This post will contain links and references to other websites, which I feel have more experience than I, on this very important topic.
When raising rabbits for meat, there are several things to take into consideration – and size is not necessarily the most important.
When one things of rabbits – big rabbits, Flemish Giants often come to mind, as the breed is known for it’s size, with mature rabbits often reaching between 15 and 20 pounds. Though this appears impressive at first glance, it should be noted that it can take over a year for the breed to reach full maturity – that takes a lot of feed! Additionally, this rabbit breed is rather stocky in bone… the opposite of what is generally aspired to when breeding.
The ideal meat rabbit, regardless of breed, should have a high growth rate, have good flesh with light bones – aka a good meat-to-bone ratio. For that reason, in addition to Champagne d’Argent, New Zealand, Californian, and Silver Fox are also breeds with good growth rates.
8 Meat Rabbits and Their Differences
One of my favorite resources for all information meat rabbit is Brick House Acres Rabbitry; their website is a wealth of information. I have found that they cover almost every aspect of breeding rabbits for food.
This growth chart is taken from the BHA website:
Keeping the most correct kits with the best growth rates as future breeding stock will benefit your rabbitry, if you’re looking to fill your freezer at as low of cost as possible. When I first decided to breed meat rabbits, I figured I’d only be keeping back kits for replacement breeding stock as needed. Instead, I’ve found additional enjoyment in showing rabbits, as well as helping others gain food security with starting their own rabbitries.
I’d like to be able to process my kits between 9-12 weeks, when they hit a minimum of 5 pounds. However, I’ve since learned that there is an advantage to waiting a bit longer on the rabbits that aren’t definite “culls” – those kits who are too narrow in the shoulder, have pinched hips, or are just too “long and low” in their conformation. Sometimes, that means that I don’t butcher until the rabbit has reached 6 or 7 pounds, at 16 weeks or more.
From the financial point of view, the earlier a rabbit is processed, the lower the cost of feed invested. In addition, less time and energy is also spent on the rabbit.
The drawback of processing earlier is that a kit’s pelt may not be able to be tanned before 16 weeks. As I have a collection of pelts in my freezer that came from kits ranging from 9 to 20 weeks, I’ll have a better idea of the issues once I attempt to tan them.
