Our bunnies are now 3 weeks and 2 days old. Their eyes are all open and they are often out of the nest box. I finally got an accurate count on how many; there are 9 and some are slightly smaller than others. They all appear to be healthy in spite of the colder, damp, rainy weather we've been having (Eastern Ontario). I have no idea what breeds or crossbreeds they might be, except that they are meat. Mama is all black, Papa was all white, bunnies are: 1 white, 2 brown, 6 black. 2 or 3 of the blacks have white spots. I got them from a guy who didn't know much English, so I only know so much about them. The mama and papa were in a room in the barn with I don't know how many other adult rabbits, all running around loose. Papa died 3 days after we got them and Mama has been sneezing lately.

What I need to know now is, when can we take the nest box out, how old should they be before we take them out of Mama's pen, when can we start figuring out their sex, do siblings breed each other or should I get another buck for the does I keep, what should I do about Mama's sneezing, how old before butchering, and is it important for me to know what breed they are if I want to sell live bunnies?

Perhaps it goes without saying that this is our first experience with rabbits!

-- Cathy N. (keeper8@attcanada.ca), June 04, 2001

Answers

If memory serves me correctly you can wean them 4 to 6 weeks old. Yours are definetly old enough to take the box out(that always depends on the weather, if they will stay warm enough after they are two weeks then anytime is fine. I think I'll let someone else explain the sexing cause its been awhile and its kinda hard to explain without showing. About the breeding, I think the way it goes is, you can breed a son to his mother but you should never breed brother and sisters if you can help it. Feel free to email me with more questions if you need too.

Kellie

-- Kellie Duncan (kashaa@swbell.net), June 04, 2001.

Hi Cathy,

I have raised rabbits for quite a few years now. I have Champagne D'Argents but have raised various other breeds including mixed. When the bunnies start comeing out of the box is about the time I remove it depending on the weather. If is quite cool you may consider leaving it in for a longer period.

I like to ween them at 8 weeks. By that time they will be eating on their own. I had a doe die when the bunnies were 4 weeks old and they all did fine. But if she would have lived they would have stayed with her for 4 more weeks.

Some will breed the doe back at 6 weeks after she has had the bunnies. If you leave the bunnies with her for 8 weeks she will have 2 weeks to prepare for a new litter.

YES, brothers and sister will breed with each other. Rabbits do not care who there relative are. If you have does and bucks together they will mate. You can keep a buck out of the ones you have. I would not use him untill he is 6 months old. (Of course this depends on the breed and size.) Some do line breeding (close relatives) while others choose to bring in new stock that is up to you and what you are looking for.

I butcher when the rabbits get to be the right size. Some suggest 8 weeks but I have found that it takes longer. Rabbits are very easy to butcher once you know how.

Sexing is another matter. That may not be too easy. I have been to rabbit shows where even experienced breeders have sexed them wrong. I will not go into detail either on this subject but I would suggest a book on raising rabbits. It is put out by the American Rabbit Breeder Association (www.arba.net) The name of the book is "Official Guide Book, Raising Better Rabbits and Cavies" It is filled with information and is very helpful. This book is not for sell in stores but if you become a arba member you get it free. You can check out the information at their web site.

Hope this helps.

-- Tom S. (trdsshepard@yahoo.com), June 04, 2001.

Hi Cathy! Good luck with your rabbits, I think you will enjoy them, but be warned rabbit raising is very addictive. You will get all kinds of answers to your questions I think everybody has their own favorite way of raising rabbits. So my opinions-I would keep does and buy another buck, brothers and sisters will breed but I don't let them. You can butcher between 8 and 12 weeks for fryers after about 12 weeks they are considered roasters. Mine are not usually as large as I want them at 8 weeks I usually wait until about 10 weeks. I think you can take the nest box out if they are coming out of it a lot. I usually rebreed at 6 weeks or a little later accordinng to how many rabbits I need, don't wait months between breeding in my experience it's hard to get them breeding again if they have had a long vacation. I don't know about the sneezing, I'm sorry I can't help with that maybe someone else will know. I don't know how to explain about sexing the rabbits. You need a book with pictures or someone to show you. It's not hard after a while, but it is really hard to tell until they are about 6 weeks old. Around here people that want pets care about pretty not breeds, some of my favorites are crossbreeds. I hope I answered some of your questions feel free to email me if you want. Dian

-- Dian (rhoffman@nctc.com), June 04, 2001.

Okay, I'll try the sexing part. Turn the bunny over so that it's back is resting against your chest. Put finger and thumb on either side of the organ and push. It will pop out. The male will usually pop farther with a hole for an opening. The female will have a longer slit. Sometimes a male will pop out farther and have a larger slit (that's the harder one to tell) Another way is to wait until the male is old enough to drop testies. They will be on both sides of the penis, kinda where the hip joins the leg.

I don't eat rabbit myself but have found that most people want minatures and dwarfs for pets. I get more money for the lops.

-- Dee (gdgtur@goes.com), June 04, 2001.

Sneezing might be snuffles, any discharge around nose?

-- kathy h (ckhart55@earthlink.net), June 04, 2001.

Thanks so much to everybody. I feel like I know a little more about what I'm doing here. The sneezing is only occasional and there is no discharge. I am still watching for any other symptoms. Today we took the nest box out and totally cleaned the entire hutch. The bunnies are starting to nibble the hay but haven't shown any interest in the feed yet.

-- Cathy N. (keeper8@attcanada.ca), June 05, 2001.

Cathy,

Try sexing at 8 weeks. Here is one way...

Gently lay the rabbit back in your left arm, with it's tail toward your left hand, it's head against the crook of your arm. Rub it's ears till it's calm. Gently take your right hand, and place your forefinger and middle finger on each side of it's lower reproductive slit. (It's the farthest opening from the base of the tail) Gently and slowly open the exterior slit, until you can see in good light the very small parts just withen. If you see only another long (vertical) opening, doe. If you see a more round than long opening, buck. It's all about the shape inside. After you've looked at 4 or so, you'll begin to recognize the difference. Bear in mind that rabbits are small, and so are their parts, so if you just can't tell on a few, check again next week, and so on until you can tell better.

-- Marty (Mrs.Puck@Excite.com), June 05, 2001.

About the sneezing,I recently had a doe that was sneezing after having a litter and someone on here told me to check my feed and make sure there was no powder in it . I did and changed to a little higher quality feed and she quit and is getting ready for her next litter now.As for the sexing , If I look at one I look for a rounded protrution for a buck and a split for a doe.I have raised rabbits off and on for 20 yrs. This always works for me. Hope I helped!

-- Jimmy Holiday (jholiday@charter.net), June 06, 2001.