Hi from Hawaii!

Rabbit Talk  Forum

Help Support Rabbit Talk Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Juci

Well-known member
Rabbit Talk Supporter
Joined
Aug 22, 2022
Messages
143
Reaction score
129
Location
Volcano, Hawaii
Hi everyone! I’m new to raising rabbits and recently got my first breeders- 2 does and 2 bucks. I’m happy to find this online community and learn more about rabbits.

I live in the higher elevations of the Big Island of Hawaii, in Volcano village. The climate is very humid and rainy, but not as hot as sea level. Our temps are usually between 45-80 degrees F.

I’m interested in raising rabbits for meat and pelts for crafting. From what I‘ve heard most pure breeds are difficult or impossible find in the Hawaiian islands due to restrictions importing rabbits from mainland US states.( If anyone knows anything more about this I’d love to hear!) So I’m starting out with these friendly little meat mutts. :D

Looking forward to meeting other rabbit people on here! I’m grateful for any advice about raising rabbits in a wet climate or tropical plants they can snack on! I’m feeding Timothy hay, pellets, calf mana while they’re growing, and fresh kale (one of the things that grows well here) and grass.

Aloha! :)
 
Aloha! How neat that you're from such a beautiful place. I live in Arkansas and it's very humid here during the summer. It's usually very dry in the summer, we very rarely have long extended periods of rain. I think as long as they have good air flow and shade they should be ok. Mine are kept in a barn so I don't have to worry as much about rain but on really damp, humid mornings the pellets tend to get damp. Just try to keep everything dry and covered.
 
Aloha! How neat that you're from such a beautiful place. I live in Arkansas and it's very humid here during the summer. It's usually very dry in the summer, we very rarely have long extended periods of rain. I think as long as they have good air flow and shade they should be ok. Mine are kept in a barn so I don't have to worry as much about rain but on really damp, humid mornings the pellets tend to get damp. Just try to keep everything dry and covered.
I’d love to see Arkansas someday! I also ended up putting my hutches in a sort of open sided barn so that there’s always a roof above the whole thing. The climate is just too wet otherwise. Thank you for the advice about the pellets- I might see if I can get some airtight containers to keep those in since things do get really soggy here. Even the people food! Lol
Right now I have their hay in storage bins, so not totally air right but it’s difficult to find large enough containers for that. So far that’s been working but we’ll see what happens come rainy season.
Sending Aloha your way! :D
 
Hi Juci, welcome to RabbitTalk. How's breeding?
 
Hi Juci, welcome to RabbitTalk. How's breeding?
Hi, and thank you for the welcome!
I’m waiting to breed in November- my buck is 4 months old and the breeder I got him from said that she bred his father too young and it stunted his growth. I don’t want to make the same mistake with mine, so I’m planning to wait until he’s closer to 6 months, and 9 months for the doe.

I’m excited to start though! I have lots of colors in their backgrounds so it will be fun to see what the babies look like.
 
That's pretty fun and exciting indeed. Are there plenty of rabbit raisers in your area?
 
There are a lot of rabbit raisers! We are pretty rural and so there are lots of homesteaders and farms in my area.
No breeds though because of the difficulty importing rabbits. Lots of people with mixed meat lines. It’s nice to be getting to know more people because of the rabbits. :)
 
Yes! I would love that. I’ve actually never had rabbit before but I like cooking new types of meat. When I have rabbit meat I’m hoping to try lots of different ones.
My neighbors are from Bulgaria and said they know of some rabbit recipes from when they lived there. So that should be fun to try as well.
 
I’d love to see Arkansas someday! I also ended up putting my hutches in a sort of open sided barn so that there’s always a roof above the whole thing. The climate is just too wet otherwise. Thank you for the advice about the pellets- I might see if I can get some airtight containers to keep those in since things do get really soggy here. Even the people food! Lol
Right now I have their hay in storage bins, so not totally air right but it’s difficult to find large enough containers for that. So far that’s been working but we’ll see what happens come rainy season.
Sending Aloha your way! :D
"Contractor Bags" are great for storage: inexpensive and strong. Especially good for fluffy things like hay and sawdust (by the way, sawdust is fantastic for absorbing urine and neutralizing the smell...and general clean up). If you get a good brand (Husky is good), they are quite thick and puncture resistant. End up being less than $.50 each.
God bless you! Father Damien of Molokai, pray for us!
 
Last edited:
Back
Top