I though you would be interested in seeing a few photographs of my meat rabbit kits throughout the past month-and-a-half. We all could use a break to look at adorable bunnies, couldn't we?

No the brown one is not a "wild" rabbit, although he does look like one, doesn't he?


Unfortunately, although the photos were in order by date, they have since been scrambled. They're still cute, though.

Questions asked, Questions answered.

I wasn't able to answer these questions I found at http://www.ihav.net/ because I was having trouble with their site. Here are some of the questions posed, however, with my answers, as I would answer them had I been able to. If they're your questions, I hope this helps. If not, maybe it'll help someday, anyway. You never know when a piece of knowledge can come in handy!

Without further ado...

Question: I want to start breeding rabbits for meat production.
Should I buy my rabbits at my local pet store, or should I drive about an hour to get to the closest rabbit farm.
Will it be cheaper to buy straight from the rabbit breeder than the pet store?Are most rabbits at pet stores already spayed?

 
My Answer(edited for clarity):Not only would the rabbit be cheaper from the breeder(that's where the pet stores get the rabbits, then  they mark them up----between 5 and 100 dollars or more!), but there is also a danger of the rabbits being "altered."
The worst problem, however, and this would be my biggest concern is the lack of knowledge. You don't know if the rabbit is truly a purebred or not. It probably doesn't have a pedigree. And some breeds are simply inappropriate or useless for meat, like the polish and the lion-head. In the pet store, you can't talk to the breeder, ask questions about the breed, ask about the breeder's breeding practices, the individual rabbits, or, especially, the rabbit's family history. If the breed you get is a "mongruel," and the pet store doesn't know the ancestry, you could be stuck with a very poor breeding rabbit and several very poor meat rabbits, indeed. Also keep in mind, most butchers WILL NOT do rabbits. Too small for their time, I guess. Are you prepared to DIY? If not, you'll have to find homes for your potentially mongruel rabbits when there aren't even enough homes for the purebreds. Think This Through Before You Do. We need more meat rabbit breeders, but avoid "rookie" mistakes. That's where the breeder really comes in handy.
***P.S. If you're planning to do this to make money, don't! You won't when working on a small scale.  If you're lucky, you'll break even!***

Question:How can you tell if a baby rabbit is a boy or girl?my rabbit had one baby and i dont know how to tell if it is a boy or girl 10 points for best answer *i need to know today!*

 
My Answer:How old is the bunny? You can't tell reliably until it's at least four weeks old. Six is better. Lay the bunny on its back. Place a finger on each side of its genitals and push gently. The bunny will probably struggle, but that's normal. The genitals will pop out for both genders. A slit in the back means a girl, a hole on the tip means a boy. Just think of how the rabbits are conceived to make that easy to remember. It has to go somewhere! And, although you're being gentle, make sure it is firm enough to make it go all the way out or it will probably be mis-sexed.
And remember, sexing takes practice, so you might want to have a breeder do it, just to be sure. Non-pros almost always mis-sex bunnies. It's just so hard to tell, sometimes.

Question:How can I encourage my baby rabbit to eat?
Three days ago I adopted a wild baby rabbit which was found with hypothermia and shock near my home. Because they are pests here the RSPCA gave me the option to keep him because they would just have to put him down.The problem is that we are having trouble getting him to eat anything. We have tried rabbit mix from the pet shop, pet milk (a fairly generic one that is suitable for kittens and puppies), pet milk with honey, grated carrot, broccoli, grass, dandelion leaves, clover leaves and flowers, and grapes. He doesn't seem to be interested in anything - he will have a little nibble at the grass, clover flowers and dandelion but just nibbles off a tiny piece, chews it up but then doesn't want anything else.He is doing wees and a small amount of poos but I'm getting worried that he is going to starve himself to death! He is very lively, and appears happy and curious. He is quite young (the vet at RSPCA though about 4 wks old) but has thick fur and eyes open so probably weaned.

 
My Answer: I hate to break it to you, but fur just means they're more than about four days old, open eyes, a week or two. Rabbits wean at approx 4-5 weeks, so he's probably pretty close to being weaned if he's really that age.  It can be difficult to tell with wild rabbits, because there are so many variations in habitat. It's possible he's still traumatized. Rabbits have been known to be traumatized for days after being taken into captivity. In fact, you're lucky he's not older,  or he may have died from fear. DO NOT give him domesticated rabbit food. His little system is not designed for it. I'd keep giving him the stuff he's eating for now and slowly introduce more variation as time goes on. Is he getting enough water? It doesn't take much for a rabbit, especially a bunny, to die of dehydration. A few hours is all.
You say he's lively. That's good! It means he's probably going to be okay when he starts eating more. It's also possible there's so much to explore, he doesn't WANT to stop to eat! Most importantly, find a professional rabbit breeder to ask for advice. Or at least a hobbyist with experience. They can be a great source of information about raising young rabbits and can help you even when your bunny's an adult!
Congratulations on your new pet and good luck!
P.S. How fresh are the greens you're giving him? Don't forget, he's used to getting them as fresh as can be, right off the plant. You may want to consider transplanting some (rabbit safe) weeds into a small pot for him. As soon as greens are picked, they lose nutrients. Hope this helps.

    Sapphire's kits are four days old and-it's hard to believe-they're hopping already! They're like little jumping beans! So cute! A couple of them, even though they don't, yet, have a lot of fur, look like they'll be white. 

    On the treat front, we've come across a little barrier. There's a new law that says you can't make livestock or pet food at home in my state. Not without a license, anyway. We don't want to break the law, so the treats will probably have to wait.

     We're still researching other products to supplement our income. Toys, perhaps? Cages?

     We'll keep you updated.