Rabbits - The new chicken?
In April 2010, when we were in London for the Future Friendly Family Award ceremony I visited Alison Wilson who runs Big White Rabbits. She was the only person I could find who would admit to keeping rabbits for meat, and who would show me how to humanely kill them. Sadly, some sections of our society think it is cruel to keep rabbits for meat, when often they are kept in better conditions and get more attention than pet rabbits stuck in a wooden hut at the bottom of the garden. Though I also believe, from a broad sheet newspaper, that some commercially bread rabbits are also kept in appauling conditions. It just shows that we need to look at the provenance of all our food.
Some people also feel it is kind to release these animals from their cages. Big white, domesticated rabbits have no ability to survive alone, are easily sunburnt, and stand out against any background other than snow and so are easy prey, thus this is real cruelty.
Alison sold us a buck and a doe, she recommends two bucks and a doe so you can develop your own breeding lines and not run in to in-breeding problems. However, as this was a new project and I wasn't sure of our need we decided to go for one of each intially. The doe was only 8 weeks old, so not sexually mature. The buck at 20 weeks old was, so we kept them separate in runs side by side so they can see each other.
Feeding rabbits can intially seem quite daunting as there is no complete food. This is because rabbits need hay or grass supplemented with some pellets or mixed feed. We give free access to hay and as much green food from the garden as we can. The rabbits like dandelions, dock leaves, black currant leaves, raspberry leaves, willow among others. They then get a scoup full of pellets at night. They are tough creatures who tend to be active early morning and evening. This means they chose to be in their run at these times using their hut to sleep at other times.
Having had success with our omlet eglus we bought two omlet pet houses or rablus. One we bought new one we got second hand on ebay. These are easy to clean, are double skinned so good for the winter and have a nice long run. However, the nice long run allows the rabbits to keep out of reach if they wish.
Breeding requires the doe to be taken to the bucks run. If you do it the other way round she may reject him or worse, does are often bigger than bucks. They need to mate to allow ovulation to occur, this means it is better for them to mate twice in the day, morning and evening. The doe will not show signs of pregnancy until just before kitting (delivery). It is worth keeping a note of the dates of mating for this reason. The week before she may kit it is worth making sure she is somewhere quiet and safe so she can make a nest. If she feels the there is danger then she may well kill the kits as a survival instinct. Our rabbits aren't good mothers, I don't know if that is the norm or not. We have lossed young kits out of the nest, that mum has ignored. She will feed them once or twice a day and otherwise leave them to their own devices. It is best to leave them too. Otherwise mum may feel threatened and kill the kits. Don't handle them until they are at least 10 days old.Rabbits can be slaughtered at about 12 weeks. The meat is much milder than wild rabbit meat, it is a bit like chicken but not as fatty.
Some people also feel it is kind to release these animals from their cages. Big white, domesticated rabbits have no ability to survive alone, are easily sunburnt, and stand out against any background other than snow and so are easy prey, thus this is real cruelty.
Alison sold us a buck and a doe, she recommends two bucks and a doe so you can develop your own breeding lines and not run in to in-breeding problems. However, as this was a new project and I wasn't sure of our need we decided to go for one of each intially. The doe was only 8 weeks old, so not sexually mature. The buck at 20 weeks old was, so we kept them separate in runs side by side so they can see each other.
Feeding rabbits can intially seem quite daunting as there is no complete food. This is because rabbits need hay or grass supplemented with some pellets or mixed feed. We give free access to hay and as much green food from the garden as we can. The rabbits like dandelions, dock leaves, black currant leaves, raspberry leaves, willow among others. They then get a scoup full of pellets at night. They are tough creatures who tend to be active early morning and evening. This means they chose to be in their run at these times using their hut to sleep at other times.
Having had success with our omlet eglus we bought two omlet pet houses or rablus. One we bought new one we got second hand on ebay. These are easy to clean, are double skinned so good for the winter and have a nice long run. However, the nice long run allows the rabbits to keep out of reach if they wish.
Breeding requires the doe to be taken to the bucks run. If you do it the other way round she may reject him or worse, does are often bigger than bucks. They need to mate to allow ovulation to occur, this means it is better for them to mate twice in the day, morning and evening. The doe will not show signs of pregnancy until just before kitting (delivery). It is worth keeping a note of the dates of mating for this reason. The week before she may kit it is worth making sure she is somewhere quiet and safe so she can make a nest. If she feels the there is danger then she may well kill the kits as a survival instinct. Our rabbits aren't good mothers, I don't know if that is the norm or not. We have lossed young kits out of the nest, that mum has ignored. She will feed them once or twice a day and otherwise leave them to their own devices. It is best to leave them too. Otherwise mum may feel threatened and kill the kits. Don't handle them until they are at least 10 days old.Rabbits can be slaughtered at about 12 weeks. The meat is much milder than wild rabbit meat, it is a bit like chicken but not as fatty.
