Rabbit Farming, Rearing – A Complete Project Guide

Rabbit Farming/Rearing & Project Guide for Beginners:

The following article details about “Rabbit Farming” or  “How to start a Rabbit Farm”.

Little About Rabbit farming:

It can be a sustainable way to provide protein-rich high-quality meat to a family.  There is little space needed as opposed to a cattle farm, and from a small investment, a rabbit farm can create a decent income, even part-time.  Rabbits can be bred for their meat and also their hide and fur to make clothes or other items.

Rabbit production business is for anyone with the desire to raise livestock for a living.  A farmer with no land will enjoy this trade as little space is required.  Young adults not sure which path to take educationally can benefit from farming life.  A stay at home mother can tend to the rabbits and keep her children entertained at the same time.

There are two ways to rear the rabbits.   Both systems need a shed or shelter to protect the rabbits from predators and the elements.  A Deep Litter System is used when rearing a small number of rabbits.

Rabbit raising the scope and its national importance:

Rabbit production is another livestock activity with great scope as it is relatively easy, rewarding and takes little space compared to other livestock activities. Rabbit production can also provide a very valuable additional source of income in the hilly areas where opportunities for employment are very limited. Another important consideration is the food production cycle, which shows that the rabbit need not be in competition with a man for its food. For producing high-quality woolen, blending with other fine quality fibers is essential, which are produced in limited quantity in our country. Therefore, currently, we are importing the fine wool. The wool from Angora Rabbits is of very high quality and it’s blending with carpet wool of sheep and silk improves the quality of woolen to a great extent. Rabbit production is affordable.  It does not take many rabbits to start a farm.  They are excellent breeders and the farm will grow steadily with about 8-12 rabbits per litter.  Rabbits are easily fed with available greens from around the yard and waste vegetables and grains from around the house.  If compared to other meats, rabbit meat contains more protein and less fat than most.  It can be fed to small toddlers and aging adults because it is easy to digest.

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Main Advantages of Rabbit farming:

• Rabbits are highly prolific and a good female can produce 25 to 30 kits (young ones) per year.
• Rabbits can be reared in small groups (up to 50 nos.) in the kitchen garden/backyard of farmer’s house with kitchen waste as feed. Family labor is adequate to take care of the labor requirements of the unit. The initial investment cost is low.
• Quick returns i.e. within six months after the establishment of the farm.
• Rabbit meat is rich in poly-unsaturated fatty acids and is categorized as white meat.
• Rabbits are the best producers of wool on per kg body weight basis. They require 30 % less digestible energy to produce one kg of wool as compared to sheep.
• Income generation at quarterly interval makes the repayment easy.
• Apart from providing wool, rabbits also provide income from the sale of kits, meat, pelt, and manure.
• Residual feed, together with rabbit manure is highly suitable for vermicompost which in turn provides excellent manure for fertilizing the agriculture fields.
• Rabbit wool is 6 – 8 times warmer than the contemporary sheep wool. It can be mixed with silk, polyester, rayon, nylon, sheep wool and other fibers to make good quality handlooms as well as hand knitted apparels.
• Rabbits consume a large amount of forage from diverse origins and hence, can be reared on roughage with very less quantity of costly concentrate feed.

Popular Rabbit Breeds:

There are numerous breeds available throughout the world. Some of them are highly productive. Some breeds are very suitable for farming in India according to our weather. Most productive and suitable rabbit breeds are listed below. You can choose any of those breeds.

1. White Giant
2. Grey Giant
3. Flemish Giant
4. New Zealand White
5. New Zealand Red
6. Californian
7. Dutch
8. Siviet Chinchilla.

Farming/Raising Methods:

Rabbits can be raised in both the deep litter system and cage system. You can easily make a small shed at the backyard with a very small investment. Good housing or shed is necessary for keeping the rabbits free from weather conditions, rain, sun and various types of predators like dogs or cats, etc.

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Feeding  of Rabbits

Good feed always ensures good health and proper growth. So, always try to feed your Rabbits with high quality and nutritious food. Rabbits can eat and consume all types of grains, legumes and green fodders like Lucerne, Agathi, Desmanthus and various types of kitchen wastes including carrots, cabbage leaves, and other vegetable wastes. In case of raising rabbits by feeding concentrate food, try to provide them some green food. For 1 kg body weight of rabbit, you can feed them about 40 grams of concentrate food and 40 grams of green food. Along with good and nutritious food try to provide them sufficient amount of fresh and clean water according to their demand. See full rabbit feeding management.

Breeding of Rabbits

Rabbits become suitable for breeding within their 5 to 6 months of age. You should use male rabbits for breeding purpose at their 1 year of age to get quality young rabbits. Always use healthy rabbits for breeding with proper age and body weight. Take extra care of the male rabbit used for breeding purpose and take good care of pregnant rabbits.

Rabbit Care and Management:

For better production, you must have to take good care of your animals. Generally, diseases are less in rabbits. Healthy rabbits become very active with a shiny hair coat. But if anyhow something goes wrong, then you have to take necessary steps immediately.

Marketing of Rabbits:

Marketing is still a big problem for commercial rabbit production in India. Although various govt. and non-govt. organizations are inspiring rabbit farming business. But the marketing problem is not still solved. Rabbit meat has good demand in some areas. You can try your local market and think about exporting in foreign countries.

Why Angora Rabbits are best for Farming?

Angora rabbits are mainly raised for their wool, which is known for its quality. Angora rabbits have their origin from Angora Province of Turkey from where they were taken to different parts of the world and various types of angora rabbits were evolved. The differences between these types of angora are mainly in the amount of wool produced and the percentage of guard hair in the wool. Among the various types, German Angora is the best and annually yields 1000 to 1800 gm of wool under ideal management practices. Angora rabbits require temperate climate and can be adapted to any set of circumstances right from a kitchen garden to a large intensive commercial enterprise. They produce 6.4 times more wool than sheep on per kg body weight basis and do not require vast grazing land. The wool produced by rabbits is the finest, lightest and warmest among all animal fibers and is preferred for manufacturing of high-value woolens which have got very good export potential. Rabbit wool also has medicinal properties and its garments are recommended in arthritis due to its electrostatic properties.

Now, We put down the Project Report in Angora Rabbit Farming:

1) Financial assistance is available from banks/NABARD for Rabbit farming business in India.

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Bank loan Sanction and its disbursement:

After ensuring technical feasibility and economic viability, the scheme is sanctioned by the bank. The loan is disbursed in stages against the creation of specific assets such as the construction of sheds, purchase of equipment and animals. The end use of the fund is verified and constant follow-up is done by the bank.

Repayment Period of Loan:

Repayment period depends upon the gross surplus in the scheme. The loan will be repaid in suitable quarterly/half yearly/annual installments usually within a period of about 6-7 years with a grace period of one year. Quarterly repayments are preferred in angora units as the income is frequent and the interest burden on the borrower is reduced.

Insurance:

The animals may be insured annually or through long term master policy, where ever it is applicable. You can google it to see who are covering the rabbits.

Model Project Cost and Economics of Rabbit farming:

Project cost for a model of 10 female and 3 male Angora rabbits with economics is taken in this project.

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Project Cost of Rabbit Farming table:

Sr.No. Particulars (Amount in Indian Rupees) 1 Cost of breeder shed 24150 2 Cost of wool rabbit shed 44850 3 Cost of cages   (i) Breeders 9750 (ii) Kindling cages 5250 (iii) Wool producer cages 81250 4 Feeder and waterers 3000 5 Miscellaneous equipment 2000 6 Cost of breeders 13000 7 Insurance of breeders 1170 A Capital cost 184420   Recurring Expenses (one-year expenses capitalized)   8 Cost of feed   (i) Concentrate 35720 (ii) Hay 1186 (iii) Vegetables/kitchen waste 792 9 Water and electricity cost 1440 10 Medicines and miscellaneous expenses 1440 B Recurring expenses 40578   Total (A+B) 224998   or say 225000   Margin (10%) 22500   Bank Loan 202500

Technical/Economic Parameters of Rabbit Production:

Sr.No. Particulars 1 Breed German Angora 2 Floor space for breeders shed – sqft 210 3 Floor space for wool rabbits shed – sqft 390 4 Cost of construction (/sqft) 115 5 Breeder cages required (No.) 13 6 Kindling cages (No.) 7 7 Wool producers cages (No.) 130 8 Cost of the breeder and kindling cages (/cage) 750 9 Cost of wool producers cages (/cage) 625 10 Cost of feeders and waterers (/animal) 20 11 Miscellaneous equipment (/animal) 5 12 Cost of breeders ( /animal) 1,000 13 Insurance – % of breeder cost – for 5 years 9% 14 Salvage value (/animal) – average 400 15 Depreciation on sheds and equipment (% per annum) 10 16 Margin 10% 17 The gestation period (days) 30 18 Weaning period (weeks) 6 19 Inter kindling period (months) 4 20 Mortality   (i) Weaners (up to 1.5 months) 10% (ii) Growers (1.5 to 6 months) 15% (iii) Adults (above 6 months) per annum 10%       21 Feed Consumption (grams per day) Concentrate Hay (i) Breeding does and males 200 80 (ii) Weaners (1.5 to 3 months) 50 30 (iii) Growers (4 to 6 months) 70 40 (iv) Adults  (above 6 months) 100 75 22 Cost of concentrate feed for the breeder (/kg) 17   23 Cost of concentrate feed for others (/kg) 16   24 Cost of hay (/kg) 1   25 Vegetables and Kitchen waste   (i) per grower month 0.75 (ii) per adult month 1.50 26 Water and electricity (/animal month) 2 27 Veterinary and miscellaneous expenses (/animal month) 2 28 Wool production per shearing (gm per rabbit)   (i) A grower at the age of 3 months 75 (ii) A grower at the age of 6 months 175 (iii) Adult above 6 months 225 29 Shearing of adults is done at quarterly intervals 30 The sale price of wool (/kg) 1,100 31 To maintain the strength of adult wool rabbits at 130, animals are sold after maintaining them for 18 months. 32 The sale price of rabbits (/animal) 800 33 Income from manure per grower 4 34 Income from manure per adult 8

 Feed /Fodder Consumption:

Year 1 2 3 4 5 Weaner months 180 180 180 180 180 Grower months 204 306 306 306 306 Adult months 180 990 1080 1080 1080 Breeder months 156 156 156 156 156

Wool production (Kg per year):

Year 1 2 3 4 5 Grower – 3 months 8.55 8.55 8.55 8.55 8.55 Grower – 6 months 11.9 17.85 17.85 17.85 17.85 Adults 6.75 67.5 81 81 81

Income and Expenditure Details:

Particulars Year   1 2 3rd year onwards Income Sale of Wool 29920 103290 118140 Sale of Animals 0 46400 69600 Income from Manure 352 932 988 Sub Total 30272 150622 188728 Expenditure Cost of Feed Concentrate 35720 78040 82360 Hay 1186 3131 3333 Vegetables / Kitchen Wastes 792 2084 2219 Water & Electricity Cost 1440 3264 3444 Medicines & Misc. Expenses 1440 3264 3444 Sub Total 40578 89783 94800 Gross Surplus 30272 60839 93928

Financial Analysis:

Sr. No. Particulars Year     1 2 3-6 7 1 Capital Cost 184420       2 Recurring expenses 40578 89783 94800 94800   Total capital costs 224998 89783 94800 94800   Benefits         3 Income 30272 150622 188728 188728 4 Salvage value of animals       36000 5 The residual value of sheds and equipment       49950   Total Benefit 30272 150622 188728 274678   Net Benefit -194726 60839 93928 179878   Disc Cost @ 15% DF 503830         Disc Benefit @ 15% DF 650898         NPV 147068         BCR 1.29         IRR 39.2%

Loan Repayment Schedule:

Year Gross surplus Loan outstanding Interest Principal Total outgo Net surplus 1 30272 202500 24300   24300 5972 2 60839 202500 24300 12203 36503 24336 3 93928 190927 22836 33521 56357 37571 4 93928 156776 18813 37544 56357 37571 5 93928 119232 14308 42049 56357 37571 6 93928 77183 9262 47095 56357 37571 7 93928 30088 3611 30088 33699 60229

Interest Rate:

The interest rates will be decided by banks keeping in view RBI guidelines. However, for working out financial viability and bankability of the model project, we have assumed the rate of interest as 12% p.a.

Security:

Security will be as per NABARD / RBI guidelines issued from time to time.

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