# New to rabbits



## DebFred (Dec 9, 2012)

Hi All.

Just found this site a bit ago. The Hubby and I are going to start raising rabbits for food. We live in the Cincinnati area of Ohio. Get hot and cold weather. I would like to know what a good breed is for us. Also, I would like to know what to feed them other than pellets. We want to be as self sufficient as possible, and that includes being able to feed the rabbits and chickens in case we couldn't get feed for them. We want to house the rabbits and chickens in the same area, but plan on keeping the rabbits in cages. I think this is the best way to keep them, correct? We have about a half acre only, but somewhat rural, so we can have the chickens and rabbits. 

Thank you all.


----------



## Prairiechick (Dec 9, 2012)

Welcome to the site.  There are some different options to raising rabbits.  You could go with a natural diet and put them out in a run or pasture them if you wanted.  I have seen right on here that some people do.  Personally, I have all mine in cages.  I have them stacked and so they have the poop pans under.
I raise Californians for meat.  I like them and think they are a nice breed for friendliness too.  They turned out for me to be a good meaty breed.  I dressed them out live weight 6-6.5 and the dressed at 3-pounds and up.  I think you will find there are several options there too, it is more a matter of which you  prefer and how you want to do it.
Good luck and welcome to the rabbit world, and don't think the old "breeding like rabbits" thing has an ounce of truth to it, breeding rabbits can be a tricky undertaking.  It is like this:  when you don't want them to breed, you can bet you will get babies (kits).  When you want a litter, it can be a real pain sometimes to get the doe to be receptive.  And sometimes when they litter is born (kindling) the mother forgets to pull fur or make a nest, or does that then still has the kits on the wire.  That is not to scare you, just making a point, it isn't as easy as putting them in the cage for a romp and bam  you got babies.  But it is a fun thing to do, and butchering isn't hard to do at all.


----------



## Gagroundhog (Dec 10, 2012)

Wecome to BYH! Raising rabbits is alot of fun and yes can be tricky. Find a good breeder in your area. Somebody who is willing to spend time talking to you about their rabbits, who can show you breeding records, answer questions ect,. There are alot of breeders out there who will keep an interest in their customers after the purchase. Someone like this love to help their customers succeed. I like New Zealands and Californians but there are many other breeds to choose from. Good luck on your search!


----------



## sawfish99 (Dec 10, 2012)

Welcome to the group.  Our best meat producers are mixes of several breeds.  We have some that grow to 5lbs live weight in 12 weeks, but the average in our rabbitry is probably closer to 14 weeks.  In your area, you can pretty much choose any rabbit and you will be fine for the temperatures.


----------



## DebFred (Dec 10, 2012)

Thank you for the responses all ready. I plan on keeping them in cages. Easier to keep count of when they are put to the buck and keep control over them. As far as breeding and such. No possibility of keepiing them in a pasture. We live on half an acre. No fence. 

I am still curious about food other than pellets. I don't mind buying those, just would like to know other feeding options for them. 

Thanks!!


----------



## sawfish99 (Dec 10, 2012)

We feed all our rabbits pellets and hay.  We have had some does that got too heavy and got limited to only hay for a while.  We did implement a grain ration system instead of just free choice.


----------



## DebFred (Dec 10, 2012)

Thank you very much. Appreciate it!


----------



## Prairiechick (Dec 11, 2012)

I feed pellets (Kent Professional) and a good grassy hay.  For supplements, each cage has a mineral spool.  Otherwise, occasional yogurt chips to aid in gut health.  In the warmer months, they also get a few dandelion leaves, clover and herbs from the garden.  I like to feed them fresh greens but limit as too much can throw any animal if they aren't used to eating them a lot.  I never feed free choice except for does with litters.  I don't even free choice young litters after weaning, I set their food amount based on size and weight.  Plenty of fresh water every day with a little bit of apple cider vinegar in (1 Tbsp per gallon).


----------



## DebFred (Dec 11, 2012)

Thanks again. One more question: What is a mineral spool?


----------



## Gagroundhog (Dec 12, 2012)

Its a salt spool sold for small animals. They sell them in white and brown, the brown one is the mineral spool. The white one is plain white, don't use the white one, get the brown one. You can find these in the rabbit section at Tractor Supply or local feed store. They are round with a little hole so you can hang them on the side of the cage but I don't recommend that b/c the salt will rust the wire on your cage. Its better to put it in a ceramic crock of its own. If you are using a good rabbit pellet, salt spools aren't necessary. I like having them so the choice is up to the individual rabbit when it feels like it needs more minerals or not.


----------



## DebFred (Dec 13, 2012)

So it's like a salt lick for cattle or something along those lines. Thanks so much. Appreciate it. 

Deb


----------



## Prairiechick (Dec 13, 2012)

Exactly.  They know when they need to lick it, so it is there for them when they do. There are hooks you can hang them in the cage with.  There are also toy things I had a friend who used one for theirs that the spool went inside of it.  My buns always like having a piece of wood they can gnaw on in their pen too.  I usually use a nice, dry piece of pine/fir lumber that is a scrap from a project.  Not anything knotty, just a nice clear, clean piece the size of a kids' wooden block.  Give them a new one once the old one is a bit worn or gets dirty.  There is no reason to spend money on the fancy colored ones at the pet store if you have wood chunks laying around.  We sometimes just put sticks in that fell of the trees, but they are maple and harmless.  You might want to check on if a certain wood has anything harmful before giving it to them though.


----------



## DebFred (Dec 15, 2012)

Thank you PrarieChick.

I guess they just gnaw on the wood to trim their teeth then? We have scraps of 2X4's lying around. That should work nicely, I would think. I need to find some hay and/or straw around here. Shouldn't be too tough. Hay is best for bunnies, correct? A lot to learn, but looking forward to it as well.

Thanks for your input, and have a good weekend.

Deb


----------



## Prairiechick (Dec 16, 2012)

Hay is food, Straw is bedding.  They won't (or shouldn't want to) eat straw.  Yes, the wood is for their teeth but also to give them something to do.


----------



## Gagroundhog (Dec 16, 2012)

I had a bad experience with hay and rabbits one time. I had a blue dutch doe become completely paralysed. I took her to work with me, ( I worked for a vet) and We decided she had "head down" disease, caused by eating milkweed which must have been in my hay. I bring this up to let you know to be careful when purchasing hay for your rabbits. Be sure to buy horse quality grass hay. I did, from a guy who had it stored in a nice big barn. But I still wound up with a bale with some milk weed in it. When you feed the rabbits, pick out anything that doesn't look good. Buy carefully. Don't buy hay that looks like it has alot of weeds in it. Personally, I use timothy/alfalfa mix cubes you buy in a bag. I break up the cubes before giving them to the rabbits but some people give them a cube each and let them chew on them like a block of wood. My rabbits don't like that but they love them shredded in their dish. Also be sure to use untreated  wood for the rabbits to chew, sitting pads or nest boxes.


----------



## Prairiechick (Dec 16, 2012)

The milkweed is good to bring up.  Look for grassy hay with little weeds.  If you just have one or two rabbits, buying the cubes is fine, but if you are raising a few rabbits, you can buy a whole bale of hay for what you pay for a bag of cubes though.  Same goes with buying the bagged Timothy from a pet or feed store.  Look for someone who has good hay.  Or grow your own in the summer and store it after it is dried.


----------



## Rabbit-boy (Dec 19, 2012)

Hay is a awesome food for rabbits......also wood is good for there teeth because if they don't chew on anything they can get over grown teeth....also sunflower seeds work awesome if the rabbit gets over grown or if it is on a diet....




Hope this helps....


----------



## Prairiechick (Dec 19, 2012)

Actually, you don't want to feed too much sunflower seeds, especially in summer.  In winter they are good because they help to keep the rabbit to create more body heat, probably something to do with the oil in them.
Hay is something that you can let them eat as much as they want though.


----------



## Isthelifeforme (Dec 23, 2012)

DebFred said:
			
		

> We want to house the rabbits and chickens in the same area, but plan on keeping the rabbits in cages. I think this is the best way to keep them, correct? We have about a half acre only, but somewhat rural, so we can have the chickens and rabbits.


Half an acre is enough to free-range many chickens.  Here is our setup:
We have a hen-house with about a half-acre fenced around it so the chickens get to free-range.  We have about 18 egg-layers at the moment but we also raised about 50 meat-birds this past summer with them, along with about 15 more roosters that hatched with our replacement egg-layers.  No problem with them free-ranging on a lot this size without over-grazing the ground.

Next to the henhouse is my rabbit lean-to.  I allow the chickens to range under the rabbit hutches so they pick up spilled feed and I also believe they eat a lot of the droppings.  Regardless this results in a much higher feed efficiency.  My rabbit cages are about 4' off the ground (to the cage bottom) as this was as high as I could place the cages and still have my 7 year old take care of their daily feed.  I also use an automatic waterer for the rabbits and eventually plan on adding an auto waterer for the chickens.  I have 3 does, 1 buck, 1 pet, and a couple of grow-out cages.

Eventually I want to add some Muscovy ducks to try and reduce the fly population.


----------

