When I raised English Angoras, I made good money from them, Here is how I did it.
We raised good quality, fiber animals & sometimes would show them (we always had babies ready to go when we went to a show & we raised our price a little for the babies at this time, knowing that selling them was a given), we had a smart "housing/breeding plan."
The bucks were kept in with the Chickens in a very, very clean coop!! (Chicken poo in Rabbit wool is hell on earth...lol)
As long as the bucks have enough space (10 sq. ft. each or so) & their is no doe around fighting won't be such a big problem & the few buttholes can be placed in a coop with my standard Langshan...any 5-6lbs. bunny willing to fight with a 16lbs. Rooster needs a good but kicking to put him in his place.
The Does, where kept in groups of 3's with a smaller side cage on the end of their main hutch/hole, We only bred one from each hole at a time, she would be placed in the smaller side cage next to her old cage 3 weeks after breeding (giving her 1 whole week to make nest/den), The side cage was divided with 1"x2" wire & a 4" high base board so no kits could sneak in the the other does cage. Since the dose still can see & even touch her other 2 dose reentry to the hole is not a problem at all & I'v never had any other the dose fight after doing this. When we are not breeding we kept the side cage's door open to the main hole, for more space for the girls, or used the cage as a grow out pen for Quail.
Breeding would be done on the grooming table, since that's a place both Buck & Doe are very relaxed & used to, I re-bred twice a day 3 days in a row. I seemed to have larger litters when I bred 3 days in a row, then when I just left a Doe in a bucks hutch over night...Don't know why??
We fed mostly grass (grass, dandelion & clover lawn trimmings) & hay, with 1/4th cup of feed per head a day, I also was in upstate NY at this time & was able to get free or $5 for 30-50lbs. or so of "bad apples" from local apple orchards & offen got free expired produce from our local grocery store. & was always getting pumpkins & pumpkin guts in the fall. We also added some sunflower hearts in the winter for added fat so the bunns would be warmer.
So our feed cost were a range from $0.19-$0.27 cents per Rabbit per month. We sold the babies for around $50 with pedigree but have gotten anywhere from $10-$125 for a Rabbit before.
So in short it can be done if you have a workable system, but I would not breed just for pets, unless you have a very rare type. Personally I think you are planning the wrong breed with the wrong reasons. but if your heart is in it & you are willing to take back any of your babies no matter how many years later go for it.
Other things I would do for added profit is shearing every Rabbit before I sold it & plucking the wool off of the bodies if any of my Rabbits died. I also learned to spin the wool & would make hats, mittens ect. for Christmas craft fairs.
Yay! I'm done with my book...lol
We raised good quality, fiber animals & sometimes would show them (we always had babies ready to go when we went to a show & we raised our price a little for the babies at this time, knowing that selling them was a given), we had a smart "housing/breeding plan."
The bucks were kept in with the Chickens in a very, very clean coop!! (Chicken poo in Rabbit wool is hell on earth...lol)
As long as the bucks have enough space (10 sq. ft. each or so) & their is no doe around fighting won't be such a big problem & the few buttholes can be placed in a coop with my standard Langshan...any 5-6lbs. bunny willing to fight with a 16lbs. Rooster needs a good but kicking to put him in his place.
The Does, where kept in groups of 3's with a smaller side cage on the end of their main hutch/hole, We only bred one from each hole at a time, she would be placed in the smaller side cage next to her old cage 3 weeks after breeding (giving her 1 whole week to make nest/den), The side cage was divided with 1"x2" wire & a 4" high base board so no kits could sneak in the the other does cage. Since the dose still can see & even touch her other 2 dose reentry to the hole is not a problem at all & I'v never had any other the dose fight after doing this. When we are not breeding we kept the side cage's door open to the main hole, for more space for the girls, or used the cage as a grow out pen for Quail.
Breeding would be done on the grooming table, since that's a place both Buck & Doe are very relaxed & used to, I re-bred twice a day 3 days in a row. I seemed to have larger litters when I bred 3 days in a row, then when I just left a Doe in a bucks hutch over night...Don't know why??
We fed mostly grass (grass, dandelion & clover lawn trimmings) & hay, with 1/4th cup of feed per head a day, I also was in upstate NY at this time & was able to get free or $5 for 30-50lbs. or so of "bad apples" from local apple orchards & offen got free expired produce from our local grocery store. & was always getting pumpkins & pumpkin guts in the fall. We also added some sunflower hearts in the winter for added fat so the bunns would be warmer.
So our feed cost were a range from $0.19-$0.27 cents per Rabbit per month. We sold the babies for around $50 with pedigree but have gotten anywhere from $10-$125 for a Rabbit before.
So in short it can be done if you have a workable system, but I would not breed just for pets, unless you have a very rare type. Personally I think you are planning the wrong breed with the wrong reasons. but if your heart is in it & you are willing to take back any of your babies no matter how many years later go for it.
Other things I would do for added profit is shearing every Rabbit before I sold it & plucking the wool off of the bodies if any of my Rabbits died. I also learned to spin the wool & would make hats, mittens ect. for Christmas craft fairs.
Yay! I'm done with my book...lol
