rabbit question

[farmgirl987]

if i want to have my meat rabbits to be ready for my kids fair in july do i breed them in january or when

 

[waynesgarden]

Do you want the bunnies to reach a certain weight or age by the fair in July?

Assume you want 8 week (56 day) old bunnies in July (which should weigh about 4 1/2 to 5 lbs if you are raising an appropriate meat breed and are feeding them properly.)

Add to the 56 days the gestation period of about 31 days and you will need to count back 87 days from the fair date. This assumes the doe gets pregnant the first try and leaves no room for errors or misses. You (or the rabbits) get only one shot on this day.

Keeping in mind that processors generally do not want to touch rabbits over 11 weeks, I would breed the does two weeks earlier than above, palpate for kits at 14 days and rebreed immediately if no kits are felt. This means count back 101 days from the fair date and breed that day.

Wayne

 

[Animallover606]

So your saying to breed them some time in feburary correct? would this mean they sho uld be around the same weight and also if bred in janurary they would be seniors able for breeding or showing in a higher class

 

[waynesgarden]

I am not familiar with showing rabbits or the various classes as I have only raised rabbits for meat.

What I am saying is simply add the approx 31 days it takes from breeding to kindling to the age you want the bunnies to be and count backwards from the show date. If you want to have a buffer in case the first breeding wasn't successful, add a couple of weeks to the time.

Only the original questioner can determine what date that will be. I don't know the age they want the bunnies to be or the date of the show, but the arithmatic is as simple as can be.

Wayne

 

[ksacres]

What breed are your rabbits?

small rabbits, like Hollands, Mini Rex, ect are 4 class rabbits. They are only divided into junior and senior. Juniors (buck class and doe class) are up to 6 months, sr (buck class and doe class) are anything older than that.

Most meat rabbits are 6 class rabbits, meaning they have six "divisions" jr doe, jr buck, intermediate doe, intermediate buck and sr doe, sr buck. I believe the ages are: jr up to six months, intermediate six months to eight months, sr anything older than that. I need to double check, I never had any six class rabbits.

 

[coffeemama]

Are you wanting a fryer pen or something like that, or just going for juniors?

 

[farmgirl987]

they are californians and i want them to be a meat pen

 

[ksacres]

check your rulebook. When I was in 4-H, they had to be a certain weight, and a certain age.

 

[farmgirl987]

THANKS ALOT