Livestock Products
Senior 1 · Agriculture
Livestock Products
Lesson 4 of 4
18 min
Let's begin
A school rabbit club sells its first batch of young rabbits and is surprised by what it earns: the meat is only part of the money. Neighbours pay for breeding does, a vegetable grower buys the manure, and a craft-maker wants the dried skins. A rabbit is small, but, like a cow or a pig, it gives more than one product.
In this lesson you will identify the products of rabbits and their uses, work out how much meat one doe can produce in a year, and then compare the products of all four kinds of livestock in this unit.
| Product | Description and use |
|---|---|
| Meat | The main product for most Rwandan rabbit farmers. Rabbit meat is a pale (white) meat, lean and high in protein, eaten roasted, stewed or in brochettes. Commercial meat rabbits are often sold at about two months old, weighing about 1.7–2 kg live. |
| Breeding stock | Live does and bucks sold to new farmers and projects. A well-grown doe from a good breed usually sells for more than a meat rabbit of the same weight. |
| Pelts (skins with fur) | Dried or tanned for hats, collars, bags, toys and crafts. The Rex breed is kept mainly for its dense, velvety fur. |
| Wool | Only from the Angora breed, whose long hair is combed or clipped every few months and spun into very soft yarn. |
| Manure | Small dry pellets that are an excellent fertiliser for vegetables and bananas. Less likely to scorch plants than fresh poultry droppings. |
| Urine | Collected from under the hutch, diluted with water and used by some farmers as a liquid fertiliser. |
| Laboratory animals | The New Zealand White is widely used in medical research, because the animals are so alike. |
By-products at slaughter include the head, feet, offal (the liver is eaten), and blood, which can go into compost or animal feed.
The following figures are illustrative; a well-managed unit may do better and a poorly managed one worse.
One doe, weighing perhaps 4 kg herself, produces about nine times her own weight in carcass meat each year. This is why rabbits are promoted for families with very little land.
| Species | Main products | Important by-products | Typical dressing percentage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cattle | Milk, beef | Hide, dung, urine, blood, bones, horns, hooves, tallow | about 50–70% |
| Pigs | Pork, lard, weaners | Skin, bristles, blood, bones, intestines, manure | about 70–75% |
| Poultry | Eggs, meat, day-old chicks | Manure, feathers, offal, eggshells | about 75% |
| Rabbits | Meat, breeding stock, pelts, (wool from Angoras) | Manure, urine, offal | about 50–60% (illustrative) |
The table shows a pattern: every species gives manure. On a mixed Rwandan farm, manure links the animals to the crops. It keeps hillside soils fertile and, through a biogas digester, can also supply cooking gas.
Tip
Memory hook, rabbit products "Many Bunnies Produce Wonderful Manure": Meat, Breeding stock, Pelts, Wool (Angora), Manure and urine.
Exam technique: in a chain of calculations (animals → live weight → carcass), label each line with what it is. If you slip in one step, the examiner can still give method marks for the others.
List four products a rabbit farmer can sell.
Solution: Any four of: meat, breeding stock (live does and bucks), pelts, Angora wool, manure, urine.
Which rabbit breed is kept for wool, and which mainly for fur?
Solution: Wool: Angora. Fur: Rex.
A doe weans 4 litters of 7 kits in a year. Each young rabbit is sold at 2 kg live and dresses at 50%. How much carcass meat does she produce?
Solution: Young rabbits = 4 × 7 = 28. Live weight = 28 × 2 = 56 kg. Carcass = 0.50 × 56 = 28 kg.
Name one by-product that cattle, pigs, poultry and rabbits all have in common, and give one use.
Solution: Manure: used as fertiliser for crops (or as feed for a biogas digester).
Which of the four species usually has the highest dressing percentage, and why is it higher than that of cattle?
Solution: Poultry (about 75%), closely followed by pigs. Cattle carry a large, heavy rumen and gut contents, and their hide is removed, so a smaller share of the live weight ends up in the carcass.
Summary
Sources and credits
The Rwandan examples, worked examples and practice questions are written by Ganzaa.
This lesson adapts CC BY-SA material and is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.
