Rabbits

Rabbit production is organised mainly around meat, with breeding does managed on a repeated kindling cycle to supply young stock for growing out, alongside smaller fibre and pelt sectors. Scale ranges from a few backyard hutches to commercial operations with hundreds or thousands of breeding does managed on standardised cages and feeding programmes.

Meat breeds

Selected for growth rate and carcass yield (for example, New Zealand White and Californian types).

Fibre breeds

Angora rabbits, kept for their long wool fleece, which is periodically shorn or plucked.

Dual-purpose and local breeds

Balanced for meat, pelts, or hardiness in smallholder and backyard settings.

Rabbit diets centre on fibrous forage — commonly alfalfa or grass hay — because adequate long fibre supports normal gut motility and caecal fermentation; diets too low in fibre are linked to digestive upset. Commercial production typically relies on formulated pelleted feed balancing fibre, protein, and energy, while backyard systems often combine hay with vegetables, greens, and root crops as supplementary feed.

Rabbit health and welfare depend on adequate space, appropriate flooring or bedding, protection from heat stress and predators, and management practices that reduce stress, since rabbits are prey animals sensitive to handling and environment. Digestive upsets, often linked to diet or stress, are a significant health concern in commercial rabbitries.

Rabbit production makes efficient use of forage crops and by-products relative to its space requirements, and manure is commonly recycled as a garden or field soil amendment in smallholder systems. Commercial rabbit meat production remains a comparatively small livestock sector globally but is well established in several regions with strong local demand.