Raising Rabbits..

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  • Icarry2

    Master
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    15   0   0
    Nov 14, 2010
    2,267
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    Franklin County, VA
    I have read many posts and threads on INGO pertaining to Rabbits. I figure I will try to localize the info into one particular thread and hopefully it might get to be it’s own sticky..

    First some back ground about my particular experience with raising rabbits. Up until recently my family, mainly my Father has raised rabbits most all of my life on our family farm. and before I was born as well.

    There have been a few points where he would sell everything off and get rid of all of our rabbits and go a few months without any and then the bug would give him the itch and he would go buy 10 does and 2 bucks and start up again.

    At the highest point I would guess that our rabbit herd was over the 800 mark, I was too young to help at that time. We used to sell most for meat, many for show and some for pets.

    My Father has devoted an enormous amount of his life to learning about and raising rabbits. Some has indeed rubbed off on me. I probably know about 10% of what he does and neither of us consider ourselves experts but I do consider my Father an expert.

    Presently the farm nor I have any rabbits. I give it until spring and the old man will go out and get a starter herd going.
    Our production: We raised rabbits in hand made metal wire cages in an unheated and only slightly ventilated buildings. Never outswide or in hutches but at one point did have pens in a lean to that was along side of a barn. Always in wire cages we mostly built ourselves. It's cheaper.

    We used to raise earth worms in the dung and made tons of money on them too. They help kep the smell down, not that rabbits have smelly dung but they are another income stream.

    We hand fed and hand watered them, never using automatic watering and or feeding methods merely because of the cost of the equipment and upkeep and it also helped the rabbits stay used to our presence. they get spooked easy and we always had a radio playing for back ground noise to keep them used to noises and such. A spooked rabbit can run it's self to death in a cage. I have seen that first hand.

    My father would not allow anyone except us into the rabbit barn as with most any large herd of animals a disease can annihilate a herd and is usually brought into the herd by an outsider.

    We exclusively raised Californians which were from the Keller blood line. He got his start from a man who’s rabbits won ribbons all over and were widely known for their meat as well. The pellets we fed were from a recipe originally derived by Mr. Oren Reynolds. He is considered Mr. ARBA, that’s the American Rabbit Breeders Association. The “experts” of the rabbit world.

    Anyway, my father kept meticulous hand written records on each rabbit. He used the Line Breeding Chart developed by Indianapolis native Dr. Fehr a widely known vet. The method of cross breeding to keep the gene pool clear of imperfections that ends up producing better rabbits every generation.

    My Fathers rabbits have been shown and won many ribbons all over and before the "guberment" clamped down on the transporting of live animals he had shipped all over the world to breeders and meat producers.

    Given the investment capitol and space my father has a business plan completed that would allow a single person to produce rabbits for meat, sold to a company called Pel-Freez from Arkansas I think and for less then 30 hours work a week can profit over 300k after the first year. Something I have seriously been considering as a business venture.

    Rabbit is a very low cholesterol meat, even lower then chicken.

    I will post more info on Rabbit production and making of pens and such when I get the chance. If anyone has input that will help others who are looking at or currently raising rabbits for meat or other use please comment here.
     

    Icarry2

    Master
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    15   0   0
    Nov 14, 2010
    2,267
    38
    Franklin County, VA
    Found some interesting ones at this link and then search INGO and find some scattered all over the different forums. Does INGO have a recipes section and I just haven't found it?

    Presently I am looking for a good flour n egg noodle recipe for use with chicken or beef.. My mother does it from memory and hasn't been able to explain how she does it, I don't get the same results..

    Rep for the interest..

    http://www.homesteadingtoday.com/showthread.php?t=112725
     

    clarky51

    Plinker
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    1   0   0
    Jun 16, 2011
    55
    6
    I've had rabbits now for a couple months and keep putting the does in with my young buck but he doesn't get the job done. He is all over them trying his best but can't get it done. Quite hilarious except for the fact I had hoped to have three litters by now. Any help would be greatly appreciated!
     

    J_Wales

    Shooter
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    0   0   0
    Feb 18, 2011
    2,952
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    I have read many posts and threads on INGO pertaining to Rabbits. I figure I will try to localize the info into one particular thread and hopefully it might get to be it’s own sticky..

    First some back ground about my particular experience with raising rabbits. Up until recently my family, mainly my Father has raised rabbits most all of my life on our family farm. and before I was born as well.

    There have been a few points where he would sell everything off and get rid of all of our rabbits and go a few months without any and then the bug would give him the itch and he would go buy 10 does and 2 bucks and start up again.

    At the highest point I would guess that our rabbit herd was over the 800 mark, I was too young to help at that time. We used to sell most for meat, many for show and some for pets.

    My Father has devoted an enormous amount of his life to learning about and raising rabbits. Some has indeed rubbed off on me. I probably know about 10% of what he does and neither of us consider ourselves experts but I do consider my Father an expert.

    Presently the farm nor I have any rabbits. I give it until spring and the old man will go out and get a starter herd going.
    Our production: We raised rabbits in hand made metal wire cages in an unheated and only slightly ventilated buildings. Never outswide or in hutches but at one point did have pens in a lean to that was along side of a barn. Always in wire cages we mostly built ourselves. It's cheaper.

    We used to raise earth worms in the dung and made tons of money on them too. They help kep the smell down, not that rabbits have smelly dung but they are another income stream.

    We hand fed and hand watered them, never using automatic watering and or feeding methods merely because of the cost of the equipment and upkeep and it also helped the rabbits stay used to our presence. they get spooked easy and we always had a radio playing for back ground noise to keep them used to noises and such. A spooked rabbit can run it's self to death in a cage. I have seen that first hand.

    My father would not allow anyone except us into the rabbit barn as with most any large herd of animals a disease can annihilate a herd and is usually brought into the herd by an outsider.

    We exclusively raised Californians which were from the Keller blood line. He got his start from a man who’s rabbits won ribbons all over and were widely known for their meat as well. The pellets we fed were from a recipe originally derived by Mr. Oren Reynolds. He is considered Mr. ARBA, that’s the American Rabbit Breeders Association. The “experts” of the rabbit world.

    Anyway, my father kept meticulous hand written records on each rabbit. He used the Line Breeding Chart developed by Indianapolis native Dr. Fehr a widely known vet. The method of cross breeding to keep the gene pool clear of imperfections that ends up producing better rabbits every generation.

    My Fathers rabbits have been shown and won many ribbons all over and before the "guberment" clamped down on the transporting of live animals he had shipped all over the world to breeders and meat producers.

    Given the investment capitol and space my father has a business plan completed that would allow a single person to produce rabbits for meat, sold to a company called Pel-Freez from Arkansas I think and for less then 30 hours work a week can profit over 300k after the first year. Something I have seriously been considering as a business venture.

    Rabbit is a very low cholesterol meat, even lower then chicken.

    I will post more info on Rabbit production and making of pens and such when I get the chance. If anyone has input that will help others who are looking at or currently raising rabbits for meat or other use please comment here.


    Very cool.

    Any interest in making some meat available to J_Wales?
     

    J_Wales

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    Feb 18, 2011
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    I would be curious as to what everyone has for recipes for rabbit meat.


    There are plenty out there and rarely is a recipe involving rabbit not good.

    Rabbit is some of the best eating there is.

    Unfortunately, where I hunt rabbit is getting more difficult to harvest... yotes and hawks have made a huge impact on them.

    I never considered raising them. If I had the room it would be an excellent idea.
     

    PistolBob

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    4   0   0
    Oct 6, 2010
    5,387
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    Midwest US
    I would be interested in buying butchered domestic rabbit meat. Let me know if you decide to take off...probably 8-10 a month. I know that's not very many.
     

    .40caltrucker

    Expert
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    Nov 5, 2010
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    We have 3 rabbits in a large cage that is shared with our chickens. 1 doe and 2 bucks. I think it's a little better for them cause they get to run and be on the ground instead of a cage. Maybe our doe will have some babies soon and we will have a lot more. They are confined to 500sqft and the chickens can go through the hen house to another area just for the chickens that's about 1300sqft. The smaller part that they are confined to has wire mesh on the ground so they cant dig out, and the larger part don't.

    Our large buck that we've had about a year will chase the roosters around and pester them all day. We set out there and just laugh, even though the rooster will peck him he still chases them.:laugh:
     

    ghuns

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    Nov 22, 2011
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    A couple of dead bunnies, couple cans of beefy mushroom soup a can of cream-o-mushroom soup a packet of brown gravy mix bake 350 for couple hours mmm-good
     

    Icarry2

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    Nov 14, 2010
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    Franklin County, VA
    @clarky51

    Always put the doe in the buck’s cage, never the other way around. A doe does not like her privacy invaded, never put another doe in with a doe that has been in a particular pen.

    Second, put your doe in and let the buck do his thing three times. After he has fallen off the third time put the doe back in her cage and watch her, if she pee’s within 15-20 minutes of the act then put her right back in with the same buck and let him do his thing another three times.

    Make note of the date and time the act happens because 31 days and 10 hours later you should have babies.

    Check for a liter after a couple weeks, here is a simple description of how to check,
    http://www.wikihow.com/Know-if-Your-Rabbit-is-Pregnant

    If not, butcher the buck and put the doe with another.

    We keep one buck for every 10 does. We use the bucks at least 8-10 times a day when breeding. We give them a rest and spread the work out. Some may argue that we over work our buck, that the copulation rate and litter size may diminish as the day goes on but our records have shown that it’s not an issue.

    Other key things are that the does and buck cannot be stressed, can’t be agitated, running a lot in their cage. Rabbits need to be kept calm all the time. You do not want to try and breed rabbits right after you bring them home, let them acclimate a few days or a week.

    If after a couple different bucks your does aren’t getting pregnant then butcher them and start over.

    When buying herd stock ask the raiser what their average litter size is, ask if they breed back at 5 weeks and ask for an opinion on the temperament of the animals in general.
     
    Last edited:

    Icarry2

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    Nov 14, 2010
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    Franklin County, VA
    @.40caltrucker From my experience putting rabbits on the ground is in no way beneficial, puting them in with chickens isn't something we have ever done either but then we wanted to produce more rabbits never kept them as pets. Has your doe ever had a littler? I would guess not and would go further to guess that she never will in the setup you have. Chickens will peck baby rabbits to death, chickens love blood.

    If you want more rabbits, separate them from the chickens and separate the bucks from the doe. Refer to my post on breeding if you want to breed them otherwise you have three fine pets or three fine meat rabbits but will never have any more then that.

    Just my experience
     
    Last edited:

    Icarry2

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    As for finding quality meat rabbits to eat.

    Check around any farmers market you have near you.

    I googled meat rabbits in indiana and found a site that listed these breeders..

    Houlmont's Rabbit Patch
    9965 Old State Highway 37, Tell City 47586
    812-547-2127 tholman@psci.net
    New Zealand White

    Richard and Dylan Timms
    Elkhart, IN
    personsol@juno.com
    Blanc d'Hotot, American Chinchilla, Havana (Black, Chocolate)

    Xavier & Naomi Jones
    Jonesin' for Rabbits
    Richmond
    765-277-0073 blessedby5@gmail.com

    Creme D' Argent, Rex, mixed
    Herman Young
    South Central Indiana
    812-339-0040 HOYOUNG@indiana.edu
    American Chinchilla, English Angora, Velveteen Lop


    As for getting others to eat rabbit. Try buying boneless meat, or de-bone a rabbit and cook it like chicken. If they eat it and then you tell them they might actually understand it is better for them than chicken.

    Also I can't stress enough that the single largest source for info is American Rabbit Breeders Association web site. Their FAQ is good.

    American Rabbit Breeders Association, Inc.

    Hope this helps, more later..
     

    Glock22c

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    Feb 21, 2011
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    Subscribed!
    IC2 u r full of info man!
    Rep inbound!!!
    Trying to convince the wife is not easy ... pets yes...meat not so good
     

    Sailor

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    May 5, 2008
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    Fort Wayne
    Good info.

    300k a year for 30 hours a weeK? Holy cow how many rabbits does that end up being? Are you processing them and then selling them?
     
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