Meat rabbit care

[secuono]

I no longer keep them
Nail trims were rare and pretty easy.
If she's bred, has kits in nest or was recently put into bucks cage, I allowed the grumpiness. I had only one naturally nasty rabbit, a very expensive blue SF. Raccoon killed him in the end.
I had naturally docile breeds, so wasn't a concern.
Pretty normal to have small litters the first time or for young does.
Colonies, grazing, such things were dangerous and never had good things from it. Best to cut greens for them daily. I added bits of grass to nest at a week or so. But I also left the nest for weeks, until they all left on their own and didn't need it.

 

[CraftyHen]

I'm late to this thread but for what it's worth:

1. I trim nails, log their weight & do a general health check on breeding day. I start w\the bucks then the does have their turn and go straight to their assigned buck.

2. If you have does who are gentle/good breeders, then I say cull the aggressive & those who adamantly refuse to breed. However, I think it depends on how many breeders you have available. I've had 2 aggressive does that ended up tamed. I only had 1 proven doe at the time. It took consistent, twice daily effort on my part. Oddly enough, the Rex who almost went to freezer camp over her attitude mellowed out after she was moved to a cage near a window.
3. Each breeder is named, talked to and loved on daily. Some like scratches, others a nose boop & I even have 1 buck who comes out (of his own accord) be held for a minute! Rare but fun.
4. I think keeping or culling for litter size will again depend on size of your operation. If you have only 1 or 2 does you might prefer to keep a 4 kit mama who raises fat healthy babies over an 8 kit mama who has a record of losing some kits each kindle. The higher the number of breed stock you have, the more leeway in deciding based on litter size. 5. I don't have enough room to tractor but do feed fresh greens from garden/greenhouse.

There's no one way to do any of this...there are so many different factors for each decision. In the end, we all do what's best based on our situation and animals.

 

[BranscumFarm]

Hey all I have a handful of meat rabbit questions:
1) do you trim their nails? What about Breeders?
2) if you have grumpy does that charge and bite what do you do about it? (My ideas range from trying to befriend them to just culling them)
3) do you try to socialize your Breeders by petting them, free time, etc?
4) if a doe has a small litter her first time do you give her another chance?
5) what age do you put kits out in a tractor to graze?

You can also check out my YouTube channel for more information on rabbits.
www.youtube.com/BranscumFarm

1. I chexk and trim nails before I breed. Growout should not have to be trimmed.
2. I do not keep mean rabbits. They will pass on the temperament to young. Even if you handle babies often. I don't have time for a mean rabbit. Plus I have kids and don6want them to get hurt.
3. I talk to my breeders and do health checks often. My kids also show them so they are handled for shows. The retired show stock that become breeder I will pet and mess with some but not always. They mostly are retired and my kids enjoy the babies the most.
4. I used to only wanted rabbits that had 10 babies at a time. But I have some older does that are having 4-6 and wow so they grow very fast and the mothers recover much faster. So i can rebreed faster. I prefer 6 babies.
5. I give greens to breeders about 2-3 times a week and grow fodder. So babies are used it it by the time they wean. So at 8 weeks when they go to tractor they are fine. Be care and dont give a lot of green or it will cause diarrhea and bloat