Small sweet bunnies are not only a beautiful pet to adore but they are also a good source of profit if we turn them into a profitable business. Here in this article I will discuss about how you can raise rabbits for profit and how you can start your own commercial rabbit farm. Bunnies are cute animals and are extremely adorable. They are soft therefore are good source of meat, there is very high demand for rabbit meat in the market and there is not enough suppliers to fulfill this growing demands. There can be huge profits made in raising rabbits. However, it will take work and you will need a profitable business plan. Meat is definitely the main goal of rabbit farming. One by-products in rabbit farming is usually recovered from the skin: the rabbit hair or fur.
The amazing thing about the rabbit farming business is that it requires quite less of an investment and gives a good margin of profit. If you are now convinced to really invest your time and capital into rabbit farming business then you need to look at some benefits of rabbit farming business.
Benefits of Rabbit Farming Business:
The biggest benefit that you are here for is money. So if you are getting the desired profit from your business then you need not worry much. Yet here are some benefits you will definitely look for.
- It gives you good return in less investment. To raise a rabbit you don’t require much space and there is no special caring required apart from normal care
- The margin of profit is huge given that the rabbits breed quickly in a good numbers allowing you to sell them for meat and other purpose
- You will easily get 45% of your investment within the first year of investment in any normal situation
- Rabbits breed good and their meat is in huge demand therefore your efforts are not going to get wasted
- The does have very low mortality rate ensuring that most of the does survive after littering.
With these advantages the return on investment is quite high in comparison to other farm animals.
So if you are now more convinced to investment in this lucrative business then you need to have some plan of starting up this business. One should remember that a steady and detailed plan is always necessary if you are investing your money and expecting a good return.
A plan to raise rabbit for profit has to be flexible and it should cover all details. So let’s have a detailed view on the rabbit farming business plan. Here you go:-
Important Points to Consider in While Starting Rabbit Farming Business
- Investment:- The first step in rabbit farm is to see how much investment it will need. Basically a rabbit farm doesn’t consume much investment.
- ROI Calculation:- The second step should be to calculate return of investment. Now this is an important part to look because this is all that matters most is what you will get after you give.
- Time:- The third step should be to know how time will it consume? How many hours per week should one has to devote?
- Equipment:- What utilities are required to raise bunnies? and how much it will cost
- Requirement of farm land
- Proper diet plan and medication
These are the questions that need an answer and only then you need to draw out the plan.
The Investment Required:
Raising rabbit does costs but it costs quite less than many other animal farming. When you need to calculate what money you need to invest then you need to come up with what exactly are you going to do and what exactly you require? Here are few of the answers:-
The Land Required:
Bunnies are small creatures and they do not require much land area to live. If you are raising around 5 pairs of bunnies with their does in extra that may be total to 40-50 then a 100 square feet land or room is enough. Floor size requirement for one rabbit is 4 sq ft. You need to provide 32 sq ft for exercising which is important. You can divide the room in many parts so that each pair gets a separate area. In the room you can put a cage there to keep the does in check. A room smaller than this will also work but giving enough space is good in order to avoid any kind of mess or disease.
Proper Equipment:
If you want then you can put a cage that is made up of woods and matrix wires in order to pass oxygen. Boxes made of wooden planks that are used to contain fruits can also be used. But if you are into this business then you should be more professional and have equipment that are of standard quality and comfortable to the bunnies.
You can keep the does in the container or even the bunnies in them if you don’t have a closed space. Many people raise bunnies in a farm house or an open space like gardens. Keeping them open is risky as they are vulnerable to snakes and cats. It would be better to keep them in the cage. Putting them at one place also decrease litter that rabbits will obviously create.
Dietary, medication and caring:
Rabbits don’t require any special food to eat. They are okay with normal food like carrot, broccoli, tomato, basil, and many more. There is no special food that you should necessarily give them but there are packed food that especially come for them. If you want you can feed them or you can continue with the regular food that will cost less. Rabbits don’t have any special love for specific foods and therefore you can give them vegetables, fruits and seeds.
You can vaccinate your bunnies in order to ensure their health. Vaccinating the mating rabbits would be recommended so that their does are health enough. Caring is always the best initiative that humans can do for animals. Cleaning their places, cleaning the rabbits and does will keep them healthy.
Adding these much requirements it is an investment of at least $500 an year in general. If you have purchased a pair of bunny then it will cost around $100 maximum. So an investment of around $600-800 should be in your mind.
Investment of Time:
There are two types of time investment. The first one is daily time investment on caring and the second one is time investment on return. We will talk about both.
Daily Time Investment: An hour a day or 20-20 minutes three times a day is enough to look after them. Food, cleaning and pampering is all that is required.
Time Investment on Return: A pair of rabbits take 31 days to reproduce. It is would be advisable for you to sell the does after 6 month. So you will probably get your return after a 6 months.
Return of Investment in rabbit farming:
Rabbit farm is a good source of profit and offers good returns. A pair of rabbit will reproduce after 30-35 days so you can have 10-12 rabbits including the parents after a 40 days. These bunnies will probably reproduce after six months and it takes around 6 months for them to fully mature. Rabbits conceive babies only after few days of giving birth so one can expect another delivery after 40 days. If you go on calculating then in 12 months, a pair of rabbit will have around 80-90 does.
Mating few pairs of them can make you get at least 30-40 does every month after a years’ time. Selling these bunnies per head will cost you around $20-50. So after a year, your return on investment will be around $800 every month. You can easily get your total investment in a year’s time. Earning $10000 a year is never a bad thing given your yearly investment of $1000. So a return of $9000 after two years is never a bad investment.
Other Aspects of Rabbit Farming Business:
The above mentioned plan is an ideal plan that doesn’t necessarily works. In some places the demand is low and you need to struggle to find the market where you can sell your rabbits. It is not always the same situation what is written in the planning section. There can be other different issues that may arise like excess expenditure that may occur like supplying your rabbits into the market, paying for the caretaker, medication cost and many more. The other issue that also arises is the return. It is possible that you may not get the desired rate per bunny. If the rate of return is less then it will eventually harm your business.
What also depends on is the breed of your rabbit. Some rabbits may actually have low selling price because of the meat quality or quantity. So it is important that you raise the best breed of rabbit so your return on investment is always high.
You should not fear in investing on marketing because if you will have a good market then you will get a good price on your bunnies. Though it may cost you in early days but it will eventually benefit you in the end. So go for it! One should always be ready to face such situations that may not be ideal. As one says in the business that hope for the best and prepare for the worst.
