UPDATE 3/24/10 mrs. red is making another nest.due to kindle 4/3-4/9.

[lcw]

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i let the guineas take care of that.the guineas see the hawk,make there noise and all the rabbits scatter.never once have i lost a rabbit to a hawk.my first big group that i had that i let loose dissapeared sometime during the night.not many though.i had 21 at one time.most of them died from old age.i think out of the group of 21 i only lost 5 during the night that i saw that day but didnt the next morning.

 

[lcw]

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thank you.

 

[TriciaHowe]

Happy baby bunny vibes to you! The person I got 2 of my mini's from had free roaming rabbits on her property. When mine have escaped before they always stayed pretty close to home. All of my rabbits are males so no baby bunnies for us.

Can't wait to see pictures

 

[lcw]

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thank you.mine stay close to home.

the last rabbit of the group of 21 was a white male/female(never figured out).it was about 11-12 at night when i came home and he/she was hopping down the road.never did see it again.

thanks for the bunny vibes.i need them.hoping for a nice healthy litter in the next couple days.

 

[la dee da]

lcw first I want to say I LOVE your rabbits, so pretty

. Next I'm going to ask you a few questions

. What breed are the wild colord ones? Are your rabbits for meat or pets? How big of a yard do you have and is it fenced? Do they ever chew on stuff they're not supposed to? Do they make holes in your yard? Sorry for all the questions. I'm thinking about owning meat rabbits some day and I'm trying to learn ALL the options so I can figure out what's best for my situation when the time comes.

 

[chinbunny]

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i would do a seperate post and see if some of the rabbit breeders on here answer it, including myself. Most meat breeders keep theirs caged. Some are expirementing with tractoring their rabbits. Its where they are kept on a ground cage, and moved around. And their breeding stock is kept in seperate cages to have their litters and stuff. At least thats the jiff I am getting from the meat rabbits list. [email protected]. Send an email and you should be able to join. Mine are also raised as meat rabbits. But i also show too. What i don't sell is used for meat rabbit. They are also excellent to RAW out to your pets too. You want to make sure you have each rabbit to its own cage, or you will up to your ears in rabbits. They will breed and have babies every thirty days. You want them in a controlled situation. IMHO running loose is. not and can actually get you into a lot trouble. Esp if its illegal in a lot of areas. Plus you have to deal with predators, the weather, etc, which is not fun for the owner, nor fair to the animal.

Backyardherds also has an excellent section for raising meat rabbits.

Storeys guide to raising rabbits is also an excellent read. So is the ARBA guidebook to raising better rabbits and cavies. Anything ARBA and its members provide is good stuff to use on raising meat rabbits. There is an FFA one that was published last year that is also a good one. The ARBA one has to be purchased off their website. Or itsfree if you join the club. www.arba.net. The others can be found at tsc tractor supply.

 

[WhoaNellie]

lcw first I want to say I LOVE your rabbits, so pretty love. Next I'm going to ask you a few questions tongue. What breed are the wild colord ones? Are your rabbits for meat or pets? How big of a yard do you have and is it fenced? Do they ever chew on stuff they're not supposed to? Do they make holes in your yard? Sorry for all the questions. I'm thinking about owning meat rabbits some day and I'm trying to learn ALL the options so I can figure out what's best for my situation when the time comes.

I would think if you wanted to breed for meat rabbits you'd do best keeping your rabbits caged. That way you can control the breeding, diet, etc.

I'm pretty sure Icw isn't using her rabbits for meat. I don't see anything wrong with pet rabbits free ranging. I lived in Northern Michigan, which has much more severe winters than Southern Ohio, and my rabbits did fine. They find shelter and safety, just like wild rabbits.​

 

[Cindiloohoo]

Sorry no bun buns yet!! If she hasn't started to pull her fur yet, there is still time before she'll have them. I can't wait to see baby pics though

Gosh it's hard to wait!!! I'm waiting on a goat to kid, so I know how you feel!!! Maybe they'll be born the same day

 

[lcw]

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[chinbunny]

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I would think if you wanted to breed for meat rabbits you'd do best keeping your rabbits caged. That way you can control the breeding, diet, etc.

I'm pretty sure Icw isn't using her rabbits for meat. I don't see anything wrong with pet rabbits free ranging. I lived in Northern Michigan, which has much more severe winters than Southern Ohio, and my rabbits did fine. They find shelter and safety, just like wild rabbits.

Probably going to get jumped on again for saying this but, I live in sw michigan. No rabbit person I know of would free range their rabbits in the middle of winter, and I do know alot of rabbit people. Free roaming rabbits is not cool. Its also illegal in the state of michigan to let them run free, from what I am aware. I would never let my rabbits, nor any other small animals loose in the middle of winter like that. fact is I have picked up a few rabbits that were 'set free' by their owners, and they weren't in the best of health. The one was also a nusaince(?) the neighbors and they were glad to be rid of it. When they don't die off, free roaming domestic rabbits can also breed and mulitply and also become pests in a lot of areas if its not controlled. There was a lady out in reno that had hers seized form her a few years ago. She had close to a 1000 of them breeding in her back yard. One of the rabbit rescues up here ended up getting over 500 of those animals. Not a good a situation unless its a controlled environment. when the police dept gets complaints about free roaming rabbits I am the first one they contact. Its only been a couple of times, but by the time I got the animals someone had already caught them and picked them up. I know there was a family on the other end of town that kept getting rabbits, and setting them free. They were breeding. A business owner set a trap for them, and caught and gave them to his grandkids as pets. He did ask mea couple of times to come down and look for and catch some of them. I never found any, but he did get quite a few. Then there was the kid i made a mistake selling pet rabbits to once. her family also set them free. She lied to me, said she had cages, and would take care of them. Well come to find out what rabbits weren't running loose were kept in a shed where they fought and injured each other. I never sold anything to her again, and will refuse a sale to someone who is just going to turn them loose.