I hate to say this since you seem very against it but you may wish to send them to a person who will use them for food.
As you're finding out, not all rabbits are sweet little "pet" bunnies. Young rabbits can be monsters. They will start doing more than fighting, they will start competing for food soon. The big rabbits will push the littler ones to the brink of starvation if they can. If you feed them enough to keep that from happening, the big ones will become severely over weight and develop bad health problems.
Rabbits can start having more babies very young and you may start finding little brother/sister inbred litters showing up as early as 5.5 months old. They can get pregnant as early as 4 months. Breeding that young can cause some of the does to abort, die or not care for their litters. Often times, especially in crowded scenarios, the does will eat their own offspring. They will start fighting more, as they strive for dominance to protect their own litters and nesting sites. Some rabbits may get severely hurt. Rabbits kill each other, and you may very well come home some day to a rabbit missing a huge chunk of skin because it got into a fight. Then you will have to preform an emergency euthanasia. The ones that raise out their litters will be the most aggressive. The next generation may not be rehomeable at all. You may already have pregnant moms. Many vets won't even fix a rabbit until it is 6 months old. By that time their hormones are already in, all they want to do is breed and fight for their territory to attract mates.
I've been working with rabbits for over a decade now. I worked for a long time in the pet rabbit industry. I've owned pet rabbits. Now I raise them for food. I am a registered member of the American Rabbit Breeders Association. I'm involved in a breed development program. It takes a serious, dedicated, responsible breeder with proper facilities to raise ANY rabbits without the problems you describe.
If you send them to someone who uses them for food, I can guarantee you two things. One, they will be going to a good cause. Humans and animals need to eat. Many people seek rabbits to feed carnivorous pets such as snakes, dogs and cats. Two, they will be killed humanely. I process my own rabbits, I teach homesteading classes and without even using a bullet, it's the fastest animal processing I have ever seen. No matter how you do it, you can be inexperienced even, it's nearly instantaneous the time it takes the rabbit to go from calmly munching on grass to no longer able to feel. It's possibly the easiest animal to process humanely in the entire world. And it really is that fast, it takes a literal 2-3 seconds.
If you're intent on trying to rehome them, for now you can lower your bills by seeking out bulk rabbit feed. Feed stores sell 25 and 50lb bags or rabbit feed. Purina is a good brand and their Fiber3 is especially suited for pet rabbits and smaller breeds. Pen Pal is OK, and Mana Pro is good too. Surprisingly, Wal-Mart's house brand is a shockingly decent feed (from a guaranteed analysis standpoint) for an extremely low price. These bags are anywhere from $15-$25 for 50lbs, which could drastically lower your feed bills. You can switch from a high-fat high-calcium hay like alfalfa (actually not very healthy for rabbits) and go to a more fiber rich and cheaper hay like timothy or orchardgrass. It would be better for their health anyhow. And rabbits are easy to entertain with upturned cardboard boxed with a hole cut in the side, paper towel tubes with feed inside, chunks of fruit woods or roses tossed in whole (leaves and all), smaller boxes filled with hay, and tunnels made out of concrete or carpet tubing. Have multiple spots, on separate walls for feeding and watering so rabbits can move away from each other. Pretty much all brown cardboard is safe for making any rabbit toys and tunnels. Giving them a space where they can't see their whole environment reduces stress and fighting. All of these are things I do for my own professional rabbitry to keep my rabbits humanely without expense.
I would take them for that purpose myself, but I am far away from you.
It's also illegal to ship rabbits through anything but a rabbit transportation service with a certified and insured company in a van. No shipping company or post company will take them.
Good luck!
As you're finding out, not all rabbits are sweet little "pet" bunnies. Young rabbits can be monsters. They will start doing more than fighting, they will start competing for food soon. The big rabbits will push the littler ones to the brink of starvation if they can. If you feed them enough to keep that from happening, the big ones will become severely over weight and develop bad health problems.
Rabbits can start having more babies very young and you may start finding little brother/sister inbred litters showing up as early as 5.5 months old. They can get pregnant as early as 4 months. Breeding that young can cause some of the does to abort, die or not care for their litters. Often times, especially in crowded scenarios, the does will eat their own offspring. They will start fighting more, as they strive for dominance to protect their own litters and nesting sites. Some rabbits may get severely hurt. Rabbits kill each other, and you may very well come home some day to a rabbit missing a huge chunk of skin because it got into a fight. Then you will have to preform an emergency euthanasia. The ones that raise out their litters will be the most aggressive. The next generation may not be rehomeable at all. You may already have pregnant moms. Many vets won't even fix a rabbit until it is 6 months old. By that time their hormones are already in, all they want to do is breed and fight for their territory to attract mates.
I've been working with rabbits for over a decade now. I worked for a long time in the pet rabbit industry. I've owned pet rabbits. Now I raise them for food. I am a registered member of the American Rabbit Breeders Association. I'm involved in a breed development program. It takes a serious, dedicated, responsible breeder with proper facilities to raise ANY rabbits without the problems you describe.
If you send them to someone who uses them for food, I can guarantee you two things. One, they will be going to a good cause. Humans and animals need to eat. Many people seek rabbits to feed carnivorous pets such as snakes, dogs and cats. Two, they will be killed humanely. I process my own rabbits, I teach homesteading classes and without even using a bullet, it's the fastest animal processing I have ever seen. No matter how you do it, you can be inexperienced even, it's nearly instantaneous the time it takes the rabbit to go from calmly munching on grass to no longer able to feel. It's possibly the easiest animal to process humanely in the entire world. And it really is that fast, it takes a literal 2-3 seconds.
If you're intent on trying to rehome them, for now you can lower your bills by seeking out bulk rabbit feed. Feed stores sell 25 and 50lb bags or rabbit feed. Purina is a good brand and their Fiber3 is especially suited for pet rabbits and smaller breeds. Pen Pal is OK, and Mana Pro is good too. Surprisingly, Wal-Mart's house brand is a shockingly decent feed (from a guaranteed analysis standpoint) for an extremely low price. These bags are anywhere from $15-$25 for 50lbs, which could drastically lower your feed bills. You can switch from a high-fat high-calcium hay like alfalfa (actually not very healthy for rabbits) and go to a more fiber rich and cheaper hay like timothy or orchardgrass. It would be better for their health anyhow. And rabbits are easy to entertain with upturned cardboard boxed with a hole cut in the side, paper towel tubes with feed inside, chunks of fruit woods or roses tossed in whole (leaves and all), smaller boxes filled with hay, and tunnels made out of concrete or carpet tubing. Have multiple spots, on separate walls for feeding and watering so rabbits can move away from each other. Pretty much all brown cardboard is safe for making any rabbit toys and tunnels. Giving them a space where they can't see their whole environment reduces stress and fighting. All of these are things I do for my own professional rabbitry to keep my rabbits humanely without expense.
I would take them for that purpose myself, but I am far away from you.
It's also illegal to ship rabbits through anything but a rabbit transportation service with a certified and insured company in a van. No shipping company or post company will take them.
Good luck!
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