Can you raise rabbits part of the year?

[johnnyInterested]

I live in the south. It's hot. Anyway, I was thinking about raising rabbits in September, to maybe late March. Is that a dumb idea?

 

[Kevin565]

For consumption or pets?

 

[Bunnylady]

I'm not quite sure what the question is. Do you mean to have rabbits, and only breed them during the cooler months of the year? If that is what you are asking, a lot of people do that. During the hottest months, it isn't unusual for rabbits to refuse to breed, and a lot of bucks are sterile then, anyway. People who sell to processing plants may have trouble meeting their quotas during the summer months. Some rabbits are a bit reluctant during the coolest winter weather, too, but supplemental lighting can help to put them "in the mood." Of course, during winter months, you risk losing whole litters to cold, but there are ways of minimizing the risk.

There is sometimes a bit of trouble getting a doe back into production after she's had a break, but that is more common in the smaller breeds.

 

[johnnyInterested]

Sorry. Breeding to eat. For me and family to eat. I wanted to breed meat rabbits just in the less warm months. I figure I can always buy rabbits from someone again after Summer.

 

[Bunnylady]

In theory, it's do-able, but in actual practice, who knows? Some things to consider:

Rabbits stress easily; rabbits that are new to you will need a "settling in" period before they are put into production. It's just good sense to hold off breeding them until they have been with you long enough for any parasite/disease problems to show up, anyway. So, you're adding at least a couple of weeks at the beginning of every "season" when you are feeding animals that are effectively unproductive.

Rabbits should be fully grown before they are bred, for most breeds, this means at least 6 months old. If they haven't been bred before, they may not start right away; it may take a bit before they get the idea. Does often make a total mess of their first litters; apparently, instinct only gets them so far. So, if you are buying young stock, it may take a while to get them going. Things might take off right away for you, or, I could easily see how you might get 6-month-olds in September, but it could be December before you have anything to put on the table. It's a crap shoot.

If someone is selling older animals that have already been in production for some time, there's a reason they are for sale. Does are at their peak for the first year or so, after that, their litter sizes decline a little each year. Most does are effectively sterile at 4 years of age, though some produce well at 6 years or even later - it seems to depend on the bloodline as much as anything. Some does are rotten mothers, some just never have more than a few babies in each litter (though they may be good for fostering extra kits from other, extra-large litters), some does are just beasts to handle or may be hard to get bred. Like I said, they are for sale for a reason; and the breeder may not be completely forthcoming as to what that reason is.

 

[yinepu]

We raise rabbits for meat. With the temps here during the summer in the high 90's - 100+ the bucks go heat sterile. We keep them and the does anyway since we know who is a good mother and their ages. When we first got rabbits people lied to us about their rabbits.. so we ended up with a lot of older rabbits whose productive years were pretty much behind them or who were horrible mothers.. we also got a lot of younger rabbits who were sterile from drugs they were given as babies (overdosed on ivomec). lol.. when you try breeding a younger doe (not a baby.. don't want anyone to get the wrong idea) to a proven stud and she doesn't take after trying every month for over a year.... you know there's an issue! (especially when the buck has 0 issues with the proven does).
With our current rabbits we know they are good breeders. So yeah it does cost to feed them all summer.. but at least we know we don't have any "duds"
As the weather starts to cool off we begin the breeding program again.. and then quit as the weather starts to heat up in the spring/early summer

Some people don't want to feed and care for breeders all summer.. but it works for us.. just depends on if you have a reliable source for good breeding rabbits and how much money you are willing to invest.

We don't worry about what's "cost effective" since we're not running a business.. we use the hides as well as the meat and we know how our rabbits were raised and what they were fed. As far as I am concerned that covers any "loss" we would have from feeding them all summer.