I'm planning on raising rabbits. I don't have any equipmanet yet, but I'm working on finding the right stuff. Does anyone have any suggestions on breeds, equipment, food, etc.? It would be extremely helpful. Kelly

-- Kelly Ballou (Abamek@aol.com), March 08, 2000

Answers

Where do you live? Winter temperature/summer heat are the biggest factors to consider when it comes to housing rabbits. As for cages, breeds, care, etc there are numerous books (see the Countryside bookstore, Lehmans catalog, probably even Amazon.com). The standard cage is a two part enclosure, raised off the ground, with a closed box for nesting and an open area with wire floor for everything else. You can keep a bucket under the potty corner to collect all the droppings for the garden. David C.

-- David C (fleece@eritter.net), March 08, 2000.

A couple of nontraditional ways of keeping rabbits are covered in Joel Salatin's book YOU CAN FARM...he discusses pasturing rabbits in "rabbit tractors" which lessens feed requirements and maintains healthy rabbits, and also shows a picture of suspended rabbit hutches which allow rabbit droppings to fall to the floor in a hen house, making the droppings available to the hens, allowing for natural sanitization. If you have other animals, such as goats or sheep, or chickens, this is a must read. Have fun!

-- Michelle Maggiore (mmaggior@mindspring.com), March 10, 2000.

Kelly, though we started rabbits in the normal hutch in the backyard that you had to stoop over to try to feed or water, we now have wire cages that are hung at eye level in our hen house. The hens keep the ground nice and scratched up so their is no smell. Also anything that falls to the ground is ate by the chickens. This has been wonderful. We also do better with wooden nest boxes in the winter and metal nest boxes in the summer. We feed our pellets, I tuck a handful of hay wedged in their door for them to nibble on and keep out plenty of water. I like the waters that Jeffers sells 1-800- jeffers, they are large quart widemouth red lidded ones that are easy to use and hang on the outside of the cage. I also use crocks for food and more water. Since we use a good high protein pellet (Purina) I do not use salt etc. I do give them BOSS (black oil sunflower seeds) this is just recently, because we have alot and on a recent post elsewhere on this list, another gal uses them. They love them... Good luck, Vicki McGaugh

-- Vicki McGaugh (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), March 11, 2000.

Kelly, Lota of good info on the cages and feed. I like to raise the New Zealand and California breeds of rabbit. I have crossed them with Checkered Giants cause I like their dispositions and I like the colors. Also they are the primary meat rabbits to raise. The dwarf rabbits are cute and sell for pets, but take extra care as they don't seem to be as hardy. karen

-- Karen Mauk (dairygoatmama@hotmail.com), March 12, 2000.

One of the best cage set ups I have seen is a new one extrona has put out[ www.extrona.com it has a drop nest box built into the side, has removeable panels for easy floor cleaning and interesting looking waters ,dont know how much they run but they are well thought out.

-- kathy h (saddlebronc@msn.com), March 13, 2000.

Kelly- If you are in cold country you will have to figure out how to keep your rabbits watered in winter. I've tried lots of different things and the best I found is a plastic bowl that I can knock the ice out of.( It was a hassle to bring new waterers and water out to the barn and then bring in the frozen bowls to thaw.) I have a habit of spilling water all over me when the wind chill is -60 Degrees. The other thing is if you want to keep them in with the chickens, make sure the chickens can't roost on top of the cages. The books say rabbits shouldn't be with chickens because of diseases but I always did it and had no problems. Also , in winter I put a nice layer of hay down on the wire floor of the cage. They seemed to appreciate the extra warmth.

-- Peg (jnjohnsn@pressenter.com), March 13, 2000.

Thank you so much for all your help!

-- Kelly Ballou (Abamek@aol.com), March 20, 2000.