Anyone Raising Rabbits?

[clhend]

After much research I decided that for me, rabbits were the way to go for putting meat on the table in the shortest amount of time and feed costs.

I was able to obtain hutches and even rabbits from either my local Freecycle or Craigslist.

If anyone is interested in learning about raising rabbits for meat, survival-homestead.com (http://www.survival-homestead.com/rabbit-breeds.html) has a lot of information that might be helpful. It tells about which breeds to raise for their meat to bone ratio, plus housing, feed, breeding and information about rabbit meat.

[Martinhouse]

Be sure to add extra fat or oil of some sort to a diet of rabbit meat. Even if it's for pet food. Actually, I will be giving the whole rabbit to cats and dogs when I can no longer buy pet food. And they'll get the spare eggs, too, for the fats, vitamins and minerals contained in the yolks.

Carol

[LONER]

I was raising them for several years and was very successful in breeding them and maintaining them on a diet of mostly weeds during all seasons except winter, but the price of feed became outrageous and I got rid of them. It is now time for me to get some more.....I raised mostly New Zeland, but had a couple of California's they just never put on any wieght for me. Also found a very strange occurance....ALL of my solid black rabbits would do well until about 6 months old, and then for some reason, they would die from one ailment or another.....never anything specific, they just weakened and died???? Weird!
Let us know occassionally how you are doing inraising them....and I will do the same when I get them going again....always good to share ideas!:-D

[lschroeder106z]

We are due with our first litter of New Zealands this coming weekend. My 13yo dd decided she wanted a rabbit and well one thing led to another. Now we have 5, three bunnies are about 5-7 weeks, don't know when they were delivered, they were a surprise. Never thought about eating them, who knows? My son killed a wild rabbit and ate it. Said it was pretty good. We are using Sweet Feed from Southern States and leftover veggies occassionally and regular oatmeal.

We are nervous about the doe who will be delivering anytime now. I have a weak stomach and hope she doesn't need much help. I have read some horror stories on the net.

How old do bunnies have to be to start having babies, we are concerned with the three little ones, when should we seperate? Please post if you know, we don't want to multiply that quick...lol.

[Summerthyme]

GET THOSE BABIES SEPARATED NOW!!

At 8 weeks, they can be fertile. Butchering time for fryers is generally around 6-8 weeks... if you want them bigger, it's important to separate the bucks from the does or you'll be butchering pregnant does...

Rabbits rarely need help of any kind around delivery, but they can *easily* be frightened into really messing things up. If you know when she's due, make sure she has a well bedded nest box, plenty of food and water, and then LEAVE HER ALONE. Don't let the kids keep checking up on her (except with a quiet "walk by" of the cage... no picking her up and looking underneath her, etc). And above all, keep ALL strange dogs away... (or any predator type animals- even a pet cat who likes to perch on the cage above the bunny- even if it doesn't bother the rabbit any other time- can cause anything from abortions to her abandoning or eating the babies when they're born).

Once she has the babies, peek QUICKLY and quietly after about 12 hours to be sure they are all well covered with fur... if not, try rearranging it a bit so they are. It's best to have some "extra" fur on hand, in case- because restraining the doe to pluck more from her after she has the babies is more stress than is wise. Better than losing the babies, though, to freezing. Remove any dead bunnies, and then leave her alone, with fresh food and water.

(the only time it's advisable to bother them within 12-24 hours of when they gave birth if it's obvious there are problems- chilled bunnies lying on the floor cage, or other indications that she's not doing a very good job).

The mother will NOT spend a lot of time in the nest with the bunnies- which is why they need a good covering of fur to stay warm. You may worry she's not taking care of them.. she probably is. They are prey animals, so their instinct is to only go to the nest long enough to nurse the babies, then leave and stay away so as to not attract attention.

I raised rabbits for many years, but we really don't like rabbit meat that well... it makes a nice stew, but we really do prefer chicken. Rabbits are MUCH easier to butcher, though- no plucking.

Summerthyme

[ajharris]

I raise rabbits. I have 20 does and 5 bucks at the moment. I have 7 does due on the 7th of this month, and then I will breed the other does. I sell every fryer. It is really unlikely that we get to eat rabbit around here. They go like hot cakes.

[kelee877]

We have one female rabbit here....can,t even look at her like she would be a meal....but possibly a meal ticket...come the right time and I will go out and get a male....and start breeding, right now I don,t have the space....but if SHTF I could make space to breed them

[just living]

I raise rabbits. I have 20 does and 5 bucks at the moment. I have 7 does due on the 7th of this month, and then I will breed the other does. I sell every fryer. It is really unlikely that we get to eat rabbit around here. They go like hot cakes.


I ditto that. We have 25 New Zealand does and 2 bucks and currently have @ 75 babies from just born to 5 weeks old. We rarely get to eat any rabbit meat because the fryers sell like hot cakes. But they sure will be nice for when and if the time comes to really need the meat.

[NPinNM]

I have 1 New Zeland White buck/3 NZW does and 1 Californian Buck/3 C does. I have found that when raising fryers, if you feed them some cracked corn the last 2 weeks before butchering, they will have plenty of mottled fat in the meat.

NP

[Freeholder]

We have one female rabbit here....can,t even look at her like she would be a meal....but possibly a meal ticket...come the right time and I will go out and get a male....and start breeding, right now I don,t have the space....but if SHTF I could make space to breed them

Kelee, depending on your doe's age and condition, you may not be able to breed her. If a doe rabbit isn't bred fairly regularly from about six months on, she builds up fat around her innards and becomes difficult to breed. So you may not want to count on her to supply you with fryers....

I have two NZW bucks, and five does; four of the does are crossbreds but still good meat producers. The other one is NZW. I haven't decided yet if that will be enough to supply us, two big dogs, and the chickens with meat for protein. Like Summerthyme, I do prefer the taste of chicken, but rabbit isn't bad, and they are definitely easier to butcher. It can also be easier to feed the rabbits. If you aren't pushing them too hard, they can get along just fine on hay that you hand cut from your place, or along the roads or wherever you can get it. If the hay is high in alfalfa, that's good, but a lot of weeds are edible for rabbits and equally high in nutrients. (Just make sure you know the poison weeds in your area.) They can also eat brush and branches, and in fact really like that kind of feed as part of their diet. Just don't try to get commercial production on a home-grown diet. And as you go along, if you keep the rabbits that do well and cull the poor doers, you will eventually have developed your own line that does well on your local feed.

If your diet includes whole eggs and whole milk, you'll have enough fat in your diet even if rabbit is the only meat you get (although if you are also raising poultry for eggs, and goats for milk, you'll probably have at least small quantities of other meat when you cull surplus males and non-productive females). You could, if you like, raise some ducks or geese specifically for the fat -- geese used to be raised especially for their fat to be used in cooking, especially by the Jews, who couldn't use pork fat (maybe the Muslims, too, I don't know). Geese are pretty cheap to feed as they are grazers.

Kathleen

[Kayla]

I raised rabbits years ago (had about 30? does + bucks) but sold out when feed prices increased so drastically. Haven't had anything since except the occasional pet. After my daughter joined 4-H a year ago and acquired 4 Dutch and a couple of Mini-Lops, I decided to get a few rabbits again to raise meat for the table.

By fall I got rid of my mix of NZs, Cals and cross-breds and started over with some young Champagne d'Argents. So far just have 2 bucks and 3 does but will likely try to purchase a few more this fall. They're not common in my area so it takes some looking to find them. I'll be raising them for meat and hopefully some sales.

So far we've been feeding commercial pellets and hay, but I'm seriously considering trying to convert to weeds, homegrown feed, etc. for a good part of their diet. If (when?) TSHTF, it would be good to have them already used to a local diet rather than try to deal with it in a crisis.

[Nicho1]

As children, we had squirrel and rabbit to eat as a result of hunting. I would love to raise some rabbits for food but I'm not sure I could kill them. Skinning and cleaning them is easy. But, not to get too gorey here, is there a way to kill them that is not too traumatic...for them or me?

[Kayla]

Yeah, that's the down side of raising rabbits. I've seen a number of different ways of killing rabbits and IMHO, a good hard whack to the back of the head still seems to be the most humane. (I tend to get very attached to my animals so being humane is a huge issue for me.)

DH also used to raise rabbits and knows how to butcher them but won't if he doesn't have to. (Lack of time, plus he's rather tenderhearted too.) I "can" but prefer not to if I can avoid it. Fortunately, for the time being I have a person who will butcher for $1 each. Well worth it to me! If money gets too tight to pay even that, we'll have to do the butchering ourselves again.

What I used to do was hold the rabbit by his hind feet with my left hand, head down and facing away from me. As soon as they stopped wiggling (usually in a few seconds), I'd give them a "karate chop" with my right hand to the base of the neck. I always hit them hard as I didn't ever want to have to repeat it! That always worked with the fryers. With adult rabbits (culled for lack of production) I'd use the same method but would use a smooth, rounded club of some sort to make sure they were out on the first blow. Wasn't sure I could hit a hard enough blow with my hand so I didn't want to take any chances.

I am EXTREMELY squeamish about causing animals pain, so this always worked well for me. The animals are well cared for and happy, then to the best of my knowledge, gone in an instant. There may be better methods but I'm most comfortable with this one.

[ajharris]

When I butcher rabbits, I use the broomstick method. I take the rabbit and hold it on the ground. I grab its back feet in one hand, and then I put a broomstick at the base of its head. Right where the head and neck meet. Then I put both feet on the broomstick. One foot on each side of the head, and then pull the rabbit swiftly up. That is a quick easy way for me to kill them.

[Nicho1]

Thanks, Kayla and ajharris. I'm thinkin' I just might not be able to do this. As a kid, I had to kill the chicken for dinner on a few occasions and it was not fun! My love of animals is so great that when I think of it, it still haunts me. Of course, I still eat all kinds of meat, knowing that someone had to kill these. There was another time that I went hunting with my Dad. I shot a rabbit and it wasn't dead. He made me hold it up by the hind feet and hit it behind the head with the barrel of the gun. I cringe to this day. And, by the way, I never went rabbit hunting again.

I also know that if we are hungry, we may need to do things that we would not choose to do. Once to that point, my attitude would change, I am sure.

[Kayla]

I truly understand your feelings about killing animals. It will NEVER be easy for me no matter how hungry I am.

On the other hand, waiting until you're hungry isn't the best time to figure out how to raise and butcher livestock, garden and can, acquire animals and equipment, etc.

[Harbinger]

What I used to do was hold the rabbit by his hind feet with my left hand, head down and facing away from me. A.
Hmmmm. An HOW pray tell did you manage that?
Mine fight like Chuck Norris on steroids!
They will all let me pet them, but pick them up? No Way!

[savingmykids]

Kayla
don't forget rabbit poo is fantastic fertilizer for your garden
that is ALL we use and it wont burn anything (can't overdo it)

there is a father down the road that will butcher our rabbits in trade for garden veggies--it works :-D

[Kayla]

Harbinger, the rabbits all seem to kick or struggle for a short time when first held upside down, but would usually settle down soon.

Savingmykids, it's good to know the manure can be put on directly. To be on the safe side, I used to always age it somewhat before using it, or would make "rabbit tea" for the garden.
Since getting back into rabbits again, I've got a pretty good manure pile started. (Not that we have any shortage around here, with having horses, goats and chickens too!)

[Kayla]

Forgot to add that barter is one of the best means of getting what you need! A few years ago one of our neighbors had a couple litters of orphan kittens. I took goat milk over to her for months, and they gave me tons of garden produce back in return. Not only for our own use, but all kinds of produce for our livestock too.

[lschroeder106z]

Help, my bunny is due tomorrow for kits, she hasn't started plucking any hair yet, I read that they deliver around 27 days, does anyone know what day they typically deliver on? We did the box, and we are anxiously awaiting so new kits.

[Summerthyme]

WHOA... nope, average gestation is 31 days. You're worrying too early!

They generally start preparing for the birth around the 29th day... give or take a day. I had dozens of litters over the years I had rabbits, and I really don't remember any of them being off by more than 24 hours (kindled pretty much between late on day 30 to late on day 31). This was with limited hand breeding... take the doe to the buck, watch him breed her, remove her. Repeat 6 hours later, then keep them separate until she was pregnancy checked by palpation at around 12-14 days.

It's really hard, but try to bother her as little as possible from now until she actually has the babies- and for at least 48 hours after they're born. Rabbits are one species which really don't seem to adapt all that well to letting humans handle their babies, and for the more nervous does, it's often at least part of the reason for them abandoning a litter.

Summerthyme

[lschroeder106z]

I just noticed she is pooping in her kindle box, should I take it our for another day or so?

[Summerthyme]

Umm... probably. I used to put the box in on the 28th day and it seemed to work fine.

The thing with rabbits- because their gestation period is so short, as long as you are certain of the breeding date, you might as well assume a normal 30-31 day gestation, and not get too far ahead with nest boxes, etc. Because the truth is... if they kindle more than 1-2 days max ahead of their actual due date, the bunnies won't survive. Unlike, say, a calf which can be born even a month early and have a chance.

Or you can leave the nest box in there, and just add a bit more fresh bedding tomorrow...

summerthyme

[lschroeder106z]

Thanks summerthyme. This is a whole new experience for us.

[Harbinger]

I just noticed she is pooping in her kindle box, should I take it our for another day or so?
Can you move it to the other side of the cage?
My rabbits allways "GO" in the same spot of the cage.

You may have put the nest in the way of her throne.... :)

[Shepherdess]

Great advice Summerthyme! I've been rasing rabbits for the past 16 years, and many times it was the only meat the kids and I had. One does get over the squeamish part after awhile especially when you realize that unless you kill that "bunny" no one is going to eat (been there).

One thing that I've done is to handle my breeding does quite a bit, not necessarily picking them up but petting them, etc. They are used to me going into their cages, especially to give them treats. This way when they do have babies, they aren't usually as upset with me. Sometimes I get a doe that is cranky, but I AWAYS go in with a special treat...carrot, piece of apple, etc. While they are busy with their treat, I check bunnies to be sure they are covered up. I've had some moms not cover them well by plucking all their hair and leaving it in the back of the box and then having the babies in the front of the box. A few times I thought I'd let them take care of it and lost the whole litter because they froze. If they aren't covered, I'll put my hand in the fur to get mom's scent on me, then move them to the back with the fur and cover them. I'll keep an eye on them til I'm sure mom is doing her job.

If by some chance you have to foster babies to another mother (ie. too many babies or mom isn't taking care of them) I'll put just a small, very small, dab of Vicks on the foster mom's nose and then bury the new babies in with hers. By the time she gets the smell of the Vicks off her nose, the new babies have her smell on them.

I usually give a mom three tries to produce a healthy litter. If she can't within those three litters, she's dinner. One of the old timers in my church raises them for sale (and he sells A LOT! In fact, I've "sold" him bunnies when he didn't have enough to fill his orders) He told me that any less than 5 in a litter and your losing money. Regarding commercial feed, I've talked to another oldtimer and he told me that one guy that he knew during the Depression had rabbits and would sell/trade them. The only thing he fed them was clover which he had planted in a patch. I haven't tried this, but I have cut down on the feed bills by supplementing with LOTS of grass, hay and non-moldy, day-old-bread from the bread store. MUST NOT HAVE MOLD! Rabbits love bread! And so far it's done fine for us. One must have to wonder, exactly what did they do during the Depression since I don't think they had many feed stores.

Shepherdess

[lschroeder106z]

Should I feed the pregnant mommy any extra special goodies? Wow she is getting plump.

My DD was given a Mini Rex, she is brindle in color, just lovely. That was suppose to be the only one. lol... Since then we aquired a Velveteen, didn't know how fast those bunnies could breed and went cleaning out the cage in January and found 6 babies. They were atleast 10 days old. Mom did really well with them.

Now we are breeding the Velveteen with yet another Velveteen we aquired (now we are at 3 full grown bunnies) (6 kits of which 3 died) Don't know why 3 of the babies died??? A friend was watching them for a few days and she said mom just wasn't feeding them, so we took the surviving bunnies away and nursed the rest of time til now. They are around 6-7 weeks maybe since we don't know birthdate. Our velveteen is due Tuesday and I am thinking about putting her in our spare bath room with heater to keep her and babies warm, her quiet and away from our dogs. WE have a boxer that dying to play with them..

The kids made a run with some leftover plastic lattice today with a wood seperater for adults and babies to run outside. They looked like they enjoyed the day outside in the sunshine. We left the pregnant bunny inside alone. I can't imagine eating one of these yet, but I sure would barter them for another meat, eggs, chicken...

How much do you sell your bunnies for? I will check craigslist, but I don't want to advertise and have strangers coming to our home. Leary about strangers intents.

I will also plant some clover this summer, never knew about the bread thing, we have heels all the time, I have been freezing them for bread crumbs.

Thanks for the info you all share.

[Summerthyme]

The best basic rule of thumb I've ever known as far as "feeding extra goodies" etc to pregnant females of any species is... don't. You want them to be in JUST "good flesh"... NOT "fat". And it's best to get them to that point BEFORE they get pregnant (especially for animals which have relatively short gestation periods, like dogs, cats, rabbits)... because trying to get weight on a thin, but pregnant mama rarely works... it tends to all go into the babies... which only makes the birth process more difficult.

Once they have had the babies, then you can slowly start increasing their feed. In the case of rabbits, I simply kept feeders full of pellets at all times, and bred the does often enough that the "free choice" feeding system didn't get them fat.

Be careful feeding greens, fresh veggies and/or fruit to rabbits... it certainly CAN be done, but it's also known to contribute to a fatal diarrhea syndrome, especially in young rabbits. I think the key is probably to "start very slow" unless they were raised on fresh stuff.

As far as why you'll lose some babies... sometimes it's simply a genetic problem, but it's more often a doe who is a poor mother. I had Rex rabbits (we LOVED the fur... I made lined gloves and slippers for my kids when they were toddlers from it), and they did have "issues". Two things- first, they developed abscessed feet (which often went into a fatal general septicemia) very easily on wire floored hutches. Not enough fur padding on their back legs, apparently. And they weren't the best mothers- I got to the point where I'd breed a New Zealand or crossbred doe on the same day as a Rex doe, so I had another mother rabbit who could help raise the Rex bunnies. More than once, it was the only reason any of a Rex litter survived.

I do agree about "taming" rabbits you're going to breed- if you can get them very used to being handled, it will make things a lot easier in managing them when they are expecting or have newborns. But if yours aren't used to a lot of handling, and it's a first litter besides, it's safest to simply leave them quiet and alone as much as possible. I suspect many more litters are lost due to "over-management" from the owners than neglect. And yes, bribery DOES work... but while the doe is distracted, move fast in checking the newborns and covering them up, etc.

Summerthyme

[microfossil]

I have mutts that are my pets/manure producers/back-up food sources. We've had pet buns for years off and on. I bought myself a little girl bun at the pet store a few years ago. Last spring I was taken with a sweet little golden boy bun at the farm store. This summer I let my little boy have a romp with the old gal. I figured it was time to learn something about bunny breeding (planning to keep as pets whatever was produced). I thought she might be too old to conceive, but she did.

She turned out to be an exemplary bunny mom and delivered four kits the day before Hurricane Ike hit Texas. I knew that disturbing new moms could be bad news, but decided to move them inside for the storm. It turned out OK, and now I have three new little bunny boys and one little girl. Five months later the little girl is rooming with her mom (who still grooms her regularly); the little boys have now each moved into their own cages.

Their manure has produced spectacular results for my garden. I'm collecting info about butchering, tanning pelts, etc. in case TSHTF. In the meanwhile, they are my fertilizer source.

BTW, there is a great thread on feeding buns naturally with weeds, etc., and lots of other great info on Homesteading Today's "Raising Rabbits For Profit" forum:

http://www.homesteadingtoday.com/forumdisplay.php?s=&daysprune=30&f=14

[clhend]

"Raising Rabbits for Meat (http://www.survival-homestead.com/raising-rabbits-for-meat.html)" is also a good source of information and it's written specifically for the survivalist or prepper. Not only has information on meat breeds, housing, diet, breeding, butchering and tanning, but includes information on which plants and flowers are edible and natural remedies.

[clhend]

BTW, to offset the "high" cost of feed you might be able to sell or trade some bunnies for feed. Traded two 5-week old bunnies (obtained free on Craigslist) to a local feed store that also sells rabbits/chickens/other small animals and birds. Two bunnies = one 50# bag of Ralston Purina rabbit pellets.

Not a bad deal. One reason I keep my eyes open for "free" rabbits.

[Johnboy]

We raise show rabbits here for about the last 12 years. The gestation period of a rabbit is 30 days, the appropriate time for a birthing box is 4 days before mom gives birth.

Also for those who have rabbits dying at a early age, remember most all domesticated rabbits (show and meat ) can not assemilate veggies or wild weeds, they will die from gas build up in their stomach. In the summer months we use frozen small bottles of water and place them inside the cage for maximum fur growth, will also cut heat stressing thus helping with weight building.

For those culling the heard, placing a rabbit, turned on his back, on your lap for just 15 seconds will place the rabbit in a sleeping state. Good for those who want a rabbit to be relaxed just before the "big" wac!

For those who are new, be careful when handling your rabbits, if you handle them in such a way where they can twist and flop about, they will surely break a back thus losing their ability to use their back legs.

Good wishes to all!

God Bless!

Johnboy (3 time grand champion show rabbit at our local fair)

[Beaners]

Also for those who have rabbits dying at a early age, remember most all domesticated rabbits (show and meat ) can not assemilate veggies or wild weeds, they will die from gas build up in their stomach.

I strongly, strongly disagree. A rabbit cannot go straight from a pellet diet to a completely foraged diet, but there is no reason that a rabbit can't be transitioned from pellets to home grown and gathered foods. As long as the foods the rabbit is eating aren't poisonous and the rabbit has been slowly transitioned, extra vegetables from the garden and gathered edible weeds can be a major part of a rabbit's diet. I've done it. I've raised litters on it.

Kayleigh

[Jez]

"Raising Rabbits for Meat (http://www.survival-homestead.com/raising-rabbits-for-meat.html)" is also a good source of information and it's written specifically for the survivalist or prepper. Not only has information on meat breeds, housing, diet, breeding, butchering and tanning, but includes information on which plants and flowers are edible and natural remedies.

Ok I just downloaded this book and am in the process of going through it. I must admit that I'm intrigued by the subject. Two things concern me though. I live in Texas where it can get a little warm in the summers (think sunside of mercury). I don't have a lot of natural shade so I'm not sure if an outside hutch will work for me and I know that an indoor hutch is not really gonna work. My 2nd concern is I'm not entirely sure I can kill and butcher my own meat.

[Jez]

I raise rabbits. I have 20 does and 5 bucks at the moment. I have 7 does due on the 7th of this month, and then I will breed the other does. I sell every fryer. It is really unlikely that we get to eat rabbit around here. They go like hot cakes.

How does selling them work? Do you have contacts you go through? What about governmental regulations?

[Summerthyme]

Jez... can't help you on the butchering- that's something everyone who eats meat has to get through themselves. I will say it gets easier after you've done a few, but it's never "fun" (nor should it be- we should at least understand the gravity of taking ANY life. I've always given thanks to the Lord for the animals we butcher, and maybe oddly, I thank the animal as well)

On the "heat"... if you can get some shade for the hutches, they should do fine. On the hottest days, a rabbit "swamp cooler" is supposed to really help. Hang a burlap sack, soaked in as cold water as you can manage, over the back of the hutch. If you can add a fan, it's 10X better.

You won't be breeding for at least 3 months out of the year, would be the biggest drawback. Bucks will go sterile (and be completely uninterested in mating) in very hot weather. But given a little help (swamp cooler, plenty of water, shade) you should be able to get babies about 9 months out of the year. A 3 month "vacation" won't hurt the does anyway.

(OK, I'm tired tonight. Went back and read you "don't have a lot of natural shade". So, I guess I'm not being much help, if I don't mention:

You can buy something called "shade cloth" at most nursery suppliers. It should be fairly simple to erect some type of framework to hang it on, over the cages.

OR, plant vines (pumpkins, squash) on one or two sides of the hutches, and provide a cattle panel or twines for them to climb.

Where there's a will, there's a way.

Summerthyme

[Jez]

(OK, I'm tired tonight. Went back and read you "don't have a lot of natural shade". So, I guess I'm not being much help, if I don't mention:

You can buy something called "shade cloth" at most nursery suppliers. It should be fairly simple to erect some type of framework to hang it on, over the cages.

OR, plant vines (pumpkins, squash) on one or two sides of the hutches, and provide a cattle panel or twines for them to climb.

Where there's a will, there's a way.

Summerthyme
Actually you were a lot of help. I figure if I'm gonna do this I can make some shade by building a "lean-to" or canopy to keep the sun off during the summer. My back yard faces west and has no trees right now so I get lots of sun. If I build a canopy that may do the trick. Plus it would act as an umbrella.

Another thing I'm gonna have to do is make sure I build them sturdy enough to resist the neighborhood cats and oppossums.

Thanks again for the help.

[lschroeder106z]

Help, our rabbit had it's first litter and we are new to rabbits, my daughter said there is a little blood on the nesting box, not much, less than a tablespoon, is it normal to see blood speckled on the top of the nesting box?

We think there are three babies, we really haven't been nosing around yet.

[Summerthyme]

Anytime anything gives birth, you're going to see some blood. It should be fine.

LEAVE THEM ALONE for at least 24 hours (especially if this is her first litter) to let the doe settle down, finish having the babies (if she's not done) and relax a bit. Tomorrow you can briefly check on them, count heads, remove any dead ones (if necessary), etc. Take a bit of a bribe- a piece of apple, carrot, etc- to distract the doe. Don't let the kids get rowdy and noisy around the cage, and keep ALL "predator pets" (dogs and cats) AWAY for now.

Rabbits can quickly turn into cannibals if they think their newborns are threatened. Once the first day or so has passed, the danger isn't anywhere near as great.

(for those who think I'm exaggerating because they haven't seen the problem- it's true. Some does are much worse than others, but unless you're familiar with a particular doe and how she reacts when she has babies, it's best to err on the side of caution)

Summerthyme

[greensman]

i may have missed it, but does anyone have a info/link for rabbit hutches? i am mainly interested in the dimensions needed and what type of materials used. i have seen hutches that are all wire and some that have some wood on the floor. will hardware cloth work for the floor? thanks for all the info so far. i would like to add some rabbits for compost/manure now and for meat if needed. are most of the breeds similar in disposition and care requirements? thanks.

[Kayla]

Most cages are approx. 30"x36". I like them even a little bigger if I have space but it's not really necessary. Personally, I hate cages with any wood on them at all. Rabbits tend to chew on the wood, they're hard to clean and consequently harbor more germs IMHO. People do use them though.

Wire cages usually have 1"x2" wire on the sides & top, and 1/2"x1" wire on the floor (and up approx. 4" on the sides) so the babies don't fall out. Hardware cloth is really not sturdy enough and the spacing isn't big enough to let the manure fall through. Many feed and farm stores carry rabbit wire to build your own, or if you search a bit you may find some used cages at a reasonable price.

I'll try to post some websites for building your own if no one else beats me to it.

New Zealand Whites and Californians are the most common meat rabbits. Other breeds (and even some cross breds) can work well, but it's hard to beat those two breeds for top production. I have Champagne d'Argents because I think they're pretty. :mrgreen: I'll sacrifice a tiny bit on production if necessary to have something I enjoy raising. Most breeds are similar in regard to care, except for long haired breeds. Some breeds do handle hot or cold weather better than others.

My experience has been that temperament has a lot more to do with parentage than breed. If the dam and sire are calm and quiet, chances are the young will be too. If you buy breeding stock from nervous, flighty parents, your youngsters will likely turn out the same no matter how much you work with them.

[Summerthyme]

Kayla is correct... hardware cloth isn't sturdy enough to support the weight of a doe and litter. Also, it's often rather "rough"... and you'll have sore hocks (which can get infected and kill the rabbit) too soon.

DO NOT USE WOOD if you can possibly help it. It's just not good for hutches- if the rabbits can access it, they'll chew it to shreds. If it's on the bottom, it will become urine soaked and stinky. And there is no way to clean it.

When we were raising rabbits, we used all wire hutches (and 30" X 36" is plenty big EXCEPT for very large breeds... although a New Zealand doe and a big litter can pretty well turn one that size into "wall to wall" rabbits by butchering time). When a litter was weaned, I'd take the hutch, scrub it up well with a pressure washer and some disinfectant solution, and then use a torch to burn all the hair off. (actually, reverse that- burn the hair off first, THEN scrub). You (obviously) can't do that with wooden cages!

Using 1" X 1/2" welded wire for floors is important... and it's also important to put it "right side up"... so the "smoother" side is up. If you look at a piece of wire, you'll see what I mean. I only used it on the floors, not up the sides of the cages... because if the babies fell out of their nest box, there was usually more to worry about than if they would fall through the floor.

And I also agree completely that temperament is inherited. In fact, I fostered Rex babies onto my good crossbred New Zealand doe several times (she was a GREAT mother- I swear she'd have raised a kitten if I'd have given her one)... but the babies had the same (nervous) temperament of THEIR mothers, not their foster mother.

Rexes have gorgeous pelts, but they are the one breed I had to keep a wooden board in the hutch for- otherwise they developed "sore hocks", which would abscess... and for some reason (probably stress) they'd go into a systemic blood poisoning around the time a doe was due to kindle.

Aside from that, and the problem with hairballs in the Angora types (long haired), there isn't much difference in breeds in terms of care requirements. You can solve the hairball problem by brushing the rabbits occasionally (save the fur- angora fur is valuable for spinning), and by giving a dropper full of RAW (or frozen) pineapple juice once in awhile- the enzymes in it will dissolve the hair.

Summerthyme

[greensman]

thanks kayla and summerthyme. that hit the spot.

[Kayla]

Forgot to mention earlier that cage height is generally 18".

We built all new cages this fall and made them 24" deep by 42" long (buck cages) or 48" long (doe cages). I have a bad neck & back and hate reaching into deep cages trying to grab a rabbit huddling in the back corner. We put several doors on each cage front, 1 big enough to get a nest box through, and the extra 2 doors so I can easily reach anywhere in the cage. Not standard but it works well for me.

We also made the cages 24" high. All the rabbits spend a lot of time jumping, twisting and high-diving in their cages. They enjoy standing on tiptoe and stretching to the top of the cage too. They seem to really appreciate the extra cage height.

We clean cages the same way Summerthyme does.