Best Rabbit Breeds For Meat

Choosing the best rabbit breeds as a farmer for meat production can some times be quite tricky, as this often has a lot to do with a number of important factors to put into consideration like the ratio of meat-to-bone, Weight & Size, growth rate and ability to reproduce.

Points to Note

1. Meat-To-Bone Ratio: when going into rabbitry for the purpose of meat production, the first thing to consider is the meat-to-bone of the breeds you intend to get for your farm. It is advisable to get breeds with less born but has more muscle.
2. Weight & Size: the rabbit size or weight is another key factor to consider when going into meat production, sought for large and medium breeds for this purpose if you wish to achieve better results at the end of the day.
3. Growth Rate: the next fact to consider is how fast the breed you wish to use grows. You will definitely need rabbit breeds that have proven over time to be fast growing. We will be sharing these breeds with you in this post.
4. Ability to Reproduce: this final point is self-explained, just like any other animal – reproduction is quite important for every farmer to maximize profit after putting in the work. As stated above the size of the breed has a lot to do with its ability to reproduce.

Best Rabbit Breeds For Meat

As state on items 1 to 4 above, al the points mentions are the core of all you need to know before getting your rabbits either at weaning stage or adult for the sole purpose of keeping rabbits for meat. Their are quite a number of breeds that meets this criteria but will will be discussing just 3 major giant rabbits that are easy to come by in the market.

• Chinchilla Breed: this specie of rabbit are known for their high meat production value, growth rate and the fact that they easy to manage compared to other breeds for a farmer who is just getting started in the business and has the most tender and flavored taste. Though this breed of rabbit has about three different type: American Chinchilla, Giant Chinchilla and Standard Chinchilla. American Chinchilla has the most meat production yield.

• California Breed: is one of the top commercial rabbit breed in the world after New Zealand White (NZW), it is well known for  its feed-to-meat conversion and rapid growth rate just like the Chinchilla breed and interestingly has high meat-to-bone ratio compared to other breeds due to its compact body shape. The NZW can be easily identified from its densely white coated fur, with black nose, feet, tail and ears.

• New Zealand Breed: this one rabbit breed you should definitely have on your farm if you are keeping rabbits for meat purpose, as they possess high yield and growth rate combined with the highest meat-to-bone ration. New Zealand White rabbit tops the commercial meat breed rabbit globally.

Rabbit Housing & Farm Setup

Before we go any further, it is essence to start this whole discussion from foundation of our entire journey. Let us talk a little about rabbit housing, basic farm setup and all that is required to get started on a good side.

It is important to state here that rabbits need clean and well-ventilated housing in order to stay healthy and yield better productive rate. Below are some of the things to put into considerate while coming up with your rabbit housing ideas.

1. Cages: for starters we will advice that you go for something cost effective and improve as your farm grows bigger. Best practice is to use wire cages with a solid resting mat for the rabbit’s comfort (it is long lasting but this is not cheap to setup). However, for a start – you can build a wooden cage and do the flooring using wire, sides using zinc sheets with a little suspension done with wire at the top part of the cage (for good ventilation). See picture of a locally made wooden cage in Nigeria.

   

2. Ventilation: Flowing from the above, good air flow is very important in the life of your rabbits, be sure position the cage in a space with better ventilation to avoid suffocation and respiratory diseases.
3. Protection: It is essential to keep your rabbit safe from predators, direct sunlight and extreme hot weather to avoid heat-stroke.
4. Space Per Rabbit: finally on the subject of Rabbit Housing, the amount of space allocated to each rabbit in a cage is another essential factor to consider when setting up cages for your rabbit(s). For most local farmers in Nigeria and Africa, the basic dimension of a rabbit cage is measured in feet – and more spaces are allocated to a breeding doe compared to a buck; using a metre tape you will need at least 2ft x 2ft for Length and Width while 1.5ft for the height (for breeding doe) and 1.5ft all through for the buck.

In Conclusion:

Finally, we will like to thank you for reading our blog today and we hope to come up with more interesting contents related to keeping pets or rearing of various animals for home or commercial purposes.

We hope this first introduction to rabbit farming is informative and meets your request for knowledge on which breed of rabbit is best for meat purpose.