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Raising Rabbits - Our Adventure

  • cabothomestead
  • Jun 3, 2015
  • 2 min read

Hubby grew up in a family that loved to hunt and fish, so one day he commented on seeing a bunch of rabbit tracks nearby and how he would love to have a rabbit for dinner. That got our brains going - why not raise rabbits for meat?

We started researching, trying to find natural ways of raising them. We decided we wanted a colony set up, hoping to let them live happy lives, but obviously we didn't want them just running loose so the predators could get them.

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Everything we read indicated 10 square feet per adult was all that was needed in a colony and we were only going to be getting 2 does and a buck, so we built our first cage to house a small colony.

We got our first rabbits a few days after completing the cage, and played the waiting game. After all, they were rabbits we should have babies within 6 weeks (allowing time for the to settle in) and the normal 31 day gestation period. Three months later we still had no babies, by that point I should have had up to 2 sets of babies from each of the does - what was going on?

A good friend of ours came for a visit and we asked him, as he used to raise rabbits, so he went down to the rabbits and checked the genders - the lady we got them from sold us all males. Not going to get many babies that way.

A few days later our friend got a call, someone had some rabbits they couldn't keep due to bear problems, so he went and picked them up. Just so happened that there were a few does in the group, so he kindly gave us those to replace our extra boys.

Now we have a very active colony, with 8 does and a single buck. We have a fairly steady supply of rabbits available now. Soon they will be moved to a new housing area with a larger outdoor area and lots of fresh greens for them to graze. Check back for more posts on our rabbit adventures.

 
 
 

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Address: PO Box 104

Vavenby, BC V0E 3A0

Email: cabothomestead@gmail.com

Phone: 1.250.674.1775

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