Nov 11
28
Notes For Rabbit Breeding
If a person intends rabbit breeding as a hobby or just to raise a litter or two to help stock their own freezer, a buck (male) and a doe (female) are world renowned for taking care of business. However, if the person is planning to use the meat, fur, wool, or sell the rabbits for other reasons there are rules to follow for rabbit breeders.
First you must decide why you want to raise rabbits, how large you want your operation to be, if it is legal where you are, or if you will have to raise them at a different site. You cannot be successful without doing the proper amount of research.
For instance you might decide that you wish to raise rabbits for meat. It would be logical to assume that the larger breeds of rabbits would be the best; however this is simply not true. Larger rabbit breeds also have larger heavier bones so the meat to bone ratio is actually lower than some of the smaller breeds. If you wish to raise rabbits for meat, do you intend to also try to save the pelts? If so, you may have to follow different rules for skinning the rabbits than a person who just wants the rabbits for the meat. Some rabbits have wool or fur that can be spun from the fur that is shed without harming the rabbit, making many options for using the rabbits that does not involve killing them.
Next you must consider whether you will purchase commercial cages or build your own. Temperature is especially important as rabbits do not do well in high temperatures and air conditioning or fans must be considered if your climate is hot, also heat must be considered during winter months when the temperatures can drop drastically. They are more likely to survive low heat rather than no air conditioning so the person must research the breed they have chosen to find what the best year around temperature would be.
Record keeping is essential in order to track the breeding pairs and their young. If you have one pair and are raising young for your own purposes, you still should keep records of when the pair mated, how long the pregnancy took, at what stage the young were taken from the mother, how long she was rested before being bred again and if there were any problems. This record keeping becomes more complicated with multiple pairs and young, but is essential if the rabbits are being sold for any reason. A tagging system and photos can help to track each rabbit and help protect your brood if a disease does break out.
rabbit breeding can be a good hobby or a profitable business, but it must be handled seriously and be properly researched.
