Kit management

[trinityoaks]

Still wrestling with how to manage kits until I can sell some, maybe choose one or two to keep as replacement buck/doe, and butcher the rest. . .

How long do YOU keep them with the doe, and why? Is it feasible to leave them with the doe until they reach butcher size?

If not, how do you figure out how many growout cages you need? Is there any reason that I couldn't put two litters together (maybe separating bucklings from doelings) until they get to butcher size?

Those of you with Cals or Standard Rex, at about what age do yours reach 5lb? Do any of you use a different minimum weight for butchering? Do any of you butcher at a set age regardless of weight?

 

[fuzzy9]

We wean at 6 weeks, and separate the litters by sex, with 3 or 4 in each cage. We've found anymore than that, unless you have a larger cage with multiple food sources, you will always have one or two that do great, while the others end up growing less quickly, and are smaller. We process when they reach 5 lbs between 8-10 weeks, usually more towards 10 weeks. Any longer than that, and they really start to fight as they begin to mature sexually.

 

[Rae]

We also mix litters and sometimes ages. Until yesterday I had two 12week old bucks (just now at 5+lbs)and three 6 week old bucks living in the same cage. Two feeders, three waters and free-fed hay. They got along great until yesterday morning when the two older bucks started chasing eachother around the cage. They were immediatly seperated not only from eachother but from the younger bucks as well. I still have six 6 week old does together and two 12 week and two six week does together. I have two 5lb feeders in each cage plus 3 larger waterers. I never let them run out of water or hay, even though they tend to waste a lot more when they're young.

 

[skysthelimit]

Still wrestling with how to manage kits until I can sell some, maybe choose one or two to keep as replacement buck/doe, and butcher the rest. . .

How long do YOU keep them with the doe, and why? Is it feasible to leave them with the doe until they reach butcher size?

If not, how do you figure out how many growout cages you need? Is there any reason that I couldn't put two litters together (maybe separating bucklings from doelings) until they get to butcher size?

Those of you with Cals or Standard Rex, at about what age do yours reach 5lb? Do any of you use a different minimum weight for butchering? Do any of you butcher at a set age regardless of weight?

My Rex reach 5lbs between 13-16 weeks. At 6-8 weeks they are removed from the doe, because I rebreed at 3wks sometimes. I separate by gender by 8 weeks, because they are aggressively mounting each other. The males and females seem to living in peace until about 15 weeks, and then I have to separate the most dominant males into cages by themselves. When I have more cages, I will separate into keepers and others.

I don't mix litters myself because I don't tatt anything I don't keep, so I can't tell them apart. This is only important for show purposes to know who the parents are.

 

[avdpas77]

I have a 4' x 8' grow-out cage, I put up to 3 litters in it and it works fine. I do put in multiple feeders and water crocks or you will find the larger rabbits hogging all the eating spots. There is a bit of a problem with a cage this size. It is not how deep it is as it has a large door is 4 feet high so I can crawl into it if needed. The problem is that it gives the rabbits plenty of room to run, which they seem to like, and since I usually butcher at 10 weeks or so, the back legs seem like
they are tougher than when I let a litter grow out in a 30" x 40" cage.

I find that rabbits grow the fastest between 7 and 12 weeks, so I hate to process them at 8 weeks even though they are very tender then. They seem to double their weight between the 7th and 10th week. I have waited for 11 or 12 seeks a couple of times, but they really start to toughen up by then. 12 weeks (for large rabbits) are about the absolute longest one can keep mixed-sex rabbits together without the bucks fighting or worrying about breeding problems.

 

[skysthelimit]

I have waited for 11 or 12 seeks a couple of times, but they really start to toughen up by then. 12 weeks (for large rabbits) are about the absolute longest one can keep mixed-sex rabbits together without the bucks fighting or worrying about breeding problems.

That is indeed a good point. For me, since I am not eating them, I don't really think about the meat quality, which is important for human consumption.

 

[Rae]

I keep track of which kits are which by numbering them. I use a permanent marker, each kit is assigned a number and gets it printed in both ears. When I do weight and gender checks every Sunday I re-apply the numbers. I use the numbers in my records and also to graph weight gains so I know if anyone is falling behind and need special attention or surging ahead. Even though 11 of my 16 kits are REW it's pretty easy to remember who is who. As soon as I get a tattoo pen the numbers will become permanent at weaning. I start numbering and tracking as when they're 1 week old.