Raising Meat Rabbits

[cobb4861]

Kathryn P, thank you! I never thought about keeping the female kits with the mom. Do you do that even if she has been rebreed? And is the cage size the same if your raising fryers? If I have 10 young bucks can or should they be housed in a cage that small or should I have a bigger cage for that purpose? I'm just trying to decide if I need to build another cage specifically for growing out and then possibly picking up another doe for the 4th cage.

 

[nayeli]

@cobb4861 it wasn't the red doe, I'm still waiting on her to give birth. It was Isabella, my gray chinchilla doe. She is a first time mother and I thought she was doing great til I discovered the kits.

 

[nayeli]

I mean we just moved into the house two months ago so I think we would have seen signs of rats etc... and some were dead but not ate on at all...

 

[cobb4861]

Is it possible something ate the feet through the cage bars? Do you have hawks in the area? Rodents (rats) I've heard will do the same thing. I would think a raccoon would just pull the babies out if they were the culprit

 

[SA Farm]

Kathryn P, thank you! I never thought about keeping the female kits with the mom. Do you do that even if she has been rebreed? And is the cage size the same if your raising fryers? If I have 10 young bucks can or should they be housed in a cage that small or should I have a bigger cage for that purpose? I'm just trying to decide if I need to build another cage specifically for growing out and then possibly picking up another doe for the 4th cage.

No problem. I leave the female kits with the mom until she's about 2 weeks in, then I move them. Any later then that and you risk the mom kicking the older kits out of the nest box and potentially injuring them.
If you have that many you want to grow quite large, it would be best to prepare to split them up at any point in time.

@cobb4861 it wasn't the red doe, I'm still waiting on her to give birth. It was Isabella, my gray chinchilla doe. She is a first time mother and I thought she was doing great til I discovered the kits.

New mothers are notorious for not knowing how to take care of their kits. Which is why most breeders have a 3 strike rule for does to give them a chance to figure out what they're doing before culling.

 

[nayeli]

@cobb4861 They were all in the nest box in the cage so I don't think anything COULD get to them. They were in the middle of the nest box so it would have to be able to get ALL the way in the cage! and if it got ALL the way in then why just the ones feet?

 

[regcal966]

I took some pictures of our set up today, thought I would share.


We have six cages, only 4 adult rabbits right now. We plan on doing the same system on the other side of the garage eventually.

Here is our Californian doe with her 3 week old kits, there are 8 of them. They just started coming out of the nest box a couple days ago, the mama hates it I think. They always bug her for milk when they are walking around the cage.



Here is our New Zealand buck, he just turned 6 months old. We will be breeding him next week for the first time. He is my favorite, he loves to see us and has a great personality. I plan on getting a New Zealand female this week also.

 

[cobb4861]

Those are some beautiful rabbits Regcal966.

 

[missy_cbell21]

@cobb4861 They were all in the nest box in the cage so I don't think anything COULD get to them. They were in the middle of the nest box so it would have to be able to get ALL the way in the cage! and if it got ALL the way in then why just the ones feet?

This is a bit jumbled but if you can make it through it hopefully has lots of helpful info/tips for people new to rabbits.
I think it was the mom, could have been a vitamin deficiency, confused about what those "little things" were or maybe it was stress from moving and having new people touching her and her kits. You definitely had to get them off the wire, but if another births on the wire, pet the mom and get her smell on your hands before you touch the kits. I even like to rub the kit on the mom before placing it in the box. I wouldn't do this with a rabbit that is new to you but once she knows and trusts you, you can warm any cold kits by putting it in your bra while you work/clean/feed everyone. (I'm assuming you are a female? If not I'm sorry) Then rub it well all over mom and put back with the others. You could try to feed your doe's some Calf-Manna once they birth. I usually gave about a TBS in a different bowl. (Mayo, pickle, or spaghetti sauce jar lid works well and makes a great toy.) If you put it with their food they will scoop all the regular feed out looking for more of the good stuff. Here is a site with nutrition info or you can talk to people who show rabbits as most that I have talked to use it as a protein boost before shows. It also makes the fur full and soft.
http://www.mannapro.com/products/rabbit/calf-manna/nutritional-information/
I have no proof of this but I think that if you keep new moms next to pro's they pick it up sooner then if she is on the end out of sight from others. I always tried to keep my newbies in the middle of two great moms and breed so that she will birth a few days after the other two. What size are the openings on the side and bottom of her cage? After having to collect a few too many kits off the ground and other cages I added a layer of cheap 1/4"X1/4" wire to the bottom and on all sides but only up about four inches. This saved me so much time and saved a lot of kits. I could not believe how far they can crawl! I don't know how long they were born before I found them but there were kits 15 feet from the cage. So if you think your doe may have birthed on the wire look around further than just the cage area.
Also if you look at the kits tummy at a few days old you should be able too see it full of milk. It will look like they swallowed a white marble. Cutest thing I have ever seen.
For a chinchilla doe I would go by the 3 strikes rule just because of how hard they are to find in my area. If it was a common breed I would cull after 2 lost litters. I know some people say to re-breed right away, and others wait awhile. I find that with lost litters mine accept to be breed within 3-4 days after birth but if I waited for two weeks they would fight the buck.
As for the red NZ, I have had doe's who would build a nest anytime they had hay, even if I know they were not pregnant. I had others who would build the nest and take it apart and rebuild until they birthed. Just be sure if you leave the box in, she has plenty of hay too make up for any that may fall through the wire.
I hope all goes well with the next litter.

Warning! Graphic! Some may not want to read any further. Stop reading if you get squeamish!
Look around at local pet stores, reptile breeders and local sale sites, many reptile breeders/owners love newborn kits for reptile feeders. Any kits I find dead on the wire without damage I sell for $1 each. I only sell them in the cold months, never summer (NC heat, eewww) and I make sure they are fresh and I tell the buyer exactly what they are buying and how long it sat outside before I called them or froze it.

 

[chiques chicks]

Just curious what everyone feed.

I feed 18% pellets (Manna pro) and Timothy hay. I give greens about once a week as treats. Right now, dandelion.