Rabbits

ambergirl · #1 (**permalink**) 05-19-2008, 04:09 PM

Does anyone on here know anything about rabbit farming?

bower power · #2 (**permalink**) 05-19-2008, 04:21 PM

I used to raise them what do you want to know ?

ssspert · #3 (**permalink**) 05-19-2008, 05:42 PM

I did back in the mid 80's.
Hope you have plenty of cages.
The co-op sells purina rabbit feed, pretty much the best you can feed a stinking rabbit.
Figure their sex early, and keep them seperate.
Keep several females, and find a friend that has rabbits, and trade off males.
You interested in selling them live or dressed?

My kids always picked out their favorite babies, and cried when they left.
I got out of it when the coyotes wouldn't leave them alone.
I killed several coyotes, but they were so many I found rabbits dead virtually unharmed in cages. They are easy to scare to death.
I butchered them all, and threw the guts out baiting the coyotes, and killed 8 in one night.

Cherry-Bomb Productions · #4 (**permalink**) 05-19-2008, 09:15 PM

I know that they can be very "wascally" at times...

ssspert · #5 (**permalink**) 05-19-2008, 10:03 PM

please don't get piglets.
they are a pain in the ass, very hard to catch when they get out.

ambergirl · #6 (**permalink**) 05-20-2008, 02:01 PM

I'm raising them to sell. I have 4 girls and 2 boys. They are all new zealand but different colors. I have three REWs one black one grey and one seal point. I want to get some dwarfs and lionheads. They can be butchered but I wont do it.....lol I cant kill a rabbit for food. I need to know the good the bad and the ugly about it.

ssspert · #7 (**permalink**) 05-20-2008, 04:54 PM

if the price of food keeps going up, I'm like forest gumps friend bubba on shrimp, i can think of a million ways to cook rabbit.

bower power · #8 (**permalink**) 05-20-2008, 10:22 PM

You really need 3 doesfrom different breeders to one buck. What you have will work though. What you want to do is always make sure you are not cross breeding them. You keep good stock by doing that. This time of year you have to check their ears. They will get mites. If they get crusty ears from mites , you can buy all of the medicine at the co-op they have and it wont work and you will go broke. What works best is WD-40. Just do a burst of it in each ear for about 3 days and it will clear it up almost instantly. You better start collecting cages. I had flemish giants. They were huge. BTW, ALWAYS alternate bucks from different breeders. Hit me up if you need anymore info I could go on for awhile.

bower power · #9 (**permalink**) 05-20-2008, 10:25 PM

Oh - you might want to join the national rabbit breeders association. It is real cheap. You get a book on raising rabbits, a member directory to find other breeders, and a magazine. It used to cost 15 dollars a few years ago.

adecou · #10 (**permalink**) 05-20-2008, 11:52 PM

I know it hurts when they bite! LOL...that's about it..

I want a rabbit though, if it won't bite me, I'll buy a GENTLE one from you when we move