Breeding Rabbits?? Does it make money?

[jackrooster]

I went to the fair the other dayy......and everyone was going ape crap over baby bunnies and i got to say they are cute! But my quetion does breeding rabbits make a fair amount of money ?? and if so what breed is a high demand breed of rabbit to breed??

 

[RabbitMage]

No.

 

[Break an Egg]

I would look for a breed (Californian or New Zeland) that could also be raised as meat too, and check and see if there is a market for rabbit meat in your area.

I raised lop rabbits and would get about $100 dollars for 5 or 6 at a time (from pets stores). Unfortunately, they were Holland Lops so they were really small and didn't have a whole lot of meat on them.

 

[ChickenToes]

It really depends on where you live. Around here, you're lucky if you can give your rabbits away, unless they have a really nice pedigree.

 

[aduckstolemyheart]

Most good breeders, of any animal, don't make money. The investments (vet bills, food, time, energy, etc.) often outweigh any profit. You should breed because you love the animal, and care about "bettering the breed" so to speak instead of making money, or you might wind up disappointed.

 

[Break an Egg]

Quote:
She is right, now that I think about it, the $100 here and there from a pet store didn't make up for the cost of food, cages, time spent on animals etc. I just wanted to breed them as a hobby, and I only did so for a year. I have been thinking of staring up again, this time for meat, but it would be for my family, not for profit.

 

[RabbitMage]

We show our rabbits, and we don't keep track of what we make or what we spend. But when in was in high school I had to keep a recordbook, so I started paying attention.

We have some very good rabbits and are pretty well known in our breed. We sold about 20 rabbits that year at an average of $75 each. 20x75= $1500. Pretty sweet right?

Until we figured that in equipment, feed, supplies, show entries, travel, and rabbit purchases we'd spent close to $6000. That is assuming the time we put into them (roughly 84 hours a month) was worth nothing.

 

[jackrooster]

Well i was just thinking .......i see all these mix breed rabbits at the pet store selling for about 35 dollars a rabbit.....and i was thinking if i bred, and sold purebred rabbits for like 20-25 dollars and mix breed rabbits for like 10-15 dollars, that i could make a few dollars ??

 

[RabbitMage]

I don't recommend that first because I have ethical issues with breeding and selling rabbits strictly as pets.

But what you'll want to do is figure out how many rabbits you want, how expensive they'll be, how much they will cost to feed and house. Consider how much time you'll spend cleaning cages, feeding, grooming.

How are you going to let the general public know you have rabbits for sale? Are you allowed to have rabbits on your land? What if some bunny-loving person comes over, decides you're abusing your rabbits by keeping them the way you are and calls animal control on you?

Chances are the rabbits selling for $35 at the pet store are sold to them by people like you or people with accidental litters, and chances are they're getting, at most, $10 for their rabbits.

 

[mangled]

You won't get $35 from the pet store. They have to make money, too. They will pay you less than half of what it's sold for.

I raise and handfeed parakeets. There is a local pet store that will buy them from me for $15.00, then turn around and sell them for $35.00.

I pull the chick at 2 weeks and hand feed them for 6 weeks. Between labor, formula, and supplies, I make approx. -$4 a bird. LOL

My point is this: I raise parakeets and hand feed them BECAUSE I ENJOY IT. The babies are properly socialized, weaned, reared, etc.

I wouldn't get into breeding any type of animal strictly for profit. It will become a chore for you if you don't truly enjoy it and you won't make much money.

Our mutt bunnies are either given away or sold for $5. There is no money in it around here.

Blessings-
Em