I point out some important things to consider
before you start profiting your rabbit. Considering the following will make you
out and free from ruin your precious plan. Like any other business you have to
know the do’s and don’ts in order to succeed.
Establish a
market
First of all see if you can make a market,
ask someone about the demands of rabbits in your area. This is the key to start
your business, because you have to make sure that you can sell out your rabbits
to someone in order to gain profit. Rabbits are in-demand base on breed, meat,
kits, fur and more. I made other extra profits with my rabbits even on their
waste that can produce dung and used as an organic fertilizer.
Determining
your purpose
Next decide which breed to rose and for what
purpose. My facts about choosing the right breed will help you to choose. I prefer New Zealand and
Californian whites, which are common breed of rabbits and best for meat and fur
production. You can go for angora, chinchilla, and rex which are also great
source of fur. You may also opt to sell offspring, but consider a pure bred in
selling bred rabbits. It is easy to find a buyer if your rabbits have pedigree.
I
started my rabbit business by selling young rabbits, that’s the largest demand
in our area until now. I don’t have any problems of selling the kits; I found
it so easy that my dealers are the one who’s outside my front door and waiting.
And for the past few years my family doesn’t have any problems of selling out
our rabbits.
Buying and
choosing your starter rabbits
A rabbitry that consists of hundred of
rabbits are not that easy to manage. I started my business with 10 does and 1
buck that made me earned extra for a year. Considering your budget you may
start with only 4-5 does and 1 buck. Before buying your rabbits, find a trusted
breeder, because some of them will try to fool and give you wrong information. First
thing you should remember is to buy only those young rabbits, raised and wait
for them to be matured for breeding and you’ll find it worth lately. They’re
ready for breeding within five to six months. Whether you will pick any breed
remember to choose only those healthy; active, with soft clean fur, and no
indications of any allergy.
Building the rabbitry
Rabbits take up a little space, you don’t
have to spend too much and they’re easy to care and handle. It doesn’t take
longer to feed, pouring water in their container, cleaning up their cage, and
examine them from any problems or sickness. They have a lifespan of about 8
– 10 years, if they were cared properly. Prepare the place where you’ll going
to build your rabbitry. I started at the little space on our garage and lately
my father built a small covered place at our backyard. I make sure that my
rabbits will be comfortable against heat and even during the cold season. We
put several windows that can be open for fresh air. My rabbitry has also a wide
door at both ends for emergency purposes and we used anahaw roofs (leaves of
tropical tree than can only find at Southeast Asia) it absorb heat and keep
cool inside and lastly an exhaust fan for total coolness.
Please
remember that isn’t because you are raising rabbits for profit it doesn't mean
that you don't have to give them the same attention you would do as a pet. As a
matter of fact, because these animals are the key to your profit they should be
given proper care and attention.
Preparing the cage and
feeding utilities
Prepare
the cage according to its standards;
I usually lifted the cage off the ground. It is convenient for cleaning up
rabbit’s waste and keeps them away from crawling insects. For feeding utilities
such as feeding bowl and water container, boxes for nesting, and most of all
feed supply. I bought heavy feeding bowls for feeding and water container, so
that my rabbits will not able to tip over it. But I found it not good for bowl
as water container. Rabbit’s fur mix with the water which is dangerous for it
will cause an intestinal blockage. So I replaced it with aluminum water
dispenser, it’s not that expensive and allow me to supply them water without
opening their cage. As for the nest box I used wooden box, I don’t have a
problem about this until some of the rabbits were started chewing it. So I
replaced the wooden box with metal one for those rabbits with a hobby of
chewing anything.
Breeding process
Once
you prepared everything you need and your rabbits enjoying on their cage. It’s
time to think about the breeding routine. A doe usually have a pregnancy period
of 28 days if still young. They can birth up to 4-12 kits, but this varies
depending on certain conditions. Kits can be weaned after three to four weeks
and you can prepare your doe for breeding after three to four weeks. I usually
do this if my doe doesn’t have any problems with the breeding process. But if I
found something not right I let them rest from one to three months just to make
sure that their fully ready again.
Keeping all the records
Once
everything is well set, it’s a great idea to keep records about handling your
rabbitry. These include business records of different expenses, individual
records of your rabbits showing their status or production performance. This is
a very important task to do because this will tell you if you gain profit from your
rabbit business.
