Rabbit breeding questions

[Compost King]

The wire cage floor, which I do not recommend for Stand Rex, needs to be the 1/2 by 1 inch thick gage wire. There is even a coated version that softer but I never used it. Do not use the 12 inch by 1/2 hardware cloth because it is too thin and will wear away at their hocks. I have cages with the wire bottom but for my Rex Rabbits I put in Concrete pavers in all but one small stretch off the cage where I try to encourage them to use the bathroom with moderate success. I do not even keep my females in a cage, just the males. The females have their own 4x8 foot pen. The cage I keep my males in are larger than the size recommended for females so they have room to move around a lot. I also take my male rabbits out for walks on a leash to make sure they exercise all their muscles and run around.

 

[M-H-Fielding]

The bigger the cages the better. They need space to move around and stay healthy. I would not use wire bottom, it really hurts their hocks. They dont have paw pad like dogs and cats, it's just a thin layer of fur. Especially with rex rabbits. @Compost King knows what wire is best should she use wire.
Though they will live out in the weather ots best they are protected from it. If it's hot they should have lots of shade, fresh water, and a fan (though a fan is not a necessity). In cold weather (which they can tolerate much better) heated dog bowls to keep water from freezing is important. They drink as much water as a large dog. Water bottles dont provide enough and they will freeze. Fleece blankets are great all times of the year. They love to dig in them and it's safe to chew.

Of course they'll need unlimited high quality hay all the time. Space to move around, at least stand up, and jump at least across two sides. Good nesting boxes. And lots of things to chew on. I'm going to make a thread with DIY rabbit toys ideas all out of cardboard, twine, paper rolls, and paper bags.

Other than that they'll need regular grooming and check ups. It would be great if they had a playpen that they could exercise in.
And a lot of people keep the babies inside. If that's possible that would be great bit a lot of people say they do fine outside. It's kind of a controversial topic, but in my opinion it's better to be safe than sorry, so I would keep the babies inside until they're healthy and strong.

Are these going to be for meat?

No, she wants them for pet/show rabbits.
Thanks for the info!

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Does she have a plan for offspring? Font breed just because you want to or because it's cute. Is she prepared for these offspring to be used for meat if they can't find homes? Don't count on worst case scenario being able to just give them away. We have great show mini lops and had to process them because we couldn't even give these amazing rabbits away as pets

 

[EverythingDucks]

Does she have a plan for offspring? Font breed just because you want to or because it's cute. Is she prepared for these offspring to be used for meat if they can't find homes? Don't count on worst case scenario being able to just give them away. We have great show mini lops and had to process them because we couldn't even give these amazing rabbits away as pets

X2

It's hard to sell them as pets. A lot of people wanting to get pet rabbits don't know how to care for them at all. Trust me, I've seen how some people care for them.
If she wants show rabbits I would not breed them a lot. I would only have one litter a year.
Breeding is not easy. It takes a lot of work and knowledge. She'll need to know how to care for sick and abandoned babies. Having to deal with sick and dead babies is not fun.
Just because babies are cut does not mean she should breed.

IMO, breeding should be for meat or to improve the breed. For pets I would adopt because they're are so so many rabbits in need of good homes. I would recommend selling them to others who show rabbits.

Again, I would not get a bunch of rabbits and breed them. Only a litter or two a year. Even in one litter there will be a lot of babies.
I would not setup anything like a rabbit farmer unless she's going to sell them all for meat. That's a lot of work, time, and money.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

X2

It's hard to sell them as pets. A lot of people wanting to get pet rabbits don't know how to care for them at all. Trust me, I've seen how some people care for them.
If she wants show rabbits I would not breed them a lot. I would only have one litter a year.
Breeding is not easy. It takes a lot of work and knowledge. She'll need to know how to care for sick and abandoned babies. Having to deal with sick and dead babies is not fun.
Just because babies are cut does not mean she should breed.

IMO, breeding should be for meat or to improve the breed. For pets I would adopt because they're are so so many rabbits in need of good homes. I would recommend selling them to others who show rabbits.

Again, I would not get a bunch of rabbits and breed them. Only a litter or two a year. Even in one litter there will be a lot of babies.
I would not setup anything like a rabbit farmer unless she's going to sell them all for meat. That's a lot of work, time, and money.

I agree. Many of my does had first litters with 9 or 10 and didn't lose one. It is so, so hard to house and move along that many rabbits, even for meat sometimes

 

[M-H-Fielding]

Does she have a plan for offspring? Font breed just because you want to or because it's cute. Is she prepared for these offspring to be used for meat if they can't find homes? Don't count on worst case scenario being able to just give them away. We have great show mini lops and had to process them because we couldn't even give these amazing rabbits away as pets

X2

It's hard to sell them as pets. A lot of people wanting to get pet rabbits don't know how to care for them at all. Trust me, I've seen how some people care for them.
If she wants show rabbits I would not breed them a lot. I would only have one litter a year.
Breeding is not easy. It takes a lot of work and knowledge. She'll need to know how to care for sick and abandoned babies. Having to deal with sick and dead babies is not fun.
Just because babies are cut does not mean she should breed.

IMO, breeding should be for meat or to improve the breed. For pets I would adopt because they're are so so many rabbits in need of good homes. I would recommend selling them to others who show rabbits.

Again, I would not get a bunch of rabbits and breed them. Only a litter or two a year. Even in one litter there will be a lot of babies.
I would not setup anything like a rabbit farmer unless she's going to sell them all for meat. That's a lot of work, time, and money.

We live in an area were there are a lot of 4H kids, and I'm just guessing that she is planning to sell them to the local 4Hers.
She is ready to butcher the ones that don't sell. She has raised other meat animals before.
She wants to make rabbit breeding a career, and perfect her own strain of mini rexes.

 

[M-H-Fielding]

The wire cage floor, which I do not recommend for Stand Rex, needs to be the 1/2 by 1 inch thick gage wire. There is even a coated version that softer but I never used it. Do not use the 12 inch by 1/2 hardware cloth because it is too thin and will wear away at their hocks. I have cages with the wire bottom but for my Rex Rabbits I put in Concrete pavers in all but one small stretch off the cage where I try to encourage them to use the bathroom with moderate success. I do not even keep my females in a cage, just the males. The females have their own 4x8 foot pen. The cage I keep my males in are larger than the size recommended for females so they have room to move around a lot. I also take my male rabbits out for walks on a leash to make sure they exercise all their muscles and run around.

I asked her what kind of cage she has, and its a wire cage. She has small tiles covering a part of the cage so the rabbits can get off the wire if they need to.
The cage has a separation fence down the middle so the male and female don't have to share a cage.