Socialization and Holding Back Future Breeders

[LPH_NY]

Ok... so my first two litters are now 3.5 weeks old. I have started thinking about the eventual need to replace or augment my breeding trio, although I know that shouldn't have to happen for a while. My question is, how much socialization (to humans) is typical for a litter of meat bunnies? Is it normal/typical for meat rabbit breeders to hold/pet kits every single day from birth? How little is too little to keep them from totally going spastic every time you reach in the nestbox/cage?

I don't want to get attached to these meat kits. Yes, they are freakishly adorable, I'm not made of stone. I can't possibly know which kit(s) I would want to consider holding onto for breeding until they get much closer to butchering age. At what point is it too late to pick out a kit and try to socialize that particular bunny so that it doesn't try to launch itself into suicide every time I pick it up?

 

[BlueMoods]

That depends on how patient you are. It is never too late, just the older they get, the longer it takes to get them used to being handled. That said, handling them all now is good, makes the meat kits easier to catch come butcher day for them and, means that they won't freak out and get full of adrenaline before you dispatch them. That means better tasting meat.

Yes it makes it a bit harder, but, just think of it as conditioning the meat, a bit like massaging a steer to make it Kobe Beef is all only a lot easier and less time consuming.

 

[Zass]

Some people don't handle them at all, and some (like me) play with all the pretty babies just cause we love to.

Somehow, I can play with each kit from day one, kiss, cuddle and then hand them to my husband to dispatch. Because they die so fast and easy, I don't feel bad about their fate. It was a nice life, although short, it is just as nature intends for most rabbits that are born, and a much kinder end then what many predators provide.

My future brood does get in-the-house treatment after 8 weeks, because I tend not to get along with rabbits that were raised without handling. I'm too spoiled with my nice girls, and I'm too quick to cull anybunny too shy or temperamental.

 

[ckcs]

I think handling the babies is beneficial. I enjoy handling the babies. I hold them a lot while I watch tv. I breed for the pet market and hold them all. I would do the same if they were meat rabbits if my herd allowed it. At the very least I'd be holding the babies a lot from the litters that I was planning on holding back a baby. I totally get the attachment. Although I have no problems parting with the babies, I am having a hard time letting my adults go. I want to develop my pedigree but can't get myself to let a parent go and I lack the cage space to keep everyone.

 

[Dood]

The rabbits inherited temperament also plays a role as i hardly handle my rabbits at all but they dont freak out when i reach in to get them and sit quietly while I trim nails, check vents or move them to the breeding pen.

It sounds like your stock is more on the skittish side so I would be hauling out and giving a once over to the female kits at least twice a week to get them use to handling.

If you want to improve the temperament of future litters then choose the female that is the most tollerant of handling.

 

[Random Rabbit]

I do not handle the Meat bunnies much at all.
When first born ( and for the next week or so) i do check the nest to be certain they are alive and wiggling. If i see something , good or bad, i might pull one out to check it.
Pretty much the fryers are not handled much until the day we weigh them to ship out. If we see something really good... it will be gone over much more carefully at that time. Surprisingly... "Most" settle rather quickly and permit the handling.
On the rare occasion that a bunny is a complete basket case... it Goes. We found out that with complete squirrelyness they do not seem to settle down... and can effect the others in the barn as well.... :x

Just our experience... ymmv... of course ancake:

 

[skysthelimit]

I'm with ya'll on this one. I handle all my kits all the time, there's a box in here with me now. Since I never know who will be meat and who will be show till at least 6-8 weeks, they all have to be handled. And with that said, generation 3 from the psycho doe and I still have skiddish kits, handled from day !!!! It doesn't bother me to cull kits after I've spent 8 weeks kissing them, it's the way it has to be if I plan to keep breeding. Culling long time (nice) adults makes me a bit sad. Skiddish ones get culled no matter how much I have handled them (since in reality, I still open the cage to feed them everyday).

 

[DumansArk]

...Because they die so fast and easy, I don't feel bad about their fate. It was a nice life, although short, it is just as nature intends for most rabbits that are born, and a much kinder end then what many predators provide.
My future brood does get in-the-house treatment after 8 weeks, because I tend not to get along with rabbits that were raised without handling. I'm too spoiled with my nice girls, and I'm too quick to cull anybunny too shy or temperamental.

On the rare occasion that a bunny is a complete basket case... it Goes. We found out that with complete squirrelyness they do not seem to settle down... and can effect the others in the barn as well.... :x

It doesn't bother me to cull kits after I've spent 8 weeks kissing them, it's the way it has to be if I plan to keep breeding. Culling long time (nice) adults makes me a bit sad. Skiddish ones get culled no matter how much I have handled them (since in reality, I still open the cage to feed them everyday).

Oh how i wish i had been guided with such wise words as these when I started raising rabbits as a youth. Many hard lessons, tears, and scars later, I am now of the same mind. Why fool with an animal that is skittish, over-reactive, psychotic, or hormonal when there are so many NICE rabbits who aren't *any* of these things?

Zass nailed it: a humane euthanization is quick & far kinder than nature. So Don't feel guilty when you make your selections to feed your family. I have found Random Rabbit's quote to be absolutely true. And Sky's experience with her Psycho doe & kits is sadly what we experienced in about a decade of Lionheads. Extreme Crazy is hard to eradicate and takes a LONG time. When I got my New Zealands they were handleable until they matured. HOLY HOT WATER! Such aggression - does AND BUCKS! I have heard of NZ lines like this. It wasn't worth my trouble to keep them on so I culled down to my Astrex and even then, only the sweetest animals are kept and bred from. I handle babies daily if the weather allows, and you can tell very young then who is relaxed and keen to human handling.

 

[BlueMoods]

As close to the crazies as I ever keep are the does from top producers that are fine except an absolute hatred of being picked up. I give them one litter to see if they are good producers. If I don't get at least 6 kits that live form them, they are stew meat. If I do, I will put up with one that hated being picked up as long as she doesn't go nuts at me simply petting her, she has to allow that. The ones that want to get aggressive over a pet can go to freezer camp young.

 

[LPH_NY]

It is never too late, just the older they get, the longer it takes to get them used to being handled.

I hope you are right.

It sounds like your stock is more on the skittish side so I would be hauling out and giving a once over to the female kits at least twice a week to get them use to handling.

My Satin doe is just friendly enough... she doesn't want to be picked up, and she's not all affectionate and begging for attention... but she does enjoy petting. Seems like the crazy NZW/Cali doe has simmered down a LOT since I did a cage swap... so if her "cage aggression" crops back up, I will be sure to do another cage swap to keep her on her toes. My buck, though, is very lovable and I do hope he passes on some of his laid back personality to the kits. I put my hands in the nestboxes daily, running my hands over all the kits and making sure nobody is losing weight or acting sluggish. (There's a runt in one litter and I pick that kit up daily to make sure he's not failing.) When I have time, I pick some up and love on them and feel them over to see how they are filling out. But the coop is not a comfortable place for a human and it's full of other animals demanding food. It's really cold and right now it's too cramped to put a chair anywhere to sit and "visit." And I have two VERY young children (3 and 21 months) and curious cats and dogs in the house that make bringing kits in every single day kind of challenging.

I have noticed that the kits from the crazy NZW/Cali doe are actually more curious, more relaxed and more courageous than the Satin's kits. But all the kits try to hide under each other and close their eyes very tightly when I first open the nestboxes. When I walk by, if they are out, they immediately bolt and hide. Is that a sign they are seriously skittish? Or is it just because they are still so young and acting on survival instincts? Will regularly handled kits come running to the cage walls begging for attention at this age?

 

[BlueMoods]

Well, being a rather small prey animal, no rabbit enjoys being picked up but, they can learn to tolerate it peacefully and not struggle when a human picks them up. Most, except the overly skittish or aggressive do enjoy pets, once you convince them you really aren't the predator you look like to them.

I got one of my bucks at age 4, he was a commercial production meat buck and basically never handled. he's 6 now and a big pet so, even that old they will come around if they are not aggressive or terribly skittish by nature. It took me a good two months of putting my hand in the cage and letting him come to me before he calmly let me pick him up, but he did it and now, he comes to the door, wanting me to pick him up and take him to the outdoor pen to graze or, bring him inside to be petted by the grand kids. (and get treats of greens or fruit bits in the process)