Raising our New Zealand Meat Rabbits *Start to finish - Birth to processing* Possible Graphic pics*

[Mahlzeit]

Hi.
I just wanted to say nice thread Lots of information.

I used to raise rabbits for 10 yrs. Then we moved to our 2 acres and had no place for my bunnies. I had
about 20 breeding does. I sold rabbits for pets, breeding stock and meat. I had to sell my herd.

For over 20 yrs, I had no rabbits. I started with chickens just over 5 yrs ago and now have 60 hens and sell eggs.
End of June I got gifted with 3 rabbits. Son was supposed to take them. He said he had too many critters of his own.
I had to find housing for rabbits. It was a scramble. The does came here pregnant.
I raised up the 2 litters and kept 4 daughters. I now had my mini rex herd started

Well I ended up being a rabbit magnet. OOPS .......
I built all my stacking units myself. I have mini rex, californians and mini lops. My primary herd.
I have several NZ does and a bunch of mixed does. My big NZ is bred to the californian.
I seem to do good with selling babies. The current 2 litters, I already have 4 babies spoken for.
These 2 mixed does are fostering 6 babies for me. The 5 calis I will keep the females. The NZW one is sold.

The rabbits keep me smiling

Where in NY are you located?

 

[ladytoysdream]

I am central NY.

 

[Angelicisi]

.

 

[Angelicisi]

Lol see the bunny ears ?

 

[Angelicisi]

Doe #1 and her litter. They're eating with mama daily now

 

[Mahlzeit]

Looking good

 

[ChocolateMouse]

So cute! How old are they now? Mine are going to start being weaned tomorrow. :3

 

[Angelicisi]

Doe 1 has 8 that are 4 weeks old
Doe 2 has 6 that are 3 weeks old

 

[Angelicisi]

Help me with some weaning tips?

I tried sexing them today, 2 of the 8 had different bits lol I thought 2 girls SIX boys? Lol dang I wanted more does ... But I still am not positive. Hubby and I will attempt together this weekend. I ear marked the 2.

Put them in a growout brooder. Lots of hay, food, water. They look great. Mama seems very very happy to stretch out lol they were running and jumping and playing...anything I need to keep an eye out for?

 

[ChocolateMouse]

Hay hay and more hay! Fresh hay every day, even just a little handful. No grains except for maybe some oatmeal. If you go the route I do, veggies are OK but should be in small amounts, a nibble here, a bit there. Keep an eye out for poopy butts. Honestly they should have been nibbling on mom's food for a while now and should be OK but I know a girl that feeds barley fodder and a couple of her kits got the runs and died right during wean. Grains are just rough on them. Runs in rabbits are really bad because rabbits can't puke, so anything they eat that upsets their tummy HAS to go through and comes out as runs.

Typically I remove the biggest kits first, wait a day or two, then remove the medium kits, wait a couple day, then remove the smallest 1-2 each day until there are none left. This helps the little kits get a bit more milk to catch up to the big ones and can help reduce risk of mastitis, which is the other thing to look for. Sometimes if the milk a mom is producing doesn't get used up fast enough it can sit and grow bacteria and infect the teats. It can also happen if a doe scrapes her nipples across something dirty while there's a lot of milk in them and they can get the same infection that way.

http://ehs.uc.edu/lams/data/rabbits/9005/05_046.html

These things are pretty uncommon though. Illness should never be common. I have never had a kit with poopy but or a doe with mastitis and there's only one person I actually KNOW who has had either and I know people who wean their rabbits all sorts of different ways. I mostly keep on eye on smaller kits or any animal that looks like it's moving, eating or drinking less and take it from there.