Raising Meat Rabbits

[CyndiD]

Hi, what is everyone doing? not much discussion going on here lately.
i cleaned all my cages today and the ground under cages. i put it all in my garden in one corner where i am piling it up. i will rake it around later in the fall.
can rabbits eat corn stocks/leaves, etc. i know i can google it, but just thought i would ask here.
we have had a light rain all day. our ground has alot of clay soil, so it makes for a sloppy mess when it rains. i prefer snow.
well, hope you are doing well and your bunnies too.
anyone have any yummy recipes you care to share? we have just been frying our rabbits, i havent gotten adventurous yet.
take care

ETA: P.S.
one of my bucks was not eating or drinking a few weeks ago when i moved him from his old & comfortable cage to a brand new homemade cage. he got better after 1 week and has been great until 2 days ago i put a piece of 3/4" plywood back into his nest box area, at dinner time. He did not eat that night, he did not touch his pellets, which all my rabbits can hardly wait for dinner time for them.
i took the plywod back out again and he is fine again...
has anyone ever experienced this? is his behavior changing cuz of the plywood is a change to his invironment? and cuz it is in his nesting area?
any suggestions are appreciated. He did not tear up, scratch, claw, or bite at the wood, he just stays in the nest area and hides in there & doesnt come out when i call him or coax him. actually, i think he likes it and wants to hide there. but when i take it out he comes out and is friendly and interacts w/me.

this is him.

this is one of the cages my dh built for t/rabbits. see the plywood in the nest box area. we wanted to utilize the heigth of the nest area. make sense?

 

[CertifiedChaser]

I'd discuss a lot more when I get some bunnies, lol. Until then I'm just a lurker on the thread.
Glad to hear your buck is coming around. I've never heard of anything like that so maybe it's just something new added to his environment makes him uncomfortable? Couldn't really tell ya. As for your corn questions here is a link on this forum discussing that same thing: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/579598/corn-stalks-for-rabbits

Soil here is clay too so we get that sloppy mess as well. I love snow but I'd just prefer some cooler weather right now. Cooled down last week and then had a heat index of 106 today. Gotta love that Oklahoma weather.

 

[RabbitLady2]

Hi, there I am a rabbit breeder in Southern California I started out like you, wanting to be able to feed my family with healthy food, which rabbit is. To answer a few of your questions yes it was totally worth it. I would say that a good meat rabbit breed is definitely the New Zealand's,( either white or reds) , also Californians are also a good meat rabbit. If you are planning to have just enough meat for your family alone then i would suggest getting two does and one buck, but if your are planning on selling the meat for a profit then of course you will need more, but to get started you should get what I suggested. When I started out that is what I got and now well lets just say I have a lot more than that, though to be honest I have different breeds for different things, like showing, meat, and for sell. As far as the cages go, here in California we have a wonderful place called KW Cages, they have a wide selection of everything you will need to get started and at reasonable prices, they also sell rabbit food there as well, though you can build the hutches yourself this is by far the best way to go, in my opinion. And to answer your question I got my first line of breeders, from to separate places to prevent interbreeding, Canada and from a rabbitry in Northern California. If you have any other questions please let me know, I am happy to offer advice.

 

[DutchBunny03]

Hi, there I am a rabbit breeder in Southern California I started out like you, wanting to be able to feed my family with healthy food, which rabbit is. To answer a few of your questions yes it was totally worth it. I would say that a good meat rabbit breed is definitely the New Zealand's,( either white or reds) , also Californians are also a good meat rabbit. If you are planning to have just enough meat for your family alone then i would suggest getting two does and one buck, but if your are planning on selling the meat for a profit then of course you will need more, but to get started you should get what I suggested. When I started out that is what I got and now well lets just say I have a lot more than that, though to be honest I have different breeds for different things, like showing, meat, and for sell. As far as the cages go, here in California we have a wonderful place called KW Cages, they have a wide selection of everything you will need to get started and at reasonable prices, they also sell rabbit food there as well, though you can build the hutches yourself this is by far the best way to go, in my opinion. And to answer your question I got my first line of breeders, from to separate places to prevent interbreeding, Canada and from a rabbitry in Northern California. If you have any other questions please let me know, I am happy to offer advice.

Hi! Welcome to BYC. I've heard a lot about KW Cages. Wish there was someplace like that around here. Inbreeding(to some degree) is actually better than breeding rabbits that are totally unrelated. With rabbits that are related, you have a pretty good idea of what kind of kits/litter size/health you will get when you breed. If you breed completely unrelated rabbits, you will get who knows what.

 

[Raech]

New to meat rabbits and breeding rabbits in general. Going to build my hutches first then get my doe, I am trading does with a friend who has raised and bred meat rabbits for many years and is willing to help me through the whole process. She will teach me how to sex the bunnies and is loaning me breeding does and a buck until I know if this is something I want to do long term or not. I hope this thread picks back up, I finally got through it.

 

[ocap]

New to meat rabbits and breeding rabbits in general. Going to build my hutches first then get my doe, I am trading does with a friend who has raised and bred meat rabbits for many years and is willing to help me through the whole process. She will teach me how to sex the bunnies and is loaning me breeding does and a buck until I know if this is something I want to do long term or not. I hope this thread picks back up, I finally got through it.

usually the threads are waiting for questions, a lot of people subscribe and are waiting, I no longer have rabbits but have raised them in the past and might in the future, it is just easier for me to process chickens, I have a mental problem killing things with fur.

 

[DutchBunny03]

New to meat rabbits and breeding rabbits in general. Going to build my hutches first then get my doe, I am trading does with a friend who has raised and bred meat rabbits for many years and is willing to help me through the whole process. She will teach me how to sex the bunnies and is loaning me breeding does and a buck until I know if this is something I want to do long term or not. I hope this thread picks back up, I finally got through it.

Rabbits are great animals to raise. I think you'll like it. Its good to have someone more experienced than you to help you get started. What breed are you getting?

 

[DutchBunny03]

New to meat rabbits and breeding rabbits in general. Going to build my hutches first then get my doe, I am trading does with a friend who has raised and bred meat rabbits for many years and is willing to help me through the whole process. She will teach me how to sex the bunnies and is loaning me breeding does and a buck until I know if this is something I want to do long term or not. I hope this thread picks back up, I finally got through it.

Rabbits are great animals to raise. I think you'll like it. Its good to have someone more experienced than you to help you get started. What breed are you getting?

 

[DutchBunny03]

Did not mean to do that. Stupid computer.

 

[Raech]

We are getting into Chin/Flemish crosses. The buck I have currently looks like an otter rex, he is gorgeous, my oldest named him Otter. We will be getting a doe in a few weeks once the weather clears enough for me to make it up her driveway without sliding into a trailer. The doe is going to be named Toby, my youngest named her. Both boys are in charge of taking care of their rabbits everyday, as we don't have the female yet my youngest(4 years old) is getting the easy route, whereas my 7 year old has chores to do after and before school. We are going to start breeding this spring, and only have a couple litters a year with winters off, since our winters are cold and wet I don't want to be dealing with babies in the winter.