So... My wife wants meat rabbits. (We already have egg & meat chickens, and small meat goats)

[U_Stormcrow]

...plus two old dogs and a brand new barn cat.

I'm not opposed, but before I jump in, any advice? Rabbit hutch recommendations? Optimally, I'd like to build the hutch on the side of my goat shelter, in my run, in my pasture. That's decidedly "outside" - though we are in N FL, so the climate is very forgiving. Its just the two of us, we aren't likely to eat rabbit more than every other week - how many should we get? what ratio? Rabbit hut design considerations and recommends for controlling their breeding tendencies???? (Solid bottom? 1/2" mesh bottom? something else??? - how many square ft per rabbit??? I'd like to build it along one of the 10' walls of the goat shed to save materials and ensure its well protected against our worst winter weather - driving near freezing rains out of the north)

Please, I'd like to have at least some clue before I pull the trigger on this new "adventure".

 

[sunnie7]

Here’s our hutch. We did HC bottom and some thick wire we had from a dog pen that was given to us. The babies can move from cage to cage once they are old enough to get around well and we’ve never had issues with our bucks or other does killing any. We have NZ and California Reds and crosses. We live in Indiana and they do better in the winter than they do the heat of the summer.

Forgot to add we keep them all separated except while the young ones are growing out!

 

[U_Stormcrow]

I always thought those big beady eyes were too cute for me to butcher...how do you do it?

You've heard the expression "takes all kinds"? Hundreds of years ago, I'd ave been the butcher, the tanner, the undertaker, or the shaman/wizard/priest. Or burned. probably burned.

Read my member bio, its in my Signature. I lack in what Society makes noises about being a "proper" amount of Empathy. So its likely easier for me than most, because I don't make strong emotional connections. I also don't spend a lot of time "playing" with my food. Eat or be eaten - everything has a purpose, and I abhore waste.

Which is not to suggest I mistreat my animals, either. Chances are, they live better lives than the very vast majority. Each bunny has a dirt floor pen (that's changing) measuring 5' by 8' where they can dig to their little heart's content Their new cages will be 30x60x24 (typical is 24x24x18 or 30x30x18) and I'm trying to figure out how to give them dirt access periodically. My roughly 50 fowl share 5 acres with (currently) 5 goats. and if you follow the feed forums, I am a huge adherent of both good quality food and variety in their forage.

and their ending? I take it deadly seriously and put considerable effort into doing it perfectly right - swift and sure - every time. Holding the head as I do so. If they are nervous, or I'm not at 100% with that connection between us, the deed gets rescheduled.

The important thing is that farm math - addition and subtraction - is part of the lifestyle. If you can't find a way to do it, and do it very well without stress to the animal being sacrificed - you should find another lifestyle.

"When the need arises - and it does - you must be able to shoot your own dog. Don't farm it out - that doesn't make it nicer, it makes it worse." - Robert A. Heinlein

 

[muddy75]

I recommend NZ white (that’s what I raise anyway) because it’s easier processing and I tend to not get as “attached”. Number depend on goals and space. If personal use only….1 buck and 1 or 2 does . Does can be bred at 6 months…kindle 31 days +\- and bred back 21 days later. Litter size average 6. We built a divided box attached to wire hutches in old chicken run and covered with vinyl corrugated roof panels. You can also do wire or wooden hutches in a lean-to or shed shelter. It’s all about preference. Males and females kept separate until you move female to male for breeding. Nest box goes in at approximately day 28. Times may vary slightly for other breeds.

 

[NatJ]

Plenty of good points there.

Other things I can think of, in no particular order:

Rabbits tolerate cold very well, but have trouble with heat.
Make sure they have shade, and plenty of cool water, and good ventilation.
Yes, make sure they have shelter from rain and from cold wind.

Each adult rabbit gets their own cage. Bring the doe to the buck for mating, watch until it happens, then take her back to her cage (this doesn't take long.) Optional, repeat in 12 hours. Give her the nestbox in 28 days, and expect bunnies on day 31.

Cage floor: look for heavy-gauge wire with holes 1/2" by 1"
(16 gauge or heavier: smaller number is better)
The typical hardware cloth is NOT strong enough for the weight of a meat doe and litter!
For the wire with 1/2" by 1" holes, put the correct side up: the one with more wires is smoother for their feet.

You could consider all-wire rabbit cages (easy to clean, sometimes cheaper than building your own), and hang them from a support structure. Size 30 by 36 inches or larger for a doe & litter, 18 inches or more high.
Example of all-wire rabbit cages:
https://www.kwcages.com/cages/modular-wire-cages.html
They are commonly made of wire with 1" by 2" holes for the top and sides, sometimes with "baby saver" wire (smaller holes) for the bottom few inches, so newborn babies cannot fall out.

Bunnies are born with no hair, and their eyes are closed. The doe needs a suitable nestbox and plenty of bedding material (like straw or hay), so she can make a good nest for them.

Predators are a big concern. Dogs can rip apart rabbit cages, and can bite the feet of the rabbits through the wire floor of the cage. Raccoons can reach through most sizes of wire (but not 1/2"). Various animals can open hook & eye locks, sliding bolt locks, twist locks, and so on. A carabiner or the kind of clip you find on a dog leash can be good.

You can use trays to catch droppings, but you have to empty them frequently.
You can put a slanted tray underneath the cages, to direct the waste into a smaller pile or into a bin or bucket.
Some people put a worm-composting system under the rabbit cages, or big plastic bins to collect the waste.
For each cage, there will be one favorite corner where most droppings & urine are deposited. For a cage with young bunnies, probably 3/4 in one corner, and the rest spread around. Adults are more consistent about getting it in one corner.

Does that are pregnant and nursing, and bunnies that are growing, need to eat well. A complete pelleted food, with alfalfa as a main ingredient, will usually be fine. You can feed it free-choice to the does & litters, but you may need to limit the buck so he doesn't get fat.

It should also be fine to give them as much hay as you (or they) want. Rabbits have a sensitive digestive system, and they especially have trouble if they get a bunch of fresh greens when they are used to just pellets & hay. So if you want to give them grass and other green stuff, give them a little bit the first day and a little more the next day, and work up to the amount you want to give them. If you see diarrhea, reduce the amount again. (Greens are fine when the rabbit is used to them, and taking the greens away is usually fine, but adding them suddenly is what causes trouble.)

For pelleted feed, I like the metal J-feeders, that you can fill from outside the cage. But they must be protected from rain, because the feed will not flow when it gets wet!

Make sure they have enough water-- a cute little dish is NOT enough for a doe and her litter! I like big dishes (more than a quart, so they hold enough and are too heavy for the rabbit to spill). The kind of water bottles with a tube & a ball can be used, but they only let one rabbit drink at a time, and they are a nuisance to fill, and they can drip and run empty. Automatic watering systems exist, with tubes from a bucket and a little valve in each cage. I have no experience with them, but I know some people use them with good results.

Vet care: finding a vet for a rabbit is not much easier than finding one for a chicken. I'm not aware of any routine vaccinations. I've read that rabbits are prone to coccidiosis, but that it's almost a non-issue with wire-floored cages that are kept clean. (I raised meat rabbits for some years, in wire-floored cages but a different climate than yours, and never saw a case of cocidiosis.)

 

[U_Stormcrow]

That’s just a hop, skip, and a jump!!!!!!

Ouch. I almost spit up my coffee when I read this. Just Ouch. I was not prepared.

and thank you all, helpful and informative.

Since I can structure three cages each almost 3 1/2' by up to 4' on the side of my existing goat hutch, inside the run, I'll likely go that route. Its good space, its already predator protected somewhat, I'll already got a water wource in one of my rain fed 275 gal totes, and the rabbit pellets can join the goat pellets and the chicken droppings on the ground no issue, easy to rake up. I also keep hay out there for the goats, so its a central location.
Time to sit down with some virtual graph paper and make up a shopping list, i guess.

Anyone have any luck training rabbits to use poultry cups to drink from???

Sounds like two does one buck, from different parents is the way we want to go. and a copy of Storey's Guide, for my wife not to read.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

So - I built three very nice "runs" for the rabbits - each roughly 5' wide and 8' long. One end has a metal roof, 3' wide. The walls are about 30" tall, made of prssure treated wood frames with "rabbit wire graduated" fencing. That didn't work - the rabbits jumped about 16" then shimmied thru the larger holes. I've reinforced it w/ 1" chicken wire to shrink the available openings, and woven the two wires together. They haven't chewed thru (yet?). The outer wall is livestock fencing to keep the goats out and T posts - again, woven chicken wire to shrink the holes.
I can't place any wire on the ground, our clays eat it alive. Our clays actually corrode concrete - splashes from the sprinkler hitting some of it etched my new floor! In direct contact, it would corrode in a month or two. To keep them in, I trenched every wall up against the fencing and sunk 4x8x16 CMUs -

oriented so the 8" is vertical in the soil. SO far, its prevented several tunnels. They hit it, scratch against it, abandon the effort.

Each partially covered run has a plastic 5 gallon bucket, partly submerged in the dirt, as a "house", covered with more soil under the metal roof. I'll be adding lids with a doorway cut in to provide a bit more darkness and security to them.

The ground is littered with growing things - arugula, thyme, oregano, some grasses, plus fresh greens. Most of which they eat. and I have a watering system which makes it easy to ensure they have full water bowls w/o having to go inside the fencing.

and yet they are still escaping. I can't figure out how.

Starting to wish I stuck them in tiny wire cages, as inhumane as that sounds.

 

[EverythingDucks]

I recommend reading this thread. There's lot of good information on breeding and keeping rabbits, including basic care info that's important to know. The OP is also located somewhere with hot weather, so thee are a few tips for that too.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/things-you-wish-you-knew-before-breeding-rabbits.1499141/

Good luck with your future rabbits!

 

[NatJ]

I always thought those big beady eyes were too cute for me to butcher...how do you do it?

Pay more attention to the toenails than the eyes?
Pick up a butchering-size rabbit by the scruff of the neck, let it dangle for a few seconds, and it will rake both hind legs down your forearm hard enough to draw blood.
Yes, it's much better to put your other hand under their butt and then hold them firmly against yourself so they feel secure. But if I was taking a good look to be sure I grabbed the right rabbit, or I was closing the cage door with my other hand, sometimes that was too long and they would start struggling and scratching before I shifted how I was holding them.

More seriously, I find it really helps if you start off expecting to butcher "these" rabbits. So from the first time you see the bunnies, you are thinking about how much meat they have (or do not have), and how good they will taste, and what recipe you are going to use. Or at least, you are NOT visualizing years of cuddling with this fuzzy pet.

When my family got their first rabbits, Mom said "these rabbits will be pets, but when they have bunnies, we will eat the bunnies." And it was no big deal when we did eat their bunnies.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

@U_Stormcrow The escape artists...are jumping over the walls to get out. They can clear 3 foot walls like nothing.
Rabbits need roofs to keep them in.

I see you are switching to cages but if it's not too late or you want to try a chicken wire roof I bet they don't escape it.

I have the chicken wire roof now, and had to weave chicken wire (or stitch, I suppose) to the livestock fencing at the lower sections to keep the rodents (the rabbits, not the tree rats) from pushing out between the two layers of fencing. So they've been contained for a while.
But now I have (effectively) 5x8x3 pens with tunnels dug into the clays soil where I have to step over the wall, crouch down, and crawl around to have hopes of catching a bunny - who of course runs straight to their tunnel(s) - if I want to grab one to sex it, move it to another pen, or move it to the spreader bar for dispatch.

Oh yeah, and my clay soils are eating the chicken wire alive. I had to back it with most of 30 linear feet of broken concrete chunks to try and allow some gap with the soil - it was that, or watch it rust away in months.