Prosperous rabbit keeper who said no to culture

Rabbit farming is often considered as an activity for ‘uncircumcised boys’ in the Agikuyu culture. However, despite the deeply rooted belief, Moses Gathua has defied the odds and is now a successful rabbit farmer in Nakuru town.

At the outskirts of the town, Gathua set up his rabbit farming venture in Lanet, about ten kilometers from Nakuru town, five years ago after quitting his job in a local micro-finance company.

The farmer with more than 200 different rabbit breeds including Newzealand, California and French giant was inspired into rabbit rearing by a prosperous farmer in Nairobi.

“Most people in the society believe rabbits are reared by children and at times Christians term rabbit farmers as anti-christ because according to the biblical teachings, animals with hooves are not eaten. I was first disturbed thinking about the project but testimonies from my friend, made me shut  my ears to criticism,” says Gathua.

Happy farmer

Gathua began rabbit farming with only five Newzealand rabbit variety given to him by his friend that have since multiplied to more breeding rabbits.

The farmer earns an average of Sh20,000 monthly from the sale of rabbits, money that caters for education of his three children among other family necessities.

He sells each rabbit at a price of between Sh1,000 and Sh1, 500 locally in supermarkets and to individual consumers. He also sells the skin that goes at between Sh50 and Sh100.

“I am a happy farmer who earns enough for my family and have no stress of meeting my financial targets,” he tells Smart Harvest. Currently with 34 cages with capacity of holding five rabbits each, Gathua states that rabbit production is cheap unlike dairy farming that require quality and quantity.

To enhance production, he feeds his rabbits twice a day with regular supply of clean drinking water. The farmer discourages overfeeding saying it causes fattening that results into infertility to the buck and the doe.

Multiply rapidly

He advises that vegetation given to rabbits should also be dried prior to feeding to avoid bleaching that causes diseases and anticipated deaths.

He also collects an average of two bags of rabbit droppings that he uses as manure on his farm that improves soil fertility for different crop farming.

Gathua points out that rabbits are also profitable in nature because they multiply rapidly as they begin breeding at four to five months on smaller space that can easily be embraced by urban dwellers.

Gestation period for a doe is 31 days with capacity of reproducing between six to ten kittens and they can give birth seven times a year.

To prevent diseases infestation and anticipated deaths, the father of three says proper housing is required with good ventilation; locally available material including timber, polythene papers and wire mesh can be used.

He says the size of the cages are two and half feet by three feet. They are  separated with a wire mesh for proper circulation of fresh air. A polythene paper is placed beneath each cage to drain urine.

He adds location of house should be away from direction of wind, be protected from rainfall and direct sunlight.

“Sufficient space and necessary facilities are required inside every cage with capacity of hosting an average of five rabbits. There should also be enough space to keep away predators like snakes and rats,” he informs Smart Harvest.

Regular deworming and vaccination has also contributed to his the increase in number of his rabbits. Vaccines and deworming drugs are sold in local agrovets at fair prices.

He also encourages high standard of cleanness to avoid predators like snakes and rats that cause farmers uncountable losses.

While people throng supermarkets in search of white meat, Gathua supplements his family diet with rabbit meat.

He sells two kilogrammes of rabbit meat at Sh700 to supermarkets and locals;  rabbit meat is on high demand in the region for those who want to keep healthy by sticking to  white meat.

According to nutritionists, rabbit meat is more nutritious and contains less cholesterol with low saturated fats, high in proteins, low in sodium in addition to having antibiotics that fight against diseases.

His good farming practices has seen him identified by Nakuru County Government as a model farmer who will be taken to further training on rabbit farming  so that he can train other farmers on better farming practices. He is also the chairman of Rabbit Value Chain where he trains other farmers on best farming practices.

Kenya Agricultural Production Programme officer Peter Kimani says if only people change their attitude on rabbit rearing, they would reap big from the good market of rabbit meat, fur and skin.