Keynote For A Successful Rabbit Farming In Nigeria

Rabbit Farming Business

If you are looking for a very easy farming business to venture into look no further, rabbit farming is the right choice for you.

Rabbit farming is a micro-livestock farming that has become a good source of food production and venturing into it on a large scale can be a great source of income and employment.

The good thing about this farming is that you don’t need a big expanse of land, a small place and small food will do just fine enough for them.

Rabbit meat is very sweet, nutritious and can easily be digestible by all aged people. It is high in protein, vitamins, energy, calcium than any other type of animal meat.

Compared to other meat it has a low amount of fat, sodium, and cholesterol. This made it to be in high demand and expensive.

Reasons why you should go into Rabbit farming

There are many reasons why you should go for a commercial rabbit farming business some of which are;

They are very fast growing animals
Rabbit farming can be carried out in a very small space
They have a high food converting rate
A female rabbit can give birth to 2-8 kids at a time
It has a low cost of production
It does not require much labor
It has no religious taboo of eating it
It is a highly profitable business with a good return on investment
Waste from the kitchen, plant leaves, and grasses are their favorite food with little or no cost of feed for production.

With the consistent increase in population and high demand for protein meat going into rabbit farming will be a very good idea in bridging the gap between demand and supply.

Read Also; Keynote For A Successful Snail Farming

Starting A Rabbit Farming Business

If you want to start a commercial rabbit farming business, you need to make a proper business plan before starting to be successful and avoid some unnecessary hiccups.

Here are some steps you need to take note of if you must be successful in rabbit farming.

Choose the type of Rabbit breed to Farm

One question you must answer before going ahead in this business is, what breed of rabbit can I use for this business? There are many breeds of rabbits available in the world.

Some of which are, the new Zealand white, Dutch, New Zealand Black, Fox, Chinchilla, Belgium white, New Zealand red, etc. which are highly productive, and any of these breeds will do just fine for your business if it is available in your area.

The Rabbit farming method to adopt

We have two methods of raising rabbits which are the deep litter and cage method.

Deep Litter Method

This method is good if you want to raise a small number of rabbits. Here concrete floor is used with 4 -5 inches depth of hay, husk, straw, or wood shavings. This method can take about 30 rabbits in a house.

In this method, the rate of disease outbreaks is high and can be difficult to manage. Always keep the male rabbit separate from the female ones.

Cage method

This is the best method for commercial rabbit farming and in this system, rabbits are kept in a cage made with wire or iron plates. It can be used to raise a large number of rabbits.

The male and the female rabbit are also kept separate in different cages.

The size of the cage is also very important and it is recommended that the minimum is 1.1 meters for living space and height of 2-3 meters. For better movement and play you can use 9.7meters (32sqft).

However a perfect cage for commercial purposes should be 30 inches deep, 36 inches wide, and 16 inches tall which is perfect for all rabbit types.

Feeding your Rabbit

Feeding is a very important aspect of your rabbit must do well. The consumption rate and nutrients requirement of the rabbit varies, base on the rabbit’s age and type of breed.

Keynote For A Successful Rabbit farming In Nigeria

For proper feeding of adult rabbits, their food should contain, 14 percent fiver, 18 percent crude protein, 7 percent minerals, and 2700 calories of metabolic energy.

For commercial-scale, you can serve the poultry feed and occasionally give them food such as cucumber, green grass, carrots, green leafy vegetables, spinach, and vegetable waste which are the common food of rabbits.

Note: Do not feed rabbits with bread, avocadoes, biscuit, chocolate, potatoes, and rice.

Breeding of Rabbit

The maturity age of rabbits is between 5-6 months of age for the females and a year for the male.

Always use healthy rabbits with good body conformation for breeding in other to get quality young rabbits.

To carry out breeding do not place the male rabbit in a female cage it is too dangerous, it is better you carry the female rabbit to the male rabbit cage, to be separated after the breeding period is over.

Caring for your rabbit

You must take good care of your rabbit by giving them a clean and habitable environment. This will help to reduce disease outbreaks and support good health.

The caring process of rabbit is different at their different stages of life and maturity

However, it is majorly fermented into two seasons. The cold and hot season.

During the hot season ensure to do the following;

Trim long hair
Place ice bag in their cage for some certain time
Do not feed them with food that can increase their temperature
Always provide them with fresh water

During the cold weather;

Use a jute bag or warm carpet
Place them in the sun once a day
Try to fix light on the cage to keep them warm
Provide them with food that can keep them warm
Always clean their nest as much as possible

Caring for a pregnant rabbit

This period is quite delicate and risky and as such care must be taking in handling the pregnant doe.

Sufficient feed should be given to them to avoid abortion of the children. A pregnant or mother doe need more weight than others, food such as cucumber, carrots, and vegetables should always be provided with clean water.

Keynote For A Successful Rabbit farming In Nigeria