Meat Rabbit Production Calculator (Does, Fryers, Feed & Cages)

How it works

fryers/yr = does × litters × kits weaned × (1 − 8% loss) · dressed = live × 55% · bucks = does ÷ 8 · grow-out cages ≈ does × litters × (harvest weeks − 5) ÷ 52 · feed ≈ 250 lb/doe + 180 lb/buck + (3 × fryer lb + 1) per fryer · gestation 31 days

Rabbits convert feed to meat faster than any other homestead animal because a doe can raise five or more litters a year and her kits reach harvest size in under three months, so a handful of does yields a hundred or more fryers annually from a few square metres of cages. The plan hinges on the breeding schedule — how soon after kindling a doe is bred again — and on how many kits she weans, while the cage count follows from how many litters are in grow-out at once. Feed is the dominant cost, and most of it goes to the does themselves, which is why culling poor mothers and keeping does productive matters more than the price of pellets.

Worked example

Four does bred for five litters a year weaning seven kits produce 140 kits and, after 8% loss, about 129 fryers — 644 lb live and roughly 354 lb of dressed meat, about 2.5 fryers a week. They need one buck and about 3 grow-out cages (8 in all, since only two or three litters are in grow-out at any time), and eat around 3,240 lb of pellets a year — 65 bags, about $1,430, or roughly $4 a pound of dressed meat. A family wanting one rabbit dinner a week needs just two does on this schedule.

Frequently asked questions