How To Choose Profitable Animals To Raise

All right, so I’ve been getting a lot of questions about how to research a profitable breed. Meaning how to choose which animal would be most likely to sell, or how you can make them pay for themselves.

This video and post is a very on-the-fly example because I want you to see it from me the same way you would do it yourself.

Its Ok To Have Animals Earn Their Keep

None of us can afford all the animals in the world that we want to raise or keep and not have some sort of income coming from them…

Whether it’s enough just to pay for their expenses to keep them, or enough to where you’re actually making a side hustle income. We used to be on the mindset of even animals, everything on the farm or homestead pulls its weight. They serve a purpose.

And somehow we’ve lost that. And so if you’re thinking that direction, I do not want you to think that that is wrong, absolutely not. So that’s I’m going to stop because I could stand on that soapbox for a much longer time.

Recognize What ACTUAL Breeds Are Available

Okay, so the first thing that I want you to do is to go to the species-specific website.

• If you’re trying to raise dogs, go to the AKC website.
• If you are trying to raise rabbits, go to the ARBA website.
• If you’re trying to raise goats, find the national, something Breeders Association for whatever species you’re wanting to do.

So you can see what are actually recognized breeds. Just because some people are mixing breeds and calling it something doesn’t make it an recognized breed.

I hate to tell you, a golden doodle is a mutt. That’s what it is a golden retriever cross with a poodle. That’s not a real breed. I don’t care what people call it, they’re just smashing the names together to make it sound fancy.

A breed has to be able to have the same parents that look the same. And they produce the same exact style of offspring. If you cross two Golden Doodles, you’re not going to get the same-looking puppies across the whole litter.

For them to be purebred dogs the only difference that can show up in the litter can be color, that’s the only thing, the body style, the fur coat, texture, everything should be the same.

So that being said, Learn the breeds know what is recognized, find the top three to five that you are interested in, and start from there. Now your area, you may have a hard time trying to find a certain breed. Because there are some people who just kind of have a pair off to the side. And they don’t make it public, that that’s what they raise.

It’s gonna take some time to research and you should be able to find it if you’re patient.

Searching For A Profitable Breed To Raise Online

Find the top five or so that you want, then start with that.

But go to Facebook and just type in the search bar your breed + your local area. I’m just going to use my breed for an example… French lops for sale in Ohio. Or Indiana or in the U.S. that will help you narrow it down.

Also when you get that search, you’re going to come up with Facebook pages and groups and all sorts of other content. Filter out each type by clicking on the left-hand side tabs on the desktop to get only the type of platform you want. Take note of the results of each so you don’t overwhelm yourself.

I want you to do that for Google search. Craigslist, you’re kind of coming into the mindset of backyard breeders where they’re not really that serious. However, it is a good place to get started.

So anyways, that being said, I do some research on all three of those areas or the tools and then see what you can come up with.

Reach To Multiple Markets

So here’s something that I want you to think about?

Can you market to the different buckets of buyers?

The pet people, the people who are actually showing, and then like the 4-Hers who want a decent animal, but they’re not quite to the level as far as like confirmation and stuff like that as the shower.

So with that being said, look to see what style of images are people posting with that, are they just showing you a picture on the ground that looks like a mud hole…(Which is not healthy for rabbits, don’t get me started). Or they’re letting them run as a colony?

Something along those lines, those people are not going to get anywhere near the amount of money that they would if their rabbits were raised individually and in very good condition and things like that.

So, I’m not going down that rabbit trail, no pun intended. So… pay attention to the style and the mannerisms in which people are talking about the rabbits, how are they presenting them, that’s going to tell you what possibilities you might have.

Uniqueness Or The Cute Factor

Does the breed have the cute factor? New Zealand’s are the breed that is all white, and they have red eyes. Those to most people are pretty ugly… those don’t really have the cute factor. Or it’s a very unique type of person that wants them.

Any of the angoras, English Lops. Holland Lops, American Fuzzy Lops, any of the lop breeds are all typically a good pet breed.

If you go for those, and then have good enough quality to also be able to sell to showers, that when you’re covering your arches and covering multiple buckets of people that would want the animals you raise, okay?

Probably 90, maybe more like 80, probably 80% of my rabbits go to people who namely just want them as a pet. Some of them might have shown them, or their kids might do it in 4-H, the other little bit are show people. But beyond that, that’s the majority of people who are going to buy your animals.

But if you have are able to charge a higher price, you have good quality animals, you’re going to make sure your animals go to a good home and at least are cared for well.

So that is some key things to think about when you’re starting to do some research. Just start slowly looking at the breeds and the conversation going on around that breed.

Let me turn this camera around, and I will show you on desktop, how I do some research so you can get a feel how I would search for finding a rabbit breed.

Steps To Research Profitable Animals To Raise

On Desk Top: (Due to not having any visuals the content has been paired down to steps and screenshots added wherever possible. If you want the full tutorial make sure to watch the video above.)

As far as the breed goes you want people to want it. But you also want the breed to be a little bit more scarce and not necessarily something that everyone has.

I know already that mini rex is pretty popular. But I just want to use it as an example. So I have a lot of options to show you.

Searching Mini Rex Rabbits On Google

(Me typing mini rex into the search bar) Mini Rex rabbits for sale shows up in the search suggestions.

The one thing that I’m noticing is that people tend to put rabbits in there, they don’t just do mini rex.

Notice the monthly searches for this is 9,900 a month. That is a very highly searched. (Will very month to month)

Now if you don’t have this tool, you can still scroll down to see what are other like phrases and states even that people are putting with mini rex rabbits for sale in such and such places. This typically only works on desktops.

You can also hit the spacebar while typing in the search to see what other options google suggests to you.

Look at your results and see what shows up.

• Are there other people raising them?
• Are there classified ad sights that show up with the breed? (probably a good indicator that the breed is a bit more popular)
• Look for personal websites to see what people are charging or how up-to-date that sight is.

Searching Mini Rex Rabbits On Facebook

Do the same thing but on Facebook.

Take note of:

• How many Facebook pages or groups show up?
• Are there groups that you could join to learn about the popularity of the breed and what people are looking for?
• Can you find a few popular pages to see how their audience engages? Anything above 1.5-3% engagement to follower ratio is good these days.

If a group has a few thousand people in it and less than 30 posts that month it’s not a very active group. Look through the posts to see how quickly that post got responses.

Find Ways To Be Unique

If you really want to raise a breed that is more popular how can you be unique and stand out? Could you specialize in a particular color or group of colors within that breed?

While none of this is an exact science it will help you get a gauge on how quickly people will buy your rabbits. Now keep in mind that it’s a slow burn at first. you don’t want to go out and buy 10+ rabbits and expect to be able to have the demand for all of the litters. Start with a breeding trio (one buck and two does) and as the demand grows add to your rabbitry from there.

Tools Mentioned In The Post And Video

Keywords Everywhere

Favorite Farm Tools

My Winter Chore Coat: – https://leah-lynch.com/chorecoat

Rabbitry Storage Trunk: Suncast Patio Trunk For Storage. ( It Even Keeps Feed Dry) – https://amzn.to/3cJ21ws

My Boots: Daily Wearers –Justin Boots Women’s Gypsy Collection 12″ Soft Toe https://rstyle.me/+lkfr4sGelH8BA5wrgyP9sA