Raising rabbits

[jackelope]

Didn't know we had so many bunny breeders 

yes, we have been raising them now for 5+ years.
if going to butcher, DO NOT name them   

as mentioned, the largest breeds don't always equal best for meat. They are heavy boned, less meat ratio. California, Satin, Florida Whites, Rex, New Zealand and Cinnamon are good meat breeds. Many breeders will use cross-breeds if not worried about showing.

we have raised Havana, Thrianta and Cinnamons

Havana - great temperament, average weight 6lbs, great fur if want to sell that also. Awesome for kids
Thrianta - good temperament, average weight 6lbs, ours have less fat than Havana. These are mainly raised for my son to show in 4-H
Cinnamon - temperament is so-so, out best brood doe is a Bit*%, but kicks out 8-10 kits, average weight 10lbs, reach fryer weight(2.5lbs) at about 7 weeks

the different pellet options can influence weight gain and fat. The protein % can be anywhere from 14%-20%. We have found that the 18% is great for our "meat" rabbits, but cause our Havana's to be fat. Fresh Timothy hay is great. Fruit tree branches are good for them to chew on, ours love apple
Recently have learned from another breeder that Chaffhaye is great for growth. She raised 2 litters: one on pellets and the other on Chaffhaye, the latter weighed 25% more at 6 weeks old. Chickens love the stuff also.

if you decide to take the leap. Looks like plenty of help on here 

This guy knows whats up. Taught me, and lots of others, everything we know.

[seth30]

I plan on getting some for keeping the garden and yard fertilized

[runamuk]

Send Jackelope a pm, He has some experience on this.

Thanks!!
Any questions, feel free to ask. We've got a bunch of rabbits. No meat rabbits but the needs and requirements aren't too far apart.
A buck and 3 does properly managed will produce more meat in a year than a cow.
Snohomish County 4H will have meat pens for the first time this year at the Evergreen State Fair at the end of August. Auctions at the end of fair and all from what I hear.

This is awesome we were pushing hard for this when we were doing 4H.

[Eric M]

tagging

[jackelope]

Send Jackelope a pm, He has some experience on this.

Thanks!!
Any questions, feel free to ask. We've got a bunch of rabbits. No meat rabbits but the needs and requirements aren't too far apart.
A buck and 3 does properly managed will produce more meat in a year than a cow.
Snohomish County 4H will have meat pens for the first time this year at the Evergreen State Fair at the end of August. Auctions at the end of fair and all from what I hear.

This is awesome we were pushing hard for this when we were doing 4H.

Babies are here. Well, they've been here for a week and a half.
Dutch-



I don't have any more up to date pics. They're all chocolates. They opened their eyes yesterday. They're big fat babies and their momma is doing a great job.

Jersey Wooly babies are another story. We lost one last week at 5 days old, had another one knocking on deaths door and quickly decided momma wasn't feeding them. I went out to the shed and got the Dutch momma and brought her inside. Put her on her back and put the 2 wooly babies onto her and she let them nurse. We gave the one that was not doing well a few shots of a home brew baby formula for a little sugar energy and eventually got that one to nurse. Ended up not sure if the Dutch momma could handle 7 babies as a first time mom so we took them to a friend who also has Wooly's. She had a doe kindle only 2 on the same day as ours, so we fostered our babies to her. We'll get them back in 7 or so weeks but so far the 3 are alive and well at this point. We got 2 black otters, 1 blue otter and a broken black. We lost one of the black otters. The only pic I have of them is with the other 2 at our friends house.



This is all 4 of them before we lost the 1.

[jackelope]

This only sort of fits the topic of this thread I guess because the mere mention of meat rabbits around the owners of these rabbits could result in cold dinner, the death glare and numerous other potential bad things from the female units of the household.
 

[Whitpirate]

PETS!  I'm going to take the plunge soon and I think Jackalope is hoping I do soon so he can eat some once in a while.  No cold dinners here... I do 90% of the cooking.

[jackelope]

PETS!  I'm going to take the plunge soon and I think Jackalope is hoping I do soon so he can eat some once in a while.  No cold dinners here... I do 90% of the cooking.

That is indeed a thing.