08/30/2026
This is a wonderful breakdown of raising meat rabbits. I personally process Rex at 16 weeks when they are 6.5-8 pounds, and their pelt is in it's prime for tanning. Rabbit is a great source for protein! We all know the saying "it tastes like chicken" is applied to a lot of different meats, but rabbit tastes BETTER than chicken!💯😊
Is rabbit meat the answer to our protein predicament?
No rabbit will never be beef, but that doesn’t mean you can’t put something else on your fork!
Let’s talk about.
A single breeding trio, two does and one buck, can produce between 150 and 400 pounds of dressed meat in a year, depending on the type of rabbit breed you choose and intensity of your breeding schedule.
A healthy doe averages 4-6 litters per year, with 6 to 12 kits per litter. Kits are typically harvested at 8 to 12 weeks of age, at 5-6lb live rabbit yields a dressed carcass of roughly 3-3.5lbs.
See how quickly those numbers are adding up?
Rabbits don’t require acres of grazing. They have one of the highest meat to bone ratios and feed converters. And most folks can keep rabbits quietly in their backyards, without permitting or huge infrastructure. You don’t need fancy processing equipment or machinery to harvest their meat and you can cook rabbit in any recipe as a chicken substitute.
We haven’t even touched on their furs and manure byproducts, a side hustle that pays for itself.
So I’ll ask you again, why aren’t you raising meat rabbits yet?
