Want rabbits as fat as pigs? Follow this working manual

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Kiambu, Kenya: If you go to Ruth Wanjiku’s farm, something will draw your attention. The gigantic rabbits! Because of their size (they weigh 7kg), the animals draw huge crowds at her farm in Kinoo, Kikuyu constituency, Kiambu County.

“Are these real? Are they genetically modified? Why are they this big?” These are some of the questions she gets from the mesmerised visitors.

In the last two months, the farmer who has 60 hybrid rabbits sold 20 four-month-old rabbits at an average Sh2,500 each.

So, what’s the secret to attaining such weight in just six months?

“First, I make sure they have no stress. I manage this by ensuring they are in a clean environment with good lighting and ventilation. Rabbits hate dirt and disorder. Second, I feed them well with right food at right amounts. I feed them on hay, pellets and well chopped greens. Pillar Group Limited, a company that provides us with the rabbit market, taught me on best feeds,” she says.

Wanjiku, 35, explains that feeds is the secret to raising healthy rabbits.

At the same time she warns of overfeeding because it can affect their breeding.

She takes Smart Harvest through the DIY (do it yourself tips) of ‘fattening’ the animals.

Each day, the farmer starts by chopping cabbages and kales among other green vegetables into small pieces and mix with pellets in troughs fashioned out of plastics.

In another dish, she puts clean water for the animals. Wanjiku, however, hangs hay in the evenings and changes their drinking water.

To ensure the rabbits are in top health, Wanjiku calls in the services of a health professional regularly.

“I call a livestock officer every month to check on the animals. The officer vaccinates them and helps to control diseases like pneumonia, coccidiosis and ear canker which are common in rabbits,” she explains.

Wanjiku who has named one of her rabbits Baba Yao (because it is the biggest) started her rabbit farming with Sh50,000 which she used to construct rabbit cages and buy five nannies and a buck.

She has 34 cages on an 8m by 4m parcel with each cage sheltering between one and 10 rabbits depending on age.

She sells them to Pillar Group Limited at Sh500 per kilo when they are four months.

She says, “I give an adult rabbit 130 grammes of pellets per day and 60 grammes to the young ones. I increase the feeds as the animal becomes older,” she shares.

Robin Kariuki, a livestock extension officer based in Kyeni Division, Embu West, says all the three type of feeds Wanjiku uses helps not only for weight increase but also it helps in animal’s digestion.

“Greens help to complement the minerals these animals get from pellets and other feeds,” he adds saying rabbit feeds should be rich in protein, carbohydrates and vitamins.

He advises farmers to feed their rabbits early in the morning and give them up to 1pm to digest the meal before feeding them again.

The officer says farmers can include multi-vitamin supplements to help the animals relax thus boosting their growth.