What you need to raise rabbits for meat

Breeding rabbits in the household will provide the family with dietary meat. A family of four will need 6 females, who bring 48 young rabbits annually, to have rabbit meat on the table five times a week. For the success of your mini-farm, there are a number of important points to consider.

To summarize, to raise rabbits, you will need a good breeding stock, a cage for each adult animal (a nest box for the female is a must), feeders, water bottles, pellets, a place to store manure, and material to shade the cages.

Let's start with genetics. Purchasing a meat-type breeding stock is the first step, as nothing makes up for bad genetics. And feeding a high-quality meat rabbit will cost the same amount as a "scumbag".

A good meat rabbit looks massive, wide, it has a smooth coat, clear eyes and a clean nose. Avoid skinny and long rabbits - they will take longer to grow and gain weight. Check the animal for ear mites and see how the rabbit moves. Shackled movements speak of a sick animal and the cost of not treating.  

When choosing a place for a cage, choose an area where there are no blowing winds, but it is possible to equip a compost pit for storing manure. For a novice rabbit breeder, it is easier to buy ready-made cages - new or old, and all of them must be treated with a bleach solution at the rate of one part bleach to ten water.

The floor in the cage is treated differently. Calcium salts tend to precipitate out of the rabbit's urine and form a solid material that sticks to the surface. To dissolve, moisten the surface with vinegar for 10-20 minutes. And what should this floor be?

Most choose a wire floor for their pets with a wooden or plastic resting pad so that the rabbit can get off the wire whenever he wants. The meshes of the wire itself should be small enough to support the animal, but wide enough for the droppings to fall into the pan.

Wooden slatted floor is not the best choice. It will hold all the manure and urine, and therefore all unpleasant odors.

Feeders for pellets and supplements are separate containers. Do not mix top dressing with the main food. Otherwise, the animals will begin to dig up a tasty supplement, and throw away the food.

Drinking bottles are much more hygienic than bowls. Rabbits will try to spill any water they can jump into. Therefore, experienced people keep water in a bottle attached to the outside of the cage. But drinking should always be available on demand.

For rapid growth and digestion of food, a lot of water is needed. Limit water and you will noticeably limit the growth of rabbits!

The easiest way to feed is pelleted food, which contains the right nutrients. Choose hay/grass pellets over high grain pellets such as corn. Read the label. If the first few ingredients on the list are grains, look for herbal pellets.

Don't forget shading. There is a possibility - from the very beginning, place the cage under the canopy of the building, otherwise use a tarp for shelter. In winter, the same tarp will come in handy to protect against drafts.

Finally, scales. The best way to find out how a rabbit is doing is to weigh it at least once a month and record the result. This will give you an objective picture of your current feeding plan.