[didaho]

I am really interested in raising meat bunnies.
If I got one male and a female, would that give me enough to grow meat for myself (am alone) and maybe share with others?
Would love input on how many to a litter, how many litters a year, etc.
Am not squeamish to butchering as I butcher my own hens.
I am planning next for next year and will be outside on back porch so as they will have protection from the elements.
Can anyone tell me how to get started? I will build my own hutch so I need to build big enough for their family. Is a 2.5'w x 6'L and 2.5' H big enough?
Where is the best place to buy and what breed is best?

Any help would sure be appreciated.
Thank you in advanced

Debbie

 

[trinityoaks]

I am really interested in raising meat bunnies.
If I got one male and a female, would that give me enough to grow meat for myself (am alone) and maybe share with others?

I'm still a beginner myself, but since you haven't gotten any replies yet, I'll jump in. The usual recommendation for a small family (or you and a few friends) is for one buck (male) and two does (females). Your breed-back schedule has a lot to do with how many bunnies you get in a year. If you breed them six weeks after each kindling (birth), you should get the amount of meat you want. They should each have their own cage, with another cage or two for growing out the young to butchering size. 36"x36"x24" is a good size for the most common meat breeds, New Zealand and Californian.

 

[Beaniemom]

If you say wanted rabbit once per week, thats 52 fryers, so you'd need 6 litters of 8 out of that one doe to get just 48 fryers, which doesn't leave you any room for missed litters or dead litters, or small ones!

Not to mention, you'd have to have her on a pretty intense breed back schedule, and you'll burn her out pretty fast (Ask me how I know this! :O)

If you have the space, I'd get 5 does, 2 bucks. That way, you can breed the does in pairs, plus you'll have back up does and bucks for when Murphy pays a visit. I know, seems like a lot of bunnies, but trust me, lots of people start with a trio and then live to regret it when the does won't breed, or won't kindle live litters or just drop dead cuz ya looked at them funny!

You could also try to get older stock, like a pair or trio of older "ready to breed" does, buy them bred, and buy one buck, then save your replacement stock from those litters, then you're not starting out with a whole bunch of rabbit at once!

As to what breeds, well, do you want to do anything with the pelts? You could raise Rex then, or you could raise one of the rare breeds like Silver Fox or Champagnes or Chins... Or you can raise plain ole NZW, or even mutts (since all rabbits are made of meat!)

I'd do cages 24x36 at least, I made some 30x36, which are too big for me to reach the back without crawling in, plus, the poo pans are rather large, and can be awkward to empty without wearing it (yes, done that! Ick!)

As to where to buy, well, you can go to a breeder if you know one (or can find one) Craigslist is a good source on occasion, or hit one of the rabbit shows in your area and talk to some breeders.

 

[didaho]

Trinityoaks

Thank you so much for your reply.
So I need to have a few smaller cages for growing out, ok. I can probably partition it off into 3 equal cages.
Do you keep the male separate when not breeding then? I guess so or I would be over run with bunnies.

This is going to be my winter project, building the hutch.
How long is the gestation period(from mating to giving birth)? I ask this so as to plan for renewing the stock.

Gotcha on extra male and females, makes sense

Debbie

 

[didaho]

Thanks beaniemom

 

[trinityoaks]

Do you keep the male separate when not breeding then? I guess so or I would be over run with bunnies.

It's also to protect the bunnies from each other. Does, especially pregnant ones, are often territorial and have been known to maim or kill other adult bunnies in their cages. That is why, when you breed, you bring the doe to the buck's cage rather than vice versa.

How long is the gestation period(from mating to giving birth)?

Roughly 30 days (can be anywhere from 28-35 days).

 

[didaho]

WOW!!! That's not long at all.

Am glad you mentioned about the separating of mom and dad.

Boy, I have so much to learn. I want to get started in early March (have to build the hutches. Am right now gathering information, putting it into word doc. to read and study.

I am so excited about this.

Thanks again
Debbie

 

[MaggieJ]

Debbie, welcome to the forum! My hat's off to you :cowboy: for doing your research before starting. :goodjob:

I think 2-3 does and a buck is just about right for what you want. If you find you are not getting enough meat, it is easy to grow out a promising young doe or two to increase your herd. You also may want to add a second buck at some point. But start small. You'll enjoy them more that way.

Suppose you have two does, bred four times a year and producing a modest 6 fryers per litter. That would be 48 fryers. You can expect the fryers to dress out at about 2.5 pounds each. That would give you 120 pounds of table-ready, lean, delicious white meat a year. I guess ball-park figures would be that you should be able to get 50 pounds of meat per doe per year without any problem.

My best advice is to read, read, read. This forum is, IMO, the best resource available for people beginning in rabbits. There are many different ways of raising rabbits well and you will soon develop a sense of which members' management styles you are most comfortable with.

 

[cathleenc]

I vote for smaller is better. Get the best meat rabbit stock you can find and get 2 does and 1 buck. We average 7-8 surviving kits from each litter - at that rate we don't need many litters to arrive at 52 buns in the freezer. Our last go round with the 2 does is resulting in 15 rabbits for the family - translating into only needing 4 litters per doe to harvest more than we need for once a week rabbit.

Grow out is a huge concern if you ask me. 15 kits growing out really need 4 cages and would grow even faster with 5 cages. Plus a cage for each doe and one for the buck. All of sudden you're talking about 8 cages for only 3 adult rabbits plus offspring. I sure the heck don't want the space nor investment of double that in terms of cages, feeders & waterers, and space.

We breeding new zealand blacks and got our breeding stock from a professional meat breeder. Well worth the investment.

 

[didaho]

MaggieJ and cathleenc

Thanks so much for your advice.
Yes I want to keep it small because it is only me that needs the meat right now.

I do need to seek a breeder and the closest I found is in Oregon and Utah. I would love to take a trip to these two in the spring and see how things are done and maybe buy from them.
Been checking craig's list and there are a few hutches and bunnies on there but are listed pet bunnies.
Another question, I use to hunt for rabbit when younger, aren't all rabbits good to eat?
I thought you could eat them all. I know the wild ones are edible.

Thanks
Debbie

 

[ajharris]

MaggieJ and cathleenc

Thanks so much for your advice.
Yes I want to keep it small because it is only me that needs the meat right now.

I do need to seek a breeder and the closest I found is in Oregon and Utah. I would love to take a trip to these two in the spring and see how things are done and maybe buy from them.
Been checking craig's list and there are a few hutches and bunnies on there but are listed pet bunnies.
Another question, I use to hunt for rabbit when younger, aren't all rabbits good to eat?
I thought you could eat them all. I know the wild ones are edible.

Thanks
Debbie

You can eat all rabbits. But some are too small to mess with in my opinion. I dont' want to dress a 2 lb rabbit and just get a small amount of meat.

 

[MaggieJ]

Yes, they are all good to eat. The difference between "meat rabbits" and "pet rabbits" is indistinct and there can be a lot of overlap - many breeds are dual-purpose.

The well-known meat breeds like Zew Zealand White and Californians were developed for commerical rabbit production. They have, in general, a better body shape for meat, chunky, with heavy muscles particularly in the hind quarters where the best meat is. They tend to grow out faster and more efficicently too -- that is, to reach butchering size earlier and on less food. This matters particularly if you are running a large operation, where high overhead really gouges into profits.

Pet breeds vary in size and shape. They all have excellent meat too, just perhaps not as much of it (the mini breeds) or not as much compared to the amount of bone (some of the large breeds like Flemish Giants or Belgian Hares. I raise "yard sale mutts" and am pretty happy with them. The longer I have them, the more I can see their ancestors popping out. They definitely have some New Zealand blood in there, some French Angora, maybe even some Dutch. Doesn't matter to me and it keeps things interesting. A surprise in every nest box. I keep the best of the best for future breeding and the rest go into the freezer.

 

[cathleenc]

you can eat all rabbit - but imo the key to running a small operation is to use rabbits that produce large litters that grow quickly to harvesting size.

Meat rabbits are bred to do just this. Pet rabbits are going to have smaller litters that grow more slowly. You'd need more does, more litters, more space, more equipment.

I started with 'pet' rabbits and traded them out for expensive meat rabbits after getting litters of 2-3 kits. Knowing what my objectives are and sticking to them helped get us to a satisfying, instead of frustrating, place in rabbit breeding.

 

[cathleenc]

another thought, one nz meat rabbit feeds my family of 4 quite well - and we are big eaters. You could easily turn one rabbit into a few meals for yourself which could mean that you only need one doe and one buck.

Grow out cages should be fairly large - 30 x 36 will accomodate only 4 nz rabbits ready for harvesting at 10 weeks. Any older and it's too crowded. I leave all the young ones in together, don't bother sexing them nor separating, because it's my intention to process them before it really matters.

 

[cathleenc]

one more thought - Maggie and Beaniemom and so many others have way more years experience at this than I do. We're just finishing our first year with rabbits. So with me you have a vocal and enthusiastic rabbiter but not one with a lot of experience.

 

[MaggieJ]

LOL, Cathleen, you're doing fine. I don't see anything in your posts that I would disagree with... although I would like to point out that the results one gets from pets and mutts are variable. Some can be great, some not so good.

I'm glad you made the switch to purebred meat stock. They seem to be doing great for you and you sound much happier about them than you were with your starter rabbits.

I think results are more likely to be predictable with purebred stock, but they can be expensive and there is also something to be said for "starter rabbits" since we all make rookie errors. You can always eat them later if you decide to upgrade.

Availability is another issue. Some areas just do not have much to choose from while others seem to have every breed under the sun.

 

[moonkitten]

I'd also like to point out that when searching for breeding stock, you need to ask how the bloodline produces, not just go by breed name.

Depending on what the breeder was selecting for, New Zealand Blacks, or Rex, or Silver Fox or any large meat breed might turn out to be a better producer than the traditional New Zealand White or Californian.

I once purchased a half a dozen NZW does that never produced more than 5-6 kits per litter and refused to breed back until the previous litter was weaned at 6 weeks. And YES, they were from a show breeder. Not having known that there was variation WITHIN breeds, I assumed all NZW produced 10-12 kits per litter and would breed back at 10 days. Which is not true at all!

I have black New Zealand does who are begging to be bred by 5 months of age, produce 13-14 kits per litter and raise at least 9-10 kits to fryer size in 8 weeks. But most people refuse to buy them because they have read on the internet that WHITE New Zealands and Californians are the best.

Don't be misled by the label Ask about the results!

Added: Don't take this the wrong way, I'm not slagging show breeders - *I* breed for show quality. But if a rabbit isn't ALSO producing well, they don't stay in my barn!

 

[LFRJ]

Read through this post. Welcome Didaho!.

Another consideration, given no one has mentioned it yet - is food stuffs. We feed a combo of pellet and natural feed (grasses, dandilions, see the sticky on feeding naturally. We also hay out our own (to the degree that we can given we live in a rainforest). This is, I'm sure, partly why we have to wait much longer to butcher - 5 months I think until we reach the optimum weight. For just the two of us, time is not a concern. You can adopt a different feeding regime and improve growth rate I'm told. We tried it once, but reverted to our old program. Takes more human time to collect a salad every day, learn the native plants, and harvest and prepare our own hay for winter.

Overwhelmed yet? Dont' be. We're newbies too, but so glad we made the leap. We have only a single NZ pair off Craig's list, but were very lucky to get a good mum and good size dad. One of the best $12 investments we've ever made!

 

[5050]

http://www.aphis.usda.gov/animal_welfare/downloads/manuals/eig/11.4_eig.pdf
Pg 8. has cage size by weight for rabbits
I do not understand the table they have. I just read from another source that this translates into a 30" x 36" x 18" cage for medium breeds such as the NZ and California's.

 

[didaho]

Hi All

Been busy getting all my research together.

Went to D&B supplies and talked to them about rabbits. They will be getting some in, in the spring. They carry everything there, chicks, rabbits, turkey etc.

Check craig's list everyday. So far they have mini's but do have cages and hutches.

Not overwhelmed just taking my time doing research.

It's great to be able to come here and ask for help. I really do appreciate you all.

Debbie