The Rabbit as a Meat Producing Animal

Nephi M. Patton*
Peter R. Cheeke

Rabbit production i s now a minor agricultural enterprise 3. Rabbits have a high feed conversion efficiency, with feed/
throughout the world. It is most highly developed in Western gain ratios of 2-2.3 on high grain diets, and 3-3.8 on high
European countries such as France, Italy and Spain. Rabbits forage, grain-free diets.
are also raised in large numbers in China, which i s the main 4. They have a high growth rate, similar to that of broiler
exporter of rabbit meat. Increasing quantities of Chinese rab- chickens, reaching market weight (4-4.5 Ibs) at 8 weeks of
bit meat are being imported into the United States. age.
Rabbits have a number of attributes which may result in 5. Rabbits have the potential of being in a constant state of
their importance increasing in the future. They have the po- reproduction; they can be rebred within 2 4 hours of par-
tential to become a major livestock species. This article will turition.
briefly review some of these attributes, and present some of 6. There i s a high degree of genetic diversity for productive
the problems which currently prevent this potential from traits, so that selection and breeding programs have the
being realized. potential for a rapid rate of improvement.
Some of the attributes of the rabbit as a livestock species 7. Rabbit meat is a high quality, nutritious product.
are: 8. Rabbits are suited to both small scale (backyard, self-
sufficiency) and to large scale commercial production.
1. Rabbits can be fed high forage, low grain diets that are
largely noncompetitive with human food requirements. The ability of rabbits to utilize high forage diets efficiently i s
2. Rabbits utilize forage protein very efficiently. shown in Table 1.

Table 1 . Performance of weanling rabbits fed high alfalfa diets (Pote et al., 1980)

3
' Corn Average Average Daily
2
' Dietary replaced daily daily Feedl DE intake Mortality
alia I fa by alfalfa ga i d g ) intake(g) gain (Kcal) 1%)

0 0 31.4a 84.2a 2.7 310 20

10 10.1 44.0b 107.5b 2.4 3 74 20
20 21.7 36.6ab 105.3b 2.9 350 10
30 36.2 40.1 ab 1 10.4b 2.8 349 70
40 50.7 36.4ab 115.8b 3.2 344 10
50 65.2 [Link] 130.9C 3.2 365 10
60 79.7 37.3ab 134.3Cd 3.6 349 10
74 100 38.2ab 147.6d 3.9 346 0

Means followed by different superscripts differ significantly ( P < 0.05)

-
In this study (Pote et al., 1980), the complete replacement
' N . M . Patton, Rabbit Research Center, Oregon State Uni- of grain with alfalfa did not reduce average daily gain. Gain
versity, Corvallis, OR 9733 I was lowest on the low fiber, high energy corn-soy diet with
no alfalfa added. Even with a diet containing 74% alfalfa, the
Reciprocal Meat Conference Proceedings, Volume 3 4 , feedlgain ratio was less than 4. Values for poultry, swine or
1981 cattle fed a grain-free high alfalfa diet would probably be
much higher, and in the case of growing swine and poultry,
Contributioli of the Rabbit Research Center a n d the De- performance with a 74% alfalfa diet would be extremely
partmcnt of Animal Scienc.e, Oregon Agriculturai Experiment poor. The ability of rabbits to use high forage diets may be
Station, Cowallis, OR 97330 particularly important in tropical developing countries. Harris

135
136 American Meat Science Association

et al. ( 1 9 8 1 ) have shown that rabbits can grow as rapidly and Patton: The processors here in Oregon are quite small,
efficiently on diets containing several tropical forages as when however, 70% of our rabbits are shipped to California, where
they are fed diets containing alfalfa. they d o make biological products. Pel-freeze, in Arkansas, has
An additional benefit of the use of high forage diets is that a huge biological division. Some of our producers might be
the incidence of enteritis is markedly reduced. Enteritis i s a up to 1000 rabbits a week, but our major production is going
disorder of the digestion tract, causing diarrhea, dehydration, into California where the major market is. We do not have
toxemia and death. It i s responsible for the death of a high USDA inspection of rabbit meat unless you buy it since it i s
percentage of all fryer rabbits produced. Cheeke and Patton not mandatory. Pel-freeze i s the only slaughter plant in
( 1 9 8 0 ) have suggested that it is caused by carbohydrate over- America that has USDA inspection so they can ship all over
load of the hindgut (cecum and colon). Feeding high grain the country. In Oregon, however, we must ship on the paw
diets allows undigested starch to enter the hindgut, where it into California to be able to get the product to where the
supports the proliferation of pathogens which produce en- people are.
dotoxins. Absorbed endotoxins are responsible for the death Dr. Lews: Do you distinguish the price of your rabbit by
of the affected animals. The use of high forage diets reduces color of coat?
the dietary starch level, and likelihood of carbohydrate over- Patton: Processors pay less money for the colored skin or
load. the colored rabbit. The reason for this is that the price of
Rabbit meat is a high quality nutritious product. Results of a white fur has just skyrocketed. We are now getting 60$ a skin
recent study on its composition are shown in Table 2. for white fur. It used to he sold for SO$ a pound. Now we are
Some of the problems which currently limit the profitability getting $3.60 a pound for white, but the colored fur is consid-
of rabbit production are high disease losses, and the high erably less. By-products of the rabbit industry include biologi-
labor intensity of rabbit raising. If these problems can be cals and the fur market i s increasing rapidly.
overcome, rabbit production may become more important in Question: Don’t you feel that if that’s the case, then why
the future. Because of their ability to efficiently utilize high would this industry not become competitive with the poultry
forage diets, rabbits have the potential to become a major industry!
meat producing livestock species. Patton: I think the price of fur is going to help, but that 62$
a pound we’re paying for rabbits live includes the coat, so we
Discussion are not in the same ballgame. One of the things the research
center is interested in is automation of rabbit production. We
Dr. Lewis: Do your processors make many biological prod- are now handling them by hand. They are bred by hand and
ucts from the rabbits? are very sensitive to feed. One of the problems with our en-

Table 2. Nutrient composition of rabbit meata

Amount Amount
oi oi
Nutrient Nutrient Vitam insc Nutrient

Crude Protein (%) 18.5b Thiamine ( m g / l O O g ) 0.1 1

Fat ( % ) 7.4b Riboflavin ( m g ‘ l OOg) 0.37
Water (56) 71b Niacin (mg/kg) 21.2
Ash ( % ) 0.64b Pyridoxine (mg/kg) 0.27
Unsaturated fatty acids as Pantothenic acid (mg/kg) 0.10
a % of total fatty acids 63 Vitamin B12 (microgramsikg) 14.9
Cholesterol ( m g / l Oog) 136C Folic acid (micrograms/kg) 40.6
Mineralsc Amino Acidsd

Zinc (rngikg) 54 Leucine 8.6

Sodium (mg/kg) 393 Lysine 8.7
Potassium (g/kg) 2 Histidine 2.4
Calcium (mgikg) 130 Arginine 4.8
Magnesi u m (mg/kg) 145 Threonine 5.1
Iron (mgikg) 29 Valine 4.6
Methionine 2.6
Isoleucine 4.0
Phenylalanine 3.2

aData taken from Rao, D. R. et al., 1979. Nutritive value of rabbit meat. pp. 53-59 in: The Domestic Rabbit: Potentials,
Problems and Current Research. Published by OSU Rabbit Research Center, Corvallis, OR 97331.
b e t weight basis.
CDryweight basis.
dArnino Acids expressed as Q of protein.
34th Reciprocal Meat Conference 137

teritis syndrome is if you full feed a rabbit continuously, then, of course, it’s different. We are desperately trying to
they‘re liable to die. So the things we are studying are promote this from the standpoint of livestock. As I mentioned,
methods for feeding a rabbit so you can automate and not be that picture we used for promotion actually didn’t do us any
concerned with death loss. good.
Kinsman: What has been the acceptance of the term, cunie Zobrisky: Whatever happened to this company called
meat? FUNK Incorporated here in Washington state.
Patton: Not very well. Most people still refer to it as rabbit Patton: They have gone out of business. They had some
meat, even though we have suggested that the name be very interesting ideas, but the person who had the ideas didn’t
changed a number of times. You may recall that before the know how to raise rabbits.
truth in selling laws came in, the rabbit coat was called a
CONIE. Cuney might be a take off from that same idea, but
people are still calling it rabbit meat. References
Kauffrnan: I would like to know your philosophical answers Cheeke, P. R. and N. M. Patton. 1980. Carbohydrate overload of the
to the animal rights people concerning this issue of rabbit for hindgut: a probable cause of enteritis. I. Appl. Rabbit Res.
food? 3(3):20-23.
Palton: I guess I would ask you what your philosophical Harris, D. J., P. R. Cheeke, L. Telek and N. M. Patton. 1981. Utiliza-
tion of alfalfa meal and tropical forages by weanling rabbits. 1.
comments concerning beef for food or chickens for food.
Appl. Rabbit Res. 4:4-9.
Kauffrnan: I asked first. Pote, L. M., P. R. Cheeke and N. M. Patton. 1980. Utilization of diets
Patton: Well, certainly if you view it from a livestock point high in alfalfa meal by weanling rabbits. J. Appl. Rabbit Res.
of view, it’s the same. If you view it from a pet point of view, 3(4):5-10.