weight at 4 weeks...

[P.O. in MO]

Not only amazing but cost effective too. You definitely have to keep us posted on how this turns out. Even if it was 5 lbs. at 8 weeks would still be good. Yesterday I butchered a litter of 4(her first) and I don't check live wt. either but the whole litter dressed out weighed 13 lbs. 6 oz. which averages out to 3 lbs. 5 1/2 ozs. each. They were a day under 11 weeks. I have a litter of 10 that will be 10 weeks on 7/2 and weighed one today at 3 lbs. 7 ozs. They are going to have to hurry to make 5 lbs. at 10 weeks. I am keeping track of feed on this batch and will post how it turns out when it's over.

Will be watching the news to see if they raid the Crazy Rabbit Lady. I wouldn't worry too much, usually people only complain about noise or smell and you said you rinse pans everyday so you should be ok. Sounds like you will have a bunch in the freezer soon. PO

 

[Citylife]

CityLife, how many rabbits do you have? I have my 4 does and 1 buck, BUT the babies are really beginning to grow and to be honest, I'm getting a little nervous. I have 17 babies that are out of their nests, and they are getting nice size, along with 19 in the nest boxes that will be coming out within the week. I know that is what I wanted, but now that I'm here I have developed this fear that the city is going to find out and y'all will see my face posted on the 6 o'clock news as the crazy rabbit lady, and the city dragging my dinners away...

You'll have to let us know how the new buck does! 5 lbs at 5 weeks would be amazing!

VickiB,
I have a Sr. CA buck who throws kits with a ton of meat, a 1/2 ca 1/2 nzw Sr. Doe who is his partner. They are great together. (I was switching breeds and ended up with a tad bit of a mix.) she has had 4 litters of 8 and has raised 4 litters of 8. She is a great mom and gets visually upset at weaning time. 5 kits left from one litter and she is also due again in 2 days. I will butcher who is not sold next week.

1 Pure NZW Sr. buck and 2 Sr. does. ( 10-12 Kits per litters) 17 kits right now. they have 16 kits right now and are rebred.

1 Sr. American Blue buck and two Sr. American Blue does. 10 kits from one doe. the other Sr. Doe is on a weight loss program before she breeds.
2 Jr. American Blue bucks and two Jr. American Blue does (not old enough to breed yet)

I would not worry about the city, as rabbits are quite. Neighbors are the ones I pay the most attention to. I give my neighbors fresh eggs. They know some chickens are for meat and some are for layers. They do not like the idea that I raise meat rabbits and process them. But, I keep a good relationship with them and show them respect. In turn, they show me the same. Keep a good relationship with your neighbors is my best advise for NO trouble.

MY NZW's and NZW/CA crosses are weaned at 6 weeks of age and put into a grow out cage. When they are 8-12 weeks of age and I am home I process them. I am the only one in my household who butchers, so it varies.
Off to bed now.
goodnight all............

 

[shan777]

You're not getting any sympathy from me, P.O.! My rabbits are sitting on my back porch. They have plenty of ventilation, but they do start to stinking soon, and attracting flies. I wash down my pans daily, or it would be unbearable. The one mystery I have to solve is: Why is it that rabbit poo can smell so bad while in a tray under the rabbit, but go throw it in your shade garden and the smell instantly dissipates? I have 3 months of rabbit poo in my garden and if you walk by it you would never know. 1 day of rabbit poo in a drop pan, and you can't sit on the back porch!

Hi there, I too had the same question.... then Joel Salatin from Polyface farm ( youtube him, amazing) solved this one for me.
The problem is manure and urine are extremely high in nitrogen content, therefore the smell. What you are needing is a form of carbon to soak the nitrogen up, mixed with oxygen, and you get lovely smells instead of yuck ones... another name for this is composting, which I'm sure you'd know. Some form of composting is going on when you put the poo on your garden and therefore not smelling.
The principles of composting are the C:N ratio and getting this right. Obvious forms of carbon would be straw, sawdust, but basically any organic matter that is 'brown'. 30:1 C:N ratio is ideal. So to solve your smell troubles -add a hec of a lot of carbon, and you'll have lovely smelling, earthy soil as the it breaks down. I had same troubles as you, then found a free source of sawdust ( extremely high in carbon). My smells went almost instantly.
Hope this helps

 

[Citylife]

I recently purchased a Texas A&M NZ which they have been working on for around 20 years. The Tamuk is a heat tolerant rabbit, that has large litters and supposedly will give you 5 lb kits at 8 weeks. I have crossed my CA mix with a Tamuk to test this out. I am looking forward to seeing if that is the case. As I wouldn't mind at all butchering at 8 weeks. I pretty much plan on keeping 2 does from that breeding. The buck I bought is not quite old enough to breed, but will be soon.

 

[VickieB]

You'll have to tell me how it turns out. I finally dispatched my first two litters at 11 weeks and 5 days. I think I had one or two hit the 5 pound mark, the others were closer to 4 and 4 1/2 pounds. I would love to be able to get them to that 5 pound mark sooner. They went through lots of feed and I had lots to clean after too. I've been tempted to cull the litters down to 5 or 6 each, and double the does. I would rather an extra doe to feed than 20 kits to feed from 8 to 12 weeks.

 

[Beachbunny]

I've been following this thread about weights at butchering, live weight , etc....just wondering what kind of scales do y'all use? I have a kitchen scale that I weight meats with when packaging but would like to get a scale to weigh the buns while they're alive to get an idea of weights at different ages.

 

[VickieB]

I put a light weight basket on my kitchen scale, zero it out, then weigh my buns. It's worked well for me.

 

[Citylife]

I am not all that picky about what they weigh when I butcher them, but I realize a lot of people do care. I don't mind a 1 1/2 lb fryer every now and then. I also don't mind a 3 1/2 lb dressed rabbit at 8-12 weeks. I don't often weight them live, when I do I am darn close to guessing it right thank goodness. I rarely butcher over 5 lb. live weight.
I am looking forward to seeing the litter my CA/NZ mix has with this other Tamuk. My doe is a great mother and Tamuk's are supposed to be nice rabbits (unlike some NZ lines) and the 5 lbs by 8 weeks does intrigue me a bit. I don't mind at all NOT feeding them to 11 or 12 weeks. So, the CA/NZ will give me a good idea on the line of NZ. By the time the buck I bought is old enough to breed, I will have two pure NZ does to breed to him.
He may be a bit young at that time but we will see if he gives it the ole college try.

 

[secuono]

Mine have been fairly small and taking their sweet time to get anywhere. So I've been culling all my old stock and getting new, far better animals. Also switched to a better feed in hopes they reach good weights on time. I know some people have rabbits reach 8# around 3mo of age! But if I can get about 6# in 10wks, I'll be happy.

 

[VickieB]

Hi there, I too had the same question.... then Joel Salatin from Polyface farm ( youtube him, amazing) solved this one for me.
The problem is manure and urine are extremely high in nitrogen content, therefore the smell. What you are needing is a form of carbon to soak the nitrogen up, mixed with oxygen, and you get lovely smells instead of yuck ones... another name for this is composting, which I'm sure you'd know. Some form of composting is going on when you put the poo on your garden and therefore not smelling.
The principles of composting are the C:N ratio and getting this right. Obvious forms of carbon would be straw, sawdust, but basically any organic matter that is 'brown'. 30:1 C:N ratio is ideal. So to solve your smell troubles -add a hec of a lot of carbon, and you'll have lovely smelling, earthy soil as the it breaks down. I had same troubles as you, then found a free source of sawdust ( extremely high in carbon). My smells went almost instantly.
Hope this helps

Shan777, I have just started using hay under the rabbits. I was using a small amount, (just enough to cover the bottom of the pan) because I was under the impression that it was supposed to be 1:1, (I know, I should have googled it). But, also, the cost of the hay bale is $16. I bought alfalfa. Should I be using another type of hay. This is really going to get expensive because I will be using up the hay in just about 3 cleanings. I'm not going to be able to keep that up.

How long does it take for your compost to finish? I bought one 115 gallon compost bin, and it was filled within the month. (And that was when I was putting hay under the quail only...) So I went and bought 2 more. Sometimes I get to feeling I've overdone it on the bunnies.