Rabbit breeding as a business: profitable or not, pros and cons

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. Many people doubt the profitability of production for sale. Consider the features of rabbit breeding as a business, whether this business is profitable or not, whether the costs pay off, what difficulties you will face.

Is it profitable to breed rabbits

The obvious advantage of a rabbit farm as a business is that there is little competition in the market. Pork and poultry are sold everywhere, and you will have to run for rabbit meat.Nutritionists constantly talk about the benefits of rabbit meat, the fur, although not durable, is soft and tender. Buyers for all types of rabbit products are easy to find. Consider other benefits of a rabbit business, as well as possible difficulties.

Pros

Specialists highlight the following advantages of rabbit breeding:

• fast growth and reaching maturity - short life cycle, after 2-3 months rabbits can be slaughtered and get the first profit;
• farm registration is simple - the set of documents is small;
• minor start-up capital;
• sales find all products from rabbits - meat, hide, fur;
• minor maintenance and feed costs, unpretentiousness of rabbits in food;
• fertility (6-8 litters per year), minimum cost for young animals.

Rabbits are easy to keep, they do not cause displeasure of neighbors - they do not make noise, do not trample on crops and beds.

Cons and possible difficulties

Possible difficulties and dangers of rabbit breeding:

• 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 biggest risks are associated with the loss of rabbit stock and the lack of reliable marketing schemes.

Rabbit breeding in Russia and abroad

Dietary rabbit meat is valued all over the world, the most developed production in China, Italy, France. The main difference in breeding is the rejection of hay, the predominant use of granular feed. Rabbit farms make a good profit due to the demand not only for meat, but also for leather (it goes to haberdashery), fur, 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 rearing

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

Tip: rabbits should be purchased from a breeding farm, where they monitor the purity of the breed, carry out vaccinations, there is less risk of getting sick animals of dubious quality.

Breed selection

As a result of selection, many breeds of rabbits have been bred, which are 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 medium nutritional value. Popular - angora, rex, white downy, black-fiery. You need to keep such animals in large cages, make sure that the skins do not deteriorate during friction and injuries.
3. Meat-skin. The harmonious combination of high-quality skins and tasty meat makes these breeds the most popular. The best representatives are silver, Viennese blue, butterfly, Soviet marder, Soviet chinchilla.

In recent years, decorative breeds kept as pets, which are profitable to grow for sale, have become widespread. The most purchased species are Dutch Fold, Pygmy Sheep, Lion's Head.

Cells

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

• for young animals - there are several rabbits;
• for breeding males;
• for females - taking into account pregnancy and rabbits.

Rules for selecting or building cages:

• 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;
• floor net to ensure faeces are removed;
• use stationary or mobile structures, outdoor or indoor.

Popular growing technologies - according to Mikhailov, according to Zolotukhin, in sheds. These technologies involve special cage systems that facilitate growing and mechanize the processes of caring for animals and cleaning houses.

Feeding

Although rabbits are among the least fussy pets, rapid growth, he alth and reproduction will ensure only a complete diet. It includes:

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

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

Home Furnishings

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

• heavy or fixed drinker;
• feeder;
• tray for excrement and feed debris;
• nook;
• sennik.

Growing up he althy rabbits is possible only if cleanliness is observed, so the cage will have to be cleaned, freed from manure, and the inventory washed. When choosing a cage design and equipment, you should give preference to those that are easy to disassemble and disinfect.

Calculation of profitability and income

Starting a rabbit breeding business, you can count on a decent income if you carefully consider the technology, exclude significant mortality, save on feed. Females are fertile, carrying cubs lasts about a month, shortly after giving birth, the rabbits are ready to mate. In a year, the female gives 6-8 offspring, that is, on average, up to 60 rabbits.

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

To ensure that the profitability calculation figures do not remain on paper, the farm generates income, it is important to find a market for all types of products:

• hand over skins;
• sell manure to summer residents;
• find regular buyers for meat;
• sell young animals;
• lease sires to small farms.

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

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

A great help for beginner 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 registration of the enterprise. Several forms are possible:

• sole proprietorship (IP) - beneficial for small farms, low taxes, minimum reporting, but if unsuccessful, the owner risks personal property;
• peasant farming (peasant farming) - the most convenient option for rabbit farms, tax 6%, the ability to receive state support.

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

Expenditure for setting up a farm consists of the following components:

1. Tax payments for land and farm, insurance premiums, permits.
2. Building a farm, buying cages, inventory. If you keep rabbits outside, the cost of building and operating the premises is reduced. Arrangement of the farm territory - cesspool, slaughterhouse, feed workshop, meat storage.
3. Paying for veterinary services.
4. Purchase or production of feed. If the farm has its own feed base, costs are reduced.
5. Buying 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 livestock are individual, depending on their own resources and ways of keeping. With a farm of 20 females, you can expect the following yearly results:

• offspring yield - 1200 heads;
• average cost per carcass (cost) - 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 it is not worth saving on vaccinations and veterinary 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 advice to beginners:

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

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

Demand for natural meat from farms is steadily growing. The benefits of rabbit meat are confirmed by nutritionists, so more and more people are looking for delicious fresh meat in stores. By building a business plan, you can quickly achieve profitability and get a decent profit from a rabbit farm.

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