Hi, Yes, I breed rabbits for the table and have now for a number of years. I have a number of different meat breeds and I also often mix them in breeding, partly because I like to grow out a number of them to a older age at certain times of the year so that I can also keep their pelts.

New Zealand whites have their place in a good breeding program but there are other breeds that are just as good for personal small farm use.

Hi Farmgal - Which breed of rabbit do you think is the best for meat?

Well, I guess if I had to pick just one breed- it would be the californian, they do well in both my hot summers and cold winters, they are excellent meat to feed ratio growers,they have a good pelt, they are excellent mothers, or at least the lines i have bought are the above...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Californian_rabbit

Thank you for that Farmgal, much appreciated.

I was looking for a couple of rabbits, Farmal, do you sell breeding stock. I want to start my grand son off on looking after some rabbits. We use to have small pet rabbits. I have this great cage were I place it over the garden and just let the pop fall down, and periodically move the cage. Bunny pop is the best, can be use right away, not burn like chicken, cow etc.

Hi Beth

I have not sold stock, I have sold some meat rabbits, I typically only breed for my own use and I don't keep enough breeding bucks to keep the lines apart enough to sell a trio of unrelated does and unrelated buck.. I could most likely provide two related mixed breed good quality does in a couple months that are hand selected as breeding stock, or one really nice mixed breed buck..

While I have bought purebred, I tend to produce cross-bred and some of the does I currently have are a mix of three breeds at this point.. Totally agree with you about the rabbit poo, its wonderful for the gardens, and you don't have to compost it the same way as you do with the hot manures.

I think a mix breed would be more hardy. I was thinking of a couple of does to start off with, and think about breeding after I move. hard to pack a bunch of bunny's. Now all have to get out my books on this, but is it right you can have a couple of does living together, just keep the buck in there own cage, and bring the doe to the buck for breeding?. i think.

No, when they are little, you can split them at weaning into female and male smaller groups, (depending on cage size three to four for grow out) but typically between four to six months of age, and certainly by the time breeding age comes, each does needs its own pen, or they will fight, now some folks (I tried it) if you have of room and lots of beds/hidy holes, you can do them in a floor style, I did it one summer and it worked well, they breed well but I had a higher kit loss then I do in a single proper off the ground pen per doe.. but I learned alot about rabbit behaviour.

Ideally you take the doe to the buck and let him breed her twice in a row while wait and then back to her own pen.. The does seem more comfortable in joint or side by side pens, so they have visits but don't have to share space or nesting area's.

Thanks for that farmgal . People across the way have rabbit running all over the place, they live under there deck year round. Spring summer time they have all kinds of baby coming out from under the deck. Way to much inbreeding for me, lol.

Beth: If you are looking for rabbits, I'd recommend Kijiji. There are always people selling or giving them away.
I ran a small breeding program for a little over a year. I had a Dutch buck, a Dutch doe, a NZ white doe and a Lionhead doe. I had a 40 day breeding schedule (breeding the doe back to the buck 8-9 days after the last litter), and I butchered at 10 weeks. Between late April and end-of-October, I put 80 rabbits in the freezer. The average litter size was as follows:

Dutch doe: 8 kits
NZW doe: 12 kits
L-H doe: 8 kits

The only rabbits I paid for were the Dutch pair, at $20/each.

This lady comes highly recommended. Marjory Wildcraft
Backyard Production of Rabbits in Texas PDF
http://backyardfoodproduction.com/resources/3 #

This lady comes highly recommended. Marjory Wildcraft
Backyard Production of Rabbits in Texas PDF
http://backyardfoodproduction.com/resources/3 #

I think the Texas bunny might have been blown away in the twister they just had. I think i would support a local breeder, but thanks.

Where I live, dressed rabbit in the local store is $18 a package...so around $6 a pound I figured. When it's available.

I tried to breed rabbits once. I dove in head first - bought 2 mutt rabbits from a local pet shop. They stayed just friends 🙁

I plan on doing this again in the near future, with some chickens. I need to clear some land first. From what I can figure out, it's definitely worth doing - even in a backyard in town. I'm sure I'll be asking tons of stuff when I start again.

Runs with Scissors

Run with Scissors , I will find time soon to write a few idea's on the bush but just a heads up.. almost all pet stores now will only carry one sex in the store so that there is no breeding and unplanned babies showing up after they are sold etc.. so they were either both females or males if you got them at the same shop.. if you ask, they should be able to tell you and at least in ottawa, there are two stores that do females and two stores that sell males, but they use alot of the same breeders, so you might be breeding quite related or even littermates or half sibs etc..