New rabbit owners here

[melco]

Hi, my name is melco and I have never posted in the rabbit forum before since we have never had rabbits BUT, Ok, I need help. We did something I really hate doing. We got rabbits before we did learning or had shelter. :0 I do NOT like doing things like this. I am a research and mull it over kind of gal. Well, in our dealings with a very nice man on a wood cook stove, (yea hooo!) he offered us a breeding trio. My dh and I have been thinking about it but were not prepared in the least. Regardless, we brought them home. He gave us a 2 year old Californian buck and two 7 week old NZ giant does. We brought them home saturday night and spent all day yesterday building a temperary secure area to put thier cages in. Right now they are not even in a hutch, but in some wire cages we had, which I actually think may be for rabbits. We have them in the backside of our leanto which had a solid back wall and a roof, we have put fencing all around it to keep out predetors. We have the cages up off the ground and they have water and feed. We will be working on what we want our actual set up to be and building it over the next couple of weeks.
Okay so I have ordered Storeys Guide to Raising Rabbits and will read thru it as soon as it gets here but was wondering if you guys had any wisdom to share.
We do alreaady have a dilema, the buck has a ball of dried poop on his tail area. It does not seem to be blocking his ability to go to the bathroom. We tried yesterday to remove it and did get some of it but we still have some to go. He is sooo good he let us hold him and work on him for some time but started to get a little nervous and I didnt want to upset hom to much so we decided to give him a break and try again today. I dont know if this is a normal thing to happen, I honestly am not sure if he had this when we got him or if it is something we did. I hope not. The first night they were in thier cages (inside) on the ground, could this have caused it to happen. I feel so bad for him and want to get it off today but dont want to hurt him. So please if you have any ideas how this could have happened let me know so it wont happen again. Or if this is something that can happen tell me so I dont guilt myself to death over it.
So you will all know, we are not new to animals, just rabbits. We have chckens, dogs, cats, and have ahd horses. Please give me your thoughts and any advice. Thanks.

[MaggieJ]

First thing, stop worrying and guilting yourself. You're not doing so badly, everything is under control and the poopy butt problem with your buck is likely just a stress reaction to the move. A butt bath for him is in order. Bring him inside, put about three inches of just warm (body heat) water in a bucket and put him in butt first. He will struggle until his feet hit bottom and then should relax. Once he has soaked a bit, the poop should be loose enough to wash away. Dry him off and keep him inside until he is very thoroughly dry and warm.

Can you get some grass hay? Feeding a good handful daily is very good for the bunny GI tract and will help prevent this problem. Did the rabbits come with a supply of the food they are accustomed to? Sudden changes can also cause poopy butt.

Your young does will not be ready to breed for quite some time yet. They should be about 6 months old minimum and have attained most of their adult weight. I'm not sure what he means by a New Zealand Giant. To my knowledge there is no such breed. Could be a cross between NZ and Flemish Giant, in which case they will be big rabbits but may be slower to mature. You might ask the breeder about this if you can.

Good luck with your rabbits! I'm sure you will do just fine!

[melco]

HI Maggie
Thanks for your kind response and words of encouragement. I can easily guilt myself and I do hate to see the animals uncomfortable or out of sorts. Like a ball of poop on a rabbits butt. I think it actually bothers me more than it does him. HAHA We will give him a butt bath.
We do have some very nice hay in there, I actually made my ds take it out thinking it was causing the poop to accumilate and not fall thru. My dh says no way was that causing it and so after we read your response they now have the hay/bedding back. I am a nervous momma. I know my does arent breeding age yet, thankfully. I want to get them all set up before I am thinking of babies. The area we are building will include the buck, not inthe same cage but in the same 10X10 area. Will this cause problems down the road when the does are preggo or new mommies? SHould we build a another location just for the buck, again not actual hutch but large holding area.
Oh the quesions I have. Patience. LOL This is why I dont usually do this in this order. Oh well, we are rabbit owners now. I am excited!
Oh, and I got the name confused. They are just NZ, and the buck is a Californian. Thanks.

[fffarmergirl]

My buck cages are near my doe cages. We make sure there's 1/2 inch or so between buck & doe cages so they can't mate through the wire.

[MaggieJ]

It is certainly okay to have the buck in the same area. Good idea to have a bit of space... I've heard some weird stories over the years of what motivated rabbits can achieve through acrobatics!

You should have no problems if you just take things at a slow steady pace. Get the rabbitry in order, keep an eye on the rabbits for problems (likely won't be any) and just enjoy the process. You'll have questions along the way and we will field them for you.

[melco]

Thanks for your help. Umm, who would have thought they could mate through the cages. We will make sure there is PLENTY of room between them from here on out. HAHA
I am really excited, definately will be getting things in order before we let them breed. My children were a bit standoffish and I said, "What is wrong, dont you want to hold them?" My son said,"can we get attached to these?" I told him these three were safe to get attached to. They are the breeding stock, the babies are the ones you want to be careful about getting attached to. Farm life can be hard. These are our first animals (other than the occasional rooster) to be had for meat purposes. Something new for us. I am sure I will be back for help and guidance. I just love HT.

[MaggieJ]

It's okay to get a bit attached to the breeders... but they won't be around forever. Eventually they will have to go in order to make room for younger breeders... unless you intend to house a lot of unproductive geriatric rabbits.

[melco]

Thanks again for the help. I guess we may end up with some unproductive breeders on occasion, we have some unproductive hens so why not....hahha

[hotzcatz]

If they are all white rabbits, then just name one or two and keep the same name no matter which white rabbit is in the cage. They all look alike after awhile.

[smilesnsunshine]

Besides this awesome forum, I found "Storey's Guide to Raising Rabbits" very helpful, especially when I was beginning with rabbits.

http://www.amazon.com/Storeys-Guide-...9191758&sr=1-1

[Backfourty,MI.]

Welcome to the Rabbit forum, lots of great folks & info to be found here! Great rabbit recipe's in the rabbit section too, one of my favorites is the rabbit broccoli.

[melco]

Thanks everyone for all the kindness. This has been a very busy week as we have added alot to our homestead and trying to get the gardens prepped for planting. One of the things we have done is added our rabbit barn. We enclosed a section off our main barn off the back which is actually a leanto. We enclosed it with dog fencing to hopefully predator proof it. That is where our rabbits are. It has a solid back and roof with three sides. We then covered the two opposing sides with tarps to keep winds out. There is still plenty of ventilation. We go their hutches and have them all set. I think. HAHAH
hotzcatz, funny thing you saying naming them the same if they are all white. Which our does are completely white NZ. My son named the buck "Bugs", original isn't it. The does he has named, "Sally and Sally" that way there is no confusing them. LOL.
We are enjoying them, and thank the Lord for the blessing. Thanks to you guys as well.
melco

[Pat Lamar]

Actually, I found that after awhile, you CAN tell them apart. Slight variations in head shapes, body shapes, ears, and even personality.

Pat Lamar