% of calcium. The spring sales have the 4-H kids and their parents buying fair pigs, the fall sales do not. ). If you have to prod hard to find the backbone, the rabbit is fat. Second when I was looking up rabbit tractors like I made I was warned about that virus going around now mainly in the west USA but its RHDV2 its in wild rabbits body fluids like poop and what not. The holes allow air to circulate around the young. Apple seeds contain arsenic naturally and should not be fed to rabbits although if you take out the seeds you are good they love apples. Here is the catch to this whole article, feed costs and animal costs will vary by location and time of year. For those using rabbit tractors or colony methods.dont you have problems with predators, snakes??? The ideal wire to use would be inch mesh, 19 gauge, galvanized hardware cloth. I know what you're secretly hoping for is for me to share the pictures of us when we harvest our first litter (which is eight weeks+ away). Your blog really encouraged me that it can be done, though. By 6 weeks, rabbits are pretty much completely done nursing. How Much Does It Cost To Raise Rabbits For Meat? Nursing mothers also get small amounts of black-oil sunflower seeds. Weaning begins naturally around 4 weeks and by 5 weeks old, bunnies are eating mostly rabbit food. That's $1.84-$2.70 a pound of meat for a rabbit reaching 5 pounds live weight at 12 weeks. Maybe you are starting with poultry? A smaller steer will work fine and cost about the same per pound he will just take longer to finish since he started out weighing less. Pellets contain foodstuffs that have been ground mixed, cooked and then left to sit at the mill or the feed store for an unknown period of time. Yes! My chicken do better with my scraps and weeds from the gardenthings that go in a bucketexcept Apple cores and bell peppers, so I am building a rabbit tractor. These are feeder pigs running through the livestock auction, not special breeds or private sales, just piglets in spring. Stay tuned for the first newsletter in the morning, straight to your inbox. If you dont keep an eye on your feed costs you can spend more than you had planned. Currently, were buying feed as well as feeding grasses and whole oats to stretch things. The cost of the duckling is $5.50 each. Every rabbit will choose the natural feed over the pellets. Seeing you do this makes me also want to! The feeder steer is the animal with the most potential wiggle room in the price when it comes to purchasing an animal to raise for meat. We also feed a wide variety of green plants; the weeds listed above provide different vitamins and minerals. Happier, healthier rabbits. $4.20 divided by 2.5 pounds =$1.68/poundofmeat. Meat rabbits are an excellent animal to teach you about a life of animal husbandry. You should not feed them cabbage, broccoli, or brussels sprouts. Just be aware that some non feed purchases will need to be made if you dont have something suitable already. Save yourself years of bad loaves. Because rabbit diarrhea? The feeder steer is going to cost you $1.00-1.20/pound to purchase. The two big focuses remain the same, no matter who raises them: Doing the best you can for your rabbits and your family. Rabbitsduring hot weatherwill sometimes lay in their water bowls. Click here to subscribe to my email list. , supplementing all of them w/ freshly chopped herbs/weeds, garden offal, along w/ giving them some pellet/oat mix 2x/day so as not to shock their systems. This is more workable for folks living close to produce growers, even farmers market growers have non sellable veg! Basic DIY Hutch. I will also be foraging for leaves, twigs, and weeds for the rabbits. will go over more of the considerations of raising meat ducks and will help you put together a budget. Nor did I compare the cost to the factory farmed, tasteless, brine solution soaked stuff you can easily buy in town. Im even considering switching their diet up more by growing fodder soon =), Ive been pasture raising my rabbits for quite a while now, and the worm issue is easily solved by putting a tiny bit of DE(Diatomaceous Earth) in their feed every day. These are the rabbits that are bred for meat production. Raspberry is good for does during late pregnancy and shortly after birth. Wounds can result, drawing flies that lay their eggs in them. $0.163/pound x 21 pounds =$3.42 per duckling feed costs. My partner is sceptical, but cash is king! I figured, we got them free, I have nothing else, lets do this and see what happens. We also made some rabbit runs (like a chicken tractor) out of cattle panels, chicken wire and 24s. Dont gather moldy plants or store cut green plants in a way that lets them get moldy. My article Reading A Cattle Market Report will help you determine the current prices in your area. A rabbit is most efficient with its feed the day its born. Read Is Raising Your Own Pigs For Meat Worth It? We actually pull weeds/grass every day, twice a day and take it to the rabbits. From the price comparisons I have made buying from the feed mill is a little bit over half price of the 50 pound bags for twice as much feed! Most Efficient Animal to Raise for Meat | Northern Homesteading I mean, grass clippings and weeds wont go to waste, they get composted, but why not let the rabbits do the work for me. Empty and rinse out any water bowl that becomes contaminated with feces or urine. When the broiler chicks were small this went okay, but when the chicks got big we were mixing up feed all the time and the batch was only 50 birds! The first thing to consider when raising meat rabbits how many rabbits your family can eat in a years time. National Research Council 1194 about Nutrient Requirement of Rabbits, Raising Rabbits for Fur: Best Fiber Breeds, Housing, Feeding, Breeding, and Grooming, 10 Common Rabbit Diseases, Illnesses, & Ailments (and How to Treat Them), 31 Delicious and Easy Rabbit Recipes You Need to Try, How to Butcher a Rabbit Humanely in 6 Quick and Easy Steps, 4 Tips to Help Your Meat Rabbits Gain Weight Faster and Healthily, Raising Rabbits for Profit: 7 Ways to Make Extra Money with Rabbits, Rabbit Care Guide: 10 Tips to Care for Your Backyard Meat Rabbits, 50 Free DIY Rabbit Hutch Plans & Ideas to Get You Started Keeping Rabbits, A Complete Guide to Breeding Rabbits for Beginners, Tanning Rabbit Hides: Easy Guide to Skin a Rabbit and Tan the Hide, 3 Ways to Tell Tomatoes are Ripe If Youre Red-Green Color-blind. When purchasing animals to raise for meat for your family always buy a high quality healthy animal from a reliable source. When the little ones start hopping out of the nest, the box can be turned over onto its side for easier access. Though 100% pellet-fed kits will grow faster to harvest weight, we will be able to save money by naturally feeding them with the added bonus of having grass-fed rabbits for practically free. , Shared your blog and url on my newest post http://thenewdaybringshope.blogspot.com/2014/05/rabbits-weeds-and-kits.html. Said scraps (which are fairly few) also go into weed and grass bucket. ), link to 6 Reasons Why People (Just Like You!) . Thank you for this information! (Will your flock make money?). Many people raise rabbits for under $0.50 a pound. The more expensive feed will cost $20.80 each hen for the first year laying making the cost per dozen $0.83. I dont worry about dangerous pants, they avoid them just like my chickens do. Green and shelling beans are the most reliable crop we grow. If you have good pasture, grazing animals become much cheaper. Feed Rabbits for Cheap Archives - That Homestead I do the same with the garden. The steer will dress out at 744 pounds (62% of live weight). Then, they get the same amount of hay (sometimes they nibble on this, sometimes they eat all of it, and sometimes they just use it as bedding). Since one buck can service up to 10 does, more animals become more efficient with feed. If you should choose to bone-out your butchered rabbits, expect between 1 to 1-1/2 pounds of meat from a 4 to 4-1/2 pound rabbit. Cheapest way to feed meat rabbits Archives - Profitable Livestock Farming Tag: Cheapest way to feed meat rabbits. Then we found the forums at RabbitTalk.com The founder of that forum had taken time to work out a natural diet for her meat rabbits, and many other forum participants had devised different natural diets that suited their areas and home conditions. Rabbits are the simplest animals we've raised for meat. This bird costs you $0.97/poundofmeat. Those birds taste great-tons of flavor! If fed pellets, I wont ever let a rabbit go over 12 weeks. Let me start out this post with a disclaimer: I don't know anything about anything. In this world we share, it can be satisfying knowing the food we have raised is all natural, and not full of chemicals and growth hormones. Most commercial rabbitries butcher at 8 or 10 weeks. Originally publishedinCountryside November/December 2002 and regularly vetted for accuracy. Dressed and processed rabbit meat currently goes for $6 to $7 per pound. Shop today! featured feeding rabbits meat rabbits rabbits. they will absolutely devour kudzu leaves. It is completely doable to butcher your ducks at home it just takes time because of all of the feathers, but it can be done. 12 pounds of feed x $0.35/pound=$4.20 in feed per rabbit. Ive got you covered. My wife and I go to a lot of garage and yard sales. If you butcher at home and buy your feed at the mill your costs will be $8.92/duckling. Here are some great alternatives to rabbit pellets. If you decide to purchase the ready to lay pullet she will cost between $12-20 each. Alfalfa is one of the major ingredients in rabbit pellets, and most commercially produced alfalfa in the U.S. is genetically modified. Rabbits confined in cages tend to become listless and bored and they will chew on anything available, especially wood or plastic. Here are the basics. Leftover breakfast cereal (whole grains, not sugared), dry bread, toast, or stale crackers can also be tasty treats for your bunnies. Every spring our neighboring community has a clean-up when residents can put their unwanted items on the curbsides to be hauled away. By Marissa Ames Ive raised meat rabbits for five years as an adult, to feed my family, and helped my parents raise them for a decade of my youth. What to Feed Meat Rabbits - Countryside D'artagnan is a well-known name in the game meat market with its meat delivery business opening in 1985. Does can breed and birth 3 to 4 times a year. A more practical option for some people is a high-quality pelleted feed. Your email address will not be published. Additionally,eggscanberaisedfor $0.33perpound. Our buck and one of our does thrived on the new diet. Except for the holland op, they are all commercial breed rabbits. This latest video shows howto butcher a rabbit. Wondering what to feed rabbits? It is true; a lot of big companies like Google will have a dog in their office because they have found that office dogs reduce work-related stress. Those I could kill for food. For the time being, I'm also continuing to give them about a quarter cup (or slightly less) of pellets, about every other day. They dont need much water because they get most of it from the grass. Grassfeedbeefissecondat$1.64perpound. (Remember to figure up these costs for your specific area. Fresh greens are generally safe to feed in quantity. Try searching terms like pigs, food storage, potatoes, or raised beds. And I love to see them nibbling on the roots and stems and leaves it's so natural! They select what they want and need, no guessing on my part. Is Raising Ducks For Meat Worth It? Rabbits love dandelions. First of all, youre hilarious and based on the personality that comes across through your writing, I think we would get along in real life. Apple cores with the seeds in are not good especially often. Here are some foods you should consider when raising meat rabbits (all acceptable for them to eat): Lettuce leaves (not too many until they are used to them), potato peelings, beets, rutabagas, parsnips, sweet potatoes, carrots, and turnips. We just started with rabbits about 30 days ago. I can walk into Tractor Supply and buy 50lb of shelled corn for $10 or I can throw my tank in the back of the truck and go buy 500lb at bushel price which comes out to about $7.30 for 50lb. Fresher feed is has more the nutrients because as soon as the feed grain is ground it starts to lose vitamins and the fats begin to go rancid. Can/do you ever take them out and let them munch around in a clover patch? A week is the minimum. I have built cages from pallets and used, rusty chicken wire for no cost. The total feed cost to raise each pig is $170.00 if you buy your feed in the 50 pound bags at the farm store. Would I have to switch the rabbits back to pellets for the winter? Vitamins and minerals can be offered in two ways. Great post, thanks for sharing! Done right, it can be cheap and effective. This keeps the rabbits off of the ground to deter predators or at least make it more difficult for them to get to the rabbits. Hay is a less efficient feed due to low nutrients and high waste. Just be sure your rabbits are contained and protected from the elements. 4 Must Have Items For Raising Feeder Pigs goes over your basic equipment needs. Raising your own meat is normally a cost savings over buying meat raised in the same way from someone else. $6.51 feed+ $5.50 duckling+ $9.50 butchering= $21.51 total=$5.38/pound, If you can get feed mill duck feed (we use broiler feed) it is $0.163/pound. I know that storeys guide for raising rabbits recommended some sort of ratio for making your own feed. It was amazing how well they grew. Agreeing with Mary, hay is a must in the rabbitry. I am in a desperate search for grassfed Rabbit to cook and eat. I've been trying to collect a variety of natural feeds from varying sources so that they get a large array of nutrition, however, until I'm sure they're having all requirements met through the natural feed, I like to keep them on a bit of the pellets to ensure they're getting all the trace minerals and such they need to thrive. If you give the doe a month to recover, she can get 3 breedings a year. It is actually great for rabbits to have hard things to chew. Consider reading my article Easiest Chicken To Raise For Meat for more information on broilers.
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