In house meat rabbits?

[silkiechicken]

So I was thinking about raising just a pair of meat rabbits. Like a pair of Californians. A single doe and a buck.... inside. Is that something feasible? Just to get a few meals of fresh rabbit every few months or so?

I'd want them to be productive pets. I know buns can be potty trained, and that fixed buns are better about it than unfixed ones, but how bad are unfixed ones really? Do they spray a lot? I was thinking of getting them each a 3x3 cage and letting them alternate roaming a rabbit proofed living room in the mornings and evenings. If alternating free roaming is not a good idea for unfixed bunnies b/c of spraying issues, would it be reasonable to house them in a 3x4 dog crate each? Or are meat bunnies just plan a bad idea inside?

 

[chickygirl55]

AS long as you leave their cage open to where they can go in there and go to the bathroom they should be fine. It only takes a couple days of them staying in thier cage and get used to going in there then they always go in their cause thats what they are used to. Not as sure about males though.

 

[captain cluck]

We have kept a few intact male rabbits in house (have one in house now who will be going outside soon), but soon moved them outdoors because of the spraying.

Granted, they mainly sprayed when confined to their dog crates (2.5'x4') but it is rank enough that I wanted them outside.

I didn't let them have much run of the house because they chewed every wire they found, as well as furniture, books, anything else they could get to.

And Rabbits can climb!
I had isolated my first rabbit, a 12-16 week old doe, in an open top heavy cardboard box that I 'thought' was too deep for her to get out of. She was in a spare room that had boxes stacked up in a corner, and the irregular sizes made a ladder. I went in to feed and clean, and after searching 10 minutes for the missing doe, I found her on top of the 6 foot stack of boxes. I put her in an enclosed crate after that.

 

[ksalvagno]

You can get a lot of ideas for keeping rabbits indoors from www.rabbit.org

That is the House Rabbit Society. It is a rescue but since they encourage people to keep rabbits indoors, they also have a lot of ideas for keeping them indoors.

My rabbits are indoors and I use metal puppy pens to create areas for them. You can give them a square 4x4 area.

Since my rabbits are fixed, I don't know about the spraying problem with intact males.

 

[Bunnylady]

Other than the spraying problem, I can see one major difficulty with raising meat rabbits in the house. Rabbits can be very interactive, so it can be very easy to get attached. The more closely you are involved with them, the harder it will be to eat them. Your mother taught you not to play with your food for a reason!

 

[silkiechicken]

Thanks for all the replies. The smell thing has me worrying the most. Hamsters and birds inside are easily contained and since the hamsters all use their potties and don't spray so there isn't a smell. This bunny thing might be a bit much for indoors. I grew up playing with my food so eating a "pet" that comes running over for treats isn't a problem.