Do Colony Rabbits Grow Slower?

[Truckinguy]

I processed the two buns from Fred/Morgan's first litter at exactly ten weeks and they processed out to 2lbs and 1 3/4 lbs without organs (sometimes I leave the heart, lungs, kidneys and liver in for people) which seems a bit small. The smaller one was the runt of the litter so not too surprised there but the other one was regular size. I didn't get a live weight before processing but they seemed to be a tad smaller than the ones I used to raise in cages. Would they put on a little less weight due to the extra room they have to run around and be more active than they would in the cages?

 

[MamaSheepdog]

I know that MaggieJ processes hers around 14-16 weeks, but they are also on a natural diet with no pellets.

However, animals that have a lot of room to roam around do gain weight more slowly which is why commercial animals are kept confined, especially for "finishing".

We did the same with our pigs (3 in a standard sized barn stall) and our steer who was kept in a 36' x 36' corral when we rounded him up off of "the mountain".

Maybe you could install a hanging cage in your pen and confine them to that at 5-6 weeks for finishing.

 

[Truckinguy]

Yes, I was thinking of building a growout cage. I just love seeing them run around happily in the hay and the different age litters get along so well. Sometimes I see most of the bunnies all lying in a pile, adults and both litters all having their mid day nap together.

I may just have to go with a later butcher date, however Morgan does get a bit aggressive with the older litter as the younger litter is nursing, likely her way of weaning the older ones. One way or another, it looks like I'm building a separate growout area.

I need more land!

 

[MaggieJ]

It sounds as though you do need a grow-out pen or cage to remove the older young'uns to when the new litter arrives.

How was the amount of fat on the two you butchered compared to the cage-raised ones from last year? When I fed pellets, there was always more fat on the fryers than I wanted and even though they reached butchering size faster, I see excess fat as a waste.

If not convenient to track live weights as they grow, you might want to consider butchering the next ones at 12 weeks instead of 10 and see how that works.

 

[Truckinguy]

They were very low on body fat compared to the kits raised in cages. They are very active and I see them doing binkies from end to end of the colony quite often.

I am planning on processing the next ones at 11 weeks and see how they are, if still a little small I'll go to 12 weeks. I don't want to feed them any longer than I have to.

My next litter of seven has a very large difference in size throughout the litter although all are doing fine. I might have to process half the litter one week and the other half the next week when it gets to that time.

 

[MaggieJ]

Good ideas.

If you can get some good alfalfa hay at a reasonable price (I can get it here for $3.25 a square bale) you could cut feed costs for pellets by feeding some of each. At least with the colony you are not pouring good money into creating fat that would likely be discarded.