How rabbit farming provides stable income for three friends 

Healthy meat does not start with Buck and Doe and end. The start-up, which is a one-stop shop for all rabbit farming needs and accessories, has gained prominence since opening their farm in Uganda in 2018. 
Buck and Doe are establishing themselves as the best in the business by offering market opportunities to other farmers.
 
Business incubation
In 2018, Daisy Chomba, Margaret Lukowe and James Kiyemba brought a start-up idea to the table after observing the market potential of rabbit meat, giving birth to Buck and Doe.

The market of rabbits in Uganda is still in its infancy, especially due to cultural tendencies, availability of other sources of animal protein and lack of knowledge especially on the utilisation of rabbits and its products, among others.
The primary goal of Buck and Doe was to drive the consumption of rabbit meat and make the company the KFC of rabbits in Uganda. 

In addition to breeding rabbits, the farm provides training and technical support to rabbit farmers.
The company generates revenue by selling value-added rabbit meat and sausages as well as rabbit breeds, while also providing technical services, including farm management, market development, and market linkages. They also sell accessories like nesting boxes, clay feeders, rat proof metallic feeders and hay from their office in Ndeeba, on Masaka Road.

Buck and Doe operate a mini-slaughter slab in Lungujja, a Kampala outskirt, which has dramatically increased the number of customers and farmers the company serves.
Chomba, the managing director, explains that they have increased the number of hotel and restaurant clients as well as distribution from one to a number of supermarket chains.

Building the market
Buck and Doe is commercialising rabbit meat by building the industry from the ground up. They collaborate with suppliers and retailers, developing market linkages, and promoting the health benefits of rabbit meat in ordinary markets. 
Buck and Doe first supplies breeders at Shs120,000, trains farmers on proper management and breeding, and then returns to buy back the rabbits to produce meat and sausages.
To increase market demand, Buck and Doe promotes the healthy benefits of rabbit meat as the most nutritious meat known to mankind. 

They base their arguments on studies that have concluded that rabbit meat has the desired nutritional and dietary quality, given its low amounts of cholesterol, fat and sodium and high content of polyunsaturated fatty acids, potassium, phosphorus and magnesium. To Chomba, increasing awareness can multiply the current client base 10 times over. They currently retail a kilogramme of rabbit meat at Shs20,000, while sausages are available for Shs28,000 per pack.

George Mugerwa, an extension worker and salesperson at Buck and Doe, explains that the market is huge compared to the current supply.
“We cannot satisfy the available market,” he notes. Mugerwa says before the Covid-19 pandemic outbreak, they were supplying up to 100 kilogrammes weekly. Although this has gone down to about 40 kilogrammes at the time, the supply is insufficient.

Chomba says this is the primary reason selected farmers are empowered with the training and seed capital to breed rabbits, which they later sell to Buck and Doe, who supply to chain supermarkets, hotels, and restaurants. Having been inspired by Rabbit Republic, a Kenyan start-up that gave rabbit meat a front row seat, co-founder Chomba kept some rabbits some time in Kenya. 

The rabbits outgrew her capacity and when she came to Uganda seeking employment, they came to a conclusion of expanding the supply chain. 
Why rabbits?
Proponents of rabbit farming like Chomba stress that the amount of land, food, and time it takes to raise large animals such as lamb, pigs, cows, and goats is not sustainable.

Yet rabbit offers various other uses, with some claiming the uses can be found from the nose to tail. Apart from the meat, from which sausages can be made, dog owners feed their pets on rabbit heads and offals. Excreta like urine and faeces can be useful in compost or manure making.
With a staff of about five employees, while outsourcing other services, they have developed a business model aimed at improving rabbit meat marketing. 

Since rabbits are prolific breeders, their production rate is faster than that of pigs, goats or sheep. Naturally, the doe can deliver every 31 days but they must be regulated to about six births every year.  A young rabbit reaches maturity at five months but can be slaughtered at the end of the third month; at this stage, a Californian White would probably weigh about three kilogrammes.

An ambitious vision 
Over the next five years, Buck and Doe has set several ambitious goals to increase both the supply and demand for rabbit meat across Uganda. It aims to build the capacity of farmers from different districts by providing mentoring and training to enable their rabbit production skills. The best-performing farmers will be selected to work as local trainers and help further expand rabbit farming in their areas. This initiative will help to transfer the skills and expand rabbit production across the country and introduce rabbit meat on a mass scale. Rabbits reproduce fast and they grow fast as well, making them one of the good choices for the fur trade and for meat production.

Chomba stresses that the bubble can burst if producers become overambitious. Farmers have fallen to several stings as a result of niche farming including vanilla, chia seeds, quail business and rabbit rearing which still faces the pinch of the collapse of Rabbit Republic, a Kenyan start-up which reportedly failed to pay more than 1,000 contract farmers.

Chomba explains that as a company, they are taking careful steps before they can spread their wings far and wide. Buck and Doe have 50 farmers from whom they buy the rabbits.
“If we look at the market as fast money that is going to be the problem. The industry should be left to grow organically,” Chomba argues.

Best practices
Chomba stresses that the rabbit’s accommodation is an important factor that must be considered carefully. This aspect is important for feeding, safety and controlling the rabbits’ prolific rate of reproduction.
So it must be well supplied with a balanced ration of greens and grains.

According to Chomba, their diet should contain up to 85 per cent hay or grass, 10 per cent leafy green vegetables and only five per cent pellets. Hay in particular, should be dry, sweet smelling and free from grit, dust and mould. Pellets, she says, should be regarded as a nutritional supplement.

Chomba discourages keeping rabbits in free-range conditions saying it exacerbates diseases. Using cages, rabbits are in a safe place, she notes.
Hutches should be well aerated and raised about 30cm from the reach of predators such as snakes, as well as mice and other vermin.

The cage for breeders should have the following minimum dimensions: 2.5ft long x 2ft wide x 52ft high. Growers can be housed in cages measuring 4x3x2 feet. Chomba argues that bucks should be neutered as a vital way to prevent unwanted pregnancies and especially in-breeding. Inbred rabbits are usually smaller and weaker.
Chomba says male rabbits should be castrated as soon as their testicles descend. This normally happens between 10-12 weeks.

Rabbit breeding
Careful selection of breeders is ensured according to Chomba. Six major breeds are kept depending on their salient advantages. New Zealand breed, which is often raised in commercial rabbitry due to rapid weight gain and the desirability, are considered one of the best breeds for meat production. The Chinchilla, which is normally crossed with Flemish Giant breeds is primarily a commercial meat rabbit. 

They are generally good breeders with litters averaging between 7-10 kits. Flemish Giants, which are considered to be the largest breed, are historically a utility breed bred for fur and meat. The others include the checkered breed, which weighs up to 5.4kg at maturity, Californian rabbits and Dutch breeds. Chomba notes that every breed has giant, standard and dwarf varieties which determine their key traits.

According to the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO), unlike most other animals, rabbits do not have a regular heat cycle. Consequently, they can be bred at any time. Good breeding cannot be obtained unless you have good animals, proper feeding, good housing and good management. Buck and Doe run a breeding centre in Mazzi Village, Ssisa Sub-County, Wakiso District where breeders are produced to ensure quality.

Dealing with diseases
Coccidiosis is the most dangerous disease in rabbits because it is highly contagious. Luckily, Chomba explains, most diseases in rabbits are preventable.
Coccidiosis, which manifests itself through diarrhoea, with blood in the faeces, losing weight and having a swollen belly, happens when rabbits eat and drink contaminated food and water or when they lick their dirty feet or coat. When this happens, you see them sitting in a hunched position with their feet forward. Chomba says coccidiostats are used to kill the parasites which cause coccidiosis.

Other diseases include conjunctivitis or “weepy eye” which causes a watery discharge from the animal’s eyes. It is prevented by using neomycin.

As the stomach enlarges, it compresses a number of blood vessels which lead to the rabbit’s blood supply network being disrupted causing death. Apart from fluid therapy, the rabbits should be fed with lots of fresh grass and hay. Chomba cautions farmers to be hygienic by using disinfectants and keeping a “closed rabbit” environment.  At their breeding centre, they have adopted a rabbit prophylaxis model with an aim to prevent disease.