meat rabbit start up questions

[tailonwolf]

im getting 3 rabbits friday 2 frmales and 1 male they are 7 - 8 weeks old my hutch is 8 foot wide 4 feet tall (2 foot cage 2 foot off the ground) and 4 feet deep i can easily add dividers to separate the boys from girls so over populationisnt a issue but i have some qquestions

what feed offers the best taist to rabbits?
are there any parts of the rabbit ypu CANT eat? (im a nose to tail eater on most animals)
and will my females fight if put together? i can easily separate them but would love to let them all be together

 

[Dood]

I don't like "gamey" meat so I butcher them young and have not noticed a difference between my pellet raised rabbits and those raised on hay, grains and forage

I think the only parts you cannot eat would be the fur, skin, gall bladder and intestines.

Whether they fight or not depends on the does individual temperaments. A common place they bite each other is the rump just above the tail so watch for missing fur, scabs or bloody wounds in this area. Females have been known to try and castrate an annoying male, and sometimes succeeding, so I would definitely seperate him sooner rather than later

 

[tailonwolf]

thanks, and why can't you eat tge intestines? can dogs eat them i generally eat them from pigs cows and deer ect

 

[Dood]

They are too delicate to clean out and tear very easily.

I don't feed them to my pups but other than tularemia there is not anything too dangerous they can catch

 

[tailonwolf]

thanks! are there any other tips your willing to share?

 

[Ms. E]

Once my girls reach breeding age, they get seperate cages. Wire dividers will allow them to have their own space, but they can still interact with their neighbor if they chose. Mine never seemed to want to.

My old hutch was 4x8, with private wooden nest boxes in the back and wire dividing the front Into 4 holes. I would put a piece of ply wood against the wire when a doe would have a litter so the rabbits in the other holes couldn't couldn't grab the kits through the wire. I had one doe who would lunge at her neighbor if said neighbor so much as sniffed a kit under 4 weeks old through the wire.

I had one buck and doe who would lie next to each other against the wire, and would pitch a fit if their holes weren't next to each other, but then when breeding time came, she wouldn't let him mount her for the world. :x I wasn't worried about them breeding through the wire, as it was 1x1/2", but if you have the standard 1x2" wire, you may need a solid divider on the buck's hole.

If your does do share a cage, and you seperate them when they have litters, don't try to house them together again. It seldom goes well.

 

[Rainey]

Welcome to RT. You'll often get more help if you give more information that is relevant to raising rabbits--where you're located (climate) and what breed of rabbit (or size of adults).

I have kept junior does who were litter mates together until they were bred--then each doe had her own cage from that point on.

I had trouble picturing your cage set-up but suggest that before you breed you have a plan for housing kits that are growing out to whatever weight you want. You've got plenty of time since the rabbits you're starting with are so young, but it was surprising at first how fast they grew and how the next litter came along and the cages filled up

 

[SuburbanHomesteader]

Ditto on updating your profile to show where you're located. Please. It's very helpful when others try to answer your questions.

Are your rabbits for food, fancy, or fun?

Regardless, bucks should get their own pen separate from others by 12 weeks old.

Does can be kept together --- sometimes ---- until they're breeding age. I separate does at 12 weeks also because if they do decide to fight, it always happens when you're not around to stop it. So you leave them and everything's fine, and then you come back later and there's blood everywhere. Fur torn out, ears mangled, whatever. Does are territorial - especially once they reach breeding age.

And a personal opinion: Unless a breeder is VERY disciplined, they will never have enough cage space. That's not necessarily a bad thing. Maybe it could be called an "inconvenient truth".

Welcome, and good luck to you!

 

[Preitler]

Hi, welcome

im getting 3 rabbits friday 2 frmales and 1 male they are 7 - 8 weeks old my hutch is 8 foot wide 4 feet tall (2 foot cage 2 foot off the ground) and 4 feet deep i can easily add dividers to separate the boys from girls so over populationisnt a issue

It's a start, you'll see later on if it's big enough when stuffed with growouts.
I think an extra cage for the buck would be worth consideration.

what feed offers the best taist to rabbits?

Doesn't matter much for taste, the bigger concern may be what you have available or how you're going to run the rabbitry. Pellets are the most effective way, gathering greens every day the most labour intense.

But to start with - they need to eat what they are used to, you then can slowly (over a week or so) change their diet to what you want to feed.

are there any parts of the rabbit ypu CANT eat? (im a nose to tail eater on most animals)

Cooked out bones are a bit crunchy, and the fur sticks awfully to the palate....

When using head (I cant bring myself to use that :? ), liver , kidneys, heart (all yummy) and bones (to make soup or stock) there isn't much left anyway.

and will my females fight if put together? i can easily separate them but would love to let them all be together

Maybe. You can try to bond them (there is lots to read about bonding), but nobody can tell you the outcome. Are they sisters?
If you decide to try it start reading right away - your hutch will be neutral territory for them, would be more difficult later.
Since they are not in puberty yet you'll have to watch them closly when that kicks in.
There is always the risk that, even after years, they start a fight, which can end in injury or death.

I keep 3 does together, mother with 2 daughters from different litters. All but the youngest had already litters with the other does around. It's not something I would recommend to a beginner, I watch their moods closly, and I know my rabbits. Also, I do some things different than most people, like hutch and nestbox design. Sometimes the hutch just isn't big enough, so they get garden time regularly.

thanks! are there any other tips your willing to share?

Sure.
You get the best answers when asking precise questions with some background info. The'll pop up when leafing through the forums

Also be sure to know how your rabbits lived and how they were fed, don't change any of that fast (like putting a indoor bunny without winter pelt out into a roaring blizzard)


Preitler

 

[wamplercathy]

What type of rabbits are you getting. I have NZWs and their breeding cages are quite large. 2'x2'x4' and for the bucks 2'x2'x3'. Also, have read that rabbits can breed through the wire. I placed a piece of thick vinyl between the does cages because Mama likes to bite through her cage at the kits. Bucks have been moved across the rabbitry, that way no unwanted litter. :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: Unwanted litters. :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

I feed this, http://www.orschelnfarmhome.com/16-rabb ... 76401/cl1/, It's not the best but it's stable. And lots of good quality hay.

Welcome by the way.

 

[CherryRun]

We just began this summer with a breeding trio. Our first 2 litters were a singleton and then 6 kits in the other. The singleton was born about 2 weeks after the litter of 6. When we put them in the grower pen they hadn't ever been together so I was cautious but they did great and accepted him in their litter of 6 no problem. All together there were 5 does and 2 bucks and they lived together until the processing at 9 weeks for the 1st litter. Then we opted to keep the singleton buck and two does from the litter of 6 as they were unrelated as our second breeding trio and those three stayed together for a few more weeks after that until the buck was about 10 weeks with no issues. I only separated them then because I wanted to be sure he wouldn't breed the does that young.

We processed our rabbits and fed them out on TSC's Producer's Pride (green bag) but that's a little more expensive than our feed mills which uses Nutrena with a little higher protein percentage so we opted to switch to that for this litter and see how it goes.

 

[michaels4gardens]

In my opinion,... if you plan on having more than just a few rabbits, colony style raising will become problematic. - with just a few like 4 or 5 does, [assuming you have at least 6 to 8 sq. ft. / rabbit, not including nestbox space] colony style can work, but a careful watch is important, because pregnant does will often become very territorial just before kindling. If any fighting occurs [or if you find tufts of hair in the enclosure] it will be important to separate the pregnant doe until the kits are born and raised, after weaning the doe must be carefully reintroduced [sometimes this works, sometimes it doesn't ] -- another problem is does and bucks getting tired of the extra young rabbits in their space, and sometimes they will attack the young rabbits, so early weaning is often important.-- and all rabbits will be sharing any disease problems.

I have tried colony style breeding , and rabbit raising several times in the past,... - although the daily labor was much less with colony style rabbit raising, -- I have decided that it is just not for me, - record keeping, low weaning ratios, unknown breeding dates, fighting, and disease issues, were just too much of a negative "for me".
--- I also believe the notion that unaltered rabbits are happier when they are all living together, is a human psychosis, and has nothing to do with how the rabbits feel -- I believe rabbits are territorial, and not very "social" [with other rabbits] , and will be much more content on their own side of the wire, in their own territory, unless they are "fixed" and loose those breeding hormones.[generally speaking, -- as there are always some exceptions]

 

[tailonwolf]

Thanks for all the helpfull info!



im getting New Zealand /California/ cotton tail mixes (person im getting them from calls them pretty meat muts for pets or meat) and a male giant chinchilla in two months and a pet giant chinchilla friday she was going to be a breeder but gets stressed super easy so im gonna get her and have her as a indoor pet where i can keep her stress down and gice her extra attention and i mive in mississippi for climate im gonna set my profile up shortly

 

[wamplercathy]

Thanks for all the helpfull info!
im getting New Zealand /California/ cotton tail mixes (person im getting them from calls them pretty meat muts for pets or meat) and a male giant chinchilla in two months and a pet giant chinchilla friday she was going to be a breeder but gets stressed super easy so im gonna get her and have her as a indoor pet where i can keep her stress down and gice her extra attention and i mive in mississippi for climate im gonna set my profile up shortly

How did the cotton tail get in there? I had thought about the Flemish Giant in the beginning but the cage space was an issue for me. I only have a 6'Tx8'Wx19'L lean-to, to fit cages in so space was a huge factor when deciding on the breed I got.



In the rabbit world bigger isn't necessarily better. Do hope they work well for you though.

 

[tailonwolf]

im not sure how the cotton tail got in there ill ask friday, and im still new and love thease rabbits coats and there size seems good for me my husband and our dogs i i would love to learn more about each breed if anyone is willing to share therr knowledge, i can never learn too much and space isnt really a issue i can always buils a bigger or more cages

 

[wamplercathy]

I have 2 NZW does and 1 NZW/AmChin doe. The chin mix is very skittish and stresses easily. The other does not so much. I have 2NZW/Cal bucks and they love to have their head and ears scratched. I have read that cals can be skittish too. But haven't seen it in the 2 mixes I have.

 

[tailonwolf]

ill get pictures tomorrow of my bunbuns when i get them my chinchilla has stresd issues so we're hopinga ssmaller population than where she is now will be better for her

__________ Thu Jan 21, 2016 11:58 pm __________

by the way i know i havent answred all questions but ill tryto work on it i just wanted to say thanks for all the helpfull information!

__________ Fri Jan 22, 2016 1:36 pm __________

i got my rabbits today thease cages they are in were only temporary enough to get them home

__________ Fri Jan 22, 2016 1:38 pm __________

ok gotta get smaller pictures ill do that later <br /><br /> __________ Fri Jan 22, 2016 1:38 pm __________ <br /><br /> ok gotta get smaller pictures ill do that later

 

[wamplercathy]

Here are some pictures of my rabbits.




<br /><br /> __________ Sat Jan 23, 2016 2:26 pm __________ <br /><br /> And

:twisted: Figures crossed that the sex change fair doesn't hit. She's already popped up once last litter.

 

[tailonwolf]

how do you make pictures one mib on android phone?

 

[wamplercathy]

how do you make pictures one mib on android phone?

:shrug: I upload to my computer from camera and edit through windows live photo gallery. I gave up my cell phone. Cell phones don't work out in the sticks. :x :lol: :lol: :lol: