How old are these baby rabbits?

[kukupecpec]

I'm glad a little blood is normal. I'll still keep an eye on her but at least I know she should be ok.
I set up the hutch so they can be separated and still be near each other, there's a large door that separates the hutch in 2. I went ahead and closed it yesterday when I found the litter. I like it because they can still nuzzle through the door. It was supposed to be how I separated the babies from mom so she could dry up, but it works great for this purpose too!

I'm not sure of Red's age. Her previous owners rescued her from the bobcat and she looked full grown to them then. They had her for about a year. So she may be close to 2. You say the small litter number might be a sign of age?

What do you guys suggest as a rest time between litters? I have a couple books about raising meat rabbits, but I wasn't able to find anything about how often to breed them or the bit of blood after kindling.

 

[Hens and Roos]

Depends on what your goal is- if you are raising for meat then how much meat do you need?

We raise meat rabbits and my kids use them as their 4-H projects-last year we only raised 3 litters. We watch the does to see what condition they are in when litters are weaned. Some people will breed the does back when current kits are 4 weeks old, wean at 5-6 weeks and the doe gets a little break before the next litter. We are still figuring out what works for us so our does get a month or so between litters.

Typically depending on your weather and how hot it gets there-you would probably want to let the doe be litter free for those months. Also the buck may not be fertile during the hotter months.

 

[kukupecpec]

I would like to produce as much as possible without harming the breeders - they are also our pets, we adore them. Personality is just as important as the meat to us.

That might explain why it took this long for her to HAVE a litter. They have been living together since June! But I live in Tucson AZ so summers here are 100+ degrees. The bunnies get ice bottles and have a nice misting system, they seem pretty content, but no babies.

I would really like to get another doe. Will Bugsy's relationship with Red be affected with the addition of a new doe? She would be housed separately. Or could it affect his mating with the new doe?

 

[P.O. in MO]

I don't think Bugsy will mind a new doe, he probably wishes you had more. I breed about like Hens and Roos, waiting until mine are weaned before breeding back but I have 4 does so I am not pressed very hard for production. Since you are where you can't breed in the heat I would definitely breed back pretty quick in the months that your rabbits are productive.

 

[kukupecpec]

Do you think it would make much of a difference to Red if I took Bugsy out to breed other does and then put him back in his hutch with Red? I'd definitely like to keep them together even when I get more ladies for him, but I certainly don't want anyone to get hurt.

 

[Bunnylady]

Depends. If Bugsy smells enough like the other doe, Red may attack him for smelling strange (I've seen does do this to their own babies when the kids took more than one litter out to play with them). You would certainly have to take him out, though - you can't put a strange doe in Red's cage. You also don't want to put Bugsy in another doe's cage, or she may attack him!

 

[kukupecpec]

Red actually lived in a "community" setting before she came here with 2 other does and 1 buck. It was just a small apartment porch. They each had their own cage that they nested in and would get their food portions but the cage doors were always open to the small porch so they all hung out. She was at the bottom of the pecking order, the other does would attack her if she got too close to the buck, and they would reject the buck after he would spend time with her, but she never attacked anyone. I'm hoping this will keep her from attacking Bugsy after mating... but I will put him behind the wire wall after the first time JUST to be sure. Not that I have a new doe yet or anything haha still working on building a new hutch for the future doe.
I have a medium dog crate I was putting Bugsy and Red in so Bugsy could catch her to mate, I think that would probably work just fine for a new doe since now that it's cooled down Bugsy and Red are mating all on their own so Red would never have to be in the crate.

My rabbit information is pretty jumbled between "house rabbits" and meat production. I know for meat production people tend to keep all their rabbits in small cages for better use of space. But the pet/house rabbit people are very adamant about the big roomy cages with lots to do and space to run and play. Is there a reason I SHOULDN'T give my breeders that big run around and play space if I have it? I plan on using the smaller modular type cages to raise the babies that we are going to eat, but the breeders are our pets that we like to play with and spoil so we get production AND the fun part of playing with a pet bunny. I just wondered if the small space saving cages have a purpose in meat production beyond just maximizing the space used?

 

[Hens and Roos]

I guess the best thing I can say is you'll have to try and see what works best for you and your situation. It maybe take you a bit until you get your system down. As long as you make sure the rabbits aren't hurting each other that is probably the main thing. Good Luck and kept us updated.

 

[P.O. in MO]

kukupecpec said
" Is there a reason I SHOULDN'T give my breeders that big run around and play space if I have it? I plan on using the smaller modular type cages to raise the babies that we are going to eat, but the breeders are our pets that we like to play with and spoil so we get production AND the fun part of playing with a pet bunny. I just wondered if the small space saving cages have a purpose in meat production beyond just maximizing the space used?"

Not in anything I can remember reading. I would love to have space for my breeders to run around but I do keep them in 30 x 36 cages. I don't think there is any other purpose in the smaller cages other than maximizing space use.

 

[Bossroo]

It is NOT a good idea to let the male and female rabbits run together... very POOR management. The doe is fertile within a day of giving birth, witch means that the newborns will be just over 30 days old when the doe will give birth to the next litter. You will have very poor growth to both litters, if not the loss of one or the other litter . Also, the doe will be in very thin / poor condition. It is best to keep the buck in his own cage, and when you want another litter, take the doe to the buck's cage for breeding.