Homestead Rabbit Fundamentals

So that you simply want to start your homestead rabbit journey, nonetheless you’re undecided the place to start out. What do rabbits eat? How quite a bit do they eat? What happens within the occasion that they get sick? How do they dwell? Whereas these items can all be elaborated on extensively, we’ll try to sum it up for you in a condensed mannequin. Whether or not or not you merely purchased your rabbit herd, in any other case you’re about to, there are some key homestead rabbit fundamentals you’ll must know.

Rabbits are an superior sustainable meat provide for homesteaders for various causes:

Rabbits do not require various space.
They reproduce shortly and in huge numbers. One doe can produce 6-10 kits per litter with a imply for 4 litters per 12 months.
They’ve an surroundings pleasant feed-to-meat conversion cost.
They’re quiet which is correct in suburban areas.
Their droppings might be utilized straight on the yard without having to be composted first.
They’re going to current meat, beautiful pelts, fertilizer, and further income from displays or selling kits. You’ll even promote their droppings to gardeners.

Now let’s get into the rabbit fundamentals that it is good to know to realize success with them in your homestead.

Rabbit Housing Selections

Sooner than purchasing to your first rabbit pair, decide for those who want to enhance them on pasture, in cages, in colonies, or specifically particular person cages.

Some of us choose to spice up rabbits on pasture, whereas others choose to spice up them in hutches. Some, like us, even choose to do every.

Regardless of the housing, you’ll need to be sure that they’re secure and shielded from predators. Rabbits should even be out of direct daylight, if the least bit doable, throughout the hotter months. Throughout the cooler months, direct daylight is okay. Nonetheless be certain that they’ve a shaded house the place they will go inside their hutch.

Ought to you choose to do wire hutches that aren’t on pasture, we extraordinarily counsel investing in a flooring mat that they will sit on must their ft ever get burdened from the wire. You can purchase them proper right here, or you’ll merely put a small piece of plywood of their hutch.

Be sure that all hutches are draft-free throughout the winter months, as chilly air could possibly be detrimental to rabbits. You’ll moreover want to pack their hutches full of straw throughout the winter time.

Rabbit Housing Requirements:

Hutch, Cage, or Moveable Tractor: Whichever you choose, be certain that there’s ample space for the breed you enhance. A fundamental rule of thumb is 6-9 sq. ft of space per rabbit.
Resting Mat for wire flooring: Wire mesh could possibly be arduous on rabbits’ ft so add a ceramic tile or one different kind of cage mat to help forestall sore hocks.
Shade Materials and/or Wind Stop: Within the summertime months, rabbits have to be protected towards direct daylight. Throughout the winter, they have to be protected towards chilly drafts.
Waterer: Water bowls & bottles are frequent decisions, nonetheless you may additionally use an automatic watering system.
Feeder: Use a free standing bowl, a feeding cup hooked as much as the cage, or a trough vogue feeder.
Nest Packing containers: Add a nesting subject when your doe is close to kindling.

Choosing a Meat Rabbit Breed

Choose prime quality breeding stock to learn out of your rabbitry. First, it is good to find out which breed matches your needs among the finest.

Would you like rabbits for meat manufacturing or would you like current prime quality rabbits?

Do you want to enhance purebred rabbits or do you wish to cross two completely completely different breeds?

Do you want hybrid or heritage breeds?

Some frequent rabbit breeds embrace:

Rex
New Zealand
Californian
Flemish Giants
Silver Fox
American Chinchilla
Champagne D’argent

After choosing your greatest breed(s), you’ll begin looking for the animals that may form the underside of your rabbit breeding program. Be sure that each doe and buck reveals the easiest qualities of their respective breeds. This helps to be sure that the kits they produce might be high quality as correctly.

Fundamentals of Breeding Rabbits

Be sure that you calculate the timing of breeding appropriately. You don’t want does to be kindling when you find yourself out of metropolis or simply not ready for them. Rabbits give begin just one month after breeding so have all of the issues researched, prepped, and ready sooner than ever inserting the doe and buck collectively so that you simply don’t end up dashing spherical at kindling time.

Rabbit Breeding Concepts:

Rabbits attain sexual maturity between 3-6 months of age. This varies from breed to breed.
Put the doe into the buck’s cage. Do you have to put the buck into the doe’s cage, she may battle him as female rabbits are usually territorial.
Don’t put the breeding pair collectively and stroll away. Hold and observe to make sure the male “falls off”.
A rabbit’s gestation interval is 28-31 days.
Place the nest subject throughout the doe’s cage each week sooner than her due date. She ought to start developing her nest naturally.
Kits are typically weaned between 6-8 weeks of age.

What Must I Feed Rabbits?

Rabbit feed, to me, might be essentially the most fascinating part of elevating rabbits. There are a variety of completely completely different combos of feed decisions so you will have to place in some work up entrance to find out what you want.

Feeding Hay

Nearly all of a rabbit’s meals routine ought to incorporate some sort of hay—ours love orchard grass. It is also potential to offer your rabbits alfalfa hay, nonetheless be careful to not over do it. An extreme quantity of alfalfa means an extreme quantity of calcium. Do you have to’re feeding them alfalfa hay, then they do not need a extreme calcium/protein pellet.

Raw Meals for Rabbits

The next provide of feed is raw meals. Ought to you choose to do a completely raw meals meals routine, together with hay, each rabbit needs about one quart of raw meals day by day. This can be inside the kind of carrots (sparsely), greens (resembling kale or romaine lettuce), and plenty of others. Fruit can also be given as a cope with, nonetheless not overly achieved as they’ve various sugar in them.

Rabbit Pellets

A rabbit pellet is the last word risk for rabbit feed. Choose a pellet that is extreme in protein for those who’re elevating meat rabbits. Pure is best.

Rabbits on Pasture

You’ll enhance your rabbits on pasture, nonetheless be warned, they’re going to develop quite a bit slower on pasture and never utilizing a pellet or hay complement.

Rabbit Treats

What about treats? Your rabbits don’t “need” treats, nonetheless we do complement and add treats to feed, resembling Black Oil Sunflower Seeds, and completely different different sorts of seeds. Because of seeds are extreme in fat/oil, we give them in rations, as to not make the rabbits fat. You’ll even make your particular person rabbit treats.

Pure Feed Additions

We moreover benefit from together with herbs to our rabbit’s widespread meals routine. Thyme, oregano, rosemary, echinacea, cilantro, parsley, and almost another herb you’ll uncover on the retailer. Please do your evaluation to see which herbs rabbits can have. Nonetheless, these I mentioned above are a number of of our favorites. Whereas they are a tasty cope with, they’re moreover an unimaginable immunity booster.

Clear Water is Essential!

Moreover, don’t neglect WATER. Rabbits need a persevering with present of water. Throughout the wintertime, this can be arduous. We modify over to crocks pretty than bottles, so that they will a minimum of lick the ice.

Rabbit Fundamentals: First Help Tools

Inevitably, your rabbit will uncover itself in a predicament in some unspecified time sooner or later in its life.

Whether or not or not it’s a harm paw, or one factor additional dire like a respiratory topic, there are points to keep up out there so that you just aren’t working spherical frantically on the lookout for one factor to help your ailing livestock.

We choose to cope with holistically proper right here on our homestead, so I’ll be itemizing what holistic therapies I preserve out there.

Vibactra Plus Immunity/Digestive Improve — We give this every few months for 3-5 days at a time. This helps enhance immunity, aides in digestive factors, and helps cleanse the physique of parasites.
Otalgia Drops for Ear An an infection — Rabbits are weak to ear infections, and may usually get ear mites. Otalgia drops are an superior risk. Do you have to don’t want to buy Otalgia drops; water, honey and necessary oils moreover help.
Vibactra All Pure Antibiotic — Do you have to’re elevating meat rabbits, the very last item you want to do is cope with it with antibiotics. That’s sort of why we acquired into elevating meat rabbits, in any case. To avoid enterprise therapies. It’s a good, all pure risk for antibiotics.
Essential Oils — Protect peppermint, oregano, and tea tree in my medication tools at all times. Good for cuts and scraps (with a supplier oil).
Diatomaceous Earth (meals grade) — Add this to their feed every few days to help rid their digestive tract of any parasites.
Echinacea Leaves or Powder — Good immunity booster, however as well as one different pure antibiotic remedy.
Totally different points like gauze pads, stitches, scissors, and wraps are moreover necessary.

Rabbit Play Time and Bonding

Each homestead is completely completely different. All of us have other ways of elevating animals, and as long as they’re healthful and joyful, that’s what points.

Proper right here on our homestead, we don’t have various time to spend with the grownup rabbits steadily. Nonetheless, at any time when now we now have a mannequin new litter, we spend various time with them the first 6-8 weeks of life. That’s necessary to a well-behaved rabbit.

Giving your rabbits one factor to play with throughout the meantime is non-obligatory, nonetheless I contemplate you’ll uncover it additional satisfying for them, and your particular person acutely conscious. A small ball is a favorite proper right here. One factor as simple as a buck retailer ball. Nothing higher than them.

In the long run, rabbits are fairly simple to keep up. I encourage you to check out these additional in-depth weblog posts and flicks, for additional knowledge on shopping for rabbits, breeds, housing, feed, and holistic remedy.

Homestead Rabbit Fundamentals – Homesteaders of America