So You Want to Buy a Meat Rabbit

As time goes on, and for a variety of good reasons, people are turning back to not only growing their own vegetables, but their own meat too. Many are finding that a cow or a goat are just too big, and require a lot more cash outlay to purchase. Rabbits, on the other hand, are very inexpensive and easy to maintain, so the choice becomes much simpler.

Today’s prices range from $25.00 to $50.00 for quality meat breeding rabbits. Here at the Texas Rabbit Barn, we are in the middle of that range, charging $35.00 per animal (March 2016 prices). If you spend less, the chances are that the quality of the animal is much reduced. If you pay more, you may not get a better animal (you should for that price), but only get a greedy breeder.

There are hundreds of questions you should have already researched for yourself PRIOR to laying out your hard earned cash. Part of that research should have been with a few breeders. A good breeder KNOWS his/her stuff. They should be able to communicate responses to your questions clearly and concisely! If they can’t/don’t…THEN RUN AS FAST AS YOU CAN! Choosing a good rabbit includes choosing a good breeder. The only way to find this out is to talk with them on the phone and visit their bunny barn.

When you make arrangements to visit their barn, please show them the courtesy of being on time (some folks just don’t show up at all). If you’re going to be delayed, please make a quick call with an updated time of arrival. When folks show up to my barn late without a previous call, or they don’t show up at all, depending on the reason, they don’t get to buy a rabbit from me. This showing of disrespect to a breeder MAY be a sign of how they might care for their rabbits.

When standing outside of the barn, a good breeder will ask you if you already have rabbits. If you do, I like to give you a hand sanitizer to rub onto your hands. BUT, if you came to my barn with your “rabbit working” clothes on, I’d send you back home to change into something clean. I do not want to risk you bringing something that sticks to your clothing that came from a sick rabbit in your own barn.

Once you enter the barn, move slowly! Talk quietly! The breeder’s rabbits don’t know you, your smell or your voice. You may even, like me, be seen by them as a big predator. If the breeders cages are outside, you may cast a bigger shadow that could very well scare them and stress them out.

Now inside of the barn, look around. Is the barn fairly clean? Barns are not noted for being clean, but they should not have trash lying around, and if the bunny poo is allowed to drop just below the cages, make sure it isn’t piled 3 feet high underneath them. Is there a foul manure/urine smell in the barn? Is their air circulation present? Without good air circulation in a barn, these rabbits may be more susceptible to respiratory issues.

Okay, you like what you see so far. Now, let’s look at a rabbit. I show all of my customers the rabbit's attributes.  We both look at the rabbit from the tip of their nose to the end of their tail. We look at the teeth to make sure they are straight and the top teeth overlapping the bottom teeth. We look for clear eyes, no foggy eyes in my barn, thank you. We look at the rabbit’s body conformation (shape). Sitting in a posed (for judging) position, my New Zealand rabbits should have a bulbous rear end and broad shoulders.

Rubbing on its backbone, you should not feel sharp points of its vertebrate. They should feel smooth and rounded. This tells you that the animal has sufficient fat and meat on its bones (that is to say that the rabbit has been over fed).

Turning the rabbit on its back (in your arms), look at its feet to insure that there is no scabbing on its back feet (a sign of sore hocks). Check the front feet too. You should also look at the toenails. A rabbit usually does not need its first toenail trimming until at least 3 months old. This has been my experience.

Rub your fingers on the rabbits belly to check for any bumps, cuts or other abnormalities. Twist (ever so tenderly) the tail to make sure it is not broken. Finally, check the gender of the rabbit. We have a running saying in the rabbit world that “the gender fairy visited last night and now the boy is a girl.” 

Make sure that you both agree that the rabbit is the gender you are purchasing. I wait to sell my rabbits until they reach at least 8 weeks old. That way I can insure the right gender, and I know that you are getting a healthy, well fed animal.

Once you have looked over the rabbit, agree on the price, cage the animal, and be on your way. GO HOME DIRECTLY! Do not stop. If left alone in the vehicle for too long, the rabbit may suffer stress, dehydration, or be out in the back of a truck bed in direct sunlight…NOT GOOD!

In a future article, I’ll discuss what you should do when you get the rabbit home. Rabbits can be fun to raise, even when you are going to use them as a food source.