Little Miss Mckinley at North Country Off Grid inspired this post and the first of my Virtual Valentine Videos for 2020.
There's so much info that I was trying to cram into the video, and keep it short, and understandable, and, and, and, ... aw-w-wgh! Frustration overload!!!
But then, I had a midnight spark of inspiration, or God sent an angel to whisper in my ear so I could quit worrying and go back to sleep - whichever. I decided to put the "Beginner Rabbit Info" here and share with all of you wonderful folks.
For the video, please go to our YouTube channel, Itsa Mystic Life, and watch as there is some info that comes across better in a visual format.
So here we go.
Rabbits make a great beginner livestock for new homesteaders, including those on the smaller size - kids and women. Rabbits are small, quiet, don't take up a lot of space, easy to handle and care for, AND inexpensive.
I just looked on our local classifieds - KSL.com, and found over 300 rabbits listed for sale under pets and livestock. Of those, almost 70 were free, some with cages. This isn't even rabbit selling season, which tends to be spring and early summer, or Christmas time.
Rabbits can be grouped into 3 different functions - meat, wool, and/or pets. A meat breed rabbit, or a woolie, can be kept as a pet, at which point they are usually called "bunnies".
With meat rabbits, you are generally raising them for a food source for your homestead or farm. It may be that they are just for your family meals, you are making your own dog food, or you may even decide to sell the meat to customers in your area (like Daniel Salatin at Polyface Farms).
The woolies can have double function, by supplying fiber for spinning or felting, as well as meat from the ones that don't produce enough wool (yes, some woolies can look like a rex).
You can also keep the rabbit poop, put it in bags and sell it as an all natural slow time released fertilizer that is cold (won't burn plants with direct application). Or you can use oit around your garden, especially for container gardens.
Also, you can tan the rabbit hides for sale, there are videos that show you how. I knew a single mom that raised meat rabbits, to have meat for her family, and she tanned the "rabbits feet" and hides to sell, as well as cleaning the skulls to sell. She wasn't getting rich, but the money helped out a lot.
<*> HOUSING <*>
Commercially available rabbit cages are generally not my first choice for rabbits.
1 - The doors are to small to get the rabbit in and out easily.
2 -They are to small for larger adult rabbits.
3 - Most don't have a door in the top.
4 - The space between the wires is wide enough to allow mice and small rats to get into the cage to eat your rabbit's food and possibly kill your rabbit.
If you do use commercial cages, set them up off of the floor, preferably at a height that is easy for you to work comfortably. If you are straining while working with your rabbits, they'll pick up on that tension and it makes them nervous and less trusting of you and your intentions.
In another video, I spoke of a woman that had 6 rabbit cages in the hall closet in her 1 bedroom apartment. She bred woolies, sold the kits and the fiber, as well as made custom projects with the angora fiber. She also had 2 cages in her living room to grow out the boy kits and the girl kits, so they became accustomed to movement and being handled and gentled.
You can make your own cages with 2x2's and hardware cloth. DO NOT USE CHICKEN MESH. Kits can get stuck in the openings, snakes can get through the openings - well, it just doesn't end well. Go ahead and spend a little more and build your cages right the first time - it'll save you money in the long run.
We had a 12 foot long series of 4 rabbit cages that were each 3 feet wide, 2 foot deep, and 2 foot high. Each of my 8 cages had a door that was 24 inches tall and 20 inches wide. They all had hardware cloth sides and floors, but the top 4 cages had a plywood top (I could store tools and non-food supplies up there), while the bottom 4 cages had a semi-rigid vinyl top that sloped high in the back and lower in the front. There was a 4 to 5 inch space between the top row and the bottom row, that allowed me to scrape any fallen food, straw, hay, or droppings into a bucket with an old handleless hoe.
I also made sure that there was a shelf in all of my cages, A 3 sided wooden box that was about 22 inches long, 10 to 12 inches deep and 12 inches high that was stapled to the wire on the left side of the cage (doors were on the right) This allows the rabbits to have a "burrow" area to mimic their natural need to hide under something when frightened, as well as having an upper area to stretch out on and watch the world go by - the moms really like this as they can get away from their kits.
I also included a large shallow basket filled with straw as a bed, all the time, to again mimic their burrow. The plastic baskets had about 3 inch high sides with small openings to allow for air flow and I got them from the dollar store. These worked because I could take them out to clean, scrub them with hot soapy water, dry, refill with straw and replace. All of my rabbits loved them.
In the winter, I would place large sections of cardboard on the wire floor, to help make the cages more cozy and less drafty, since I didn't heat the rabbit and chicken house (we called it the "chickee").
In the spring, I would remove the cardboard, tear it up, and add it to my compost piles, and any urine that had soaked in (usually from males and younger rabbits) would just add a kick to the compost.
A litter box can be made by cutting a 5 gallon bucket. The front has a lip that is 3 inched up from the bottom of the bucket, and the back is about 6 inches high. I wrap a string from the 3 inch mark to the 6 inch mark, draw a line, and then cut with a saber saw or small hack saw. You can also use a small dollar store wash basin that you can cut one side down a bit with scissors.
<*> WATER <*>
All of my animals get a bit of apple cider vinegar mixed into their water - 1 tablespoon to 1 gallon of water.
Water bottle are great space savers for for the warmer months, but they freeze up in the winter. I use dollar store bowls (3 or 4 for a $1) and had slightly warm water each morning and evening. You can easily just pop the frozen block of water out a the small tapered bowl into a bucket and refill quickly.
<*> FOOD <*>
I usually mix rabbit pellets with safflower seeds, black oil sunflower seeds (both are available in bird food section of stores) and pumpkin seeds (great natural dewormer for animals).
I also give a greens mixture that varies but usually has cilantro, parsley, and 1/2 to 1 inch sections of celery. There may be other things like beet, carrot or radish tops; a bit of cabbage; lettuce hearts; apple skins; whole sunflowers; wild lettuce; common mallow; and dandelion can be added as they are available. There are dozens of lists of natural food and weeds that rabbits can eat if you research online.
Hay is a good source of fiber for your rabbits, and it gives them something to snack on throughout the day. I found that with my woolies, loose hay would get spilled and wasted, as ell as getting into their fur and cause mats and tangles that had to be cut out. So I started using hay cubes which are cleaner and less wasteful.
I have also found that my rabbits LOVE tree leaves. Apple, pear, mulberry, alder, willow - usually dried. I trim my trees and hang the branches in the shade to dry and then use them in the winter as tree hay. Also, I pick up some of the fallen leaves in the fall, and put them in buckets to store until ready to feed. Green bean, pea, and grape vines are favorites as well.
Sunflower seeds can be used as a training reward. All of my rabbits were trained to the smoochie sound to come to me and get a reward, so that I didn't have to chase them. I also used the same sound when I came in to feed them, especially with some of my pregnant females who got aggressive and territorial after mating. They knew that I wasn't going to pick them up, and they relaxed and were more friendly, even to the point of eating out of my hand.
NEVER, EVER give your rabbits the "rabbit and guinea pig treats" that you see for sale in stores. Dried corn will swell up in you animals intestines, causing a blockage that will kill them.
<*> Breeding<*>
Always put the female into the male's cage, or she may hurt or kill him while defending her territory.
Black oil sunflower seeds help her to become more receptive to mating. I don't know why this works, but it does.
I found that letting them see each other for a few days before mating helps first-time does be less skittish towards the male.
Look online for "rabbit breeding by the moon". There are moon phases that will impact the gender, number, and health of the pregnancy and kits. The records of many breeders do seem to show that this is more than just a silly myth. It never hurts to use every trick to be successful, especially if it's free.
If you have any questions, you can post them in the comment section under the video and I'll post answers there so you can find them easily.
Thanks for stopping by, and lots of luck on your adventures in life.
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