# any advice for a newbe?



## Evelle (Nov 16, 2011)

hello everyone 
Goodmorning... well it is for me..
  ive been doing loads and loads of research on meat rabbits this year and i was thinking about getting some in the spring.. i was hoping to get 3 (maybe 4) differant females from two differant breeders and 2 differant males 

my DH and i have reached where we would like to get californians. and now tring to look up how to build a hutch for them. kinda getting some good ideas of what to do but is kinda on the planing side of things. 

now im not to new to rabbits, i had a mini lop as a kid and was in 4h with him. so i know some things but not a whole heck of a lot. 

im looking for some experanced breeders.. for any advice you would like to share with me.. whats been hard whats been easy.. what your hutch looks like. how many you have. something funny that your still laughing about.. 
if you like or hate having rabbits.. 
  anything that you could share would be GREATLY opprecated 

thank you so much!


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## Genipher (Nov 16, 2011)

Welcome!

I have a trio of Silver Fox Rabbits (2 does and a buck). I'm fairly new to this myself but I have to say, I'm lovin' it!

The thing I wish I could go back and change is the hutch. It "came" with the rabbits and I hate it. The rabbits have a bad habit of peeing and pooping wherever they want, so the wood inside is pretty nasty. It also has all sorts of holes where the spiders like to hang out so I have to be careful when I duck my head in to check out what's going on inside. 
Eventually I want to invest in something like this:

http://www.bassequipment.com/Cages/Rabbit+Cages/Stackable+Rabbit+Cages/default.aspx

It seems like it would be easier to keep clean and I would be able to see what's going on inside better than I do now. I'd just have to throw a tarp over the whole thing to keep out the weather (until we get to a place where I can put them in a shed or something).

Any other advice I can give is to make sure you watch the matings so you can have an idea if the buck was successful and if your doe passes her "due date", give her a couple extra days. Ours just recently took 41 days (rather than the normal 31) to give birth!!

Have fun!


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## Citylife (Nov 16, 2011)

Welcome to BYH's!
You might want to go to everything rabbits and there is a thread there regarding "Rabbit Set-up's"
There are many other threads on there that will enterest you along with the entire Rabbit section.
I enjoy having rabbits alot.  It can get old when its 100 degrees and when its 5 degrees, but that is 
case with any animals.  
Enjoy yourself on here, there is lots of good advice and help.


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## Snowfie (Nov 16, 2011)

Don't feel like you have to get all your rabbits right away.  Start with one male and 2 females and go from there.  You can linebreed rabbits (breeding a doe to its sire or a buck to it's dam) so you don't have to have all your rabbits unrelated.   The only breeding pair you want to steer clear of is sibling pairs and even that is okay for a generation as long as you keep only rabbits that are higher quality that their parents.  Always breed up, never down.

I'm still pretty new myself and I have enough cages for 6 breeders with a few grow out cages, but I'm intentionally keeping it to 2 rabbits while I gain practical experience in the raising, breeding, and slaugtering aspects of meat rabbits.  I probably won't increase my breeding stock until at LEAST April or May.

Welcome!


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## Snowfie (Nov 16, 2011)

Genipher said:
			
		

> Welcome!
> Eventually I want to invest in something like this:
> 
> http://www.bassequipment.com/Cages/Rabbit+Cages/Stackable+Rabbit+Cages/default.aspx


Those are some good looking cages, but always check locally before you go to the internet.  I was just about to order cages from bassequipment when I checked a local cage/feed supply store and they were able to make cages for almost half of what it would have cost to go online (once you factored in the shipping).  Plus buying cages over the internet they require you to assemble them.

ANd you can check places like craig's list for used cages.  there's lot of options available.


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## Genipher (Nov 17, 2011)

Snowfie said:
			
		

> Genipher said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Yeah, I looked around our town and there is _nadda_. I even asked at our local grange and all they had was one "stackable" cage that cost almost as much as these three put together!!
I keep an eye out on craigslist, but most of the cages are made of wood, look like crap, and STILL cost an arm and a leg. Go figure.
I wish I was more handy with tools and following directions so I could make my own!


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## doubled (Nov 17, 2011)

For the 300 bucks you spend on these you can buy the wire and make your own for 300 bucks you can buy a 100 ft roll of 1 x 2 for top and sides and a 50 ft roll of 1/2 x 1 for the floor and build a dozen or more, 36" wide buy 30" deep cages if you have a place to put the cages under that way they are all wire and no wood rot or urine soaked wood to worry about. Just a thought.


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## Genipher (Nov 17, 2011)

Alas, if only I knew how!

I had a hutch that needed the bottom wire replaced so I bought the materials. I was halfway through the project when I realized I needed a staple gun. I think I took 3 or 4 separate trips to the store for things I didn't realize I needed to get the blasted thing fixed. (Now, however I have several tools at-the-ready for future fix-its and whatnot...)
Then I cut the wire wrong and had to figure out how to connect two pieces without leaving jagged edges for the rabbit to get impaled on. (In the end my husband helped with that part). Without a garage or shop to work in, I found myself getting stressed, my husband started questioning the whole rabbit-raising thing, and the job took muuuuuch longer than it needed to.

I'm just not very...handy...with that sort of thing.
I would LIKE to be. I mean, I have this dream of one day having enough acreage for a milk cow (or goats), chickens, our rabbits, a dog, garden, etc. so I KNOW I need to learn how to create my own cages, etc. That's part of being more self-sufficient, right?
But I can just see myself buying that $100 roll of wire and messing up somewhere and having to buy another roll. In the end, it might just be cheaper (and less stressful!!) to buy them pre-made.

The only other problem with attempting to make my own right now is that I don't have a place to put the cages where they would be out of the weather. Unless I just tied a tarp over them...

I don't want to totally rule out any options for making my own though. I figure, like anything, once I get enough practice it won't be so stressful or time-consuming. I've tried looking over the internet and I haven't found a simple, easy-to-follow "pattern" yet for a rabbit cage. I'm more of a visual learner so pictures with directions would also help.

As it is, I can't afford anything right now so the stackable cages is just a dream...but if I can learn how to build my own, that would be _so _much better (and as you said, cheaper)!!

Does anyone out there have a good link where I could attempt to make my own cages?


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