Free Downloadable Meat Rabbit Record and Weight Tracker 

Easily Track Weights and General Information for Each Litter on One Single Sheet

Free Downloadable Rabbit Weight Record Tracker

One thing that I’ve struggled with as a fairly novice backyard meat rabbit keeper is understanding my targets for size and age. I’m talking mostly about what age to process meat rabbits at, but this applies to rabbits being kept for breeding (or sold), too, since ultimately with meat rabbits the goal is to produce consistent, reliable stock.  

There are a lot of different opinions regarding the right harvest age and weight, in part because there are a lot of different breeds.  

This made it difficult to find one simple answer to the questions of “At what weight should I harvest my meat rabbits?” and “What age do you process meat rabbits?” 

Boiling Down (and Remembering) All the Info 

Hours online in forums, groups, and searching, as well as a link to one very helpful chart (which led me to finding one very helpful website and online rabbit raising and butchering course), gave me many answers. But finally, the dust started to settle. 

Rabbit record keeping set up hanging on the wall of my rabbit room
This setup gives me all the references and records I need in one place. It’s easy to scan the completed sheet into my phone, too, or it can come in to be filed or copied.

I had a bit of a hard time keeping all this information in my head. Even though I now had references, my wall calendar scratches and weight records just weren’t cutting it anymore. That was fine for the first litter or two, but once I got up to three litters of grow-outs and a few I was eyeing as new breeding stock, things started to get hard to follow. When a couple of those litters started to get closer and closer in size, it got really hard to keep track. 

And so, I pulled together the information I wanted, pieced in the information I wanted to remember, and created this downloadable Rabbit Weight Tracker PDF. I thought others might find it useful, too, so now I’m sharing it with you.  

FREE! I’m not even asking for your email 😉 

What’s Included on the Free Downloadable Rabbit Record PDF 

Rabbit Record Tracker filled in with litter information and weights
This at-a-glance rabbit records makes it much easier to get a good overview of the progress of each litter, and to see how individual rabbits are performing.

In truth, it’s a little more of a record than just a weight tracker and it gives me (just a simple backyard meat rabbit raiser raising meat mutts for my family and maybe a few local pets) the essential pieces of information that I want for each litter from birth through 20 to 24 weeks.

The PDF gives you a complete record of the litter from birth through 24 weeks. Record details such as: 

  • Doe (Dam) 
  • Buck (Sire) 
  • Date of Birth 
  • Litter Size 
  • Breed  
  • Diet
  • Age and date weaned
  • Weights at weaning and then at two or four-week intervals: 6 weeks, 8 weeks, 12 weeks, 16 weeks, 20 weeks, and 24 weeks (average maturity date)

There is a column for notes at the end of each kit’s recorded row, as well as a larger note section at the bottom of the page.  

Suggested Growth Rates, Weights, and Ages for Meat Rabbits 

SMall Animal scale perfect for rabbits. Digital.
This small animal digital scale is perfect for weighing my rabbits. Affordable, good quality, easy to use, easy to set up, and easy to read.

Find this small animal and rabbit scale here: DIGITAL RABBIT SCALE

The tracker also lists suggested good growth and target weights for each milestone. In addition, there is a small chart listing average ages and weights for suggested harvesting targets. Suggested rabbit harvest ages and target harvest weights are provided to give you an at-a-glance point of reference so that you can quickly see how your meat rabbits are lining up with averages, goals, and expectations. 

Target harvest ages and weights are based on personal research from several sources online, information gathered from active backyard meat rabbit groups, Storey’s Guide to Raising Rabbits by Bob Bennett, and the invaluable resources of BHA Rabbitry of New York. 

There is also a field where you can fill in what your personal target harvest age and weight is.  

Rabbit weighing and care table in rabbitry
I find the rabbits don’t like the smooth, slippery surface of the scale. A towel helps put them at their ease. The scale can be zeroed with the towel on it so you get an accurate rabbit weight.

Find this small animal and rabbit scale here: DIGITAL RABBIT SCALE

Everyone’s preferences and goals are different. Me personally, I’m aiming for a target weight of seven to eight pounds by 16 weeks of age (roaster size). But that’s just me. Many growers do not want to raise rabbits past the average fryer age and size of 10-12 weeks and five pounds.  

You may even have different harvest targets for different litters. Experimenting with processing ages will help you decide at what age and weight you like your rabbit meat the best. You might find that different breeds or different crosses are better at different weights and stages. All of this is why the field has been left blank for you to decide, and for you to fill in. 

Why My Rabbit Harvest Target is 16 Weeks Old 

Rabbit barn setup with cages, weight and grooming table, and records on the wall
My rabbit room is a converted former cow stable in the back of our barn (attached to the house so it’s easy to do chores in your pajamas, or in a storm, or check on kindling does and youngsters at any time of day!). Trial and error has brought it to a point of good form and function. The added weighing and record station finished the room.

I have my reasons and they theirs. Young rabbits consume less feed, but I have a large family of large eaters, so I prefer a bit more meat at harvest and am willing to input more feed to get there. We also do all our own harvesting of both meat chickens and meat rabbits. It takes just as much work to process a small rabbit as a large one. 

Some sources also report a preferable meat texture after 14 weeks. People who want to use their rabbit’s pelts often grow to larger, older ages for reasons of hide quality. The type of breed (or crosses or mutts) that you keep will make a difference, too. “Giant” breeds tend to be all bone at young ages, so you may choose to grow those longer so that you get some weight in meat. 

Pick Age and Weight Targets That Work for You 

Plastic zip-tie cage tags
These plastic shipping tags make great cage tags. They are cheap (about 25 cents each in a pack of 60). I use dry erase markers, liquid chalk markers, and permanent markers to identify cages and whatever relevant information I want to have readily available. They’re reusable with a new zip tie, and the marker will come off with an alcohol prep wipe so tags can be reused.

Find these shipping tag rabbit cage tags here: RABBIT CAGE ID TAGS

The point is, there is no “right” or “wrong” answer as to when you should harvest your meat rabbits, but there a number of norms and reasons that point to the more common age brackets. And so, when I created this chart for my own use, those are the targets I used. But I left some fields blank so that they are more user-friendly to the individual—you! 

Doe rabbit cage tag with name and litter code
Cage tags help identify rabbits. This tag is for a future breeding doe. H3 is her litter code (the first letter of the dam’s name (Holly) and the litter number (Holly’s third litter) = H3. I can cross-reference this rabbit by name and littler code and find her details on the H3 litter record sheet.

Keeping Track of It All and Keeping It All on Track 

With this meat rabbit litter record you will be able to easily track and see the growth rates of select kits as well as the litter overall. This will make it easy to pick out rabbits for sale or breeding based on how consistently and how well individual kits met milestones for age and weight. It will also make it clearer which breeding pairs of bucks and does are most successful in producing rabbits with the traits and growth habits that you prefer. 

A group of rabbit grow-out cages with identifying cage tags
These growouts have simple cage tags that mostly identify the cage as a growout cage. Cage numbers can cross-reference to the rabbit record sheet. There are two different ages of rabbits in this block, and tags and cage codes make them easy to sort.The cage number will stay the same, but the litter number is in dry erase marker. So when these rabbits are processed, I can simply clean the cage and cage tag and add a new litter code for the next tenant.

Good records will in turn help you to build your rabbitry and selectively choose breeding stock that enhance the goals for your personal use and your overall breeding program. The goal of this free download PDF for rabbit record keeping is to create a simple, useful, user-friendly quick reference. I hope that it helps you as your build and develop your meat rabbit herd. 

Download Your Free Meat Rabbit Weight Tracker PDF Here:

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