# purchasing hutches??



## primelife (Aug 14, 2012)

I'm to busy to build my own hutch for meat rabbits. All you can find to buy at feed stores is pet products. Any suggestions on where to buy rabbit hutches for meat rabbits would be greatly appreciated!! I want to get a set up that will feed a family of 4, TY so much for any advice, I live in Dallas Tx

Any advice on once the when the doe should be seperated from her babies is appreciated as well. I know they go to the fryer 6-8 wks on avg but when do you remove them from mom's pen into their own before cooking? Do you buy grow out pins or rabbit tractors?


----------



## primelife (Aug 14, 2012)

copy and pasted this which answers my second ?, still hope I can find some hutches to buy!

Rabbits poop and pee so much that deep litter really wouldn't work for them. Rabbits have a prefered corner to do most of their potty. So I put a 5gal bucket under this corner and dump it into the compost pile when it fills.

Each rabbit needs it's very own cage.

Does may stay with the litter until the next litter is coming, so 2wks before they are born, you need to move the kits out. 

Grow out cages are for weaned kits only. It should be at least 2x the adult pen size. 

Kits can remain with mom until butcher if you do not rebreed her. But all must be in the grow out pen. 

One cup per rabbit. 

Rabbits will fight, even litter mates will eventually fight. There is not enough room for more than one adult, even in a grow out size cage. I had 2 brothers together, they were fine for 1wk after I got them, once they reached 9.5wks of age, they had a horrid fight one night. One buck had a huge chunk of skin ripped off of him. The other broke his tibia [leg]!!! 

Does can and will kill other doe's kits, she can and will attack the other doe. Rabbits can kill other adult rabbits. 

My meat rabbits are in 2x4ft cages. This give plenty of room for the nest, room for the doe to lay and room for the feeding/drinking area. It is also enough room to have the kits with mom until 6-8wks of age.

Grow out pens are 2.5x7-8ft. 

You do not want to do deeper back than 2-2.5ft. You will not be able to reach the rabbits easily at all.

Do not cut corners, you will loose out in the long run. Do it right and do it well from the start.


----------



## ruthless (Aug 14, 2012)

try your local Craigslist for cages and hutches.  someone is always getting out of rabbits and trying to sell their cages.
If you must have new,   bass equipment and kw cages both are online with lots of supplies


----------



## goodgameme (Aug 15, 2012)

Try Tractor Supply.  They sell all wire cages for rabbits.


----------



## sawfish99 (Aug 15, 2012)

I watch CL for cages.  Every now and then someone is getting completely out of rabbits and selling a huge setup.  Our kits stay with the doe for 7 weeks.  Our fastest growers get harvested at 12 weeks for a 3lb freezer weight.  Others go more towards 15 weeks.  We feed free choice pellets.

For a family of 4, how often do you want to eat rabbit?  That will define how many does you need.


----------



## primelife (Aug 15, 2012)

sawfish99 said:
			
		

> I watch CL for cages.  Every now and then someone is getting completely out of rabbits and selling a huge setup.  Our kits stay with the doe for 7 weeks.  Our fastest growers get harvested at 12 weeks for a 3lb freezer weight.  Others go more towards 15 weeks.  We feed free choice pellets.
> 
> For a family of 4, how often do you want to eat rabbit?  That will define how many does you need.


Thanks for the reply. My plan is to have the capability to produce 25-30 rabbits per month. After I get a freezer full I may not breed them like that consistantly unless needed. Thank you for your help.

I read where either NZ's, california, or floridian rabbits are good for what Im doing but if cross bred the off spring make good fryers but wont be good brood stoke...stay with pure bred for breeding and mixed breeds of the three are good for eating, Do you agree?


----------



## animalmom (Aug 15, 2012)

Living in Dallas I really don't think you will be breeding year around... unless you air condition your rabbit building.  I live in Erath County and can not breed year around due to the heat.  Bucks will become temporarily sterile when temps get to 90... maybe even 85.  

I don't want to rain on your parade as I love to see anyone get excited about breeding meat rabbits.  We have a small set up of 2 AlTex does, a NZ/Cali doe, an AlTex buck and a NZ/Cali buck (my favorite, Basil).  Currently we are growing out the two kits from the last AlTex litter.  I think there will be a doe and a buck from this litter.  This set up has supplied us with plenty of meat for the two of us humans.

We have not ever had a problem with our NZ/Cali crosses and their offspring.  The kits grow out at a reasonable pace, have nice muscle development, and butcher easily.  But we don't breed in the summer, or early fall.  We restart our breeding after the daytime temps stay below 85 for a couple weeks... like October/November timeframe.  

If you are wanting to put 25-30 rabbits in the freezer each month until the freezer is full then you are certainly looking at a bodacious breeding program, and a large amount of breeding does.  Hope you have a nice big well ventilated barn.  

Best of luck with your plans.  Keep us posted as I'd love to eat my words to see you be successful and your rabbits plentiful and happy.


----------



## sawfish99 (Aug 15, 2012)

I'm in CT, so here people tend to stop in the dead of winter.  25-30 rabbits a month is way more than family level production.  Most of ours average 9 kits per litter, so you are talking about 3 does having a litter every month.  If you use a very aggressive breeding program, that is at least 6 does in production.  Based on the constant breeding, that also means 3 being raised as replacements pretty much continuously.

25-30 a month is a rabbit a day.  The last 3lb rabbit in our family was 2.5 meals.


----------



## primelife (Aug 16, 2012)

TY both for the practical advice. I appreciate the knowledge


----------

