Ten Commandments for Raising Healthy Rabbits

By Randy Kidd
Published on January 1, 1980
1 / 3

A doe of the popular New Zealand White breed.
A doe of the popular New Zealand White breed.
2 / 3

LEFT: The female has a slit-like genital area. MIDDLE: The male has a rounded protuberance. RIGHT: A standard nesting box combining ventilation and shelter.
LEFT: The female has a slit-like genital area. MIDDLE: The male has a rounded protuberance. RIGHT: A standard nesting box combining ventilation and shelter.
3 / 3

TOP LEFT: A small young rabbit can be held by its loin area. RIGHT: Calm an agitated rabbit by securing its head under your elbow. BOTTOM LEFT: Lift a grown rabbit by its neck and tail, not by its ears.
TOP LEFT: A small young rabbit can be held by its loin area. RIGHT: Calm an agitated rabbit by securing its head under your elbow. BOTTOM LEFT: Lift a grown rabbit by its neck and tail, not by its ears.

Believe it or not, even if your back yard is no bigger than a queen-sized mattress (about 30 square feet), you can produce 200 pounds of homegrown meat every year … by raising rabbits!

Domestic “hare” is a tasty, amazingly versatile food, too. Its flavor is often compared to chicken, and–like the barnyard fowl–rabbit is good fried, baked, stewed, cooked in casseroles, and prepared in many other ways. And the mammal’s firm, fine-grained flesh actually makes for more healthful eatin’ than does the bird’s. In fact, rabbit has more protein–and less fat and fewer calories –per pound than any of our popular meats!

Rabbits are a wise choice for the small livestock fancier for other reasons, too: The critters are quite easy to raise, feed, and–because of their clean habits–care for. They’re also quiet (which is an absolute “must” consideration for folks who’re rearing animals in an urban area).

Of course, if you do get into caretaking a batch of the furry beasts, you’ll want to keep your livestock as healthy and productive as possible. And–to help you in such efforts–I’ve prepared the following ten rules for raising rabbits free of disease.

I. Recognize Your Market

The main reason for raising your own rabbits is, obviously, to produce meat. So before you get started in your venture, you should know just how much food you can expect to get. A good doe (female rabbit) will yield four or five litters–with six to nine youngsters a batch–per year. Each of the young animals should reach a weight of 4 to 4 1/2 pounds (at which point they’ll dress out to between 2 and 2 1/2 pounds) by the standard butchering age of eight to ten weeks. Therefore, a single doe can contribute 60 pounds–or more–of meat for your larder in one year. That ain’t a bad output from one 10 or 12-pound animal. (What’s more, unlike the steer that yields all its 500 freezer-filling pounds of “harvest” in one lump sum, your rabbit meat will be produced–in meal-sized portions–throughout most of the year.)

Comments (0) Join others in the discussion!
    Online Store Logo
    Need Help? Call 1-800-234-3368