What breeds of rabbits are best for meat

2024 Author: James Gerald | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-01-18 00:05

Breeding of meat rabbits is a fairly common direction in rabbit breeding. To get the maximum profit from this type of activity, you need to choose a breed that will be easy to care for and with a high weight gain. What breeds are better to breed for meat at home?

Breeds of domestic rabbits

What rabbits are better to breed at home for meat (video)? The choice of rabbit breed depends on the purpose of the breeding. So, most often rabbits are bred to obtain products such as:

• obtaining meat;
• fur and skins.

A separate category includes breeds of decorative rabbits that are bred as pets. The most widespread are 60 breeds of domestic rabbits. One of the types of classification is division by weight:

1. Large.
2. Average.
3. Dwarf.

It is not difficult to guess that large rabbits belong to meat breeds. Breeds such as white or gray giant, Soviet chinchilla, Viennese blue, butterfly, white downy, silver rabbit are suitable for breeding at home. Experienced breeders, in order to increase their profits, that is, the amount of a useful product, experiment with crossing the offspring of different breeds. At the same time, the next generation will be healthier, larger, with good immunity.

Rabbit meat breeds

What kind of rabbits are best to breed at home for meat? It will be difficult to organize a rabbit breeding enterprise in a small city apartment. Firstly, even 2-3 cells will take up a fairly large space. Secondly, the presence of animals in the house is characterized by appropriate smells, and they are not always pleasant. In the warm season, you can take cells out onto the balcony, but if there is no balcony?

It is better to breed rabbits in the country, on the basis of a small backyard farm. In order to obtain meat products, experts recommend opting for the "California" or "New Zealand" breeds. Representatives of this breed reach maturity quickly. "California" broiler rabbits at the age of 3 months gain weight up to 3.5 kilograms. From one rabbit, you can get up to 60% of the live weight of dietary meat. Breeding these animals is not difficult. Healthy females are capable of producing about 8-10 young rabbits.

"White New Zealand" rabbits have a large mass (up to 5 kg) and are better suited for keeping indoors. Some breeders feed rabbits up to 5 kg weight, but this is possible only if the individual was rather large from birth, and the nutrition was enhanced throughout the ripening period.

If you decide to start breeding meat rabbits in the country, then you should ask your neighbors what breeds they keep. Keeping similar breeds will help to exchange genetic material, if necessary, for better results. The most profitable breeds are considered to be local breeds, for example, gray and white giants. These breeds gain weight longer, have a lower level of fertility, and suffer from leg diseases. But for novice rabbit breeders, this breed is ideal.

You can find out what breeds of rabbits are better for breeding for meat at home on the Internet on forums, special Internet sites, where a society of amateurs and experienced specialists exchange experiences and give valuable advice.

Interesting! What are the most popular pets in Russia

The right diet for meat breeds of rabbits

Rabbits raised for meat require more food and a more careful diet. The integral components of the diet are roughage, hay, which prevent the formation of an irregular bite, which can cause indigestion. Meadow grass hay is preferred over other types.

Leafy vegetables must be present in the daily diet (the minimum daily intake is 200 grams). As a treat, you can offer your pets an apple, carrot. But you should not get carried away with these products, since they contain a large amount of sugars.

What rabbits are better to breed for meat at home and how to feed them (information from forums and reviews). In the nutritious diet of rabbits raised for meat, the following products must be present without fail:

• cilantro;
• salad;
• dandelions;
• escalope;
• thyme;
• turnip;
• parsley;
• cabbage.

Rabbits will not give up on the tops of various root crops. But it should be borne in mind that, for example, the greens of carrots and radishes contain a large amount of calcium, which can harm a pet. New vegetables should be introduced into the usual diet in small portions and gradually, as digestive disorders can occur, which will take time to recover. Starch-containing foods should not be given to rabbits - potatoes, corn.

Interesting! Dog breeds for an apartment and a child with a good character

What breeds of rabbits are better to breed for meat at home - feeding table in winter and summer:

Types of feed	Winter meals	Summer meals
Concentrated feed	up to 150-200 grams	about 120-150 grams
Meadow grass hay	250 grams	180-200 grams
Young shoots and branches of trees	80-100 grams	up to 100 grams
Greens	excluded	700 gram
Vegetables and root vegetables	160-200 grams	150 grams
Leafy greens	300 grams	excluded

Raising rabbits for meat can be a profitable home business. A quick weight gain of these animals (3-4 months) allows you to get financial profit regardless of seasonality. During the year, one female is able to bring up to 35 rabbits, which will regularly replenish the herd. By following the recommendations of specialist breeders, even a novice rabbit breeder will quickly achieve high profitability.