# New rabbit owner + housing



## mystang89 (Jun 23, 2012)

Hi everyone.  I'm thinking about raising rabbits for food but I don't seem to be able to find any consolidated information for the questions I have.  So I'll ask them here.

1.)  How do I make a living area for the rabbits?  What is needed and what is it supposed to look like?  Are there requirements such as sq ft per rabbit etc?

2.)  What do I feed them?  I know that they eat lettuce and stuff like that but do I need to buy food for them as well?  Is the cost to meat ratio effective for trying to save money?

3.)  How do I go about raising them?  Do I need to keep the male and female separate from each other until I want them to mate? 

4.)  Is there a good place to go to find all the information?  Pictures of cages to get ideas from and the like?  
Thanks in advance.


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## ruthless (Jun 23, 2012)

THis site should give you a good beginning.   
http://www.rudolphsrabbitranch.com/rrr.htm


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## mystang89 (Jun 23, 2012)

Thanks, that answered a lot of my questions but some remain.  From what I've seen, many cages use the pull out tray method for taking care of rabbit fices.  That is the same method that some chicken owners use to keep the coop clean as well.  However there is also the deep litter method which is where you take saw dust or shavings and put about 5"+ on the bottom and just mix the fices up in there.  This keeps it dry and keeps you from having to clean it up all the time plus it keeps the smell down.  Has anyone tried this with their litter of rabbits or do you think this would work? 
  In the article it mentioned that each breeding Doe should have their own cage along with the sire having his own cage.  Is it really necessary to give the 2 Does their own cage or can they be in a single cage together without any problems?  It also mentioned a grow-out cage.  Do you have to keep the mother rabbit in the grow-out cage with the litter until they are ready to be culled?  
  It also says that non-pregnant does and sires should have 1 scant cup of food each day.  Is that 1 scant cup per rabbit or 1 total.  Also, wiki doesn't give a measurement for "scant".  How much is it?
  I'm sure there is more to follow but that's what I can think of for now.  Thanks again.


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## crazyturkeydesigns (Jun 23, 2012)

mystang89 said:
			
		

> Thanks, that answered a lot of my questions but some remain.  From what I've seen, many cages use the pull out tray method for taking care of rabbit fices.  That is the same method that some chicken owners use to keep the coop clean as well.  However there is also the deep litter method which is where you take saw dust or shavings and put about 5"+ on the bottom and just mix the fices up in there.  This keeps it dry and keeps you from having to clean it up all the time plus it keeps the smell down.  Has anyone tried this with their litter of rabbits or do you think this would work?
> In the article it mentioned that each breeding Doe should have their own cage along with the sire having his own cage.  Is it really necessary to give the 2 Does their own cage or can they be in a single cage together without any problems?  It also mentioned a grow-out cage.  Do you have to keep the mother rabbit in the grow-out cage with the litter until they are ready to be culled?
> It also says that non-pregnant does and sires should have 1 scant cup of food each day.  Is that 1 scant cup per rabbit or 1 total.  Also, wiki doesn't give a measurement for "scant".  How much is it?
> I'm sure there is more to follow but that's what I can think of for now.  Thanks again.


I personally prefer plastic pans (dura-trays) with wire bottom cages. I breed mini rexes and american sables and the minis are a little more susceptible to poor furring on the hocks and thus sorehocks, so they all have plastic resting pads as well. I just think that set up, for me, is the easiest to clean year round, but it's jmpo. 
You should definitely keep does and bucks separated or breeding will happen every chance they get and it could get bad. So it's best to keep genders separated. On occasion I have kept sisters together for a little bit longer than average with no problems, but I almost always separate them. You could get a better answer from someone who has a rabbit colony, there a few on the board. It's a pretty cool set up. 
I feed the mini rexes 1/3 cup 18% protein feed + oats+ BOSS each day and the sables get about a cup + the oats and BOSS. Scant just means a little less and not overflowing the measuring cup. I think anyway LOL. 
Good luck with your new buns!!


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## secuono (Jun 23, 2012)

mystang89 said:
			
		

> Thanks, that answered a lot of my questions but some remain.  From what I've seen, many cages use the pull out tray method for taking care of rabbit fices.  That is the same method that some chicken owners use to keep the coop clean as well.  However there is also the deep litter method which is where you take saw dust or shavings and put about 5"+ on the bottom and just mix the fices up in there.  This keeps it dry and keeps you from having to clean it up all the time plus it keeps the smell down.  Has anyone tried this with their litter of rabbits or do you think this would work?
> In the article it mentioned that each breeding Doe should have their own cage along with the sire having his own cage.  Is it really necessary to give the 2 Does their own cage or can they be in a single cage together without any problems?  It also mentioned a grow-out cage.  Do you have to keep the mother rabbit in the grow-out cage with the litter until they are ready to be culled?
> It also says that non-pregnant does and sires should have 1 scant cup of food each day.  Is that 1 scant cup per rabbit or 1 total.  Also, wiki doesn't give a measurement for "scant".  How much is it?
> I'm sure there is more to follow but that's what I can think of for now.  Thanks again.


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.


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## mystang89 (Jun 24, 2012)

secuono said:
			
		

> 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.
> 
> ...


Thanks.  It sounds to me like you never move your pregnant doe out of her cage.  Do you let her have the kits in her cage and then just move them out after a certain amount of weeks?  How old are the kits when you start to cull them?  I've read about 10-12 weeks old is the time to cull but if they start to fight after 9 weeks what do you do then?  Also, how do you deal with a the pee and poop from the grow-out cage?  Do you have a pull out tray or some other method?  If you have a pull out tray how do you keep it clean and keep the smell under control?  I would see a 2'x7' pull out tray as being pretty heavy or awkward to carry.
Thanks for all the helpful information.  I am moving closer and closer to being able to start this adventure up.


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## terri9630 (Jun 24, 2012)

All my adults have their own cages.  I've never had litter mates fight before 12 weeks and by then they are in their own cage or the freezer.  By 10 weeks I have separated the does from the bucks.  I dont use trays unless I have to hang another cage under one.  I rake up the poo and toss it in the garden.  I've never had a problem with odor and the only time I have a problem with flies is when it is so hot that we are using the misters everyday as the ground doesn't dry completely overnight.


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## secuono (Jun 24, 2012)

> Thanks.  It sounds to me like you never move your pregnant doe out of her cage.  Do you let her have the kits in her cage and then just move them out after a certain amount of weeks?  How old are the kits when you start to cull them?  I've read about 10-12 weeks old is the time to cull but if they start to fight after 9 weeks what do you do then?  Also, how do you deal with a the pee and poop from the grow-out cage?  Do you have a pull out tray or some other method?  If you have a pull out tray how do you keep it clean and keep the smell under control?  I would see a 2'x7' pull out tray as being pretty heavy or awkward to carry.
> Thanks for all the helpful information.  I am moving closer and closer to being able to start this adventure up.


Since my cages are all 2x4ft, bucks or does, I only move out kits. 

When I need to rebreed the doe, I wean them around 5-6wks and remove them 7-8wks. 

I use 5gal buckets under the poop corner. I have no trays. 

By cull, do you mean butcher age?? If you buy good stock for meat and feed just pellets, they can be ready from 9-11wks. Since mine eat a lot of grasses and weeds, it takes them 11-16wks to reach butcher size.


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## sawfish99 (Jun 29, 2012)

I prefer open cage bottoms so the poop and pee falls to the ground.  As long as you have good drainage, the urine will soak in to the ground and the smell should not be noticable.  We clean under the cages as needed (maybe once a month) and take everything to a much larger compost pile.

Cages with the tray under them will smell bad much faster unless you keep the urine cleaned off the trays every couple of days.

Our does have their own cage and kindle in the cage.  Kits are moved out at around 7 weeks.  Butcher is based on when they are ready, by weight, which varies by breed.  I am averaging nominally a 55% love to packaged weight conversion, so I am targeting about 6lb live weight at butcher time.


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## pennylove (Jun 29, 2012)

mystang89 said:
			
		

> Thanks, that answered a lot of my questions but some remain.  From what I've seen, many cages use the pull out tray method for taking care of rabbit fices.  That is the same method that some chicken owners use to keep the coop clean as well. * However there is also the deep litter method which is where you take saw dust or shavings and put about 5"+ on the bottom and just mix the fices up in there.  This keeps it dry and keeps you from having to clean it up all the time plus it keeps the smell down.  Has anyone tried this with their litter of rabbits or do you think this would work? *
> In the article it mentioned that each breeding Doe should have their own cage along with the sire having his own cage.  Is it really necessary to give the 2 Does their own cage or can they be in a single cage together without any problems?  It also mentioned a grow-out cage.  Do you have to keep the mother rabbit in the grow-out cage with the litter until they are ready to be culled?
> It also says that non-pregnant does and sires should have 1 scant cup of food each day.  Is that 1 scant cup per rabbit or 1 total.  Also, wiki doesn't give a measurement for "scant".  How much is it?
> I'm sure there is more to follow but that's what I can think of for now.  Thanks again.


I know a breeder that raises her rabbits in a colony inside a pole barn and she uses the deep litter method. It works very well for her, but the complaints I've heard are: flies in the summer (she uses free-ranging ducks to combat this) and too much heat. Rabbits are able to tolerate cold well, but don't do well with heat and the deep-bedding generates a lot of heat as it composts. She breeds Angoras and I will also say that the rabbits I've purchased from her are always covered in straw, which is difficult to remove from the fiber. I'm sure that's not a problem for meat rabbits, but it's definitely a downside to straw litter.

I use litterboxes for my free-range rabbits and my bucks, who are caged in big, over-sized crates with solid floors. They reliably use their litterboxes, with the exception of scattered territorial pellets, which are negligible and never a problem. So that's something to consider, too. For their litter I've used newspaper pellets (Yesterday's News) and pine pellets (Feline Pine). The caged rabbits show no preference for litter, they use both just as reliably. The free-range does will stop using their litterbox if I use pine pellets, they like the newspaper.


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## figsonwheels (Jul 5, 2012)

Our cages are hung about 4 feet off the ground. Th poop and pee fall to the ground. We put some pine shavings under their cages and added red worms. We will rake that out every other month or so, as needed, and put that in our garden (but putting worms back).  The worms keep the flies at bay and make the droppings even better fertilizer.


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## Shayanna (Aug 14, 2012)

I'm just getting started with rabbits as well and I think I've found a reasonable method. I'm doing it small scale. 2 or 3 does to a buck, and if I have a litter per month, sell half the kits in the litter for 8 dollars a piece, I can keep/butcher the other half of the litter myself and keep that meat. The money from selling the kits pays for food and upkeep once you already have your initial set up, and your family gets to keep anywhere from 4-5 rabbits a month for meat depending on your litter sizes. This way they pay for themselves, you don't have an over abundance of rabbits in your freezer, etc. This is with me keeping three does, one buck, and weaning at 4 weeks, and giving the doe 4 weeks after the weaning date to rest before rebreeding. (All of our kits have done phenomonally at 4 weeks.) We feed our rabbits a generic 16% pellet($13.99), mixed 50/50 with whole oats ($8/50lb bag) and that lasts all of the rabbits about 2 months. I also feed rabbit-safe weeds from the yard/field. Doing it this way keeps it so the rabbits pay for their own feed, doesn't over breed your does, and the leftover "profit" you can either put into improving your set up or keep as profit.
And you can sell your kits as pets or meat, and they seem to sell alright for me on craigslist. And I live in a SMALL town.


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## secuono (Aug 14, 2012)

Deep litter works for my chickens, but I only have about 10 in a 10x10ft coop. With all the water rabbits drink and all the poo they make, I don't think deep litter would work very well unless you have very few rabbits in a large area. 
I would stick with open ground below them, bucket under their pooping corner and then dump the poo into a compost pile even further from the house/rabbitry. Rain should be able to wash away any extra pee, but either way, there needs to be some drainage. Urine soaked mud will smell.

I actually switched to rotational pen grazing for my rabbits. No more cages for me except for expecting does in very bad Winter weather.


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## mystang89 (Aug 15, 2012)

What I ended up doing was just putting a tote, (like the kind you buy from Walmart) under the part of the pin where each of the pee and poop then empty it at the end of the day in the compost pile.  I'll get some red worms sometime soon and put them in with it.  Occasionally I'll have to spray everything out and wash under the cages.  My rabbit hutch is under the car port so I don't have to worry about too much mud and it's easy to clean.
  The only problem I am having is getting the stupid things to mate.  It's not the bucks fault.  He's ready willing and able...multiples times...a minute it seems.  It's the females (as usual)  I put them in the bucks cage and they just run around and around in circles until the buck gets tired.  He'll rest for a sec and give it another go and its another marry-go-round the rabbit cage.  I've even tried what some people suggested and held her for him.  He wouldn't do it then, I guess because I was in there.  I've had this problem the last two months.  They just won't mate.  Kinda upsetting.:/


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## country farm girl (Aug 16, 2012)

mystang89 said:
			
		

> What I ended up doing was just putting a tote, (like the kind you buy from Walmart) under the part of the pin where each of the pee and poop then empty it at the end of the day in the compost pile.  I'll get some red worms sometime soon and put them in with it.  Occasionally I'll have to spray everything out and wash under the cages.  My rabbit hutch is under the car port so I don't have to worry about too much mud and it's easy to clean.
> The only problem I am having is getting the stupid things to mate.  It's not the bucks fault.  He's ready willing and able...multiples times...a minute it seems.  It's the females (as usual)  I put them in the bucks cage and they just run around and around in circles until the buck gets tired.  He'll rest for a sec and give it another go and its another marry-go-round the rabbit cage.  I've even tried what some people suggested and held her for him.  He wouldn't do it then, I guess because I was in there.  I've had this problem the last two months.  They just won't mate.  Kinda upsetting.:/


can you try a new buck? my doe is the same way with the buck named thumper she came with. but when I put the other buck named charlie that i got, she loved him and would let him breed her! charlie was too young to breed to her for her first breeding but one thing I did try was I put her in with charlie and she was trying to get him to breed her, too funny to see her trying to get him to breed her!!   so I put her in with thumper and she let him breed her!  woman!!   I think the only reason she let thumper breed her was cause I THINK I tricked her!


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## mystang89 (Aug 17, 2012)

lol, I might have to try that.  I've been thinking about getting another buck just in case something happens to one of my rabbits and I need a replacement.  Will have to look into building another rabbit cage.


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## oneacrefarm (Sep 13, 2012)

We have hanging cages and the poop/pee just falls to the ground. The urine soaks in to the ground and the manure does not smell at all unless it gets very hot outside and the manure stays wet from misting, etc. You don't have to put shavings or anything under it/in it. Here are some pictures from my barn when it was new.....






















The poop is now about 6inches deep under the cages and even in the hottest part of the summer, it did not stink.


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