What do I need to get started raising rabbits for meat?

[sheaviance1]

Hi guys, I am new to this forum. I have been wanting to raise meat rabbits for a long while. I have been doing a little research on my own. I do not want anything large scale. My husband and I hunt and fish for the majority of our meat. We both love rabbit meat but have never had a good place to go to hunt them. I am not ready to purchase my breeders yet as I haven't started getting my supplies. I want one pair of breeders to start with. What I have so far in mind for our rabbitry is 3 hutches, one for the male, one for the female (with nesting area) and one as a grow-out pen for the little ones. Do any of you have any books that you can recommend that will help me with the planning and raising of these guys? Things that i am unclear on are daily maintenance of your animals, bedding types, how often to let them breed, etc. I am a gardener, so the waste will be recycled and the bedding will be composted. I have recently began raising chickens and have been gardening for years. I am really enjoying becoming more and more self-sufficient. There are tons of things that I don't know or haven't figured out yet (like how to successfully store vegetables in a root cellar and have them "keep well" :/ but, I'm out to learn all that I can. My husband is fearful that I am going to become an all-out farmer (truthfully, so am I ). I am enjoying this way too much. I have already started eye-balling goats for milk..... Thank you for your help.

I would really like to have a good idea of what I am getting myself into. We were planning to do meat chickens next spring, but before we fell off into that, we started a laying flock in order to see if raising chickens was something that we would be able to handle/enjoy. Turns out we love it and are definitely going to do the meat chickens (but may not wait until spring). There are very few people in my area that raise chickens, and I haven't found anyone yet who raises rabbits, so the opportunity to learn from someone close-by isn't available to me at this point in time. I am sure I will be visiting this forum as often as I visit BYC.
Thanks again!!!
Norma

 

[Beekissed]

If you really want to optimize your manure and your cleanup chores, you can hang your meat rabbits over your chickens in the coop. Use deep litter and let the chickens pick up any dropped pellets, mix the droppings and urine into the bedding and also utilize the heat generated by the extra animals in the winter time.

I've done this with great success. The rabbit poop is a cool manure and will balance out the hot chicken manure in your composting efforts.

This method also allows for the most efficient use of space in your operation and makes for a one stop maintenance of your stock.

Things that i am unclear on are daily maintenance of your animals, bedding types, how often to let them breed, etc.

Daily maintenance usually means checking feeders, refilling water bottles/crocks, refilling hay feeders. If your cages are designed correctly, you won't have much waste in your cage floors. Rabbits usually defecate in the same area of the cage, so place any standing boards away from that area.

If you wish to save your walls from urine corrosion, you can place a tin barrier at a slant to funnel any urine either outward and into bedding or take it a step further and have it funneled into a bucket. The straight urine makes a wonderful tea for your garden...very potent so use it for nitrogen hungry areas.

I always used good quality hay for bedding and for their supplemental roughage. I fastened a length of chicken wire in one corner of the cage in a "U" shape and just stuff it full of hay each day. This prevents a lot of waste and keeps the hay from being trampled upon and soiled. The rabbits usually won't soil their bedding in the winter or kit boxes but check anyway...you don't want any dampness there.

Breeding rabbits more frequently will make them more productive....I know that sounds wrong but its true. The more you breed her, the larger litters you will have, the better chance of her getting pregnant, etc. If you go a long time between breedings to "rest" a doe, she just doesn't do as well.

A doe will usually heat right after having a litter and I took advantage of that time to breed back. Always put the doe in the buck's cage, never the other way around. If you keep their cages close, she will cycle into heat more readily by this "teasing".

If kits have matted eyes, use ACV in the water for a couple of days and it will clear right up. I use ACV in the water as a matter of course, to provide good probiotics, vitamins and to keep the waterers fresh.

 

[sheaviance1]

Thanks Beekissed, I recognize you from BYC .
ACV is apple cider vinegar, right? Do you use it the same as for chickens, teaspoon/gallon?

We were planning on housing them with the chickens for all of the reasons you listed, except for one. I didn't know that it would benefit my compost as well. I LOVE COMPOSTING!!! I hadn't thought much about putting them in the coop. I was planning on putting them in the run. I will have to rethink this. I have two coops and one doghouse/brooder coop conversion. I don't know if I have a good spot in any of them...

One of my biggest concerns about housing them with my chickens is the birthing process. Have you had any trouble with the chickens being attracted by the mess of birthing, or is it not much of a mess with rabbits? That's a rookie question, I know, but one I have to ask because it has been my biggest hangup as far as getting started goes. I have been reading too many cannibalistic posts on BYC. I have other areas that I could keep them in as we have a very large yard. I was considering keeping them closer to my composting area, as it is shaded pretty well. I live in Tennessee, and it gets pretty hot here in the summer. My chicken coops are in the shadiest portion of the yard, so I really would like to incorporate them there.

I am such an airhead sometimes...the daily maintenance I was asking you about (you didn't read my mind ) is once the kits are born, is there any special maintenance for them or does the doe take care of all of that?

If you wish to save your walls from urine corrosion, you can place a tin barrier at a slant to funnel any urine either outward and into bedding or take it a step further and have it funneled into a bucket. The straight urine makes a wonderful tea for your garden...very potent so use it for nitrogen hungry areas.

Soes this mean that they spray like a cat? Is it one specific gender that I will need to do this for? Sounds like exactly what I need for my corn! I tried a 3-sisters garden this year to get better corn, and it worked really well! The corn was exceptional, but barely any beans (glad i planted some in the regular garden) and the squash was incredibly happy

Thank you for your willingness to "take me under your wing" and give me an education. I truly appreciate it.
Norma

 

[Beekissed]

Thanks Beekissed, I recognize you from BYC .
ACV is apple cider vinegar, right? Do you use it the same as for chickens, teaspoon/gallon?

We were planning on housing them with the chickens for all of the reasons you listed, except for one. I didn't know that it would benefit my compost as well. I LOVE COMPOSTING!!! I hadn't thought much about putting them in the coop. I was planning on putting them in the run. I will have to rethink this. I have two coops and one doghouse/brooder coop conversion. I don't know if I have a good spot in any of them...

One of my biggest concerns about housing them with my chickens is the birthing process. Have you had any trouble with the chickens being attracted by the mess of birthing, or is it not much of a mess with rabbits? That's a rookie question, I know, but one I have to ask because it has been my biggest hangup as far as getting started goes. I have been reading too many cannibalistic posts on BYC. I have other areas that I could keep them in as we have a very large yard. I was considering keeping them closer to my composting area, as it is shaded pretty well. I live in Tennessee, and it gets pretty hot here in the summer. My chicken coops are in the shadiest portion of the yard, so I really would like to incorporate them there.

I am such an airhead sometimes...the daily maintenance I was asking you about (you didn't read my mind ) is once the kits are born, is there any special maintenance for them or does the doe take care of all of that?

If you wish to save your walls from urine corrosion, you can place a tin barrier at a slant to funnel any urine either outward and into bedding or take it a step further and have it funneled into a bucket. The straight urine makes a wonderful tea for your garden...very potent so use it for nitrogen hungry areas.

Soes this mean that they spray like a cat? Is it one specific gender that I will need to do this for? Sounds like exactly what I need for my corn! I tried a 3-sisters garden this year to get better corn, and it worked really well! The corn was exceptional, but barely any beans (glad i planted some in the regular garden) and the squash was incredibly happy

Thank you for your willingness to "take me under your wing" and give me an education. I truly appreciate it.
Norma

I've been out of the rabbit game for awhile, so there are probably others here who could give you a better idea of what you are looking for.

1) I've never seen any mess from birthing of my kits. My does just quietly had them at night and I found kits tucked neatly and cleanly into a fluff of down in their nest. Or...you could find kits born on the wire who are cold and long dead. This happens sometimes...its nothing you've done wrong and it may be a doe's first time or, if not, she just may not be a good mother...or she could have had a fright or something during the birth. Sometimes it just happens...if you provide a good nesting box that isn't too small for her, she should have them in the nest.

2) If the doe is doing what she should be doing, you should not have to do anything with your kits but enjoy them. I always reach in gently to the nest and do a head count...you really don't have to lift them out, just feel to see if they are warm and how many there are. They may develop matting in their eyes later on and I've already told you what you could do for that. I've never had any other health problems with my rabbits but that....no ear mites, worms, digestive problems, etc.

Here's a thought on your rabbits and their locations. We always kept ours in cages that were suspended from the rafters with chains, fastened with quick release clips.

In the winter they were stationed above the chickens and in the summer they were under a carport we had, hanging there also. Easier to keep cool in the summer. We also had an extension cord available in which to plug in fans....rabbits eat better and do better if they are cool. Rabbits hung from the rafters instead of in hutches with attachments to the ground are rabbits out of the reach of most predators and they also are at working height.

The urine you mentioned....they do spray at times, especially the buck. Urine is the single dirtiest chore/problem with rabbits, but it can be managed.

If you intend to have many rabbits, a good investment would be the watering system that involves a large bucket and black aquarium hosing. They sell it in a kit, with Ts and connections, and nipples for each cage. We had one and it was lovely except in the winter when the nipples would freeze up. The rest of the system was wrapped in insulation but those nipples tended to freeze.

A good idea in the summer is to use pop bottles for your nipple waterers and you can interchange them, placing one set in the freezer and the other in the cages....and keep this going. Nice cold water means a lot to cool down the rabbit's core temps. You can also freeze 2 ltr. bottles and place them in the cages for the rabbits to lie against.

You are quite welcome! Rabbits are the most quiet, easy to care for, and have the most meat yields of any small livestock....they are a great choice for a small homestead or backyard meat enterprise. They hardly ever have health problems if you keep a clean operation and keep them hydrated. Most health problems can be linked to overcrowding, dirty cages, not enough fresh water, too hot, no fresh air. If you can eliminate these factors, you shouldn't have any problems with your rabbits.

Good luck and keep us posted? Nice pics make for a fine story!

 

[Citylife]

My set up for rabbits is also a hanging cage system where the chickens can be up under them going through the poop and tilling it. They also get to eat lots of bugs and love the protection my set up offers them. I planned it for both chickens and rabbits and had to think of keeping them cool in the summer.

Then about 3-4 months after I got this all put up... we added onto the currant one so now I will have a total of 9 cages instead of 4.

The chickens are really loving the add on and the privacy. I am going to also love it once the snow flies as there should not be much snow in the run area.

Also, buy "Storey's Guide to raising rabbits"

the lady with 4/ dogs, 4 city chickens, 5 meat rabbits, their kits and a lizzard.

 

[Beekissed]

Great looking setup, city life!!! Clean, functional and plenty of air circulation. Great looking rabbits also!

I'll tell you another step I did with my caging system to make it more versatile. Instead of making one large cage for finishing out, I just placed two standard cages side by side and cut flaps in the wire to make interconnecting doors. This way you can have a large cage that has the support of the smaller construction and you can close the temp doors in between to make the cage two once again, if needed.

Since we were raising 4-H bunnies, the large cage worked when the bunnies were smaller and worked great when we chose our entrants and separated each market pen into cages. Also works great if you are a little late in selling or butchering your large pen of rabbits and you don't want them breeding indiscriminantly.

 

[sheaviance1]

Hi City, That looks great. I definitely think I will do mine like that. I was thinking traditional hutches, but your setup looks so much cleaner and easier to maintain. Thank you so much for posting the pictures!!!!

 

[Citylife]

Glad you like it. It is most definately easy to care for that is for sure. I am not quite sure how I am going to do the water system for winter yet, as we get cold here.
I love the set up and am very happy I chose what I did. It's great being able to have the chickens come and go under them as they sure help keep it churned up.
I also use vanilla scented tree shaped, car deoterizers to help keep the fly population down........ it works amazingly! Learned about it on BYC and love them. For some reason the flies do not like vanilla. Yeah!!!! In my 10' original shed I have 3 and so far that is all I need. There are 4 adults in the area and 5) seven week old kits.


the lady w/4 dogs, 4 city chickens, 5 meat rabbits, their kits and a lizard
oh, and we are fostering a standard poodle

 

[sheaviance1]

I just thought I'd jump back on here real quick to tell you that I just got my rabbits today. I have been getting ready for this for a couple of months now, and just got the uprights set for the rabbit barn when I finally found someone in my area with available rabbits for sale. So, they are temporarily housed in the garage. I plan to have the little rabbit barn built next weekend. I am designing mine after the pictures that city life posted. I am planning on removable sides for winter months and a worm bed underneath to help manage and improve the droppings for use on the garden. I am planning to keep my operation small. At the most, I plan to have two does and one buck. I have my first doe and buck now. I decided on Californian rabbits. There is a breeder in the area who also sells New Zealand's. I plan to add a New Zealand Doe in May. There is a ton of information on this site and I thank you for your help and advice. I have been reading and lurking on the threads for months now. There are so many people who have asked question and had them answered by others on this forum that I really haven't needed to ask too many up front. I'm sure that will change now that I actually have them.

 

[TigerLilly]

You will be very happy with the Californians, I think. They are great for meat rabbits. I'm hoping to get back into breeding them or New Zealands sometime soon.