hello, New to meat rabbits

[bigmike77]

Hello everyone, I am just learning about meat rabbits with the hope of getting my first pair within a year. Congrats on your new additions bigmike. What would you say is a good size pen for a standard rex sized doe and female kits kept together till 3 months old?

To be honest I don't know :shock: , I know my NZ white was a bit of an ass in the smaller cages I have, once he got into the larger cage he has cooled down. I will measure the cages when I get home. I would like to get a few more of the larger ones or convert some of the smaller ones to be bigger. This is my 1st attempt at this, also I lucked out when I get my cages on CL. My best answer would be work with what you can afford and larger is better

 

[GBov]

My cages are three ft by two ft by 18inches high and, the one time I got ahold of a standard rex (Yeh, I know they are just rex but standard is stuck in my head ) it fit just fine. My NZs do well in that size too.

 

[skysthelimit]

Hello everyone, I am just learning about meat rabbits with the hope of getting my first pair within a year. Congrats on your new additions bigmike. What would you say is a good size pen for a standard rex sized doe and female kits kept together till 3 months old?

That depends on how many and how big they get. After 8 weeks old, I can only keep about three total buns in a 30x30, I would not put any more than that. My 8 week olds are about 3lbs.

 

[bigmike77]

 

[Marinea]

They look terrific Mike. Congrats!

 

[bigmike77]

when can i pull the nesting box?

 

[Marinea]

The kits are over three weeks now, no? I would say you're good now.

 

[Flemishstar]

They look good!!!!!!!!! Mine are 3 weeks today and completely on solid food, maybe a little milk here and there, Momma had 9 to care for so I think shes empty now lol, My next feat is to get em to drink water...Im guessing yours are right around 3 weeks

 

[bigmike77]

Saturday will b 3 weeks. they are eating hay and I have yet to see them eat any food but I fill the feeder every day.<br /><br />__________ Thu Aug 29, 2013 10:37 am __________<br /><br />thanks guys, I will pull the nesting box 2night, give them more room in the cage.

 

[MamaSheepdog]

What a nice litter! Congrats!

 

[bigmike77]

2 litter arrival this morning. Found 1 kit on the floor. I think 7 in the nesting box. 2 were dead in the box when i got to them. So far she is a good mamma. at least she did it in the nesting box

 

[AmysMacdog]

Yay! Congratulations Bigmike!

 

[WildWolf]

Yay!

 

[GBov]

2 litter arrival this morning. Found 1 kit on the floor. I think 7 in the nesting box. 2 were dead in the box when i got to them. So far she is a good mamma. at least she did it in the nesting box

How did it hit the floor? Baby safe wire is a, well, life saver!

I retro fitted baby saver wire to all my doe cages when I found a lovely little bundle of kits curled up in the manure pile UNDER the cage. They had all been born, crawled through the wire, fallen down over two feet into the manure, found each other and made their own nest.

They did smell a bit though! :shock:

 

[MamaSheepdog]

Congrats on the litter!

 

[bigmike77]

2 litter arrival this morning. Found 1 kit on the floor. I think 7 in the nesting box. 2 were dead in the box when i got to them. So far she is a good mamma. at least she did it in the nesting box

How did it hit the floor? Baby safe wire is a, well, life saver!

I retro fitted baby saver wire to all my doe cages when I found a lovely little bundle of kits curled up in the manure pile UNDER the cage. They had all been born, crawled through the wire, fallen down over two feet into the manure, found each other and made their own nest.

They did smell a bit though! :shock:

will do!

__________ Tue Sep 17, 2013 7:55 am __________

So I dispatched my very aggressive NZ white buck, soaked him in salt water for 4 hours and kept him in the fridge over night. Made a simple stew with him, turned out great! Wife's first time eating rabbit. She enjoyed it. So is Rabbit like pork and beef, if I simmer him long enough it will flake apart? like when making a roast....

__________ Tue Oct 22, 2013 12:04 pm __________

Hello all!

Question: Whats the deal with having ground corn in your feed? Good or bad? Looking at changing from mana pro grow to Purina Rabbit Chow™ Professional. the rabbit chow has corn in it and mana does not. what say you smart people?<br /><br />__________ Sat Nov 02, 2013 11:36 am __________<br /><br />went out this morning to find 10 dead kits , this mom sucks :evil: . This is the 2nd time she has given birth on the cage floor and not the nesting box :evil: . Should I try again :?: , this girl is getting old and i was told when i bought her she produces good, but who knows maybe that's why he sold her :? . I dont know. Just pissed off a little :evil: .

I don't want to make any decisions yet but she might be dinner :twisted: .

 

[AnnClaire]

Yeah, I feel your pain ... found 7 beautiful EA kits dead in the front of the nestbox with a beautiful nest, lined with an awesome amount of fur in the back of the nest box ... and the nest box is the right size for the breed ... but this is only her 2nd litter, so I will give her another try to get it right.

 

[GBov]

If it were me I would give her one more go but when its time to put in the nest box fill the entire cage with hay too. That way the kits have a good chance of surviving till you find them. I do that for all my new mums.

Check that the Purina isn't medicated, the one sold locally here is.

 

[bigmike77]

If it were me I would give her one more go but when its time to put in the nest box fill the entire cage with hay too. That way the kits have a good chance of surviving till you find them. I do that for all my new mums.

Check that the Purina isn't medicated, the one sold locally here is.

great idea about the hay, should have done that!!<br /><br />__________ Sun Nov 03, 2013 5:12 pm __________<br /><br />ok next question, what should I do about the winter months? put hay in there cage? build a rocket mass heater? Questions, Questions, Questions!!

 

[AnnClaire]

Mike, as long as they have a good windbreak, which I am pretty sure your setup is , the adults and older kits shouldn't need any hay or other heat source. They do really well in the cold! Much better than in the heat. If I have a young litter, I will put a pad of hay in the nestbox corner (because you remove the nestbox when they are out and about, right?) for the babies to snuggle into ... and that usually only lasts a couple of days LOL

Another trick with a doe that can't seem to figure out what the nestbox is for is to put 2 nestboxes in the cage so she only has one choice ... the left hand box or the right hand box