My Rabbit Farm

Some rabbits in snuffing their new cage

I decided to write a post solely dedicated to my rabbit farm because each time people see rabbit pictures in my actifit post they start asking one question or the other. I think I remember all the questions been asked so I’ll answer all of them as best as I can.

Past History With Rabbits

Before I started the rabbit farm early last year, I had 2 rabbits as pets when I was growing up and only got separated from them when I went for university studies unfortunately they were attacked by ants in their cages at the back of the compound and died. By the time I was done studying other life worries and challenges took their place in my life.

The Genesis of The Current Situation

We had a new government in my country 2015 and their focus was on making the country self- reliant because we had focused too much on importing virtually everything we needed including what could be sourced locally and we depended heavily on oil revenue which was at contradiction to what the country was known for before which was agriculture. So the government started encouraging people to go back to the farm and placed a ban on some imported stuff which could be produced locally.

Why I Breed Rabbits

Some rabbits in a cage.jpg
Some rabbits in a cage

I saw an opportunity in the economic situation of my country and started my rabbit farm with just 1 buck (male rabbit) and 3 does (female rabbit). I converted part of the old house at the back and merged what use to be two rooms, a toilet and a passage by knocking off some doors and walls and linking them to get a hall like structure that had great ventilation. I removed the window glasses and put nets on them so that mosquitos, cockroaches and other animals couldn’t get in but the air was free to flow.

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Grilled peppered rabbit meat

I breed rabbits to sell to people who went them for meat, pets or for learning in schools. On like dogs, rats, lizards, chicken and other animals that are common, rabbits are not so common so schools buy them so that students can see what a rabbit looks like when teaching them. I eat them as well and they sure taste far better than chicken to me and are the healthiest when it comes to white meat. Most importantly, they are very profitable when you consider the business angle of it. Starting with just 1 buck and 3 does you can get over 100 rabbits in a years’ time if you don’t sell any of them.

Rabbits are very prolific animals and can produce young ones of 2 to 10 for up to 4 to 6 times a year depending on the breed of rabbit. I have New Zealand White breed which are very big in nature, I have the Dutch breed which are smaller and can be distinguished by their color pattern. I also have the mix of the two. Most of my Dutch breeds are now almost as big as the New Zealand White.

Rabbit Hutches

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One of the double decker cages

I built most of the hutches myself but I have 2 double decker hutches that were built by a professional carpenter who made sure I got a heavy bill for his work. Lol. I can’t complain though, He did a very great job. They were built to help make life for me easy managing them. I placed zincs under them so that their waste falls onto it, there is also a pipe that collects waste inside a container at the base of the hutches. The space is enough for them to jump, stretch and play and the once for the mothers are usually bigger.

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Some of the hutches

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Another set of hutches

Rabbits – Friendly Animals

Rabbits are very cuddly animals, friendly and peaceful animals, they hardly make a noise and the neighbors won’t know you have one because they don’t bark like dogs, whistle like birds, crow like chickens that use that to wake you in the morning. Lol. As long as there is food, you only hear the sound of them chewing. The next sound they make is when a buck is chasing a doe to mate her. If the female is already pregnant she will usually resist mating and let out a loud cry when the buck is trying to mount her.

Mating

Miracle - The buck with the master machine gun, he hardly misses his target

For mating you should always take the doe (female) to the cage of the buck (male). There are so many stuff written about when it is right to start mating, this of course also depends on the breed. Rabbits can be mated from when they are 4 to 7 months depending on the breed as I already mentioned. I the wild they breed much earlier than we allow them to as farmer. I guess us humans like considering health issues and animal right stuff which I don’t think the rabbits have in the wild. Lol. Anyways for me I start mating them when they are at least 5 to 6 months old depending on their development..

Check For Pregnancy

After mating you can check if the mating was successful by a process called palpating. Palpate simply means placing the doe on a flat surface and place your hands under the stomach area, next you use your fingers massage it in a bit if you feel round like balls the size of grape fruits or bigger then mating was successful. Palpating can be done 10 to 15 days after mating I usually do it at day 14. If you can’t do this then you take you rabbit to a vet to check for you.

Gestation Period and Preparation for Delivery

A bigger cage for pregnat rabbits i call it the maternity ward.jpg
A bigger cage for pregnant rabbits i call it the maternity ward

The gestation period for a rabbit is 31 days but the little ones can come from day 30 to 34. By day 28 you should put a nest box into the cage of the pregnant doe. You should put materials inside the nest box that the doe will use to build her nest. Some put dried grasses, rags, wood cheapens and so on, for me I use old newspapers and it works very well. Make sure there is enough food and water for the doe although they tend to slow down in eating before they deliver but you still make those provisions available. First time mothers may sometimes get confused about the whole thing and deliver in the cage instead of inside the nest box, not to worry, put on your hand gloves and pick the kits gently and place them inside the nest box. The reason why you should place them there is because the mother can be very careless and stump on the kits and they die.

The Kits (Babies)

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Eva’s and her kits

The kits are born blind, bare skinned and totally dependent of their mother for food which is breast milk for the first 2 to 3 weeks at least. . The mother usually shed fur to protect them from cold and been noticed but I’ve got loads of them that didn’t do that and for us in very hot region I think you don’t have much to worry about, but in temperate regions I think they should shed fur and if they don’t you pool them out gently.

Baby rabbits grow very fast and use their nose to do a lot of snuffing to locate their siblings so that they cuddle together always, they also use it to know when their mother comes into the nest box and rush her because if the miss that opportunity of feeding they might have to wait a full day before she comes back again.

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Gina’s kits at 11 days old

The eyes of the kits will open from when they are 10 to 13 days old and before that time they spend most of their time sleeping and all cuddled together, I guess the heat the generate helps them grow fast. The can grow to 3 times their size at birth before their eyes are open.

The Chase Starts

Once the kits eyes are open, they can see their mother and their body needs more food than it used to need so they start making attempts to come out of the cage box. Once one is successful in doing that, then it is time to remove the next box so that they are all feed at the same time. Some farmers create additional step barrier where the mother can hop on so that the kits don’t reach her while others leave them together. The kit will always want to get breast milk each time it wakes up because its body is using up the energy fast. The mother will sometimes kick the kit off if she is feeling too drained, mind you sometimes it could lead to the death of the kits. Happy to say I’ve never recorded such but it does happen.

Feeding

I feed my rabbits mainly with proceed grain mix but they eat yam, cassava and sweet potato peels (not Irish potato though, for some reasons they have refused to it that) they also eat leaves and their favorite is potato leaves. I usually avoid other leaves because some can be harmfully to them.

For the kits, they start nibbling on the feeds from when they are about 2 weeks and by 3 weeks old their mother discourages them from breast milk a lot, this is in preparation of leaving them soon, I guess that’s the way it is in nature. By the time they are a month they are old they are battling it out with their mother when it comes to eating the grains. If the kits are so many the doe may be finding it hard to get space to grab a beat but with her strength she will succeed.

Leaving Home

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Mercy resting after waning 8 kits

At 4 to 6 weeks depending on the development of the kits, the doe is removed from the cage and placed in a new one where she can recover her strength and build up energy for another go on motherhood. I like giving mine one month space to recoup, there are however intensive farmers that give just two weeks or less depending on how old their kits are.

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Mercy’s kits will soon be put in their own cages soon

For the kits they don’t miss much as they are still in the same environment and they still got their brothers and sisters with them. You start noticing that some are more aggressive than the other when food is put into the cage and learn some of their other characters. Before they are 3 months you separate them and put them into their own cages so that they don’t start inbreeding.

Every Man For Himself

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A kit recently separated - still very shy

On their own they are feed to grow in size and develop fast because in two to three month time they will be ready for action. The male will start crossing the female while the females will be expected to get pregnant and then the whole process starts again.

Record Keeping

Keeping good records of the whole process is very essential because it helps you keep tract of which male and females are performing and which can be sold or killed for meat, record keeping also helps you avoid inbreeding. It lets you know what step to take next in the life of the rabbits, how much feeding is costing you and every other thing.

Medicals

It is important to have the vet visit once in a while to ascertain the health situation of the rabbits, If one is sick isolate it and rust it to the vet. Give them vitamin supplements, anti-worm, anti-bacteria and other preventive medications as prescribed by the vet. Your rabbits will hardly fall sick if you take these preventive steps.

In conclusion

The rabbit farm business is a very cool business, people are always excited to learn that you have a rabbit farm, they are fascinated by seeing so many of them, we always have them in all ages so it is easy to explain their various growth part. It is very profitable and it is a very sustainable way of living because of the healthy meat it provides for the family.

Disclaimer

This is not a post to encourage you to go into the rabbit breeding business, do your own research and seek professional advice before investing your money. What works for us in the hot Nigerian environment might not work in a cold temperate region. Ages and timing might also vary because of weather conditions, so carry out proper due diligence. Thank you.

Picture credit: - All pictures are mine except the ones a source is indicated.

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