What’s in a Rabbitry? Tour My Meat Rabbit Barn!

[@sun101rype]

Thank you for sharing your set and knowledge with us. I am recently retired, moved into a small county and looking into starting a rabbity. This is very helpful. Blessing for all you do.

[@MeatRabbitsOrg]

That's great! Best to you. Thanks for viewing and come back again!

[@VideoconferencingUSA]

Nice job from S Florida, back to rabbits after 45 years of not growing anything. Started 45 days ago with Tamuks.

[@MeatRabbitsOrg]

Very nice! And thank you. They do say that’s a great breed for those of you down south and in what locations. Best to you!

[@79PoisonBreaker]

Mine are outside right next to the garden. keeps it easy for me to give fresh treats in summer and spread their fertilizer where it is needed. Thanks for sharing your set up.

[@MeatRabbitsOrg]

You're welcome. Thanks for watching!

[@roughroadstudio]

I love your space! Mine is a long repurposed roofed dog run built up against the side of our garage. The great part is that we can walk through the attached garage right into the rabbitry, which is nice at night or in wet weather. It's secure and locked, so when all locked up at night I can still do a late night check.

[@MeatRabbitsOrg]

Perfect! And thank you! I'm spoiled :)

[@timothypollard4332]

We've had rabbits for 2 or 3 years now and we have Rexes and Lops. Rabbits are so much fun 😊

[@79PoisonBreaker]

Really like those windows, specificaly how they function

[@MeatRabbitsOrg]

Not gonna lie, I'm spoiled with this barn. The windows are great! I can wedge them open, close them completely, or remove them completely. They are out all summer and it gives me great air flow but also cool enough that heat sterility is never an issue for me.

[@t54760]

Recent subscriber to your channel and I just found your website. Really great information from each. Thanks for the time and effort! Cheers.

[@MeatRabbitsOrg]

Thank you!

[@mllokie9075]

As a worm farmer the only thing I see chickens for is the shells as grit and is good for the soil Thanks I have been looking at rabbits for a few years to here I just worry the -30 winters here

[@MeatRabbitsOrg]

With the right housing, protection, and materials, they'll handle it. It doesn't happen often and not usually for long periods, but we do get down as low as -20 here, and some added hay, etc gets everyone through. Glad this helped and I hope you join the fun! I wish we did it sooner than we did.

[@kirraha]

I live in Sweden and get can at times have -30. I keep them in a barn with woodchop bedding, and aswell straw on the colder time. I had no issues with it, we just have to swap water for them a couple times a day and always make sure they got plenty of hay that never runs out so they can eat all the time to keep the hear.

[@heshamgsjwjsj]

My question is how you can live in such a cold environment, I can't handle 11 °C here in Morocco and you say you live in -30 😮

[@SamanthaIrish-t8k]

@@heshamgsjwjsj I live in Maine in the USA, in winter we can get to -20F, even colder in Northern areas. We and our animals are used to it.

[@johnskipper2619]

Do you do any preventative medications on a schedule for either growouts or your breeders? Like wormers etc? How often do you add acv to their water, as a treatment & for what? Do you periodically spread out DE around the barn or around the cages to help keep fleas, etc out? How often and when do you bleach out and clean the cages, & how long after a thorough cleaning do you wait to put rabbits back in the cleaned cages, (when it dries or the next day)? What other chemicals do you use when cleaning or sterilization. How to diagnose problems & home remedy problems and avoid vet bills? How much are you averageing to spend per month on food and other expenses for the up keep and health of 1 rabbit? (Best estimate)

[@MeatRabbitsOrg]

Hi John. You raise a lot of good questions and topics. I'll take a short stab at them now, but look for them as future videos and articles on the site, too (meatrabbits.org). I don't do much if anything for preventative, because I find that in my setup I don't need to. I keep a mostly closed herd and have never seen any signs of coccidiosis or other major issues, and because they are in a barn in cages off the ground, the likelihood of them contracting that is very low. ACV has a few uses, and I don't necessarily use it on a schedule, more just when I feel the need. It can be a booster and has vitamins and minerals, and is said to help with doe productivity/receptiveness, but I have tried that and am not entirely convinced. Mostly I'll use it every now and again (say, monthly for a week?) to help keep urinary health and reduce calcification in urine, and to support the immune system. For that, I add it when times may be more stressful, like in high heat or cold weather I don't do DE around the cages because again, they are in the barn and have little exposure. Mostly they would have to catch that off one of our pets, but the pets are all treated so I've never had that be an issue. Outside, though, that's a good idea for sure. I use it a lot in my garden and other places. I tried it in the drop waste pans to control flies in summer, but it didn't seem to do much, probably because the DE gets wet and then isn't abrasive enough. I use a bleach spray on cages between sets and try to power wash and "spiff up" cages once a year . I wait until after the bleach dries and put the rabbits back in the cages (or fill them with new rabbits). Usually happens after harvesting one set of grow outs and before the next move in. Vet and health issues is a long but very good discussion, but mainly, I focus on good care, feeding, maintenance and prevention. I use minimal products as needed, which is almost never. Mineral and Tea tree oil for ear mites (that happened once), salve if we have a sore hock or injury (also uncommon because of the rest mats). As for vet bills, I avoid them. Through good management and culling. I select breeders from good and hardy stock. Cull anything that looks like it would pass on a health problem. Be involved and check animals daily to spot early problems and if there is a major one, I'd cull the rabbit before calling a vet. Two reasons: first and most importantly, as prey animals rabbits hide their weaknesses and illnesses and by the time they let you see it, it's usually too far gone. Secondly, it doesn't pay in a production program. A vet visit here would run me at least $250 just for the call; the vet is unlikely to be able to do much more than a well-informed breeder can do; I can replace that animal--which may be prone to illness or weakness anyway that could be passed along--with a very high quality animal for well under $100. Pet people wouldn't want to hear this, but that is farm life. And often, calling a vet is prolonging suffering for no result. One other important note--rabbits are often classed as exotic animals by vet services. It can be very difficult to even find a vet to service one, depending on where you live. Feed estimates....I do plan to go into this in more depth in the future, but I figure my rabbits cost about 23 cents per day for adult rabbits. Keep in mind that grow outs don't eat at that rate the whole time (because they are nursing and eating little pellet or hay in the first four to six weeks). This is on an 18% pellet for everyone and some hay. I don't really have health costs--those are in feed and management. Only other consumable cost is 2 bags of shavings per month, but that's for the whole rabbitry for 29 cages (just to absorb odors and urine).

[@Phantam-dh2ti]

​@@MeatRabbitsOrg I apologize for pounding so many questions. Health is a hard topic to address with some rabbits with a higher mortality rate. They seem to require a more direct deliberate hands on approach than I had originally anticipated. And like you suggested, vet bills are too expensive for rabbits. There is definitely a learning curve to raising them and surviving long enough to have a successful attempt. Thanks again.

[@MeatRabbitsOrg]

@@Phantam-dh2ti Your questions are very welcome--no apologies! Some rabbits may be more prone to issues than others. Choosing the right breed for your area is a good start, but also choose the best and hardiest stock from among what you have. Keep and breed the "survivors" so to speak. And please keep coming at us with your questions, either here or at the website, meatrabbits.org. I like fielding questions and knowing what information other growers and breeders struggle with. I may take something for granted and not realize someone else needs more information on it. And chances are, if you have that question, someone else does, too!

[@mellow301]

I just got 3 rabbits and going to try breed for meat. So thank you this helps alot.

[@MeatRabbitsOrg]

That’s great! Glad it helps!

[@timothypollard4332]

We have our rabbits outside and some of them have shelter on one side with a roof and others just have a roof. So far it's working pretty well. The only problem I had is that last week one of the cats killed a kit that had gotten out of the nest 😢. But I usually throw the cats any newborn kits that die so in a way it was my fault. Also the nesting box wasn't high enough.

[@MeatRabbitsOrg]

We all live and learn. Accidents happen.

[@mariotaylor7549]

Nice video. Not sure if I missed it, but how many female breeders do you have and what is the size of your family?

[@MeatRabbitsOrg]

We are a family of 6, with one who moved out but she turns up for dinner a LOT and brings her fiancee with her ;) So we are often 7 or even 8 and mostly feeding adults. I keep four breeding does because I like playing with the two different breeds but to be honest, I could easily get away with 2.

[@kelleyheard5790]

Do you have problems with mice or rats? Getting in the cages and eating food?

[@MeatRabbitsOrg]

We do a lot to try to preventatively keep the population down because we also have egg layers so there is always an attraction. I keep grain in a galvanized trash can. I have had occasional issues with them pulling small kits out. Seems to happen more in winter. Which makes sense, since more of them come inside then.

[@aperson1181]

What supplements do you make for rabbits and how? Like Vitamin (C) and digestive support? Any feed that you DIY for rabbits?

[@MeatRabbitsOrg]

I don't do much for supplements. Occasionally I might add come ACV or probiotics to water, and sometimes I'll give fruit tree branches (more for chewing and boredom). I do sometimes give a sprinkle of a few sunflower seeds for condition and vitamin E. Mostly, decent field hay and a good pellet take care of my rabbits' needs.

[@ericaray9787]

Well,I like your farm ,and I wanna ask u what kind of steel u used can,t demage faster for rabbit urine?

[@MeatRabbitsOrg]

My cages come pre-made. The wire is coated when I buy them but if you are building your own cages, the best wire to use is galvanized wire.

[@heavenly-dreamsdairygoats]

I just subscribed to your channel, I have been watching for about a month and thought yeah something I want to see. I enjoy watching your videos on rabbits. Thank you for sharing. Till next time God Bless.

[@MeatRabbitsOrg]

Thanks! We give it our best!

[@Rockingtranchandrabbitry]

You have a lot of grow out cages and very few does.

[@MeatRabbitsOrg]

I currently have eight does, though I will only be keeping six for breeding (transitioning in a new breed). I do have more growout cages than a lot of people keep, but that is because I prefer to grow out to 16 weeks and whenever possible, I like to give them separate cages. Growing to 16 weeks, I need to at least separate by sex by 12 weeks. Also, I have had issues even with siblings of the same sex asserting dominance, fighting, and biting each other. I find they grow better when there are singles or doubles in a cage (less urinating and soiling food and water dishes which means they eat and drink more, grow better, and waste less feed).

[@MeatRabbitsOrg]

That said, even with just three does and a moderate rate of breeding, I could easily keep this many growout cages more than full.

[@codyayres]

what framing are you using to stack the hutches? thank you for your vids

[@MeatRabbitsOrg]

They are a frame kit that is available for these cages. They are Dumor brand.

[@aperson1181]

Is it more efficient to raise rabbits or chickens?

[@MeatRabbitsOrg]

In my opinion, all things considered (including breeding/young, utilities, heat lamps, processing, etc.) rabbits are much easier and more efficient. In fact, we do have a video here on the subject and there is an article discussing this on our site, meatrabbits.org meatrabbits.org/meat-rabbits-vs-chickens/

[@roninkegawa1804]

Those cages are absolutely ridiculously small. They need to be 3 or 4 times bigger than that.

[@sneakybidder4584]

Would you feel better if she puts every rabbit in a one bedroom apartment? 😂 I'm guessing no, because two bedrooms is better SMH

[@thecuteization]

I was thinking the same thing the hardly got room to move

[@sneakybidder4584]

@@thecuteization she's raising rabbit for meat, this is not a vacation home for rabbit 😑

[@sneakybidder4584]

Did you know that prison cells are 6 × 12 ?? And those are human beings we are talking about, but you don't seem too concerned even though they spend 23 hours in the cell and one hour in an outdoor cage, but clearly you care more about animals 😑

[@thecuteization]

@@sneakybidder4584 so they can still leave a good life before they called