Is a rabbit breeding business profitable or not, pros and cons and how to organize

Rabbit meat is not often found in supermarkets and markets. Many country house owners and villagers keep rabbits, but in small numbers, for their own consumption. The profitability of production for sale is questionable by many. Consider the features of breeding rabbits as a business, whether this business is profitable or not, whether the costs are repaid, what difficulties will have to be faced.

Is it profitable to breed rabbits

The obvious advantage of the rabbit farm as a business is that there is little competition in the market. Pork and poultry are sold everywhere, but you will have to run for rabbit meat. Nutritionists constantly talk about the benefits of rabbit meat, although the fur is not very durable, it is soft and tender. It is not difficult to find buyers for all types of rabbit products. Let's take a look at the other benefits of a rabbit business, as well as possible complications.

pros

Experts point out the following advantages of rabbit breeding:

• rapid growth and reaching maturity - a short life cycle, after 2-3 months, rabbits can be slaughtered and the first profit is made;
• farm registration is simple - the set of documents is small;
• insignificant start-up capital;
• all products from rabbits are sold - meat, skin, fur;
• insignificant expenses for maintenance and feed, unpretentiousness of rabbits in food;
• fertility (6-8 litters per year), minimum costs for young growth.

Rabbits are easy to keep, they do not displease neighbors - they do not make noise, do not trample crops and beds.

Cons and possible difficulties

Possible difficulties and dangers of rabbit breeding:

• the need for regular vaccinations - young and old rabbits can die from infections (myxomatosis, others);
• when selling meat to markets and catering establishments, sanitary certificates will be required.

The greatest risks are associated with the death of the rabbit population and the lack of reliable marketing schemes.

Rabbit breeding in Russia and abroad

Diet rabbit meat is valued all over the world, production is most developed in China, Italy, France. The main difference in breeding is the rejection of hay, the predominant use of pelleted feed. Rabbit farms give good profit thanks to the demand not only for meat, but also for leather (used for haberdashery), fur, and down.

The Soviet system of rabbit breeding was lost at the end of the 20th century due to an epidemic of viral hemorrhagic disease (70-80% of the livestock died). Since then, rabbits have been bred in a small-scale and household way.In recent years, interest in animal breeding has been growing.

Preparation and organization of cultivation

Before you start breeding rabbits, you need to familiarize yourself with the technology of growing, the features of keeping and feeding, purchase the necessary equipment for care. Based on the number of livestock and the appearance of offspring, ensure the purchase or procurement of feed. Breed selection is an important step.

Breed selection

As a result of selection, many breeds of rabbits were bred, which were given certain characteristics. When starting breeding, it is important to determine the sales market and the possibility of selling different types of rabbit products. Breeds are divided:

1. Meat. Medium quality skin, fast weight gain, tasty meat. The best breeds are white and gray giant, flanders, New Zealand, German sheep.
2. Fur and down. High quality skins, meat of average nutritional value. Popular - angora, rex, white downy, black and fire. It is necessary to keep such animals in large cages, to make sure that the skins do not deteriorate during friction and injury.
3. Meat-skinned. The harmonious combination of quality skins and tasty meat makes these breeds the most popular. The best representatives are silver, Viennese blue, butterfly, Soviet marder, Soviet chinchilla.

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In recent years, decorative breeds have become widespread, kept as pets, which are profitable to grow for sale. The most purchased species are the Dutch Fold, the pygmy ram, and the lion's head.

Cells

Most farms practice cage keeping rabbits using 3 types of cages:

• for young animals - several rabbits are kept;
• for male producers;
• for females - taking into account pregnancy and rabbits.

Rules for the selection or construction of cells:

• size - in accordance with the breed (for larger giants), on average, 4 times the size of the rabbit;
• the animal must fit on its hind legs;
• the floor net will ensure the removal of feces;
• use stationary or mobile structures, outdoor or indoor.

Popular cultivation technologies - according to Mikhailov, according to Zolotukhin, in sheds. These technologies involve special cage systems that facilitate cultivation and mechanize animal care and housekeeping.

Feeding

Although rabbits are among the least choosy pets to eat, rapid growth, health and reproduction will only provide a complete diet. It includes:

• succulent feed - herbs in summer, root crops, vegetables, fruits throughout the year;
• compound feed;
• rough - hay, straw, twigs and tree bark;
• animal supplements - fish and bone meal;
• vitamins, premixes.

If the rabbits are fed with one compound feed, 100-120 grams per individual are required per day. With mixed (with herbs and juicy feed) feeding, the volume of compound feed is reduced to 40-50 grams.

Home equipment

The right equipment will last a long time, will not cripple rabbits or suffer from their teeth. The cage must contain:

• heavy or fixed drinker;
• feeder;
• a tray for excrement and debris from feed;
• secluded corner;
• sennik.

Healthy rabbits can be raised only if they are clean, so the cage will have to be cleaned, freed from manure, and the inventory washed. When choosing a cage design and equipment, it is worth giving preference to those that are easy to disassemble and disinfect.

Calculation of profitability and income

Starting a rabbit business, you can count on a decent income if you carefully think over the technology, exclude a significant mortality, and save on feed. Females are fertile, carrying cubs lasts about a month, soon after giving birth, the rabbits are ready to mate. The female gives 6-8 litters per year, that is, on average, up to 60 rabbits.

On a farm with a hundred females, annually up to 5-6 thousand rabbits are obtained, which, when slaughtered, give, on average, 2 kilograms of pure meat. When giants are kept, the weight of the carcass rises to 4-5 kilograms. If you raise rabbits of average weight, from 100 females you can get up to 12 tons of meat products and earn up to 2.5 million rubles (at average prices).

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So that the figures for calculating profitability do not remain on paper, the farm brings income, it is important to find a sales outlet for all types of products:

• hand over skins;
• sell manure to summer residents;
• find regular buyers for meat;
• sell young growth;
• rent out male producers to small farms.

Income increases the sale of rabbits as pets, offal from the slaughterhouse for fertilizers.

Drawing up a business plan with calculations for breeding rabbits at home

A great help for novice rabbit breeders is the availability of their own land on which it is allowed to build a farm. Further, they are determined with the type of company registration. Several forms are possible:

• individual entrepreneurship (IE) - beneficial for small farms, low taxes, minimum reporting, but in case of failure, the owner risks personal property;
• peasant farming (KFH) - the most convenient option for rabbit farms, tax 6%, the ability to receive government support.

When growing on a personal subsidiary farm (PSH), there will be difficulties with the sale of products due to the lack of state registration.

The expenditure part when setting up a farm consists of the following components:

1. Tax payments for land and farm, insurance premiums, permits.
2. Farm construction, purchase of cages, inventory. Keeping rabbits outdoors reduces the building and operating costs of the facility. Arrangement of the farm territory - cesspool, slaughterhouse, feed shop, meat storage.
3. Payment for veterinary services.
4. Purchase or production of feed. If you have your own fodder base on the farm, costs are reduced.
5. Purchase of rabbits.

We'll have to spend money on advertising, posting information about the farm's products. When drawing up a business plan, they provide for places of sale - catering, regular customers, retail outlets or chains.

The costs of building a farm and arranging housing for the livestock are individual, depend on their own resources and methods of maintenance. With a farm population of 20 females, the following results can be expected per year:

• offspring yield - 1200 heads;
• average cost per carcass (cost price) - 230 rubles;
• carcass price - 900 rubles;
• income per carcass - 670 rubles;
• annual turnover - 1,080,000 rubles;
• profit for the year - 804,000 rubles.

Income depends on many factors - the use of employees and the level of wages, the ability to fully sell all rabbit products. Infectious diseases of young animals and females reduce the profitability of the farm, so you should not save on vaccinations and veterinarian services.

Reference: rabbit farms, if properly organized, pay off and make a profit in a year.

How to avoid mistakes

Experienced rabbit breeders give the following recommendations to beginners:

• the most profitable breeds of rabbits are meat and skin;
• before starting a business, determine sales markets for all types of products, transportation methods, take into account the costs of sales and advertising in the business plan;
• to reduce costs, provide for independent harvesting of feed on the farm;
• convenient ready-made cages for mini-farms will reduce labor costs when caring for rabbits;
• the greatest risks are associated with infections - to buy rabbits only from breeding farms, to vaccinate the farm livestock at the recommended time.

Success is more likely if the organizer of the rabbit farm has at least one skill - the ability to run a business or raise rabbits.

The demand for natural meat from farms is growing steadily. Nutritionists confirm the benefits of rabbit meat, so more and more people are looking for delicious fresh meat in stores. With a business plan in place, you can quickly achieve profitability and make a decent profit from your rabbit farm.