JTS' Meat Rabbit Adventures

[Namentuppen]

I found a breeder! Should be getting my bunnies on the 29th! Woohoo! They have standard rexes and Californians so I may get one of each. If I don’t like the babies from that pairing much they have a million bucks for sale around here.

 

[pintail_drake2004]

I use to raise New Zealand Whites for meat, now I've switched over to standard rex. I raise several hundred a year. I have Black Otter, Blue Otter, Black, Blue, White, Castors, and Opals. I make more money on the rex than I did with the NZW's. I sell the meat, pelts, and manure, and have a hard time keeping up with production.

I may get a little attached.



Black otter doe with litter of kits
.
Processing some for pelts and meat. These produced an average 3# carcasses

Growing out some fryers.

 

[NatJ]

You aren't going with wire floors?

You will be doing a LOT of cleaning with the doe cage and the growout cage. Growing bunnies poop a lot, especially as they get close to butchering size.

Rabbits do a lot of their pooping while eating, so maybe you could use a wire-topped litterbox that they sit on to eat. That would keep them from sitting in their own poop as much.

 

[NatJ]

I’m getting two does and a buck! If I have the option, should I get a rex doe, Californian doe, and a rex buck, or a rex doe, Californian doe, and a Californian buck?

I'm pretty sure the rex gene is recessive.
So if you cross a Rex with a Californian, you will get bunnies with normal fur.

If you want any bunnies with rex fur, get the Rex buck to go with the Rex doe, and then you will also have crossbred bunnies when you breed the Californian doe to him.

 

[Namentuppen]

50 pounds of hay is a lot of hay.

 

[Tre3hugger]

I think if you are going to have one doe for meat, I think you cannot go wrong with New Zealand. My NZ doe just had her first litter at 6 1/2 months old. She had 10 babies, and nine are still alive right now 2.5 weeks later. Her mothering instincts and abilities, litter size, and her size make for a GREAT meat doe. If you want to try other things, and don't care about pure breeding, just get a buck with a standard weight of 8-10 lbs. He will likely make a good pair with your NZ. I am no expert. What I am suggesting is the route I have taken and so far keeping rabbits has been very fun/rewarding/productive.

Things are looking great so far! I would suggest a wire floor but your setup looks more than adequate and you seem ready to clean as needed. Maybe if the rabbits are getting dirty you can prop the cages up above the trays on 2x4s, instead of the trays inside. THis would still catch the waste but the rabbits couldn't lay in it. I am sure you will observe and adapt as needed.

What kind of hay did you get?

 

[Namentuppen]

nice

I ordered the supplies to make a big grow-out cage for all the babies. I'm thinking 3.5 feet wide and 7 feet long. Or as big as the area I'm using for it if I can find coroplast that large. I'm so excited! The place with the rabbits is around 2 hours away so it'll be a bit of a trek. I'll probably go next Saturday.

 

[Namentuppen]

Buck, New Zealand White
Doe, young, Flemish Giant
Doe, adult, Californian


The Flemish Giant young doe might be the color they call Sandy, but I've never been very good at identifying the various brown colors in rabbits, so I'm not entirely sure.

Yes! You're good! She is sandy colored. They had 2 sandy does and 4 fawns.

 

[Namentuppen]

We had some mating tonight with Kona and Yoshi! It wasn’t perfect but he tried on the correct end, haha. I think we had at least one fall-off. He didn’t give up. I’ll mark it on the calendar and give it another go tomorrow.

 

[CSAchook]

Your rabbits are so cute!!! Excited for your first litter.

The Californian x NZW will look like my gal (and I think she is perfect lol). Very curious to see what your other cross looks like.

If you decide to go the litter box route I recommend getting an extra deep cat box. The higher sides help contain any spraying. Chewy seems to have the cheapest options.