User Panel
Some Money Spent
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Some Research Done
Books Storey's Guide To Raising Rabbits 4th Ed by Bob Bennett Raising Rabbits by Ann Kanable Raising Better Rabbits & Cavies by arba.net Videos Urban Survival Livestock Raising Rabbits Part 1 - 5 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1sEpGxeTsg http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oR2Ink1ovE0 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PZh_gadbDY http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EXAhzfqhMNE http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7tJO-IP0Jk Web Sites |
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Some Decisions Made\Notes Taken\Risks
Decisions Made Breed Selection: Californians Pros- Very common and locally available Cages - 30" x 108" x 18" tall includes 3 holes. That is = 7.5 sq. ft per cage. Galvanized After Welding wire\baby saver sides and 1\2inx1in bottoms.here in the Houston area and already breed to tolerate heat. Proven meat breeders. Tons of knowledgeable breeders close by. Cons- Large rabbit, larger cages needed, more food needed, higher cost upstart. Facts - They produce large litters of 8-12 kits, which have a fast growth rate to fryer size (4-5lbs)in 8-12 weeks. Pros - These pre made cages were not that much more than trying DIY after tools were purchased. Should last a life time with G.A.W. wire if I do my part. Water - Self Watering system with a 2 gallon bucket with floater turn off fed by a garden hose.Cons - Cost of large cages for large breeds is costly. Facts - Bucks and young ones don't need the same size cage as does with kits. Some $$ could be saved taking this into consideration. Pros - Huge time saving device Food - http://www.lonestarfeed.com/pdffiles/1416.pdfCons - Initial cost. Subject to freezing just a few days a year :-) - mitigated with drainage lines. Notes Taken Feed Pellets - Cost $11.64 for a 50lb bag including tax
I also plan to add grass\legumes\alphalpha to the diet to increase fiber. Cost per rabbit TBD. ****This is for a large bread rabbit and according to the instructions on the feed bag. Your breed\size\food choice may not be the same as mine. Optimum breeding yield for this type of setup is 5 litters a year expecting 35 kits surviving. 3.5lbs of meat per rabbit that's 125lbs of processed meat a year\doe. x4 does thats 490 lbs of meat for this setup per year.* Results may vary. :-) Risks\Mitigations Houston Heat - plenty of shade, starting out in October\November to give myself time to get used to the bunnies before hot weather Insulated roof with radiant barrier. Keeping the radiant heat from heating what's below and convection heat with insulation. frozen water bottles misting? solar fans? reduced breeding during summer(fewer kits\less meat) |
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Cool, I was hopping(get it) that someone would do a rabbit in the suburban back yard thread.
We cannot do chickens or anything else, but we could probably do rabbits and get away with it. Thanks for keeping good stats, very interesting to see real time real world and not theory. thanks |
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Your sketches reminded me of rabbit hutches my dad made ~35 years ago. He raised the rabbits (New Zealand Whites) for show and some meat in our small back yard. I remember that he added a bunch of worms to the soil to help with composting.
One of my tramatic childhood memories was seeing a rabbit head sitting on a stump just after he had killed it for supper. (It was a good fact of life to learn at a young age but tramatic for a a mostly cityfied 5yo...) |
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Fantastic post. In fact I think the way you've designed the hutch looks easier than the way I've got mine with posts at each corner. I think I'm going to take mine down and build it with the center legs instead. I don't yet have any roof panels on it just some plywood so it'll be quick to take apart.
You've researched everything so well. Mine are about 6 months old and I've just this week started trying to get them to mate. I've ended up with 2 bucks and 2 does. I've got 2 NZWs and 2 are Californians. I believe that I may have been overfeeding them though I need to get a scale and weigh their feed out as well as the rabbits themselves. They dive right in when they get feed which has always made me think they weren't getting enough but I've been giving them scoops with a 9oz cup. Which of the books that you read turned out to be the most helpful? I've read the Storey's guide but don't have the others. |
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Quoted: Take everything I say with a grain of salt until I get a year into this but.......You've researched everything so well. Mine are about 6 months old and I've just this week started trying to get them to mate. I've ended up with 2 bucks and 2 does. I've got 2 NZWs and 2 are Californians. Which of the books that you read turned out to be the most helpful? I've read the Storey's guide but don't have the others. Read your feed requirements from the food labeling. Don't go above 17% protein and offer free eating for the hay if it's above 14% or so. My plan is to offer pellets at night and then hay first thing in the AM. Storey's guide is good by I liked Raising Rabbits by Ann Kanable the best. I found it at the library here. You really should only have one buck. One buck can service 6 or more does so the other is freeloading on your resources. Cross breading NZ whites and Calis is a good option as there are benefits to the two breads. |
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I bought 3 rabbits and cages off of craigslist initially. The cages were the best part of that deal but both things were cheap. However, my dogs got through the fence and killed one and wounded another. So I recently got 3 from a reputable breeder with about 6000 rabbits at her rabbitry at any one time. I went ahead and got an additional buck so I was breeding what she recommended. So I've got both cal and NZW bucks and Cal and NZW does.
I'll check my library for the other books. Thanks |
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Heat mitigation is going to be your biggest problem in Houston.
I know guys that raise rabbits semi commercially near Austin (where I am). They use misters and lots of fans in an inclosed, insulated shed to keep them cool. If you can keep them in the shade, and keep a breeze going, they should be ok. Just pay attention to their water. |
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Quoted:
Cages are really too small and I figure most of it I'll be selling. Why would you want to sell useable cages? If they are too small, you can snip out and move the dividers. Better yet, just snip a "door" in the divider and turn two into one, or turn the whole length into one giant cage for finishing weaned rabbits. |
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Very cool. Good documentation.
How are you going to stop fireants and other varmints? TRG |
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Quoted: Very cool. Good documentation. How are you going to stop fireants and other varmints? TRG Once you see how the cages are suspended it'll answer your question about fire ants.. plus it's my small backyard so I keep them in check whenever I find a small mound. |
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My grandparents raised rabbits for food for years. I've got some pretty good recipes for them when you are ready to start harvesting (we still use them for chicken a lot now that we don't have much rabbit meat). Learn to tan the hides too - rabbit fur is pretty soft and warm. |
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Nice.
I'm usually at the 50-100 rabbit level. Have been hanging my cages from wire, two levels,dropping trays in between, for years. Thinking of going to back to racks again, at least for some. Easier to take down and pressure wash once a year. (Some of my units are 6 cages long) I've never had problems with the heat before, but 3 days over 100 this summer, I lost about 10, ALL on the upper level. Guess that extra few degrees made the difference, as did breed: didn't lose any Calies or NZs. Added fans and some frozen, 2L bottles, and no more trouble. |
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Quoted:
Nice. I'm usually at the 50-100 rabbit level. Have been hanging my cages from wire, two levels,dropping trays in between, for years. Thinking of going to back to racks again, at least for some. Easier to take down and pressure wash once a year. (Some of my units are 6 cages long) I've never had problems with the heat before, but 3 days over 100 this summer, I lost about 10, ALL on the upper level. Guess that extra few degrees made the difference, as did breed: didn't lose any Calies or NZs. Added fans and some frozen, 2L bottles, and no more trouble. I have a plastic 'rope' on my front porch that has misting units built in to it. Pretty easy to install it with odd angles, bends and curves. I *think* I got it at Home Depot, but it has been up for several years now. Might be something to check out. Mine has a simple ball valve that I installed at the porch so that I can turn it on/off and regulate the volume. TRG |
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From someone who used to raise rabbits in the Texas summers, a frozen gallon water jug placed in the cage works wonders.
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Great. Like I needed *another* thread to follow and *another* iron in the fire!
Good work, looking forward to more updates! |
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Very nice thread. Raising rabbits is on my to do list for the near future as well.
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Why are you dumping the rabbit turds on the ground? I thought they were good fertilizer?
Seems like you could use flat trays, bag the pills, and sell them? TRG |
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Quoted:
Why are you dumping the rabbit turds on the ground? I thought they were good fertilizer? Seems like you could use flat trays, bag the pills, and sell them? TRG in the same hand rabbit urine is rated up there in one of the nastiest smelling urines known it will eat into plastic also... easier to let it soak into the ground and rake up pellets than let it sit in a pan a soak up urine that has a smell that would make skunks cry |
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Before reading this thread, I though our single rabbit in her (by comparison) humongous cage had sadly too little space. Your rabbits can't hardly move!
I know, it's livestock, not pets. Still have to feel for the little things! Our rabbit has the run of the yard much of the day, she loves to run (and runs quite fast!). I've considered doing what you're doing... I'd have to lose some of my over-emotional compassion for the animals, though! |
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What is the center partition made of?
Is it a foam board? Also, how have you anchored the whole deal to the ground? |
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welll from first hand experience I can tell you a rabbit will be perfectly happy as long as it has never been in anything larger than the cage it is in.
these are meat rabbits not somebodys pet. they will lay around and grow and breed with that said we have a rabbit living in our house. it started in a small cage then "needed" a bigger cage. then I built it a 6' tall cage. then it didnt like being in that cage so now it has its own room in the house....guess what she doesnt like being in there either and roams the house some of the time. this is more about keeping the wife happy than the dumb rabbit. so a rabbit is more or less like anything else. they will be happy with what they have until the next best thng comes along |
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Quoted: What is the center partition made of? Is it a foam board? Also, how have you anchored the whole deal to the ground? Took me weeks to figure out what to make the center portion out of. Corriboard is what I used from a local sign shop. $20 and I had more than enough. No, the braces on the ground are 6' wide and take care of it really well. |
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Quoted: Before reading this thread, I though our single rabbit in her (by comparison) humongous cage had sadly too little space. Your rabbits can't hardly move! I know, it's livestock, not pets. Still have to feel for the little things! Our rabbit has the run of the yard much of the day, she loves to run (and runs quite fast!). I've considered doing what you're doing... I'd have to lose some of my over-emotional compassion for the animals, though! My rabbits are working rabbits not pets. I've provided more room than most meat rabbits get on farms and paid for it $$. 7.5 square feet in each hutch. Where the recommended min is 5 square feet or just 2.5 feet wide and long by most ag requirements. A "happy" rabbit is a breading rabbit or a growing rabbit. Life is simple for them. They stop working or reach 5lbs and they get culled and eaten. |
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What do you do for the nests? I remember when I was little and my dad had rabbits; he didn't know one was pregnant. It had it's babies and they fell through the holes of the cage and died. It was so sad to my 5 year old self. I also didn't eat "chicken" for years unless I saw the package it came in. He thought of them as livestock and I thought of them as pets. Now I would love to do some urban farming of Chickens and rabbits so this is a very good thread!
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Quoted: What do you do for the nests? I remember when I was little and my dad had rabbits; he didn't know one was pregnant. It had it's babies and they fell through the holes of the cage and died. It was so sad to my 5 year old self. I also didn't eat "chicken" for years unless I saw the package it came in. He thought of them as livestock and I thought of them as pets. Now I would love to do some urban farming of Chickens and rabbits so this is a very good thread! Look at the last picture up top you'll see the nesting boxes on top of the cages. The wire I got on the bottom and up the sides four inches is called "Baby Saver" wire. It should keep pinkies in the cage in case of accidents. |
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Quoted:
Before reading this thread, I though our single rabbit in her (by comparison) humongous cage had sadly too little space. Your rabbits can't hardly move! I know, it's livestock, not pets. Still have to feel for the little things! Our rabbit has the run of the yard much of the day, she loves to run (and runs quite fast!). I've considered doing what you're doing... I'd have to lose some of my over-emotional compassion for the animals, though! Good grief, I grow out my litters in 30" X 36" cages! At least 4 per cage, when finished.Start at up to 8 or 9, whatever size litter it was. Heck, sometimes the cage floors sag! Also, know a lady who refills her empty feed bags with rabbit crap, and has folks WAITING to buy it a $5 a pop! We used to clean it out 2X per year, once it was a foot + deep! (no odor!) FULL of worms and GREAT for the gardens. Now going to pans. |
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So heres a question which I know could be answered in a book so if you want to tell me to RTFM thats fine.
What is your breeding rotation? I assume you have 1 buck to service the does so do you leave the buck in the does cage 1 day and move him to the next cage, leave him in 2 days or exactly how do you do that? How often do you introduce the buck to the does? Once a month, once a quarter? Does the buck normally hang out in his own cage when not "in use" or does he bunk up with a doe during downtime? |
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Quoted: So heres a question which I know could be answered in a book so if you want to tell me to RTFM thats fine. What is your breeding rotation? I assume you have 1 buck to service the does so do you leave the buck in the does cage 1 day and move him to the next cage, leave him in 2 days or exactly how do you do that? How often do you introduce the buck to the does? Once a month, once a quarter? Does the buck normally hang out in his own cage when not "in use" or does he bunk up with a doe during downtime? So, how much tail does a buck get? Buck is normally left solo. You take the doe to the buck cage and watch them for a bout 10min. They do the deed and you remove the doe. Breed her again later that night just in case and to get things going. A bit later (I think 14 days) try her again and see. If she rejects the buck she's pregnant. One buck can easily service 6 does. 31 days later you should have 4 to 16 kits avr. 8. Two weeks after birth you can put the doe in again to get serviced. Most meat breeders get 5 or 6 litters of kits a year. |
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Take the doe to the buck, if she's receptive, it'll be over QUICK!
He'll sneeze when he's done, and flip off of her backwards. Go ahead and jigh-five him if you must. Sometimes, if she's not completely willing, we'll hold her, with her butt propped up a little. Have always believed them to be induced ovulators, as per the lit.,but wife now checks does first. If vulva is swollen and red/purple, as opposed to pink, she's in heat, and doe's good to go. Percentage of breedings that "take" is WAY up now! |
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Did we survive the wind last night?
What is the latest? Do you have scales to track the weight gains? |
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Quoted: Did we survive the wind last night? What is the latest? Do you have scales to track the weight gains? Sorry for the lack of updates. Work\Personal life are busy. Rabbits are doing well. Lots of lessons learned like how fast 5 gallons of water lasts (3 days) and such. Let's say keeping rabbits wastered so far the biggest job. They love to chew though those hoses and I had to order more standoffs. Even with the tubes and such I can't wait to get time to hook up the outdoor hose to the system that i've been filling up\checking every night. Labor is about 15 to 20 min a day. I also need to setup something for the poop. Wow, bit more than expected I counted a rabbit producing 75 pellets in about 15 min. They made a sound hitting the poop ramp every time. Next post I'll be putting pictures up of me culling off two extra rabbits and dressing them out. |
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We used to raise rabbits and kept some lime on hand for the hot summer days when the urine odor got too strong. The rabbit droppings are the best fertilizer imaginable.
We also kept some sheetrock scraps for the rabbits to stand on. Sometimes they get "sore hock" from the wire, and the sheetrock seems to cure it quickly. There is always some scrap sheetrock around new home construction. I have been thinking about getting back in to rabbits as a food source in the questionable economy. Nieghbors are egg producers, so some trade might be possible. Again, the droppings alone are almost worth the trouble of having rabbits. |
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Quoted:
Quoted:
Did we survive the wind last night? What is the latest? Do you have scales to track the weight gains? Sorry for the lack of updates. Work\Personal life are busy. Rabbits are doing well. Lots of lessons learned like how fast 5 gallons of water lasts (3 days) and such. Let's say keeping rabbits wastered so far the biggest job. They love to chew though those hoses and I had to order more standoffs. Even with the tubes and such I can't wait to get time to hook up the outdoor hose to the system that i've been filling up\checking every night. Labor is about 15 to 20 min a day. I also need to setup something for the poop. Wow, bit more than expected I counted a rabbit producing 75 pellets in about 15 min. They made a sound hitting the poop ramp every time. Next post I'll be putting pictures up of me culling off two extra rabbits and dressing them out. Pictures? dinner pics? Tutorial for processing? Thanksgiving bunny? |
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Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Did we survive the wind last night? What is the latest? Do you have scales to track the weight gains? Sorry for the lack of updates. Work\Personal life are busy. Rabbits are doing well. Lots of lessons learned like how fast 5 gallons of water lasts (3 days) and such. Let's say keeping rabbits wastered so far the biggest job. They love to chew though those hoses and I had to order more standoffs. Even with the tubes and such I can't wait to get time to hook up the outdoor hose to the system that i've been filling up\checking every night. Labor is about 15 to 20 min a day. I also need to setup something for the poop. Wow, bit more than expected I counted a rabbit producing 75 pellets in about 15 min. They made a sound hitting the poop ramp every time. Next post I'll be putting pictures up of me culling off two extra rabbits and dressing them out. Pictures? dinner pics? Tutorial for processing? Thanksgiving bunny? I'd deep fry a bunny |
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Did your watering supply system survive the freeze?
ok, it just barely froze, but still....... |
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Quoted: Did your watering supply system survive the freeze? ok, it just barely froze, but still....... Yes and no. The lines didn't freeze. While I was out of town a friend put a tarp up pushing the tubes too close to the cage. My buck took it as a great time to chew though the tube and the 5 gallons leaked out. I've been keeping them warm by letting them have the nest boxes to hunker down in. I'd like to do more but not use the nest boxes for the wind and I think I'll make a small corner box out of this corriboard so they have something of a windbreak. |
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