# Breeding rabbits: Pros and cons



## emilieanne (Oct 15, 2012)

I'm HIGHLY thinking about breeding rabbits on the side of goats for little profit but still looking for a profit possibly lol. I don't want to loose. 
I have a few questions...

I'm guessing a dual breed would be the most profitable (meat and pet?) 
I really like Rex's because they sell good over here for pets (because of their beautiful coat). 
I want y'all's opinion and choice on dual breeds? 

What feed/minerals/vaccinations should they be given? Is there any hay and or vegetables I should give? 
I have a good idea but I want to be 100% on what I'm doing here 

Last one  
The bunnies will be staying at a place where my goats are & well, let's say there's a few wild animals lol. 
I don't exactly trust the whole "wire pens lined up on a fence" idea. 
I'm thinking maybe building a BIG "castle/house/shed" for the does to run around together in while not pregnant. If that's ok? 
They could all have a box to sleep in at night, I could clean it out & put some grass in the bottom for bedding. 
If not, I'll make separate cages but :/ I feel bad confining them to that. 
Have the buck at my house of course!^.^ lol He be my buddy


Oh, sorry. One last one. 
How do you know the does are in heat? & how many times do you breed them each year? 

Ok, I'm done. 
Thank you guys in advance!!


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## emilieanne (Oct 15, 2012)

MAYBE I could make a closed sliding poopy tray that has a door on one side and the other 3 are closed so that I could pull it out every day and do that? 
Hmmm.


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## NubianFan (Jun 3, 2013)

I have no clue on breeding rabbits so I am no help. We just have one pet one and he lives in an outdoor hutch. Good luck in your endeavor though!


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## emilieanne (Oct 15, 2012)

Thank you!! 
Lol I'm getting one Saturday no matter what, pet or livestock


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## NubianFan (Jun 3, 2013)

Our Rabbit Buck-Eye Joe is really a meat rabbit, even though we keep him as a pet.


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## Emzi00 (May 3, 2013)

Well, I heard that does tend to be aggressive towards each other, but this isn't any personal experience. Rabbit does don't really cycle, it's more like, you want babies, you put them in with the buck, watch him do his buisness, and pull the doe out.. stick a nesting box in with the doe 27 days later and a few days after that, kapow! You have kits! :lol: 
As far as feeding goes, rabbit pellets from the feed store usually the 16% unless it's a pregnant doe or a lactating doe with kits, then get the higher percentage.. Shouldn't feed greens to bunnies under six months..
Wire cages may seem kinda sad, but they are cleanlier than wooden ones, feces and urine builds up in the corners, they're a bigger to clean, and they bunnies can get coccidia and stuff... wire cages work pretty well and the buns don't seem to mind, just check occasionally for sore hocks...


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## emilieanne (Oct 15, 2012)

I'll check with my feed store this week when I get hay ^.^ 
I'm just worried about the wire because of the overload of Pygmy rattlers, ***** that wouldn't mind pulling them through the wholes, it the bears and hogs that could take one bite through the cage and get hops a lot or tulip lol. (Named them already  ) jk. 
But yeah, and since I don't live out there & it's aprox. A 20 min ride there from my house, I wouldn't be able to cover them with tarps or something when it rains/storms 
There's a lot of factors with it all. Lol 
& the confinement but I know some are REALLY lazy and love the small space.


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## LGFarm (May 30, 2013)

We raise medium sized meat rabbits, New Zealand/Silver Fox crosses, because if you research meat rabbits this size is recommended for best finishing pound for pound, as the meat to bone ratio is high. But, meat rabbits are usually calm (I would look for a calm rabbit), so we have sold a number of our meat rabbits that have been handled to pet and breeding stock type homes with no issues, where they will be worked with and loved on. To be honest, so far, we have sold everything we raised. Don't know that it will always be that way, but that is okay with us too.


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## milkmaid (Sep 15, 2010)

We raise New Zealands, but have had mini rex. IME, the NZ have a better pet personality. Not sure on standard rex personality or meat, though we'd like to get those sometime. On the other hand, if you are saving the pelts (which we do), rex-type fur is wonderful.


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## Jessica84 (Oct 27, 2011)

My son is raising rabbit...he's 6 so basically I manage it except for cleaning and feeding lol. I hate hate having them in a small pen as well. He has 8 does and they all run around in a dog kennel. Line the bottom with wire or they will dig out. I can tell who the boss is and who is low man but since its a large area they can run from each other so I would just worry about fighting if its a small area. I can't tell you if there is profit or not....poor kid has my bad luck with them. So far he has only sold 1to his uncle for $8. The first little the goats got in the back yard....we were weaning the babies so had them in a movable cage and the goats pushed them out in the sun and knocked ttheir water off. Second little....cats  but we are doing good with #3 lol poor kid. 
To be honest I don't see a ton of profit in them. But also if you loose money it will not be a big loss either. It works for him since he sees $1 like we see $100 lol. And we like them as pets as well. We will sit out with them and have them bounce all over us.
If you go for rabbits watch winters and for sure summers on babies. You can make a nesting box with a hole to put a heat lamp in. And I have no suggestions for summer. I bought a nice little cage and from now on they will kit in the house during the summer and winter.


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## NubianFan (Jun 3, 2013)

In the summer freeze twenty ounce pops bottles filled with water and put them in the cage with them, they will snuggle up to the pop bottle to keep cool. Also keep lots of fresh water out and make sure they have shade. Buck eye Joes, hutch sits under a cedar tree so he is protected from the elements not only from his hutch's roof but also from that dense tree. It knocks wind off him when it is cold and shades him from the sun in summer. Summer is harder on bunnies than winter, and you being in florida, you probably won't have much issues with them in winter.


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## emilieanne (Oct 15, 2012)

Surprisingly enough, my ex had more problems in winter then summer because of our breeze. 
Were so close to the coast. 

Thank you guys SO much!!!! 
I LOVE the idea of a dog kennel......... It has roof and all sides. Maybe put 2 2x4's stacked on top on each side of the dog kennel so the snakes hopefully won't crawl in and the hugs don't push it , that'll be good 

I'm thinking about breeding for spring babies. 
What age should I start breeding at and how many litters each year do you guys recommend?


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## Emzi00 (May 3, 2013)

Well, for the dwarfs(what I had) it was like six months when you could start breeding them, I think rexes were older than that.. I think eight months, but I'm not completely sure.. I think you could get 4 litters per year if you have them on good food and don't give the doe as long of a rest..


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## emilieanne (Oct 15, 2012)

Oh my!! 
Ok! Thank you em


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## Emzi00 (May 3, 2013)

No problem!


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## emilieanne (Oct 15, 2012)

Do you think English lip cross with another breed would be good for meat? 
My friend has a purebred English lop doe for 80$ 
She's show worthy too. 
14 weeks.


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## Little-Bits-N-Pieces (Apr 7, 2013)

They should be ok for meat. 

When we had rabbits they stayed outside year-round. In the winter we just covered them with a tarp, and gave them all heat lamps in their nestboxes. In the summer we gave them frozen water bottles, and they were just fine.


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## Emzi00 (May 3, 2013)

Well... $80 is a lot... and lops don't have the same body type as the meat breeds. If you've ever felt a meat rabbit, they have big firm muscles, whereas lops don't.. the lops have a different build. I'd be concerned with such long ears.. they tend to step on them.. and get scratched up... if I had to choose I would look for a rex if that was the original breed you were thinking of..


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## Chopsgoats (Aug 20, 2013)

I was breeding Flemish giants for years, sold them as pets as I could not butcher them. Do you know anyone who has butchered rabbits before. I'd talk to them it is not easy


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## milkmaid (Sep 15, 2010)

Chopsgoats is right, it is not easy to kill a cute fluffy bunny.  For killing rabbits, we use the Rabbit Zinger. It's a bit pricey new, but I bought one used and wouldn't trade it for its weight in gold. I wouldn't even try the Wringer after using this. It takes a bit of practice, but once you get it right, the rabbits don't even know what hits them. Read the directions and precautions before using. Something they don't mention is that there is a bit of a recoil, and if you don't resist it, the rod doesn't hit the rabbit hard enough. Also, older rabbits have thicker skulls and you may need to give the Zinger a bit of a thrust to kill them. KEEP YOUR HANDS OUT OF THE WAY! The nice thing is that even if a rabbit isn't killed instantly, it is usually pretty well stunned, giving you time to finish it off before it has time to suffer.
The rest of the slaughtering process is a cinch. Just hang the rabbit upside-down by its feet (I use hooks made of high-tensile wire), cut the head and front paws off, slit around the back paws and up the legs, slice off the tail, peel off the pelt, slit up the belly and pull all the insides out, cut off the back legs. With practice, you can trim slaughtering time down to less than 10 minutes (or less than 5 if you're in a hurry!)
One thing I always do before killing an animal is pray, "Please make it go quickly and painlessly, and may rabbits go to heaven!" As the first request has always been granted since I started praying this, I have hope for the second.


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## SugarBush Farms (Apr 19, 2012)

emilieanne said:


> I'm HIGHLY thinking about breeding rabbits on the side of goats for little profit but still looking for a profit possibly lol. I don't want to loose.
> I have a few questions...
> 
> I'm guessing a dual breed would be the most profitable (meat and pet?)
> ...


Breeds:
If you're looking for meat you're going to want to look into Californians, New Zealands, Palominos, (possibly Rex, but the other three are more popular for meat) along with crossbreds.

If you want pet then I don't suggest anything with red eyes. Some people find them creepy(personally I like them)

My personal favorite are Palominos(of course I currently have one and another spoken for so I'm a bit biased) some judges and breeders I've talked to said they like the way they grow for meat, something about how the loin grows or something, I'm not entirely sure.
Anyway, you also want to look at fur, some times they skin them to use the fur for different things and they have competitions for fur at some shows.
Thats why most commercial meat rabbits are white, that way they can use more of the fur.

A good rabbit pellet(I am currently feeding a 13% to my buck and my new doe hasn't been born yet) and a grass or alfalfa hay. They also sell mineral wheels and stuff for pets but commercial rabbits really don't need them and I've had rabbits who don't even touch them. There aren't any vaccines that I know of.

Keeping does together is not a good idea, I have seen does tear into each other. The only time I have seen intact mature does live together safely is when they were littermates and had never been apart. Wire cages are one of the safest things. You can build them as hutches(wood and wire with a grass run) hanging cages(cages suspended from the ceiling or shed with a wire floor so droppings fall through) or regular breeding cages(wire cages with a metal or plastic pan)
There's also 'pet cages' as I call them, they have the plastic bottoms and wire that snaps over top. I have seen bunnies dig and chew through the plastic on these. Your best bet is to get cages, either stacking or hanging depending on your situation and remember they need to be protected from the elements, especially during winter and summer(heat and extreme cold)

Does actually never come into heat. Once they are mature (8 months or so for large breeds) they can concieve any time they are bred. So you breed them when in 32 days you want babies.

ARBA market classes:
Fryers: 
Maximum age: 10 weeks
Minimum Weight: 3lbs
Maximum Weight: 5lbs
Roasters: 
Maximum Age: 6 months
Minimum Weight: 5lbs
Maximum Weight: 8lbs
Stewers:
Minimum Age: 6 months
Minimum Weight: 8lbs


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## milkmaid (Sep 15, 2010)

IME, does and even bucks will not usually fight if given enough room. Our does do fine together in a 16x16 pen on the lawn. We've had up to 20 does in there (maybe more) without them fighting. But it is not predator-proof (we usually don't have predator problems around here). One thing to keep in mind is that if you keep rabbits on the ground, you have to move the cage/pen frequently (every day, most people say) to keep them from re-infecting themselves with worms. Young rabbits especially are vulnerable. We're battling this very problem now because we weren't aware of this when we started.


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## emilieanne (Oct 15, 2012)

Well, we have ....... Limited access to breed around here  lol 
The only big breed that are purebred/fun loosed that I've seen are lops, Rex's, and occasionally new Zealand's. 
My Ag teacher has a New Zealand that I could breed her to if I wanted to. 
Also has a rex. 
Around here, I know one person that has rabbits and there's not much help there. Lol that's why I went here & cause I trust y'all!


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## CritterCarnival (Sep 18, 2013)

Pros: Readily available for a low cost and are fairly inexpensive to raise. With minimal housing requirements and a basic diet of pellets, hay and fresh water, they are pretty hardy, requiring minimal veterinary costs. And, of course, they multiply like...well, like rabbits! I average 8 - 12 kits per litter!!

Cons: Because they are cheap and easy, a lot of people are trying to raise them for profit...around here, you can hardly GIVE them away. And although they rarely get sick, when they do, they can go down quickly and usually take a large chunk of the colony with them. Also, because they are so prolific, if you have one or two "oops" incidents you can be quickly over-run with bunnies. They can breed at 5 weeks old, gestation is only 30 days, and they can immediately be rebred after delivering their babies if not separated from all bucks.

My opinion: There is little-too-no profit in raising rabbits unless you are willing to produce a huge spring crop so you can sell them to people who "want a little Easter bunny for the kids". The problem with that is that soon after Easter is over, that cute little bunny grows up and the kids lose interest. Then many of those rabbits are forgotten and way too many of them suffer a lifetime of neglect, or much worse, suffer from intentional abuse. :-(

However, I have been raising meat rabbits for family and friends for many years. Rabbit is a very sweet, low fat, white meat. It is much easier for my peace of mind to know that every bunny that is born here either stays as a future breeder or is sent to "freezer camp" to be someones dinner. It is not hard to butcher rabbits, and I know they had the very best care and treatment up until the last second when their life ends humanely.


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## emilieanne (Oct 15, 2012)

Thank you guys for your input 

I hunt, and can't easily tell myself, not pets. Don't get attached. And I won't get attached. 
I guess I'm blessed with that ability 
So butchering won't be a problem. Especially because I have my brother my dad and my make friends helping me, all of which hunt 
I think I'm going to go ahead & get her anyway. Because if worst comes to worst, I could always sell her but I don't think that will happen. 
Plenty of people either want small and fluffy or big floppy & "lazy looking" lol  

Again, thank you all for your help and I'm sure I'll be back on saying " oh no, is this right??" When indeed, it's perfectly fine


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## teejae (Jan 21, 2013)

would you believe breeding rabbits in Qld Australia is illegal!! Id love to have them for meat but the risks of getting fined and caught arnt woth it not to mention the virus they can get that was released to kill off the feral population,Teejae


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## emilieanne (Oct 15, 2012)

That is completely ridiculous! 
Why won't they let y'all breed them? 
I'm sorry teejae:/


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