Adding Weight to Meat Pen

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AdamsFamilyFarm

AdamsFamilyFarm

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What are the best ways to put a little weight on a meat pen rabbit? It is 8 weeks now. I don't want it fat, or to loose condition, but it needs to gain about 7 ounces to catch up with the others. I have 13 days to get the weights as close as possible. It already has free feed, both a water bottle and crock, gets a supplement of oats, BOSS and showbloom, as do the others. I've also added a hay mix that has a little alfalfa in it for the extra protein. Any other suggestions?
 
I think you are putting maximum weight on all the rabbits with such a diet, and I don't think you can do anything to put extra weight on the one, except put him in a very small cage, so he can't move much. The alternative is cutting the others back to straight pellets so they don't grow as fast is probably something you are not wanting to do. I do not know the rules for "meat pen" rabbits, but if it is allowed, I think I would raise extra rabbits and then exlude those that were far away from the median.
 
avdpas77":2pvtthvr said:
I think I would raise extra rabbits and then exlude those that were far away from the median.
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Our 4H Rabbit Club leader's daughter always raises at least four rabbits, and then picks the three that are most alike for her meat pen. The other one goes into the single fryer class.
 
I've always found the key is to weigh rabbits DAILY and separate them into cages according to weight (smaller ones in one cage, larger ones in another). The more rabbits you have, the better. I'm unfamiliar with Showbloom, but if it's similar to Animax, give the smaller ones more of it than the larger ones.
 
I've got then separated by weights. The smallest one and the biggest ones have their own cages. I have 8 to pick 2 pens of 3 from. The problem is, 2 are not from the same doe. Their body type is a little different, enough for us not to place. If I can get the smallest one up, and the largest one down a little, they will all be from the same litter and their body types match more. They can't be over 5 pounds at 10 weeks. The show is in 13 days and they range from 2.94 to 3.73 pounds. I need the small one to make up about 7 ounces and the big one to loose about 3 ounces(well, not loose, but not gain as fast) The large one is already restricted on pellets, just a little. It seems to be helping. The ShowBloom has a lot of protein in it. It also helps condition them for the show. I'm giving the small one extra of the mix, and a little extra of the ShowBloom. If only they were all from the same litter, I would be set! I have 2 sets of 3 that are almost identical in weight, but each set has 1 bunny from the other doe. Their body type is just too far off the others. Ok, we'll just have to do the best we can. Maybe come up with a bunny treadmill for the overweight one. :)
 
Well, we only have 4 does of breedable ages. We bred all 4. One missed, one kindled a week early and lost a litter of 12, one had 6, and the other had 3 one day(one was a runt and didn't make it), and one more the next day that was DOA. That left us with 8. 6 from one doe, 2 from the other. This is our first year and we are deciding who stays and who goes. Looks like a couple of them will be replaced. We will probably increase our breeding does to 8,4 for each kid. We currently have 11-3 week old kits. We are going to breed one more time, pick our replacements, cull, and give them a break for the summer. It can get to 105-110 here late in the summer. We'll have to breed around Oct. for the Jan. show. We have been told that a lot of people ended up with nothing to show in Houston because they had to be born the week it got really cold. It was 10 here in Central Texas. I think that was a new record. A lot of people lost babies due to the cold. We lost for other reasons, not the cold.
 
If it was me:

Big bunny: 1 cup/day of feed ONLY and small handful of hay, no supplements
Little bunny: Keep doing what you're doing
Majority group: Lay off a little of the supplements

This would just be for a few days to see if you can get them to even out. I've also found that if you offer smaller more frequent meals, instead of leaving it out free-choice, they eat more that way.

Is this for a show or a county fair? Will you be able to bring them home afterward or will they be auctioned off?
 
It is for the Houston Livestock Show. We don't live down there anymore, but we are showing. It is open to the whole state. They don't auction off, but the top 30 pens are awarded from $100 to $5000(for Grand). If you don't place in the top 30, you go home that day, if you do, you stay 2 more days with the bunnies on display. Hubby says if we are offered a descent amount for them, we'll sell them. They are really good, just trying to get them just right so we have a chance. It's our first show, so we'll see.
 
AdamsFamilyFarm":wcmthsjw said:
Well, we only have 4 does of breedable ages. We bred all 4. One missed, one kindled a week early and lost a litter of 12, one had 6, and the other had 3 one day(one was a runt and didn't make it), and one more the next day that was DOA. That left us with 8. 6 from one doe, 2 from the other. This is our first year and we are deciding who stays and who goes. Looks like a couple of them will be replaced. We will probably increase our breeding does to 8,4 for each kid. We currently have 11-3 week old kits. We are going to breed one more time, pick our replacements, cull, and give them a break for the summer. It can get to 105-110 here late in the summer. We'll have to breed around Oct. for the Jan. show. We have been told that a lot of people ended up with nothing to show in Houston because they had to be born the week it got really cold. It was 10 here in Central Texas. I think that was a new record. A lot of people lost babies due to the cold. We lost for other reasons, not the cold.
Click to expand...

Yep, the first year is all about getting established......things will go better in the future. :)
 

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