hi everyone! over on HT i am known as ford major but over most of internet i am known as steveont! my family and i farm in what is now the city of Ottawa, Canada's capital. jen (my DW) and i have had bunnies for over 20 years, mostly as pets! we have started raising rabbit to be sold through our local farmers market here in the new year. we feed a home mix of crushed oats barley and wheat with a bit of molasses added, so far so good! we are also members of a local bird club that holds auctions of birds and small mammals twice a year (plus all kinds of contacts for such in our area as well!) hope to be of help, always learning myself!

woohooo!!! Welcome Steve! Nice to see anothr familiar face...er...login.

Looking forward to some insightful information from you! specially on the feeding (for me)...I'm intrigued by the barley use with oats..I know Maggie uses barley, too. I MUST get going on this grain thing....

Members are cordially invited to introduce themselves and their rabbits in this thread.

I guess I'd better lead off!

I started raising rabbits in July, 2005. I have just a small backyard rabbitry and no immediate plans to change that. I raise rabbits for meat, but although I see them as livestock, not pets, I am fond of my breeders and treat them as valued individuals. I currently have four does and two bucks. As soon as the worst of winter is past, I hope for a small population explosion in the rabbitry.

I raise my rabbits in traditional wire cages, but I feed them a pelletless diet of alfalfa and grass hay, grain and fresh foods. They have done very well on this more natural diet and I am an enthusiast on the subject.

I've been raising rabbits since 2006. I raised them as a teenage and when I was given a pair to house feel in love all over again.

I like bunnies.
I tend to view them as livestock rather than pets but I do enjoy them as individuals.
I raise and treat them as nicely as I can.
I raise meat as well as pet varieties of rabbits.
I'm learning to show them as well.

I breed for health and temperament primarily. But there are certain colours that I just like.

Housed predominately in traditional wire housing.
Fed a pellet based diet with lots of extras: apple branches, hay, and a variety of green stuffs (some from my garden, some from the local farmers fields).

me!! me!! My turn!!

I got into rabbits just last summer (June, 2009) by purchasing 4 angora youngsters from Someone in the area. They're English/French angora crosses with scrumptious wool. Knowing NOTHING but what I'd read and seeing a few topics from the French Angora Association in France...I decided to try them in a modified Colony setting. Indoors, on straw and shavings, free fed hay and pellets and greens (1 type every 3 days in rotation). Well, it's worked well so far. (ask me about it sometime or visit the Colony forum)
Then I got a breeding pair of New Zealand Blacks from a friend, and soon we had 10 (8 survived) kits.

My plan is to have a full colony outdoors when I move to the farm next spring...for the New Zealands. A modified colony in a former chicken coop, with an outdoor run or two, for the Angora/fiber rabbits. And a few grow out pens.

Mainly for the fiber and to feed ourselves, but I'm hoping to sell a few to support the rabbit habbit

The pellets are going to be replaced by grains and alfalfa hay when things get settled.

Cool site, Im Jeff and I raise rabbits with my two kids ages 10 and 14. They are mostly show rabbits. we have Tort Dutch, Chocolate dutch, Black New Zealands, and Netherland dwarfs. We live in central Iowa.

Hi everyone, I also am from over at HT, Maggie was nice enough to invite me over here too.
Dh & I have a small hobby farm I call it & we love it.
We got into rabbits last June 2008. We raise them for meat. We have New zealands.

I don't know if I will be of much help to anyone becuase I feel I still have so much to learn so I may just learn from all of you as I go.
We house our rabbits in traditional type hutches, they are very spoiled. In winter months I even cover them with old quilts & then heavy tarps over that to keep them from the snow & wind. I also think that helps to keep there water from freezing as fast.
I feed rabbit pellets, I do give oatmeal to doe's with new kits ( I learned that from Maggie), also they all get hay everyday unless they have enough left & I try to give them some type of snack or green everyday.

Hey Steve, I didn't know you had rabbits too! Cool.

I'm Pookshollow over on HT, but most other places, I'm Half Caper Farm, which is the name of my goat farm (and I guess anything else that is raised here).

I'm slowly dipping my toe into the waters of commercial meat rabbit raising - I've kept back some young does to breed over the winter, and if all goes well, I'll keep expanding.

My main focus is Harlequins, for meat and show. I've got a few Lionheads left, but I've cut way back on those, and I have some New Zealand does for meat.

Thanks for putting up this site, Maggie - things were getting a little strict.

Yes... a little too strict. You can have a bit of fun and still be serious about your goals. Nice to see all of you over here. We don't have to give up on HT to enjoy being here, but it's nice to have a place to relax.

We have raised rabbits for family food since the mid 70's but without much other intent. Started with NZ and CA but branched out into Checkers and Flemish. We currently have Silver Martens and Lionheads and one very handsome red buck of questionable heritage depending on who's lookin! We plan to build a new rabbit barn soon so we can expand as everyone is housed in a section of our 3 sided goat barn. Not a bad set up but we need more space! We get attached to our breeding stock and harvest from the garden for them. Thank you for the invitation to visit Maggie as I have enjoyed reading the posts on HT. Did not know you were under constraints there but the format of this forum looks great! I would love to learn more about genetics and color inheritance so bring it on! Looking forward to all the learning! Our current intent is to learn enough to expand into sales to help pay for feed.
B~

Hi everybody - I'm the anomaly in the group so far I suspect

I have a pragmatic approach to animals but they are part of my family for sure - I have worked in all breed/species rescue for many years both as staff, volunteer and director of some big animal welfare groups
I have gotten to travel a fair bit and met lots of people all over the spectrum of animal welfare and realize that everybody has their own opinion of what animals are and are for ... I am opposed to factory farming/puppy mill type situations as I think animals can be used with respect
I have recently recognized that rabbits can be part of our self sustance move (we have a bit of land now) and am working on my fibre skills ..
I enjoy a good debate and discussion .. and have seen things that would make many shake their heads in horror

cheers

andrea

and yes, I still have rabbits. At one time I was quite active over at HT (actually even before HT when it was Countryside), and mostly on the poultry forum. A few years back I started raising meat rabbits beginning with a variety of New Zealand, Californian, Champagne d'Argent and Giant Chinchilla crosses. My very first litter I ended up hand raising! After a couple of summers of meat rabbits I ended up switching to Polish with plans to breed and show. Life circumstances changed when hubby got a new job where he's away two weeks and home two weeks, and now it just doesn't fit in our lives to travel to the shows. So the plan was to get rid of all the livestock, rabbits included (I cut back as far as seven ...). Life changes yet again, and after losing my beloved Border Collie (1 yr old) Nelly in June of this year, I just haven't been able to let go of the rabbits. Now, without the Border Collie dominating my existence I have time again to scrapbook, sew and knit, and am contemplating a fibre rabbit in the spring . . . sigh. Just make up my mind!!! LOL. So, here I am. I do have experience raising rabbits in Northern Ontario's unfriendly climate and enjoy talking about rabbits. Nice to 'see' some friendly familiar faces!

Im a youth breeder, and have been breeding for 2 years. Ive bred many breeds, such as harlequins, hollands, and lionheads. Im now focusing on Mini rex as show animals. I breed for the pet and breeder market, but will sell the mini rex as a meat as well. I do not focus on colour, but body type and confirmation. I find, focusing on colour is what will ruin show rabbits ( except in breeds like the harlequin). I breed for health as my main focus.

I like rabbits a lot, one of my favorite things in my barn! Ive got them in wire housing, but offer solid resting pads that work great. Feeding a pellet based diet with hay, treats, greens, and others work for me.

hey pooks! yep, we have rabbits again! next year (2010) hope too get some goaties again as well! (your telus ads have not helped!)
pretty much all my life i have worked with critters of one kind or another, bunnies fit in so well with our small farm and the more natural diet we are now feeding seems to work as well! they get hay as well as grain plus occasional carrot, apple or radish greens!(have to expand the greens list this year!) we have cals, chins, NZ's plus crosses of all three breeds. shipped to a processor to be vac packed, we hope to have them for sale at our FM stand this summer as well as our lamb, truck crops and felted items!

What kind of goats are you thinking of getting? Milk, meat, fibre? I know a lot of breeders of dairy and meat goats, so might be able to help you when you start looking.

I had Californians years ago - don't see them around much anymore. They were nice rabbits.

I'm a little leary of feeding hay right now, because of the wet year we had. Even hay that was baled dry seems to have some "dust" in it, if it was stored near the ground - on pallets! I lost most of one litter, one after the other as they were being weaned and that's the only thing I can think of. No wet butts, just dead kits. So, they're getting straw in the nestboxes - not as nice as soft hay, but no risk of mold.