Rabbit Price

🐇 How rabbits are priced in India

The band above runs wide because rabbits here are really three markets in one — a commercial meat (broiler) rabbit sold on weight, a pet bought by families on breed and temperament, and the Angora kept for wool. A weaned kit and a proven breeding pair are very different animals, so read the band knowing what you are actually after.

What moves the price

• Purpose — meat, pet or wool. A commercial meat rabbit is priced on weight and growth rate; a pet is priced on breed, colour and temperament; an Angora is priced on its wool. The same-sized rabbit can be worth quite different money in each of those markets.
• Breed. Recognised meat breeds — New Zealand White, Californian, Grey Giant, Soviet Chinchilla, Flemish Giant — sit above a nondescript local rabbit. Pet and fancy breeds — Dutch, Lop, Lionhead, Netherland Dwarf — and the wool Angora are a separate market at their own prices.
• Age and stage. A young weaned kit, a grown fryer at meat weight and a proven breeding buck or doe are priced very differently; a settled, proven breeding pair costs the most.
• Health and condition. A bright, alert rabbit with a clean nose and ears and good flesh over the back is worth paying for. Snuffles, ear mites or a dirty back end pull the value down fast.

The breeds you will actually see

On the meat side it is the broiler-rabbit lines that farms and KVKs push — the New Zealand White, Californian, Grey Giant, Soviet Chinchilla and the large Flemish Giant. As pets you will meet the marked little Dutch, the floppy-eared Lop, the maned Lionhead and the tiny Netherland Dwarf. The Angora is its own thing — bought for wool and needing regular grooming to be worth it. Much of what is listed is either a meat cross sold by weight or a small pet breed.

Before you pay

• Be clear whether you are buying for meat (judge weight and growth), as a pet (breed, temperament and health) or for wool — the fair price differs completely.
• Handle it: a clean dry nose with no discharge or sneezing (snuffles / Pasteurella is the big one), clean ears with no dark crusty wax (ear mites or canker), clear eyes, front teeth that meet correctly (malocclusion is heritable and a lifelong problem), a clean dry bottom, and good flesh over the back and hips.
• For breeding stock check the buck has two descended testicles and the doe a good set of teats; ask the age and whether the doe has kindled before.
• Avoid kits sold too young (under about four to five weeks) and any rabbit from a hutch where others look sick, and never pay in full for an animal you have not handled.

A rabbit's price turns on what it is for — meat by weight, a pet by breed and health, or wool from an Angora. Use the band at the top of this page as your starting point, then judge each rabbit in your own hands: nose, ears, teeth and flesh.