Nest Box Culling

since this post is updated....

I thought I would update on how to cull wee kits.

Hold the kit so the back of the head faces the direction you are going to strike. Hit the back of the head sharply against a solid object (I will often use a shelf or the corner of a building). Death is immediate and no chance of suffering if you don't whack it down on the ground hard enough.

You need to do what serves your herd the best. For my meat rabbits... raising 8 kits means bigger hardier kits. For my lanky holland lops (yes I have some pet quality ladies) they can handle 6-7 kits easily and I"m not worried about them being big hardy fast-growing youngsters. My small, typey girls handle 5 kits well, and the dwarf girls do four nicely. More than that I and I cull down for colour, type etc.

All my dead rabbits, regardless of size, now feed our two cats.

ladysown said:

since this post is updated....

I thought I would update on how to cull wee kits.

Hold the kit so the back of the head faces the direction you are going to strike. Hit the back of the head sharply against a solid object (I will often use a shelf or the corner of a building). Death is immediate and no chance of suffering if you don't whack it down on the ground hard enough.

You need to do what serves your herd the best. For my meat rabbits... raising 8 kits means bigger hardier kits. For my lanky holland lops (yes I have some pet quality ladies) they can handle 6-7 kits easily and I"m not worried about them being big hardy fast-growing youngsters. My small, typey girls handle 5 kits well, and the dwarf girls do four nicely. More than that I and I cull down for colour, type etc.

All my dead rabbits, regardless of size, now feed our two cats.

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I just- Well-

ok hang on, first, I'm sure there's better ways to do that but...

You'll cull them if they have the wrong color?

RabbitsOfTheCreek said:

I just- Well-

ok hang on, first, I'm sure there's better ways to do that but...

You'll cull them if they have the wrong color?

Click to expand...

The best way... Any way that it is instant.

Culling is a choice of any rabbit breeder and there is no wrong reason to cull.

The younger the rabbit to be culled, the better for all involved.

Wow, I'm so glad I didn't read this before my rabbit had 10 babies. She is 12 lb and she divided them into two groups and I guess she fed them separately. Initially when I saw they were in two groups I put them all back together, but she separated them back out. I guess she knew she didn't have enough nipples to feed 10 at one time. They were tiny when they were born but they soon grew larger than kits that were a week older and were born quite a bit larger. They are now about 12 weeks old and are around 6 lb. So I'm glad I didn't cull 2-4 because I would have been out $60 to $120 LOL. She is pregnant again and I think I will let her keep whatever she has

Liz

If I have to, say because mom died or similar, secateurs or pruning shears are definitely the I would way to go. It's about as close to the AVMA approved euthanasia as you can get at home, unless you can dispense co2, at which point you should STILL follow with the shears on a kit.

I get why this is hard for people, but in my case I'd argue that it is better, by far, than a slow death by starvation, freezing, etc. In my line of work, dead is dead (meaning the animal doesn't get an alternate outcome- they are equally dead if I do it, or they die of shock and blood loss from a predator attack, or slowly drown from an untreatable illness), but faster is better. Too many methods hurt the animal to spare the feelings of the administrator.

eco2pia said:

If I have to, say because mom died or similar, secateurs or pruning shears are definitely the I would way to go. It's about as close to the AVMA approved euthanasia as you can get at home, unless you can dispense co2, at which point you should STILL follow with the shears on a kit.

I get why this is hard for people, but in my case I'd argue that it is better, by far, than a slow death by starvation, freezing, etc. In my line of work, dead is dead (meaning the animal doesn't get an alternate outcome- they are equally dead if I do it, or they die of shock and blood loss from a predator attack, or slowly drown from an untreatable illness), but faster is better. Too many methods hurt the animal to spare the feelings of the administrator.

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Thank you!! I have had a hard time finding a "good" way to cull babies. This would definitely work.

Rabbits by Accident said:

Wow, I'm so glad I didn't read this before my rabbit had 10 babies. She is 12 lb and she divided them into two groups and I guess she fed them separately. Initially when I saw they were in two groups I put them all back together, but she separated them back out. I guess she knew she didn't have enough nipples to feed 10 at one time. They were tiny when they were born but they soon grew larger than kits that were a week older and were born quite a bit larger. They are now about 12 weeks old and are around 6 lb. So I'm glad I didn't cull 2-4 because I would have been out $60 to $120 LOL. She is pregnant again and I think I will let her keep whatever she has

Liz

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Rabbit breeders may have differing objectives. I have observed in my Tamuks which often have 10-12 but sometimes only have 6-8 that the smaller litters definitely grow out faster. And in some cases better. These are solely meat rabbits but I do also sell breeding stock and the very best litter I ever had was a litter of 8 and every single one has gone for breeding stock. Now I have not gotten to the point that I cull to this size because, well, not really a good reason, I just don't want to do that. But I definitely understand it as a management practice for some breeding objectives.

yes, cull for colour. in my area black rabbits or solid white rabbits do not sell well, so if I need to cull rabbits and I need to make a choice, that is part of my selection process. Breeders cull for all sorts of reasons... temperament, colour, type, size, number, etc.

Maybe its because I don't usually get more than two or three from a litter, but culling a rabbit. It for having the wrong pelt color seems wrong
Temperament I can understand, but color?

RabbitsOfTheCreek said:

Maybe its because I don't usually get more than two or three from a litter, but culling a rabbit. It for having the wrong pelt color seems wrong
Temperament I can understand, but color?

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If one of the 12 will likely die anyway, due to litter size, it might as well be the one you can't sell. You would have to cull it for meat later... If you don't decide then one that would have sold starves, and the one that wouldn't ends up meat later, and the result is 2 dead rabbits instead of one. I accept the responsibility for making those kinds of decisions. It is not fun, but it is part of the job.

If you happen to breed rabbits that only have 1-3 kits I can see how every baby is precious, and this can be hard to conceptualize. But rabbits can breed like, well, rabbits. Decisions must be made or we have troubles with tribbles.

ladysown said:

All my dead rabbits, regardless of size, now feed our two cats.

Click to expand...

How do you present the dead rabbits to your cats? Whole? chopped up? Skinned? Meat grinder? Just curious. I'm new to getting them ready for my dog.

eco2pia said:

If I have to, say because mom died or similar, secateurs or pruning shears are definitely the I would way to go. It's about as close to the AVMA approved euthanasia as you can get at home, unless you can dispense co2, at which point you should STILL follow with the shears on a kit.

I get why this is hard for people, but in my case I'd argue that it is better, by far, than a slow death by starvation, freezing, etc. In my line of work, dead is dead (meaning the animal doesn't get an alternate outcome- they are equally dead if I do it, or they die of shock and blood loss from a predator attack, or slowly drown from an untreatable illness), but faster is better. Too many methods hurt the animal to spare the feelings of the administrator.

Click to expand...

Just yesterday I had to euthanize a 4 week baby that I discovered with a swollen foot below an injured leg. I have no idea what happened to it and I felt so bad to have to do it, but I knew it was suffering and the suffering was only going to get worse. I didn't know what else to do, so asked hubby to do the typical broomstick maneuver we do when we dispatch a rabbit for processing. It didn't go too well, though, and I think it is because it was so small, he didn't pull as hard as we usually would. Then he ended up pulling so hard, the head came off. What a disaster! Poor little thing.... Are you saying snipping the neck of a wee one is best? What is the AVMA?

eco2pia said:

If one of the 12 will likely die anyway, due to litter size, it might as well be the one you can't sell. You would have to cull it for meat later... If you don't decide then one that would have sold starves, and the one that wouldn't ends up meat later, and the result is 2 dead rabbits instead of one. I accept the responsibility for making those kinds of decisions. It is not fun, but it is part of the job.

If you happen to breed rabbits that only have 1-3 kits I can see how every baby is precious, and this can be hard to conceptualize. But rabbits can breed like, well, rabbits. Decisions must be made or we have troubles with tribbles.

Click to expand...

I'm still new enough to raising livestock that I am still trying to save every Wilbur who comes along! LOL! It can be frustrating. My last Wilbur is my first success! At least I am learning how to save the wee-est ones. It all changed from an article I read in the ARBA handbook 2020 edition, page 96, "Triage Tips: Saving the Babies When Problems Arise". Authored by Sandra Wight. It's the very best article I've ever read about how to intervene when babies are going without nutrition. And, after reading the article, I've experienced my first save after so many dying before. I used a combination of several of her strategies.

KelleyBee said:

Just yesterday I had to euthanize a 4 week baby that I discovered with a swollen foot below an injured leg. I have no idea what happened to it and I felt so bad to have to do it, but I knew it was suffering and the suffering was only going to get worse. I didn't know what else to do, so asked hubby to do the typical broomstick maneuver we do when we dispatch a rabbit for processing. It didn't go too well, though, and I think it is because it was so small, he didn't pull as hard as we usually would. Then he ended up pulling so hard, the head came off. What a disaster! Poor little thing.... Are you saying snipping the neck of a wee one is best? What is the AVMA?

Click to expand...

Decapitation completely, or breaking the neck with the shears, is easier on little guys than broomsticking--to be honest you can "broomstick" a baby with your bare hands very effectively, the same as a chicken, but very few people are comfortable with that these days. I would be, but I grew up doing it and am well able to perform it on anything smaller than a chicken. Still, even I prefer the certianty of shears.

The American Veterinary Medical Association annually publishes a guide to euthanizing all kinds of animals. Often the options are chemicals that a non-veterinarian does not have access to, but there are also "physical" reccomendations per each species, especially for livestock animals and animal research facilities. Generally such facilities are required to follow AVMA guidelines, among the many other governing bodies they are subject to.

For rabbits and rodents the generally accepted options that are accessible to non-vets are CO2 administration followed by cervical dislocation, or cervical dislocation alone-- Knock them out with co2 and break their neck. Young animals are tiny and not fully developed, so decapitation with scissors or shears is reccomended. The proper way to do this is hold the kit with its back to you and cut cleanly thru the spine just below the ears. Death is as close to instant as possible, and at under 2 weeks this is very easy to do. Over 2 weeks, you may not get thru the neck completely but the spine will still be severed.

For older rabbits in research facilities, captured bolt "stunners" are prefered, but an expensive option. Cervical dislocation is still an option, and broomsticking or a device that acheives the same end is used.

KelleyBee said:

How do you present the dead rabbits to your cats? Whole? chopped up? Skinned? Meat grinder? Just curious. I'm new to getting them ready for my dog.

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i grind them up and then i cook them. You need to add vitamins and what not to make it a well balanced diet.

RabbitsOfTheCreek said:

I just- Well-

ok hang on, first, I'm sure there's better ways to do that but...

You'll cull them if they have the wrong color?

Click to expand...

yes, cull for colour. Some colours rarely sell. So if (and this doesn't happen often) I need cull a litter due to size, needs of other does (poor mother and fostering over to better mother), various issues etc, then colour, size, etc all play a role. It is easier to cull from the nestbox then to cull as a kit grows. BUT kits as they grow sometimes require culling as well. Poor growth rate, illness, temperament (for instance I currently have a six week old kit that has too many hormones coursing through its body and it's starting fights with it's siblings), or has horrible conformation... these are all reasons to cull. If I don't want it in my herd, or I don't want to risk someone breeding it down the road, then it will go to feed my cats.