Tips on raising meat rabbits.

[Terri O]

After raising rabbits in pens for a while I decided to do the colony breeding thing...Actually THEY decided to do it...I had a fox in the henhouse (so to speak). My girls started having babies when there were supposed to be all girls in the pen!

I did very well until my dog that never has killed anything decided that rabbits were a blast to chase and kill! Now I only have 2 for pets...

One thing that I will say; if you are at all influenced by "the cute factor", get some that are all the same color and thus indistinguishable. You will have much less problems at slaughter time and less "pets" too. Good luck! Terri O

 

[ack123]

Quote:
yes. i agree with this. The new colony raising ways now seem to be a quick fix for new owners. You should have experience with raising them first if try it. There are also several posts on turning them loose too, which is also not ideal(nor humane).

 

[Shady Orchard]

Thanks for all this info! I would greatly appreciate pics of the slaughter process. Keep posting!

 

[FarmGirl01]

The best tip I can give. I use the large Havahart rabbit cages. They are hanging from the barns rafters at my shoulder height. They are all wire and are easy to clean. The air just flows right thru them. I do use a fan when it gets to hot. I had 1 buck and 2 does. I used mix breed rabbits.

 

[lorieMN]

Quote:
there are some really good videos on UTube..check there

 

[First To Hatch]

We used to slit the throat and let the main artery bleed out. I'm getting 3-4 in July just to process.

 

[FarmGirl01]

We just twisted necks.

 

[cassie]

Get Storey's book on raising rabbits by Bob Bennet. It will tell you everything you need to know. I forget the exact title but you shouldn't have any trouble finding it. I got my copy from amazon.com.

 

[Tinted]

As a rabbit breeder there are a few things I can suggest, Ok here we go:
Breed all your does to kindle near or on the same exact date. That way you are not fooling around with remembering to put in nest boxes all the time, and you can foster babies if a doe has any issues.

I would say depending on the size of your family and how often you plan on eating rabbit, a breeding trio (3) or two pairs of rabbits should get you along fine. Figure you could get 4-16 kits per litter, so I would choose brood stock that has a genetic history of having ____number of kits per litter, with the ____ being how many rabbits you plan to eat.

I would go with having one rabbit per hutch. I have found that by raising rabbits in colonies you deal with more health issues and injuries than can be imagined. All the supplies needed to create standard wire hutches should be found at your local hardware or feed store.

If you plan on having more than just a few rabbits, buying feed by the ton is much more cost effective.

Cull all under producing does hard; keep only the does with the best and biggest kits.

Any specific questions?

 

[Thundrr-Chicken]

i liked this website

http://www.mybunnyfarm.com/