page_title: Cuniculture
section_title: Meat rabbits
hierarchical_section_title: Cuniculture / Aspects of rabbit production / Meat rabbits
caption_attribution_description: For documentary purposes the German Federal Archive often retained the original image captions, which may be erroneous, biased, obsolete or politically extreme. Betrieb Geflügelschlacht- und verarbeitung Schleusingen ADN-ZB Schaar 12.12.85 Bez. Suhl: Festtagsbraten 2230 Kaninchen - vorwiegend aus privaten Hauswirtschaften - werden täglich im VEB Thüringer Fleischkombinat, Betrieb Geflügelschlacht- und verarbeitung Schleusingen, geschlachtet, verpackt und an Geschäfte oder Kühlhäuser geliefert. Derzeit ist wegen der Festtagsversorgung Hochbetrieb an den Schlachtstrecken des betriebes. Karin Kleinschmidt wäscht die ausgenommenen Kaninchen.
context_page_description: Cuniculture is the agricultural practice of breeding and raising domestic rabbits as livestock for their meat, fur, or wool. Cuniculture is also employed by rabbit fanciers and hobbyists in the development and betterment of rabbit breeds and the exhibition of those efforts. Scientists practice cuniculture in the use and management of rabbits as model organisms in research. Cuniculture has been practiced all over the world since at least the 5th century.
context_section_description: Rabbits have been raised for meat production in a variety of settings around the world. Smallholder or backyard operations remain common in many countries, while large-scale commercial operations are centered in Europe and Asia. For the smaller enterprise, multiple local rabbit breeds may be easier to use.
   Many local, "rustico", landrace or other heritage type breeds may be used only in a specific geographic area. Sub-par or "cull" animals from other breeding goals (laboratory, exhibition, show, wool, or pet) may also be used for meat, particularly in smallholder operations.
  Counterintuitively, the giant rabbit breeds are rarely used for meat production, due to their extended growth rates (which lead to high feed costs) and their large bone size (which reduces the percentage of their weight that is usable meat). Dwarf breeds, too, are rarely used, due to the high production costs, slow growth, and low offspring rate.
  In contrast to the multitude of breeds and types used in smaller operations, breeds such as the New Zealand and the Californian, along with hybrids of these breeds, are most frequently utilized for meat in commercial rabbitries. The primary qualities of good meat-rabbit breeding stock are growth rate and size at slaughter, but also good mothering ability. Specific lines of commercial breeds have been developed that maximize these qualities – rabbits may be slaughtered as early as seven weeks and does of these strains routinely raise litters of 8 to 12 kits. Other breeds of rabbit developed for commercial meat production include the Florida White and the Altex.
  Rabbit breeding stock raised in France is particularly popular with meat rabbit farmers internationally, some being purchased as far away as China in order to improve the local rabbit herd.
  Larger-scale operations attempt to maximize income by balancing land use, labor required, animal health, and investment in infrastructure. Specific infrastructure and strain qualities depend on the geographic area. An operation in an urban area may emphasize odor control and space utilization by stacking cages over each other with automatic cleaning systems that flush away faeces and urine. In rural sub-tropical and tropical areas, temperature control becomes more of an issue, and the use of air-conditioned buildings is common in many areas.
  Breeding schedules for rabbits vary by individual operation. Prior to the development of modern balanced rabbit rations, rabbit breeding was limited by the nutrition available to the doe. Without adequate calories and protein, the doe would either not be fertile, would abort or resorb the foetuses during pregnancy, or would deliver small numbers of weak kits. Under these conditions, a doe would be re-bred only after weaning her last litter when the kits reached the age of two months. This allowed for a maximum of four litters per year. Advances in nutrition, such as those published by the USDA Rabbit Research Station, resulted in greater health for breeding animals and the survival of young stock. Likewise, offering superior, balanced nutrition to growing kits allowed for better health and less illness among slaughter animals. Current practices include the option of re-breeding the doe within a few days of delivery (closely matching the behavior of wild rabbits during the spring and early summer, when forage availability is at its peak.) This can result in up to eight or more litters annually. A doe of ideal meat-stock genetics can produce five times her body weight in fryers a year. Criticism of the more intensive breeding schedules has been made on the grounds that re-breeding that closely is excessively stressful for the doe. Determination of health effects of breeding schedules is made more difficult by the domestic rabbit's reproductive physiology – in contrast to several other mammal species, rabbits are more likely to develop uterine cancer when not used for breeding than when bred frequently.
  In efficient production systems, rabbits can turn 20 percent of the proteins they eat into edible meat, compared to 22 to 23 perc
caption: A slaughtering facility in Germany (1985)
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