TUMPAT: Mention Muhammad Ramzul Zahini Adenan to local football fans and the image of the former forward on the field representing some of the nation’s most famous football teams, especially The Red Warriors, who were at the top of the Malaysia League (M-League) comes to mind.
However, an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury while still playing for his last team, T-Team, forced the 33-year-old player from Pasir Pekan to ‘retire’ from a sport that had been in his blood since young.
“The year 2017 was the highlight of my career with the T-Team after representing the team between 2014 and 2017. My third ACL injury forced me to retire from football which I started playing professionally since I was 17 after joining the Kelantan Football Academy in 2004.
‘But as fate would have it, after achieving success in football I am now starting to venture into the rabbit farming business in 2018 after a year of retirement from football,“ he said when met by Bernama at his home in Kampung Pasir Pekan Hilir here today.
Commenting on this, the owner and manager of Ramzul Adenan Farm said he started breeding rabbits as livestock in 2018 as a hobby, after being introduced to it by a friend who had been involved in the business, while he was in the process of recovering from his injury.
He said, with RM5,000 as start-up capital, he bought 20 New Zealand-White meat rabbits and built a small hutch.
“This breed of rabbit is a bit expensive, priced at around RM300 to RM400 each because it is large in size and capable of producing large quantities of meat and many kittens.
“After a year of involvement in this business on a small scale, I decided to breed them in large numbers and invested about RM50,000 to build a rabbit farm on about 0.2 hectares leased from the Kelantan Museum Corporation on July 2019,” he said.
From the initial 100 rabbits he bought, he now has about 300 capable of producing between 700 and 1,300 kittens.
“Interestingly, this type of rabbit can start breeding when it is only four months old and around 30 days gestation period. It can produce between four and 10 bunnies during each mating period. To ensure it produces quality kittens, I ensure it gets pregnant between six to eight times a year.
‘Once born, the rabbits can be sold when they are two months old with ready to process meat weighing about 1kg. The market is very broad nowadays because not many are into the business and I am the largest rabbit breeder in Kelantan at this time,“ he said.
Muhammad Ramzul Zahini said the sweet rabbit meat, along with many other nutrients, was in high demand across the country for rabbit satay or to be marinated before being grilled.
“Practically the whole body of a rabbit can be sold. The Chinese love to buy rabbit head to make soup, the meat is suitable for satay or other dishes while the fur and skin can be used as decorative ornaments.
“It is also easy to take care of. You only need to provide a cool cage and monitor the health of the rabbit because if it contracts diarrhoea, it can die within two hours,” he said. -Bernama
Muhammad Ramzul Zahini Adenan. -Bernama
