How about Rabbits?

I havent seen any posts on Rabbits so I hope some of you are Rabbit people too! I have a Sweet Buck, Mini rex, his Name is Rabbit! Named of course by my Grandson! I obtained two Pretty does for him , only to discover that they were already Bred! Well Now im waiting for new little ones to arrive at any minute now!
My question is this, How long after I see fur pulled by the Mom will she have the bunnies! Should I do anything special for them or will Mama take care of everyting? As you can see she has quite a lot of fur pulled as of yesterday morning!

When I discovered the fur yesterday, she had made a nest in the corner next to her box and not in it. I lifted the nesting material into the box, so the babies wouldnt fall through the cage. Well today she has taken the nesting material and put it back into the corner! Minus the fur! So should I leave her to her own judgement and just put some type of " guard" under the nest?

Lovely bunnies! We're planning on getting a couple in two months. When we visited Polyface Farm nearby, their winter layer house had rabbit cages around the interior perimeter: the rabbits' droppings would fall into the litter, and the chickens would "stir" it in. Nice spring compost, and a very clean smelling building.

Wish I knew the answer but I'm sure I'd be nervous *not* putting something under the cage. Rabbits don't naturally live in elevated nests so I'm guessing the babies would wander and fall. Hope someone else knows more!

id just leave her be if she gets upset she may eat the young

We are still waiting on " Lulu" and " Marshmallow". Neither seem to be in any hurry! although "Lulu" did create her nest early she has rearranged and rearranged it til theres hardly any thing there to call a nest any longer! I think she must be a very young doe, apparently she hasnt the foggiest idea about what is about to happen! I guess since neither of the girls has Kindled yet they must have been bred the day before I bought them! Oh well today or Sunday will have to be the day, or they both are have false pregnancies which I doubt! OOOOOh the suspense is killing me!
Zeppy , We have the same situation here with the Bunnies and the Chickens! rabbit cages ( Only one duplex) is mounted on a frame about a foot off the floor and the Chickens can come as they please! Old Mama Barred Rock Has even quit laying in her regular nest and built one close to the bunnies instead! they all get along so well!

I'll second that motion.
At one time I had around 100 does. Some got moody if you came in the building when they were close to delivering.
I had covered nest boxes with just a hole in the front. Think like a rabbit, they are supposed to be wild animals, so are trying to protect their off spring from predators. You are the predator!
Good Luck!
Bernie

I am referring to phicks post.

This message was edited Feb 10, 2007 5:55 AM

Well I hoped by now to be at the coast and have 5 or 6 rabbits to raise for meat purposes. We have cages etc but have put off retiring for a year or so.
Are yours pets or do you also use them for meat?

Lavina

Hey all, Well today is the 29 th day since I brought the girls home! Still no bunnies! They are fine and seem very relaxed! I go out and feed them every morning. they are eating and drinking very well! I pull fresh hay from the field for them every day also. As for their nesting boxes, Lulu pulled fur 3days ago, but has completely rearranged everything now! Marshmallow hasnt pulled her fur yet nor made a nest! So we are down to the last 2 days now! Come on bunnies!
Oh LavinaMae, I got the Rabbits to raise as pets for now and since I had no intentions of raising little ones yet, but they came already bred , I will now have bunnies to sell for Easter! Since we live in a Rural area Im quite sure they will sell great! By Easter Week they will be more than old enough to go to new homes!

hav they had the babies yet?

Oh my goodness, did I ever make a mistake! I was a week off by the calendar! Some how I got ahead of myself ! My babies were born tonight! I cant wait till tomorrow so I can take some pictures to share with you all! I have no idea how many yet but both "Ladies" delivered around the sametime! I didnt wont to disturb them ,so I have no idea how many we have! Oooooooh Im so excited!
Til tomorrow!!!! E.

congrats on the fluffys

any pics yet

Congrats!

how are your babies going got any pics yet?

Well, I was wrong! I thought we had babies but nope! they totally fooled me! Can you believe it, they both went through false pregnancies!!! they both made nests and pulled fur and everything you would expect them to do, but no babies. I checked to make sure that they had not kindled and ate them, but no, no blood or discharge or anything! When "Lulu" covered her nest with fresh straw , I had assumed that she was hiding young, but it was all just a false alarm. I am so dissapointed.
Sorry guys I know you all were waiting as anxiously as I was!

Oh yes ,.......If you are out there Dear Friend Janet, ..... only love and happiness to you and yours, 2 and 4 leggeds!

Did your rabbit ever have babies? I'm waiting on 3 supposedly bred does. No fur pulling yet....

One of my does pulls fur about 24 hours before she kindles and the other about 3 days before. Don't be surprized if they don't care for their first batch. We have had some does that are perfect the first time out and others that refuse to care for their first litter. We had one who snacked on hers and after the second litter we got rid of her and replaced her with a rabbit that will snarl and growl and threaten to take your arm off when you feed her, but is the most wonderful breeder we have ever had. As soon as she is pregnant or delivers she is just as sweet as can be, but as soon as they are gone, it's back to the bunny from hell.

One thing you do have to watch for is the babies getting pulled out of the nest. Obviously the mothers think they are done nursing, but the babies don't and get dumped outside the nest. We solved the problem by stapeling a piece of rubber (soft plastic would work) across the bottom lip of the nest box. It works like a squeegie when she steps out.

Good luck Byndeweed, nothing is cuter than baby bunnies!

During the winter months it's much more likely for a doe to either not take when bred or go thru a false pregnancy because in the wild rabbits don't breed this time of year. I just started raising rabbits last fall and have mini rex and holland lops, you can see my bunnies at www.daisypatchrabbits.homestead.com

My husband made nest boxes for me using a template found here http://www.thenaturetrail.com/BuildingNestBoxes.htm They work really well and were fairly inexpensive. You would have to adjust the size for med/large rabbits but they work great for dwarf and small rabbits. I didn't use fence staples to attach the wire to the bottoms but just regular heavy duty staples in a staple gun...not like you'd use for paper :) The above website also has LOTS of helpful information. I have 2 litters in the nest box, 2 litters just weaned and three does still due to kindle very shortly.

Lana

Here's some babies in the nest box. Momma makes the nest in the back under the covered part and as they get older and start coming out of the nest they spend more time in the front part of the nest box.

For anyone raising them for meat, we have discovered that shake and bake for chicken tastes great with rabbit. Especially the B-B-Q.

i have 3 bunnies-2 holland lop does and a california white buck. beautiful pics!! i did have a 3rd holland but she died this winter, sadly. didn't know so many here had bunnies.
silkie

Yumm, will have to try that shake and bake!

Soak in milk and rosemary for two or three hours, then fry like chicken-yum yum! My kids like this better than chicken.

Do you coat them in flour and such as you would fried chicken? I've never done fried chicken because dh can't eat chicken. I do love rosemary on poultry though.

Lana

Yes, I make a seasoned flour(salt, pepper) just like with chicken. I use a heavy saute pan with a mix of oil(canola) and butter heated until fragrant, add your rabbit(which has been cut into pieces and dredged in flour), Turn it when down-side is browned and brown the other side. Cook uncovered, turning frequently, until it's done about 1/2 hour or so. I use this recipe with the younger rabbits(just like you would with a younger chicken).
You can pretty much use the same seasonings on a rabbit as you would a chicken.
Sue☺

well, adding rabbits to our "someday" list... wish they could free range LOL

Actually...We do take them out into a large fenced area where my nephew has a blast watching them scamper around-usually about an hour a day in nice warm weather. They nibble on grass and clover.
I think I have a pic from last year..thought I had one with several of the bunnies but can't find it! here's one with a disgruntled look!

here is a pic of my new baby i got last night. she's a dutch and we named her velvette. she looks a little bigger in pic but she is not much more bigger than my hand, she is a little thing.

these r my holland lops. lily is on the left and bubbles is on the right.

I like those cages where the poop falls through the bottom. It's easy to gather it for fertilizer.

BB, I use to have a boss who raised rabbits for meat and under the cages in the "poop" he raised worms for fishing....
And sold fertilizer on the side...

What a man he was.... a millionaire down in the everglades... lol (we trained guard dogs)

I raise worms too! There are a couple of ladies(the Worm Ladies of Charlestown http://angoraandworms.com/ ) a short drive from me that sell them and you should see all the compost they have! They also raise Angora and Rex show rabbits and the worms take care of all of their poo!! I have a bin in the basement that I keep them in-they love rabbit poo, any veggie leftovers, banana peels, egg shells, ect! There is a forum on DG for Vermicomposting: http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/f/wrigglers/all/

oh girls, the things i dream of you are already undertaking...

Thanks for the cooking tips. Hope to use it soon! I get my bunnies out in a doggy exercise pen and let them play in the grass. Their cages are made for large size cages so have LOTS of room for a dwarf rabbit move in.

Lana