new breeder

[pugsley]

hey me and my friends are looking to raise meat rabbits in a month or to (trying to a bunch of research before we start) im gunna be building the hutch soon and try and get everything set up ive been reading up on this alot but if you all have any advice for beginners please tell us thanks alot

 

[Peach]

Step 1. Be able to stomach the fact you will need to kill for your meat.<br /><br />__________ Mon Feb 27, 2012 7:25 pm __________<br /><br />

 

[Hucksdaddy]

Check out the podcast! We offer tons of information, especially for the new breeder.<br /><br />__________ Mon Feb 27, 2012 7:31 pm __________<br /><br />If it's specific questions you want answered, you're in the right place. The guys on this forum are very helpful!

 

[MaggieJ]

Welcome to RabbitTalk, Pugsley. :hi:

To gather start-up information, I recommend you start reading back posts here in the Meat Rabbits forum and also in Rabbit Care. Most situations are covered somewhere in those two forums. Later, we'll be glad to fill in the gaps if you have specific questions.

A good general rabbit book, such as Bob Bennett's Storey Guide to Raising Rabbits or Ann Kanable's Raising Rabbits can also be helpful. Try your library... and when you find one you like, purchase a copy to have handy for reference.

 

[Hucksdaddy]

Agreed. You'll be using that book years into the future. I recommend Storey's guide.

 

[curlysue]

I reccomend Bob Bennets book its geared more too meat raising than the pet crowd.

 

[iamdrglass]

Go o to youtube and check out KAINANRA,JRSKICK1 for great videos look at their setups you can look at my videos if you search iamdrglass although my set up is more of a mix of cages. Keep reading this website it has some of the best info I have found on the net( Kudos to the owner/moderator).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nieyGFbY ... l9TwvNYPV2

This video talks about my mistakes.

Good Luck and Welcome.

Dan
Point Fifty Farms

 

[Legacy]

I second JRSKICK1 and KainanRa on youtube. I follow a few others on there too, including iamdrglass.

I have some videos on there too. I have a couple about cages.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWiR1Uqc6JI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqLf9eid9AY

JRSKICK1 has some really great info about building cages but they need to be a little bigger for meat rabbits. It's a great design.

 

[pugsley]

thanx for all the info I'm going to start building in a couple hours but 1 question do i need s´per ate cages for all the babies before i slaughter them

 

[MamaSheepdog]

You will want grow-out cages for the babies since you will wean between 4 and 8 weeks depending on your raising methods, and typically slaughter between 12 and 14 weeks. You may also want to separate your litters according to sex, but you could mix litters from different litters if you want, so you don't necessarily need two grow-out cages per doe.

 

[AnnClaire]

I can say that you will definitely want boys and girls grow out cages :lol:

Also, when making the adult's cages, you can make the buck's cage at the regular size for your breed, but the doe should have at least another 24" in length to accommodate a nesting box.

And, I see you are in KC, so you might want to consider making wood nesting boxes with a top so the doe can have an area she can get away from the babies :lol: I made nest boxes with wood bottoms and just line with newspaper to keep the baby's piddles off the wood. I only have to change it once a week and I just shred it straight into the compost pile

You can see my setup in my little dab of "Property Tour" video here http://youtu.be/d7D_AAcUUJ4