Rabbit Production - James I McNitt

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regions developed more than 1000 production units. These rabbits have directly benefited nearly 7000 participants. The rabbit is a potential means of improving the nutritional status of low income people in many of the Caribbean islands by utilizing locally grown forages and by-products.

      In South America, major areas of rabbit production include Uruguay, Argentina, and Brazil, where some large rabbitries have been built. Demand for rabbit meat comes from European immigrants, particularly Italians, in the large cities, such as São Paulo and Montevideo, but meat has also been exported to other countries. Potential for growth of rabbit production in South America seems good, with the abundant forage resources and rapidly increasing human populations. There has been some Angora production, particularly in Argentina, Bolivia, and Chile.

      Asia

      China is one of the world’s major rabbit-producing countries. Rabbit meat from China has been exported to Europe and North America quite extensively. Since the 1980s, major emphasis has been on Angora wool production. China is the source of approximately 80 percent of the Angora wool used in the textile industry, producing about 4000 metric tons annually. Since the average wool yield for Chinese Angora rabbits is about 200 grams per annum, it appears that about 20 million Angoras are raised in China. Meat is a by-product of the wool production, although about half the rabbit herds in China produce strictly meat rabbits. In rural villages, rabbits in China are not usually fed a pelleted concentrate diet. Instead, they are fed forages, including vegetable tops and water weeds that are often wilted to reduce the moisture content (Fig. 2.3). Various byproducts, such as wheat bran, rice bran, or corn bran, are fed as a moist mash supplement. Because of the huge human population and the need to upgrade the diet with high quality protein, and because of rising cereal grain and fuel costs, it is likely that rabbit production will be of increasing importance in China as a means of converting roughages to human food.

      Fig. 2.3. In some areas, rabbits are fed various types of greens including the berseem that this man has harvested for feeding to his rabbits. (Courtesy of S.D. Lukefahr)

      Rabbit production is gaining in importance in other Asian countries, such as Indonesia, South Korea, and Vietnam. Because of low labor costs, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and South Korea are important markets for rabbit skins and furs for garment manufacture.

      A major effort to promote rabbit raising in Indonesia has its basis in the need to increase food production in that densely populated country. Village rabbit raising is a potential means of providing protein to low income people who consume a nutritionally inadequate rice-based diet. Abundant supplies of rice bran are available that, along with local forages, can provide the feed needed for rabbits.

      In India, meat rabbit production is also becoming more popular. The raising of Angora rabbits for wool is increasing in several northern states in the foothills of the Himalaya Mountains. This is being encouraged as a cottage industry to increase income levels of villagers.

      Australia and New Zealand

      In Australia and New Zealand, the word “rabbit” is synonymous with “pest.” Commercial rabbit rising has been severely limited by regulations forbidding growing of rabbits, because of widespread fear of the results should the animals escape. The reasoning behind this is that wild rabbits have been a major scourge in Australia and New Zealand, causing tremendous damage to crops and pastures and often severe soil erosion of the denuded areas (Fig. 2.4). Often overlooked is the fact that the animal responsible is the European wild rabbit, not the domestic rabbit.

      Fig. 2.4. Wild rabbits are major pests in Australia and New Zealand. The ecological damage that high populations of wild rabbits can cause and their high reproductive potential can be appreciated from this image. (Courtesy of the National Archives of Australia)

      In 1980, the government of New Zealand, after extensive study, approved legislation permitting the raising of domestic rabbits. Following this, there was a flurry of activity involving importation of Rex rabbits and an attempt to establish a Rex fur industry. This program seems to have faltered. In Australia there are periodic attempts to establish large commercial rabbitries, but so far without success. The prospect for increased domestic rabbit production in these countries seems limited.

      Africa

      Inadequate food production is a critical problem throughout Africa. Rabbit raising could make a significant contribution to human welfare. Since rabbit farming is not a traditional practice throughout Africa, carefully designed training programs are essential. In Ghana, a national program to promote rabbit meat has been quite successful. Billboards, signs on buses and trucks (Fig. 2.5), and radio and television announcements encourage people to raise rabbits and eat rabbit meat. It is claimed that about 5 million rabbits are eaten annually in Ghana. The success of this program has led to similar development schemes in several African countries. Other successful rabbit programs have been established in Benin, Egypt, Cameroon, Nigeria, and Kenya. The emphasis has been on self-sufficient meat production by families living on small farms. As in other tropical areas, rabbit production in Africa seems to have considerable potential.

      Fig. 2.5. In Ghana there is a vigorous campaign to promote rabbit keeping. This is a sign on the side of a bus encouraging the raising of rabbits. (Courtesy of P.R. Cheeke)

      Future World Rabbit Production

      There is little doubt that rabbits could become important meat animals in many countries, particularly in developing nations with high human population density and a shortage of high quality grains and plant protein sources. The purpose of raising livestock is to convert low quality fibrous vegetation to a higher quality human food (meat). Rabbits offer a number of advantages over other livestock in this conversion process. Whether the potential of rabbit production is realized depends on several factors, including research to bring actual productivity closer to the potential limits and increased consumer acceptance of rabbit meat. It is virtually a worldwide phenomenon that rabbits are viewed as cute creatures, and many people who readily accept the slaughter of chickens, cattle, and other livestock find the idea of slaughtering and eating rabbits difficult to accept.

      Consideration of recent trends in rabbit production suggests that Europe will continue to be the stronghold of rabbit raising, with a viable industry based on strong consumer demand for rabbit meat, although the increasing popularity of rabbit production in Asia could likely surpass present trends in Europe. Growth of the North American industry, where rabbits are mostly found in small numbers in back yards or on small farms will likely be modest. Rabbit meat in the United States is in competition with abundant other food resources, particularly the highly sophisticated and automated poultry industry. Rabbit raising is labor intensive and well adapted to small-scale backyard self-sufficiency situations, suggesting that it could increase in importance in low income areas where abundant inexpensive labor is available. Much of the developing world in Africa, Latin America, and Southeast Asia is in that category, and increases in rabbit production in these areas appear likely.

      Rabbit Research Worldwide

      The development of any livestock industry

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