Rabbit advice needed

[Rich.H]

I'm thinking of getting together a few rabbit for both meat and fur use, my intentions is to have 3 does and 1 buck with an idea of being able to have one per fortnight for slaughter once the cycle is running properly, also this should give each doe some rest from mothering duties.

I will be keeping these animals indoors as I don't really have the amount of space in my back yard to be fair on them, also the front yard is no place for animals being on a noisy estate with roaming dogs and such.

I'm intending to build a stack of six hutches overall, each one being L48"xH24"xD24" with the freedom to run about outside of the hutch provided for each animal on a daily basis.

So anyone that has kept rabbits for this purpose before, am I providing enough space for these animals, and do I have realistic ideas of the amount of produce I am going to be getting from these four animals. Finally are my expectations of how often each doe is bred fair on them so as not to be "farming" them beyond a healthy capacity?

[thesunflowergal]

Hi Rich.
You did not say what breed of rabbit that you are looking at, because of course they range in size massively.
You are going to need to re-look at your hutch sizes, I am sorry to say that I would not even keep guinea pigs in a hutch that size. I have attached a link to the Rabbit Welfare association and fund website, that will provide some useful info for you. (I hope that is ok mods)
http://www.rabbitwelfare.co.uk/ahutchisnotenough.htm
So you need to be looking at a min. of 6ft in lenght, even the cheap hutches from high street retailers are this lenght.
Please remember to feed your bunnies as much hay as they will eat, as it will go some way to help prevent dental issues.

Nikki

[Rich.H]

Thanks for the link it has some useful info on there. Ok so my second option then now requires keeping the animals outside, I do have a large flat roof above my kitchen at the back of the house which is 9'x20'. It wouldn't be hard to make up some steps up there and to get it properly fenced off to prevent accidents, this would also allow me to make up large hutches for them to sleep in when they wanted in the same manner as free range chickens.

The main issue there is it is simply a flat lead roof so what would I need to put down there to give the animals a better floor texture and so forth?

As to breeds I'm aiming for a large lop, NZ whites or possibly rex as all of these will have the size required for decent meat production.

[Rich.H]

After some thoughts about this concept I've gone with an outdoor approach instead. However I live in the middle of town and have no real garden as such, I do though have a flat roof above my kitchen and bathroom at the back of the house which is easily accessed.

So with this in mind I thought to construct larger hutches up on there instead, there would be an overall shelter made first to keep the rain off. The roof itself though is lead so I'm not sure about making it possible to let them roam about freely within a fenced area due to winter frost and ice. Instead the section devoted to bunnies would be around 4'10', and my thoughts are to keep the hutches to 3ft depth to allow me room to get in and work among them.

I'm pretty much 100% that I only want four rabbits, three does and one buck, ideally rex types and NZ whites to cross, and aiming for 30 per year for slaughter staggered at regular intervals.

With this in mind what would folk recommend as the best number and size of hutches for my needs and space requirements?

[boboff]

Old Jerry mentioned keeping Rabbits I think, he might know, back in a week or 3.

A bit of common I would suggest a minimum of 3, Dad, Mum & Kids, Sisters, might as well say 4 then they all get the option of Single housing.

Can I suggest that flat roofs in town are never going to be the right place to breed rabbits, you are going to spend loads on hutches and stock, and never really be sure if you are going to get a return. Stocking density, disease, and the absolute tonnage of shit you will get would make for a fairly full on activity>>? Not sure, but I really would have a good hard think, and a trip to the Library?

[Big Al]

http://archive.defra.gov.uk/foodfarm/fa ... code.htm#8

This link is pertaining to stock rabbits from the defra website http://www.defra.gov.uk/ I have 2 large whites one in each hutch measuring 4 ft x 2ft x2ft. That is ample room for them to sit up, ears erect and also jump about and believe me they do like the space. They can lay down full stretched and sunbathe on fresh clean hay well away from the area they deficate and urinate in.

If you REALLY, REALLY must do this then Iwould start with 1 buck and 1 doe to see how it goes but as these are likely to be around £50 each for large NZ's / flemish whites etc you need to be sure that you are going to be able to look after them adequatly. I use a premium pelleted feed suppliamented with greens such as cabbage, lettuce etc. You must give them greens every day to help with their imune system and help stop infections.

Have a really good look at the links here and then decide if you still want to go with keeping rabbits. The last thing you want is Defra breathing down your neck for animal cruelty and to be honest, in my oppinion keeping rabbits up on a roof is a no no. You not only have to protect them from the rain but also from wind and heat. The sun might be welcome to us but on a lead roof that will heat up a lot and during the day when there might be no breeze the rabbits will overheat very quickly. I have 2 500ml water bottles on each cage and in hot weather these get refilled at least 3 times a day.

They might be meat and thus have short lives but their lives need to be healthy and of good welfare whilst they are here.

I notice you say you live in the town but how far are you from fields? I can guaruntee you will not be too far from wild rabbits and all you need is a bit of patience and a couple of nets. If you need to be sure a ferret or two will make the rabbits come out faster.

A doe will take between 28 and 31 days from being struck to giving birth. The doe needs to ween the babies for around 35 to 40 days after that. For NZ's and flemish whites or giant rabbits you need to leave another 180 days or 6 months to let them get big enough to eat and even then you are probably skimping on the size. each ltter can be from 3 to 7 rabbits. Does are not production machines and if they don't want to mate they won't let the buck near them and this is very much the case coming up to winter so from around september you may find that you does will not breed because of the approaching winter.

Can I sugest a lot more research ?