My Two Dutchs just had babies, Now what?

[Joe.G]

I have Two Show Quality Steel Dutch's, The the first litter didn't make it, They were dead when I woke up in the morning, The second Batch one Died and I have 5 That have been alive for over a week and are looking real nice, I moved the dad to a different cage and left the mom with them, I have two Steel, two black and white and one all white.

I had this batch because I have a few friends that liked mine and had asked for some, 2 of the children in my Home are in 4 H and are doing rabbit stuff soon.

So Now that they are alive and well do you guys have any tips or pointers? What do you guys do with your babies? do you sell them? if so how? At what age can I send them to there new homes? I am going to give these ones away, but how much can I get for them if I were to sell them ?

I don't plan to make this a habit and am not going to become a bunny breeder I have enough stuff to do already and if I was going to do it I would want to do it a 100 % correct and I know in the dog world it takes a lot of time and money to do it right, I am unsure if the bunny world is the same or not.

[lonelyfarmgirl]

Leave them alone until they are 5 or 6 weeks old. Then they are ready to wean. At that point, examine the body markings to determine which ones are showable and which ones are not. The all white is a cull. The others, it depends on how the markings are.

If you want to give them to 4H kids, only give away the showable ones. The ones that arent, raise them for a few months, then eat them. Adding, if you wanted to sell them, pet price is 10-15$. If they are show quality, being that you are not a known shower and breeder, price would be around 35$ each. Of course, this varies by area and other such things.

[Joe.G]

Normal Pet Bunnies around here go for about $25.00, I figured if I have some to sell That is what I would ask. I will give them to 4 H Kid's for free if they want them, I am not looking to make money. I do have a couple people that want this batch and that is the reason I had it, I did have someone ask for one to use as a Meat rabbit ( They are not the biggest rabbit ) So the white one will go to him.

[AprilW]

They can go to new homes at 8 weeks old. The all white is definitely a cull and shouldn't be bred or given to anyone who may want to show them. If $25 is what people are getting for pet rabbits, you could start there. I raise Dutch rabbits also and I know most people in my area of Georgia want even smaller rabbits for pets and Dutch are "too big". Therefore the pet market here will not take my rabbits, I cull for meat.

[Joe.G]

Dutchs aren't very big rabbits, The white one will go to a guy who wants a meat Rabbit, The others are looking real nice color wise, Have to see how they turn out, The parents are both great examples of the breed.

[Falls-Acre]

Dutch tend to have a high proportion of culls because of the markings. If you have a market for your rabbits, that's great, but watch out. It always seems like everyone wants a rabbit when you have nothing to send them, and when you have them available all those homes "just waiting for one" seem to disappear. Also, I hope you removed the buck before the babies were born, otherwise you may as well prepare yourself for another litter about 4 weeks after the birth of this one. They can and will backbreed the doe. This is why most breeders only put rabbits together when they want them to breed, observe the deed done, separate the pair, then mark the calendar.

[lonelyfarmgirl]

With dutch its not so much how nice the color is. Its all about the markings and the body type. Dont give a rabbit with bad markings to any 4Her, because they wont be able to show it.

[Joe.G]

My GF used to show rabbits, I know about markings and color and all of that, these look pretty good so far, The Buck is out he can see them though a screen but no contact.