Successful Rabbit Farmers In Kenya Secret Tips To Success

Know these top secret tips these four top successful rabbit farmers in Kenya have embraced that no one is willing to freely tell you. Join the world of success today by having the most relevant rabbit farming tips you need to succeed.

Rabbit farming in Kenya is one of the fastest-growing businesses over the past few decades. Farmers with total investment into the business reap large in a years-time. Since the demand for rabbit meat is on the rise in the country, more rabbit farmers are called on board.

Ministry of Agriculture has recorded Central and Western parts of the country having the highest number of rabbit farmers and more rabbit meat consumers. Development projects have been put underway to ensure farmers rise from small-scale farming to large-scale farming systems.

Through the ministry of agriculture, the Kenyan government encourages local farmers to venture into rabbit farming with improved rabbit breeds for better productivity. Since the local rabbits are limited, the upgraded species are more beneficial to the farmers within the shortest time, depending on the rabbit variety.

Successful Farmers Secrete Tips To Success

Separation Of Newborns

Several farmers have testified that rabbits, Does, aged 6 months old are ready for mature birthing, with not less than 8 kittens per litter. Some does can birth up to 15 kittens per litter.

Depending on the species of the doe the farmer is raising, some does can give birth 3-4 times in a year while other breeds birth up to 6 times annually.

Does are left to raise the kittens where weaning can be done at 10 weeks. The does are separated from the kittens and mated for another pregnancy.

Selection Of Mate

Rabbit farmers are always advised to select a suitable mature buck for mating for better offspring. If no suitable bucks are available, insemination can be improvised cheaper than manual.

Avoid Premature Mating

At the same, baby rabbits should be separated does from bucks to avoid premature mating. Premature interbreeding results in disability and/ or weak offspring that barely survive beyond 4 months.

Premature cycles may interfere with the farmers’ schedule of raising the rabbits hence prolong the period before the farmer earns reasonable returns from the rabbits.

Identify The Best Breeding Season

The breeding seasons should be well considered when it comes to rabbit farming. Rabbits can do well in moderate and warm climatic seasons. The reason being, kittens are born with no fur hence slim chances of surviving during cold weather. Farmers should ensure does mate in favorable seasons for better growth.

Maximize All Resources

Rabbit farmers can benefit from the rabbit’s skin, fur, and waste products. Clothing production companies can sell the fur and skin for making expensive, durable coats. The rabbit waste can be collected and used to make;

Fertilizers (1-liter rabbit urine: 5 liters of water)
Insecticides (1-liter rabbit urine: 2 liters of water)
Rabbit droplets as food for fish
Rabbit droplets can be fermented for biogas (2 kg of rabbit droplets can produce cooking gas for hours of continuous cooking)

Successful Rabbit Farmers In Kenya You Must Know About

1. Moses Mutua

Mutua is the founding father of Rabbit Republic Ltd, formerly known as Aqua Farm Consultant Ltd. The company formally dealt with fish farming with various distribution as far as East Africa can be reached between 2010 to 2011. Mutua opted to venture into rabbit farming and abandon fish farming because he noticed the gap for rabbit meat.

Moses has established the rabbit farm in his place at Kamulu in 2012. The business went down along the way due to financial insufficiency and picked up in 2016. So far, the company is well established and has over 1,000 points of distribution in Kenya.

He has strategized a free education system to enlighten young farmers’ rabbit farming, help them develop rabbit farms with different breeding varieties, and guarantee a ready market at maturity.

Rabbit Republic Ltd has maintained its distribution point in Uganda and Tanzania. Mutual Market in Kenya is mainly reliant on 3-stars and five-star hotels. He has expanded other rabbit breeding sites in Karen, Nairobi county, and Machakos county. Mutua has the vision of growing the Rabbit Republic in the Central and West African countries.

2. Keziah Wambui Gitau

Wambui is one of the successful business ladies in the country, among other rabbit farmers. The mother of 3 grew up with the dream of keeping rabbits for domestic purposes. She now has her rabbit farm established in a Kiambu town, which began in May 2011. Her husband purchased 1 doe and a buck, and within one year, she owned 30 rabbits.

Wambui has expanded her business to hundreds of rabbits of different species. She sells mature Some of the breeds she produces include;

California White,
New Zealand White
Palomino
Angora
Dutch Dwarf breed
Flemish Giant
Chinchilla
Ear Lop

She sells to the ready market established to local consumers, local restaurants, and butcheries around town. Wambui has young rabbit farmers from

Thindigwa
Kiambu
Kayole
Ndumberi, among other places

3. Benjamin Gathii

Gathii is a young farmer from Kaharati, Murang’a South, Central Kenya, and 22 years of age. Out of passion, he started with 5 hybrid rabbits out of and increased to over 200 after being visited by the KNA group.

He was trained on how to care for the different varieties of rabbits. Although Gathii is a form 4 leaver, he earns handsomely and can cater to his needs and those of his household at large.

Gathii sells over 20 rabbits per month at approximately Ksh. 3,500 each. He collects from 5 to 7 liters of rabbit urine per day and sells it at approximately Ksh. 100 per liter to farmers for fertilizers and insecticides. The rabbit droplets also do not go to waste as farmers purchase them for organic manure and produce biogas.

Gathii charges individuals approximately Ksh. 800 per kilogram of rabbit meat and Ksh. 600 for company prices. The more kilograms purchased, the lesser the price. Some food production companies buy from Gathii rabbit parts such as rabbit limbs, skin, and head to make dog meals for sale.

He sometimes carries out training for individual training on rabbit farming at subsidized rates. As a result, he has emerged among one of the most successful rabbit farmers in the county.

4. Eric Njagi

Njagi is a young rabbit farmer locate at Kahawa village, Tharaka Nithi County, Kenya. He has successfully penetrated in rabbit farming business from a small-scale system to large-scale production.

Njagi decided to start rabbit farming for domestic purposes. Njagi purchased 3 rabbits; one buck and two does. As his rabbits began drawing attention to the neighbors, he grew interested in expanding the project to a higher income generating project.

Njagi sold his kittens to several villagers and offered them training in the same area of specialty. He now has over 25 hatches and owns over 100 rabbits. He sells not less than 20 rabbits at approximately Ksh. 3,000.

The earnings from the rabbits have greatly supplemented his income from his teaching profession. He caters sufficiently for his family without straining.

Conclusion

Rabbit farmers in Kenya have boosted the country’s socio-economic status through rabbit farming. The farming system has added to the availability of white meat production of the delicious rabbit meat. More farmers are called to invest in the farming practice.

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