Please Help, beginner meat rabbit breeder Here!

[Duckfarmerpa1]

Hey, I don’t want to lead you astray by thinking you are sittin* on a goldmine. We bought our a breeder. But before, I did a lot of research to see what was selling and for how much in my area, to see if it was worth it. The deal we made was not one flat rate, unfortunately...the bunnies were sold by eac breed, then supplies, etc...We posted pictures of the bunnies on the FB thread before we even owned them to see if there was interest...there was a lot! Now, everyone in this deal knew we were not keeping all of these rabbits...he was selling , for one, his lines were Going to get cross bred If he went further..and he was just done...we were going to have wayyy too many rabbits once the deal was done. So, we figured out how much each breed was costing us...the Lops were around 21.50 per bunny..adult...I kept 4...sold 4...the least I got was $40...the most I got was $55. None were pedigree...but they were nice condition, good color, etc. You might want to consider keeping them, breeding then once, then selling the kits...that will bring you a bigger profit in the long run, but nothing in your belly. Of all the breeds, I have found I love the lops the best...they are sweet, friendly, my bucks are mischievous....but they move slow, so it’s not an issue!. What ever you decide..enjoy your bunnies while you have them...animals are a great part of life!

 

[Xerocles]

Welcome to BYH (and the world of rabbits). Like you, I'm a beginner, less than half a step ahead. I only got my first rabbits in December. So far I think I've made most of the mistakes that can be made with rabbits. I hope so, anyway, cause I sure am getting tired of this learning curve!
For starters, a request? List (as general as you want to be) on your home page what part of the country or world you live in. Pertinent info for raising rabbits or helpful advice could vary greatly from upstate NY to the Mojave desert. Not to even mention Timbuktu. Btw, it's there, under my avatar, but I'm from the piedmont region of SC.
The folk here on BYH are great. They're patient, understanding, and helpful. (They used ALL those traits with me...it was necessary!) They WILL give you sound advice on anything you ask. There are some really knowledgable people here. And if you ask a question and should get conflicting advice, well, its probably ALL right. Kinda Like raising children. Very few hard and fast rules. Take it all in, and use that which sounds best for you and your situation. It ain't rocket science.
Best thing I've done so far is buy a book. I have no idea which is best. I bought "Story's Guide to Raising Rabbits". 25 bucks@ Tractor Supply. First, it's there any time you have a question (like people on BYH aren't generally available if, like me, you wake up at 3am with a burning question). Second, you may find good information that you didn't even think to ASK about (like rabbits ovulate in response to mating, and it takes 8-10 hours for the eggs to reach the sperm....so its a good idea to re-breed 8-10 hours after the initial breeding). REALLY?? Nobody ever told me THAT!
Another reference source I would give is a you-tube channel called "Living Traditions Homestead". I'm a big fan of theirs in general, but specifically they have an archived section of videos (about 13 I think) from selecting stock to preparing rabbit supper. They are often at odds with things I learned in the book, and even some I've learned here on BYH. But each thing they do is thought out, planned, and most importantly EXPLAINED. And presented in an enjoyable way. Oops. Not sure I'm allowed to plug a youtube channel on this site...so I may have just gotten myself in trouble. But help is help.
While I'm "plugging", you're invited to view my rabbit thread here on BYH. (Xerocles Rabbit Thread). You may glean some good info from my mistakes and the advice I've been given.
I know this is long, but one last thing. About your breed. This is only an observation I have made, and I could be wrong. While there are a lot of legitimate breeds out there, many people lump them into "show", "breed fanciers", "pets", and "meat rabbits". The First will have pedigrees and registration (those aren't the same thing), the second may have one or both, the third may have one, both, or none. The last is a catch-all, anything else category. (i.e. likely mutts). I'll likely get blasted for this observation, because there are always exceptions. But this is what I've seen in "the real world". Yours look like Lops, as has already been reported. But without knowing parentage....they could be "Heinz 57". Best philosophy, just call them "starter rabbits". Go through some breedings, some litters, some mistakes and some LEARNING. Then Go after what you really want.
BEST OF LUCK TO YOU and glad you're here. Please screw up a little at least so I won't be the only one?

 

[Jkesrnicla]

Welcome to BYH (and the world of rabbits). Like you, I'm a beginner, less than half a step ahead. I only got my first rabbits in December. So far I think I've made most of the mistakes that can be made with rabbits. I hope so, anyway, cause I sure am getting tired of this learning curve!
For starters, a request? List (as general as you want to be) on your home page what part of the country or world you live in. Pertinent info for raising rabbits or helpful advice could vary greatly from upstate NY to the Mojave desert. Not to even mention Timbuktu. Btw, it's there, under my avatar, but I'm from the piedmont region of SC.
The folk here on BYH are great. They're patient, understanding, and helpful. (They used ALL those traits with me...it was necessary!) They WILL give you sound advice on anything you ask. There are some really knowledgable people here. And if you ask a question and should get conflicting advice, well, its probably ALL right. Kinda Like raising children. Very few hard and fast rules. Take it all in, and use that which sounds best for you and your situation. It ain't rocket science.
Best thing I've done so far is buy a book. I have no idea which is best. I bought "Story's Guide to Raising Rabbits". 25 bucks@ Tractor Supply. First, it's there any time you have a question (like people on BYH aren't generally available if, like me, you wake up at 3am with a burning question). Second, you may find good information that you didn't even think to ASK about (like rabbits ovulate in response to mating, and it takes 8-10 hours for the eggs to reach the sperm....so its a good idea to re-breed 8-10 hours after the initial breeding). REALLY?? Nobody ever told me THAT!
Another reference source I would give is a you-tube channel called "Living Traditions Homestead". I'm a big fan of theirs in general, but specifically they have an archived section of videos (about 13 I think) from selecting stock to preparing rabbit supper. They are often at odds with things I learned in the book, and even some I've learned here on BYH. But each thing they do is thought out, planned, and most importantly EXPLAINED. And presented in an enjoyable way. Oops. Not sure I'm allowed to plug a youtube channel on this site...so I may have just gotten myself in trouble. But help is help.
While I'm "plugging", you're invited to view my rabbit thread here on BYH. (Xerocles Rabbit Thread). You may glean some good info from my mistakes and the advice I've been given.
I know this is long, but one last thing. About your breed. This is only an observation I have made, and I could be wrong. While there are a lot of legitimate breeds out there, many people lump them into "show", "breed fanciers", "pets", and "meat rabbits". The First will have pedigrees and registration (those aren't the same thing), the second may have one or both, the third may have one, both, or none. The last is a catch-all, anything else category. (i.e. likely mutts). I'll likely get blasted for this observation, because there are always exceptions. But this is what I've seen in "the real world". Yours look like Lops, as has already been reported. But without knowing parentage....they could be "Heinz 57". Best philosophy, just call them "starter rabbits". Go through some breedings, some litters, some mistakes and some LEARNING. Then Go after what you really want.
BEST OF LUCK TO YOU and glad you're here. Please screw up a little at least so I won't be the only one?

Ha! Thanks a lot for the comments, I’ll give your page a look! I’m from upstate NY and can definitely confirm that it’s different than the desert! I’ve watched all of said YouTube channels videos and they are really very informative, Internet is definitely a great tool!

 

[Xerocles]

S

Ha! Thanks a lot for the comments, I’ll give your page a look! I’m from upstate NY and can definitely confirm that it’s different than the desert! I’ve watched all of said YouTube channels videos and they are really very informative, Internet is definitely a great tool!

See? Without knowing you were from upstate NY, I might be telling you about frozen water bottles in the summer to keep your buck from going sterile.
Instead, I will tell you about the litter I lost this week at 55 degrees because their lousy Mama didn't pull fur and hypothermia got them.

 

[Duckfarmerpa1]

@Xerocles ...man you sypure learned fast!! I put water bottles in all of my hutches but it has nothing to do with bein* fertile..because I didn’t know about that!! Great job! as you point out, since she might not hc100% sure they are Lops,I’d try breeding once, just to see what you get?

 

[Silly_me]

i agree, they look like Holland Lop... but just a caution: as you bought them at auction you have no history or anything so chances are they might be related and I don’t recommend breeding them together. I would sell the buck and get a new one to breed your girls, that’s the only way to make sure not related.

 

[Niele da Kine]

There's a pedigree program called 'Kintracks' which is a great resource. It's less than $20 Australian which makes it around $15 US. And, once you have the program, it's got unlimited upgrades. Also, if you're running an 'older' operating system (anything before Win10, I think) the program is free. It's also a free download for the first several hundred animals in the database so it's worth trying out. IMHO, the difference between a professional breeder and a backyard breeder is record keeping.

https://kintraks.com/ I'm not associated with the Kintracks folks except that I've been using their program for over a decade and it's made a huge difference to our herd here.

So, get the program, put in your animals and start a pedigree. Rabbits don't have to be registered to have a pedigree but they do have to have a pedigree to be registered. So start keeping records and within a year, you should be able to have a full three generation pedigree on them. Rabbits are shown according to what breed they look like, so inspect your rabbits and check to see if they closely resemble a specific breed. I'd guess yours are some sort of lop, check Holland Lops for a starter.

If you're breeding for money, there seems to be a lot more money in the pet market than in the meat rabbit market, although meat rabbits have larger litters so maybe it all evens out eventually? Factor in feeds and such, but it's not something I'm interested in enough to do the math. Also, depending on your market, YMMV. A friend of mine raises Holland Lops and Netherland dwarfs and sells them for $75 to $150 each. She handles them from birth so they're gentle and docile and sells them as pets. She's got a waiting list for them. I'll have to ask her if she has pedigrees on them.

We have wool rabbits here and there's always folks asking for pet rabbits but I don't like selling them as pets since the coat maintenance is a bit much for a kid to do.