Recent content by guinnessguy

I just saw a video of a homesteader who, after bopping the rabbit on the head, dunks this rabbit in water to matt down the fur. Apparently it helps hair balls and having stray hairs cling to the meat. Anybody else do this?

I use a retractable exacto knife and my 6" Rapala filet knife.

Kijiji is how I got almost alll of my breeding stock. I started with a Palomino/NZW buck, and 2 NZW does ($30 for all three). Then I picked up a lionhead doe for free. Then I added a mini-rex buck for free. I culled one of the NZW does after she castrated my Pal/NZW buck. Then, realizing that...

Counted the NZW/Dutch babies. There's 10 in all, and no dead ones! I think it's too big of a litter to foster 2 additional kits. I'll just wait a couple of weeks and re-breed both of them. And yes, my dutch buck must be very happy... or tired!

Well, there's tons of pulled fur in my NZW cage. It looks like the big girl came through. It's quite windy and chilly here this morning, so I will wait until after work to check the babies. My cages are covered with a tarp, so not much wind gets to the nest. Depending on how many she had, I...

My Dutch doe had a litter on the wire, last week. 6 kits, all cold by the time I got back from work, laying on the wire. She was a maiden doe, 1.5 yrs old, so at least I know she can be bred. She was bred to my dutch buck. I gave her a day off, and then re-bred her to the dutch buck. Today, my...

So how long can I leave them together? I can't see an open time slot, to butcher, until Friday/Saturday. Will they kill each other? or just scratch each other?

I have a small rabbitry, consisting of whatever meat mutts I have been able to get a hold of. My main cages hold one female dutch, a male dutch, a female NZW and a female Lionhead. In my growout cage, I was "growing out" what I thought was a female mini-rex and a female lionhead/palomino cross...

A rubber fishing net is what worked for me when one of my NZW adults escaped.

So I did it. I picked up a pair of Dutch rabbits this weekend. 2 1-yr-old maiden chocolate doe, and a 2-yr-old proven black buck (3 litters), from a breeder who shows. I'm hoping to have them bred within a week or so (I'm letting them get settled in the new digs).

Thanks avdpas77. I think your insight into why my rabbits aren't produce are just. I didn't go with a reputable breeder (first mistake), and never got proof of age, breed or origin. I don't expect to make money at this, just raise rabbits for the family eating. I'm hoping the next "base" stock...

Eco2pia: I've often wondered how old my base stock was as well. I got them from another backyard meat breeder. He assured me that they were 7-8 months, but this lack of production makes me wonder. Shara: I'm hanging in there. I'm just going to change some of my stock. Ottersatin: I feed the...

So I got into rabbits in October. Got myself 2 NZW does, one Palomino (crossed with "something") buck. Then I picked up a Lionhead doe. So far, I've had one successful litter, from the Lionhead doe. She was due yesterday, and missed. Should my NZW's miss this week, they will respectively be on...

Congrats! That sounds like a lot of work. How long did that take you?

I have had my 6 kits from my first litter in a grow out pen (an empty hole, 30 x 30 + 30 x 10 wooden nest attached). As I'm sending the kits to freezer camp, and hope to use that hole, I will need to sanitize it pretty well. I've noticed that, in the last 2 weeks, they have been using the next...