Youthful Embu farmer banks on rabbit

Brian Mutugi, a graduate in Embu, knows too well how having a little space at your home can change your fortunes.
The rabbit farmer, who rears the animals in Kanja village of Runyenjes Sub-County keeps 100 rabbits in a tiny space outside his parent’s house.
The 23-year-old ventured into rabbit keeping in 2019 when he completed his Secondary school education with only three animals—a male and two females—but the number has been rising.
Mutugi says he wanted to venture into a less labor and cost-effective project and in return get fast cash. He is the owner of the Kanja Rabbit Hub farm.
“After Form 4, I thought of an activity I could venture in and avoid being a bother to my parents. I bought three rabbits at Sh300 each from a friend to start off,” Mutugi reveals.
He continuously learned more about rabbit farming which has always been considered an activity for young boys.
“I watched different YouTube channels and understood that many people had also ventured into rabbit farming. This inspired me,” he says.
After watching the videos, he contacted the farmers who allowed him to visit their farms to learn more.
After farm visits, Mutugi felt challenged prompting the slaughter of his only three rabbits for family consumption.
At the same time, he appealed to his parents who offered him cash to buy seven hybrid rabbits.
“I bought five rabbits aged two months at a cost of Sh700 each but unfortunately four died due to substandard cages,” he says.
He adds, “I talked to the farmer, attended a training session on the construction of rabbit cages, feeding and marketing strategies, and later bought four more rabbits aged three months at Sh1,000 each.”
He constructed three-layered, 40 self-cleaning rabbit cages on a plot measuring 6m by 1.5m where he keeps the animals. He intends to increase the cages to 100 by February next year.
The number increased quickly, with each animal kitting up to 10 young ones. According to Vet Sammy Gitonga, rabbits have a gestation period of 25 to 35 days allowing them to reproduce quickly.
Mutugi keeps California White, New Zealand White and Angora, Checkered Giant, Earlop, Flemish Giant, Kenya Dutch, Chinchilla, Havana, and Cinnamon rabbit breeds. On his farm, Mutugi has Giant and Medium breeds.
“For instance, New Zealand, California, Kenya Dutch and Chinchilla are the medium breeds. They weigh about 3.5 kilos when they mature. They grow fast and are the most preferred for meat,” he says.
Mutugi says Giant breeds can weigh up to 5 kilos although they take more time to mature compared to medium breeds.
When he joined the university for the Human Resource Management Course, he left the project under his parent’s care. The project played a major role in paying his fee and footing other bills.
The farmer gives his rabbits dry matter to supplement the expensive pellets. Mutugi who graduated in 2018 has different prices for his rabbits. Recently, he sold 27 rabbits and made Sh42,000.
Mutugi has a ready market for his rabbits in Nairobi, Embu, and Meru counties. The prices for mature rabbit breeders range between Sh2,000 to Sh2,500 while a slaughtered rabbit of between 1.3 to 1.5 kilos goes for Sh900.
Rabbit meat is generally accepted as possibly the healthiest of all meats. It is a high source of protein and has lower fats than beef, pork, chicken, or even turkey.
This may be the single strongest factor driving up demand for rabbit meat all over the world.
Mutugi who advises young people to venture into rabbit farming trains farmers on all issues regarding rabbit farming and marketing.