I have rabbit and a lot of questions. I feed them the same kind of hay that my horses eat, and occasionally a carrot. Are they getting the right stuff to keep them healthy? Do they really like sunflower seeds? I have a friend who has rabbits that don't like them. Also, is it safe to breed a domestic rabbit with a wild rabbit after the wild one is considerably tame?

-- Jessica (jaywig86@psknet.com), March 09, 2002

Answers

As with any animal introduce any new food slowly. Rabbits can eat anything they like. Avoid bananas it gave mine the squirts. Sunflowerseeds are good. Are these meat rabbits? Corn is good for bulking them up. Pellets are always good if of a good quality, they have the vitamins and minerals the rabbits need.

Susan

-- Susan in MN (nanaboo@paulbunyan.net), March 09, 2002.

Hi Jessica. Wild rabbits carry/have Tuleremia(sp). I would never even consider housing a wild rabbit near my rabbits, much less breeding to one. As to the feed, I feel they need a more varied diet, along with mineral salt licks. Are they just pets or breeders? That would make some difference in their food needs.

-- Dianne wood (woodgoat@pacifier.com), March 09, 2002.

Pumpkin, squash, beets, apples, sunflowers and especially dandilion greens. No lettuce or products from the cole family. Feeding alfalfa is great and helps with their digestive system, but variety helps insure adequate nutrition. Of all my rabbits, I have found that other than the dandilion greens, no two rabbits have the same tastes. Mostly, your objectives should determine your feed program. Pet rabbits have different requirements than those raised for meat, or for show, or for pelts.

As for breeding to a wild rabbit, well, I wouldn't.

Have fun with your bunny! They really are my favorite on the farm.

-- Danni in NV (IMDT@hotmail.com), March 09, 2002.

On a little different note, when is the optimum time to butcher out a rabbit?

-- Sissy Barth (iblong2Him@ilovejesus.net), March 09, 2002.

Jessica, wild and domestic rabbits will NOT interbreed! Contrary to a previous post telling of mixed breed rabbits in some places, those are feral hares. And hares are what the domestic rabbits are, and of European origin. Rabbits are born fully furred while hares are born naked. The only hares that we have native to North America are varying hares which are better known as snowshoe rabbits, a misnomer, and jackrabbits To ask a rabbit to breed with a hare would be like asking an orangutan to mate with a gorilla since they are both primates. It won't happen!

And as for keeping wild and tame rabbits together, I've done it with success but wild rabbits do not like close company and tend to be instinctively nervous. However, I did have one third generation wild female who even adapted the habit of laying on her side like a tame rabbit instead of sitting on her feet to execute a quick escape. Thus that is not impossible. Tularemia, a disease that can also be transmitted to humans, is mainly found only in very warm climates and, in fact, is named for Tulare County, California, where the disease was first discovered.

-- Martin Longseth (paquebot@merr.com), March 10, 2002.

As for butchering - around 10-11 weeeks is a good age for fryers. I've heard they start getting tougher after 12 weeks. Older rabbits are great in stew or crock pots - or you might try making rabbit sausage.

-- Cheryl in KS (cherylmccoy@rocketmail.com), March 10, 2002.

Hi Jessica, Try posting your question on Raising meat rabbits for profit :http://hv.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a.tcl?topic=Raising% 20meat%20rabbits%20for%20profit A lot of good information over there. Enjoy your rabbits,Daryll

-- Daryll in NW FLA (twincrk@hotmail.com), March 10, 2002.

You can buy a bag of rabbit pellets st any feed store, these will be formulated for your rabbit. You can also add in hay, carrots, graham crackers, and other snacks if you like.

-- Sarah (bunny@notreal.com), March 10, 2002.

Someone on here said that domestic rabbits will not breed with wild rabbits and that is not the case! They will! I know of a whole herd of rabbits who are crossbreeds and they bred to little brown wild rabbits!

But I wouldn't advise this AT ALL! There is just something in the wild rabbits that even tho you think they are tame, they aren't. Also, I raised a wild rabbit on a bottle one time and the local game warden told me I HAD to turn it loose when it was old enough! (which we were planning to do anyway!)

suzy

-- Suzy in Bama (slgt@yahoo.com), March 10, 2002.

Oops, change data on hare and rabbit young. Hares are born fully furred and with eyes open. Rabbits are born naked and blind. Could not believe my post when I saw it this aft! But still skeptical about wild and tame mixing. There are tame varieties that look very much like our native cottontails. If a mixed lot were to go feral, the breeding over the years would probably revert to the original wild stock from which they were derived from in Europe or would become something that does not even exist anymore in the wild. Just as if dogs were allowed to breed willy-nilly for 8 or 10 generations. They revert to a strange yellow cur. I should like to have a real biologist report on those wild and tame rabbit/hare crosses please.

-- Martin Longseth (paquebot@merr.com), March 10, 2002.

For everything that you want to know about keeping and caring for rabbits, go to www.rabbitweb.net As for the myth of wild and domestic rabbits interbreeding, the answer will also be found there. Hares have 24 pairs of chromosones. Domestic rabbits have 22 pairs. Cottontails have 21, Mating is possible between the different species but the resulting embryos die after a few cell divisions because of the differences in the number of chromosone pairs. There ARE several very large species of cottontails, mainly in the south, Marsh Cottontail and Swamp Cottontail which are separate from the more common Eastern Cottontail.

-- Martin Longseth (paquebot@merr.com), March 11, 2002.