Meat Rabbits 101

My sister April, first started talking about purchasing meat rabbits a few years ago but was having difficulty finding good breeding stock in Alaska. She always visits Oregon in the summer so I thought I would look for a few rabbits of breeding age where I live, and she could take them back with her. Things don’t always go as planned (turns a vague idea is not considered a plan, who knew?!?!) I immediately found a great deal on a breeding trio, a buck and two does, of Californians. I brought them home and then realized that the airlines charged $100 a piece. Surprise! I was the proud owner of a trio of rabbits!

 

My new rabbits were a breed called Californians, they are a commercial meat breed that grows to 8-10lbs.  Californians grow fast have large litters and generally are good mothers.There is a large variety of different rabbit breeds that are suitable for meat consumption. Rise and Shine Rabbitry has a wonderful post about meat breed selection. All of the rabbits we picked up were 6-10 months old and had never been bred. We had not considered breeding rabbits for meat ( my sweet husband doesn’t really appreciate me bringing home animals for him to kill, there is a chance that I might be a bit of a baby about the killing part. Um..I do all the butchering though). After a few calculations, we realized rabbits really do breed like rabbits, and we calculated that we could breed both does 3 times a year and produce enough meat for the freezer to make it worth our time. Rabbits now have become one of our main meat sources at our homestead and they are amazingly productive with a little management. This is the basics of breeding and raising rabbits.

Rabbit Terminology

• Doe- female rabbit of breeding age
• Buck- male rabbit of breeding age
• Kit- baby rabbits
• Fryer-  rabbits under 12 weeks which will be used for food consumption
• Kindling- Doe giving birth
• Litter- baby rabbits born to a doe
• Dewlap- A large fold of skin under a does chin
• Junior- rabbits before 6 months
• Estrous cycle- A fertile cycle when a rabbit is most likely to conceive
• Fall off- A successful breeding where the buck has a dramatic finish
• Grow Out- a junior rabbit that is being raised for processing usually until they are 5 lbs

 

Breeding

 

We always bring the doe to the bucks cage or breed them in a neutral place or pen. Does are extremely territorial and can seriously injure the buck. I consider a good breeding when the buck has 3 successful fall-offs (a fall-off is the bucks way of finishing a breeding session, he throws himself off the doe and occasionally squeals loudly, very much a drama queen).  Rabbits have what is called induced ovulation, meaning a doe will not ovulate until after they are bred. Once mating occurs, the female rabbit will ovulate, making her fertile. 3 fall offs are usually plenty to guarantee a pregnancy but some people like to try and breed again the following day. Usually, if the breeding takes the first time she will not lift again. Lifting means the doe allows her self to be bred, she “lifts” for the buck.

I can usually tell by the next day if the breeding was successful. The does are usually quite grumpy when they are pregnant. I pet them and they grunt at me quite testily, usually a good sign, but there is always a doe who acts like nothing is going on until 2 minutes before having a litter. A rabbits gestation is  28-32 days with 30 days being the most common. My rabbits have always been very punctual and have their litters in 30 days.

Care of Pregnant and Lactating Doe

 

On day 20 of my rabbit’s gestation, I start to supplement the doe’s food. They always have pellets and free choice hay, but after day 20 I start giving my doe’s alfalfa hay and 1 tbs each of black oil sunflower seeds and Calf Manna and depending on the time of year fresh greens (always introduce new foods to your rabbits slowly, they can have delicate digestive systems).  I do this to make sure that they have enough calories to produce milk for the kits, I continue to supplement this feed until the kits are about 4-5 weeks old. Occasionally my rabbits have had as many as 14 kits per litter. Rabbits only have 8 teats so 14 is a lot. Often this is too many and not all survive, its just too many mouths to feed. The most kits at a time that my doe has successfully raised have been 12. To try and prevent kits from starving, I always breed my does on the same day. I do this so I can foster kits. If one doe has too many kits to feed and the other not enough, I just take a few from the overburdened doe and give them to the other doe. The rabbits never appear to notice, I just bury them under the fur. The oldest kit I have fostered was 14 days old.

 

Kindling

At day 25 of gestation, I place a nest box inside the doe’s cage. A nest box is a protected box that the doe can kindle in and the babies can’t crawl out before they are ready. Along with the nest box, I give extra hay, about a half of flake, and I place it in front of the nest box. Usually, within a few hours, the doe starts moving hay to make a nest. I call this hay stashing. they look silly, a bit like a dog with a bone. Depending on the doe they will pull fur from their dewlap and stomach area and line the nest with it. Sometimes the doe will wait until right before she gives birth, with my does this is the most common situation. I go into the barn and fur is everywhere and I know immediately she has kindled.

 

Kit Care

 

 After the doe has kindled we always check to make sure all kits are healthy, clean and alive. We remove any dead kits (it happens) and give the mother some extra food. New mothers can be a little overprotective and occasionally will bite or lunge, we usually give a piece of apple or banana to distract her, they do seem to calm down after the first litter. Most does only nurse twice a day, once in the morning and again in the late evening. This is a natural instinct. Wild rabbits do not stay in the nest so as to not attract predators and they nurse only when they feel it is safe, and. this trait has stayed with domestic rabbits. Most likely you will never see the babies being fed. We check the babies daily, healthy, well-fed kits will have rounded bellies and the skin is soft. Some warning signs of kits not being fed are excessively wrinkled skin and sunken stomachs, wrinkled skin is a sign of dehydration. If the doe has a very large litter the bellies may not look full but their skin should be supple. We minimally handle the kits until their eyes open at 10 days old. Born hairless and unable to see it is best if kits are kept warm and in the nest. After 10 days old we pet and handle them a bit more but always gently and in a very calm manner. Stress is a killer of kits under 8 weeks of age, stress can cause or exacerbate a dangerous imbalance within the guts of bunnies whose intestinal flora is still immature. Stress for immature kits can be from many different sources. The stress of weaning, over handling, heat, and cold. Kits under 4 weeks of age are especially delicate. I feed kits only fresh alfalfa hay during this time period, with the J feeders hanging high filled with pellets so the doe can eat all she wants. I slowly introduce pellets when the kits are 3-4 weeks by sprinkling them over the hay, preventing gorging and giving their digestive systems time to acclimate.

Separation and Weaning

 

At about 4 weeks the doe starts to wean her babies slowly and naturally by letting them nurse less and less. At 6 weeks I separate the babies from the doe in preparation for selling the kits, the doe is usually a bit tired of them by now.  By doing this in stages it reduces stress on the kits. I remove the mother from the cage with the kits and place her in the cage next to them, this way the kits are in a familiar surrounding with their littermates and still can smell the doe through the wire.This has been very successful for me, it has drastically reduced the amount of loss in my rabbitry.

At 8 weeks, we separate the kits that are going to be pets and the ones we will process for food. Grow outs will go into an exercise pen and they will continue to grow. We process our rabbits at 10-12 weeks or when they are over 5 lbs. Pets go to new homes at this time. We never sell kits under 8 weeks of age, it is unnecessary and irresponsible and in some states illegal.