As one of the best meats people can consume , coney offer families a rewarding direction to supplement their dieting . Knowing how and where your core animals were raised is satisfying for those seeking to cultivate a sustainable lifestyle on a hobby farm , and families appreciate fetch a delightful , home - grown , tender meat to the table . If you ’ve see raising rabbits for meat on your farm , here are some reasons that may convert you to make the leap .
1. High Protein
With 167.5 calories of protein and 6.8 grams of fatty tissue per 3 - ounce serving , cony meat offers the highest protein content of any land animal gist . A service of beef the same size contains 259 calories from protein and 18.3 grams of blubber . lapin meat is thin , flavorful and among the healthiest marrow people can consume other than fish .
2. Economical To Raise
Of all the kernel - producing stock , rabbits have the best feed conversion ratios : They exhaust forages rather than grains and commute that food author into meat efficiently . By comparison , grain - feed livestock including beef , poultry and pork , require a much higher amount of food in the flesh of grains , so by comparison have a large carbon footprint than rabbit .
3. Quick Turnaround
It takes rabbits 70 days from birth to reach market weightiness . untried hare are weaned between the age of 4 and 6 weeks , and it takes two to four more weeks for each animate being to achieve market weight unit . At 70 days old , the animate being provide a tender essence . And for those processing their animals at habitation , the animals ’ skins are loose and sluttish to remove .
4. Low Overhead And Start-Up Costs
coney thrive best in all - telegram hutches , which can be buy used for those just starting out . Responsible rabbit care includes :
Clean , well - ventilated cages protected from heat ( rabbits know cold weather ) and quick uninfected water and food are the touchstone for raise healthy rabbits .
5. Lots Of Breed Options
New Zealand Whites and Californians are the top lapin breeds raised for meat , though Angoras , Giants , Satins and French coney are splendid dual - purpose strain . These breed produce a fleece that can be harvested prior to process the animal for meat . coney wools are financially fertile in the marketplace — and are perhaps better have it off in U.S. than the inwardness .
6. Little Waste
Unlike other large livestock , coney essence results in importantly less offal ( organs , castanets , obscure ) when processed , and rabbits have a much higher meat to bone ratio . Californians and New Zealand Whites have okay finger cymbals , a sluttish lumbus and a high percentage of dumb muscling when compare with the larger hare stock , which will produce more offal at processing .
7. Awesome Support
There are swell resources available to those interested in learning more about raise rabbits for essence . A $ 20 membership to the American Rabbit Breeders Association offers members six issue ofDomestic Rabbitmagazine , memory access to breeders across the country and information about rabbit meat producers . You ’ll also take in theARBA Guide to raise Better Rabbits and Cavies , which provides information about the best practices in lift meat rabbits responsibly including :
phallus also gain access to more than a 100 years of rabbit fostering and breeding experience and expertise .
As the local- and slow - food movement continue to grow , there is also potential to build up a small taxation stream from raise even a modest ruck of hare . recess market , such as farmers mart , forte butcher shop and local restaurants are among the possible places you may retail cony meat .
