Why Poultry and Aquaculture Outperform the Rabbit Meat Industry
The dominance of poultry and aquaculture over the rabbit meat industry is not just a matter of market preference—it's grounded in scientific factors. Among these, one key concept stands out: the feed conversion ratio (FCR).
Understanding Feed Conversion Ratio (FCR)
The feed conversion ratio refers to how efficiently an animal converts feed into body mass. It is a crucial indicator of production efficiency in any livestock or aquaculture system. The formula is straightforward:
Feed Conversion Ratio (FCR) = Feed Intake Weight ÷ Body Weight Gain
In simple terms, FCR measures how many kilograms of feed an animal must consume to gain one kilogram of body weight. A lower FCR value means higher feed efficiency and, therefore, lower production costs.
Why Rabbits Fall Behind
On the internet, rabbit farming is often touted as having the best or highest feed conversion rate. However, when examined scientifically, the reality is more nuanced. Although rabbits reproduce quickly and grow relatively fast, their feed efficiency generally cannot match that of poultry or fish.
Poultry and aquaculture species, through decades of selective breeding, optimized nutrition, and controlled environments, achieve lower FCRs—making their production significantly more cost-effective. Rabbits, being herbivores with unique digestive systems, have a higher feed requirement for comparable weight gain.
Scientific Efficiency Drives Industry Success
The success of the poultry and aquaculture industries rests on their biological and technological advantages. With better feed conversion and shorter production cycles, these sectors have clear economic superiority. In contrast, the rabbit meat industry struggles to compete on efficiency, despite its niche appeal and potential for sustainable farming.
Understanding Feed Conversion Ratios in Livestock and Rabbits
For example, feeding a commercial broiler chicken 2.0 kilograms of feed results in a 1-kilogram gain in body weight. This means the feed conversion ratio (FCR) is about 2.0. Generally, the smaller the number, the more efficient the feed conversion.
According to data from the Council of Agriculture, the average FCRs of major livestock animals worldwide, ranked from highest to lowest, are as follows:
- Beef cattle: approximately 8.0
- Pork: around 4.0
- Broiler chickens: about 2.0
- Aquatic animals: roughly 1.6
What about rabbits? Research and statistical data show that the FCR for meat rabbits fed high-grain diets ranges from 2.5 to 3.0, while grass-fed rabbits typically have an FCR between 3.5 and 4.0.
The Truth About Rabbit Meat Efficiency
Based on the collected data, even when rabbits are raised carefully and professionally for meat production, their actual meat conversion rate is still lower than that of poultry (with chicken at 2.0) and aquatic animals (at 1.6). This means that rabbits convert feed into edible meat less efficiently compared to these other sources of protein.
Furthermore, if rabbits are raised the way some social media influencers claim—such as the so-called "Rabbit Meat King" who promotes feeding only grass—the conversion rate drops even lower, falling behind that of pork. The notion that one can raise rabbits casually and still achieve a high meat yield is simply unrealistic.
In short, raising rabbits efficiently requires more than casual care or idealistic feeding methods. Sustainable and efficient meat production depends on realistic feed strategies, proper nutrition, and scientific management—not social media myths.
Understanding Protein Retention in Meat Production
When evaluating meat production efficiency, it's important to consider more than just the feed conversion ratio (FCR). While FCR measures how efficiently an animal converts feed into body mass, it doesn't tell the full story. If efficiency were judged solely by FCR, it would make more sense to raise maggots or insects for meat, since some species can achieve FCR values below 0.9.
In fact, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), assessing the efficiency of meat production requires excluding inedible parts such as bones, organs, feathers, and scales. This provides a more accurate measure of how effectively animals convert feed into edible protein.
What Is Protein Retention?
Protein retention is a key indicator that reflects the proportion of protein retained in edible muscle meat relative to the total protein consumed through feed. It is expressed as a percentage—the higher the percentage, the more efficiently the animal converts feed protein into edible meat protein.
Average Protein Retention Rates
| Animal Type | Average Protein Retention (%) |
|---|---|
| Broiler chicken | 37% |
| Salmon | 28% |
| Pork | 21% |
| Aquatic animals (average) | 19% |
| Rabbit | 17–19% |
| Beef cattle | 13% |
These figures highlight a crucial point: not all meat sources convert feed into edible protein equally. Animals like chickens and fish generally retain protein more efficiently than larger livestock such as cattle. Understanding protein retention helps guide more sustainable and resource-efficient meat production practices worldwide.
The Nutritional Challenge of Rabbit Meat
After removing bones, skin, fur, and internal organs, the actual protein retention rate of rabbit meat is surprisingly low. Studies show that the average protein retention rate is only about 17–19%.
This helps explain why, after several decades of agricultural evolution following World War II, Taiwan's poultry and aquaculture industries have far outperformed the rabbit meat industry. The difference is not just economic or cultural—it has a clear scientific basis. Different animal species vary greatly in how much nutritional value is retained after processing, and this directly affects farm productivity and consumer preference.
Source: Fry et al., 2018
The Myth of Rabbits as a Hunger Solution
Let's think back to all those news stories or online rumors claiming that raising rabbits could solve food shortages, or that rabbit farming could replace the livestock industry. In truth, those are nothing more than fake news.
To review the key points: while it's true that rabbits have a relatively high feed conversion ratio, it's far from the highest. Poultry and aquaculture species still outperform rabbits in this area. If rabbits are raised casually or under poor management conditions, their conversion efficiency drops even further.
Inevitably, rabbits also suffer from poor usable yield. Once you remove bones, skin, fur, and internal organs, the actual protein retention rate is shockingly low. This is precisely why Taiwan's chicken and aquaculture industries have easily outperformed rabbit farming—they are simply more efficient and cost-effective.
And that's not even factoring in the huge cost difference in slaughtering rabbits compared to fish or poultry. When all variables are considered, rabbit meat simply cannot compete as a sustainable or economical alternative.
Challenges in Taiwan's Rabbit Meat Industry
It's not just that—there's much more to it. The data above doesn't even include the vast differences in breeding cycles, slaughtering costs, or the surrounding industrial chains. If people insist on blaming animal welfare groups for the absence of a rabbit meat industry in Taiwan, perhaps they should instead reflect on whether misleading, half-baked articles within the agricultural sector itself have misled farmers, causing the industry to decline further.
For comparison, the breeding cycle for broiler chickens in Taiwan is approximately 33 ± 3–4 days, while for meat rabbits it's about 100 ± 10 days. The poultry industry in Taiwan operates with a clear separation between hatching and broiler production; the rearing schedule for chickens starts from already-hatched chicks, with non-hatched rates already excluded.
In contrast, Taiwan's rabbit meat sector lacks a breeding or seed rabbit mechanism. Farmers must handle mating on their own and start raising kits from birth, with a natural elimination rate of around 18–26% that hasn't been filtered out. The breeding cycle for pigs is about 180 days—yes, roughly half a year. Raising a pig to a slaughter weight of 120 kilograms involves a single slaughtering cost, yet producing the same amount of meat from rabbits would require the slaughter of 40–60 animals, each with its own cost.
These structural challenges highlight why Taiwan's rabbit meat industry struggles to develop sustainably under its current conditions.
The Truth About the Rabbit Meat Industry
So what exactly is the truth? To be fair, if we set aside external factors such as the industrial chain, breeding separation, and cultural traditions, the rabbit meat industry does hold a respectable position when judged purely by indicators like carcass yield and meat ratios.
However, the numbers are not as extraordinary as some online claims might suggest. While rabbit meat performs slightly better than pork in certain aspects, it still falls behind poultry and some categories of seafood.
As for whether rabbit meat should be promoted more widely, that ultimately comes down to market dynamics. In the end, it is the consumers who decide through their choices, not through artificial promotion or policy intervention.
The Future of Taiwan's Rabbit Industry
To begin with, the rabbit meat industry in Taiwan has long been in decline. The key question now is: should the future of rabbit farming in Taiwan focus on economic livestock or shift toward the pet industry?
The following two charts clearly illustrate the contrasting trends between these sectors. Figure 1 shows the annual growth rate and distribution of pet rabbit ownership in the Greater Taipei area, which has been gradually increasing. In contrast, Figure 2 depicts the Council of Agriculture's statistics on the number of rabbits raised for meat over the years, showing a steady decline.
From these trends, it is apparent that pet rabbits and meat rabbits are moving in opposite directions of growth and decline. Regulatory agencies and those who genuinely care about the rabbit industry should face the current situation realistically. Continuing to rely on outdated assumptions that rabbit farming is "cheap, easy, and highly productive" only perpetuates misinformation— and that, ultimately, is the true tragedy of the rabbit industry.
The Decline of the Rabbit Meat Industry in Taiwan
In 2019, a proposal titled "Promoting the Rabbit Meat Farming Industry" appeared on the government's online public policy platform. This platform, open to everyone and backed by the government, allows citizens to express their support by signing petitions. However, within the three months that the proposal was open for endorsements, it received only ten public signatures. This number reflects the weak public support for the rabbit meat industry in Taiwan.
While eating or not eating rabbit meat is a personal choice—and, of course, not a matter of legality—these figures reveal where the industry stands in the collective values of society. The data shows that rabbit meat holds a low position in public consciousness and cultural preference.
Given that Taiwanese culture and everyday life have already moved in a different direction, perhaps it is time to let this fading industry quietly set with the sun.
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