This fantastic duo produced 11 kits in this litter, with seven surviving the process. Three black, two agouti, and two white. So a customer texted me this afternoon about wanting a couple of my large breed buns. I was able to set her up with a pair which gives me an empty cage! YAY!!!! A Sept 30 boy from Santini and Chili. Part of a litter of 13. A lovely boy. A Sept 30 girl from Frosty and Chili. This girlie is significantly bigger than the buck. Such a difference litter size makes as this girl is from a litter of six. She's a fantastic youngster.
Born Sept 23, 2022 this young fellow was part of a litter of nine. This proved to be momma's last litter as she ran into some serious issues with this litter. This young rabbit was one of four boy to survive to weaning and BOY is his colour gorgeous.
Mom is Frosty, Dad is Chili. He's moved into a new home where dad grew up with Flemish Giants. This boy's sweet nature is very akin to good-natured Flemish so should bring some happy memories in for his new people. He's a quiet. laid-back fellow. I expect he'll be a nosy, fun fellow like his dad. I wasn't expecting 13 kits from one fall-off! These kits vary wildly in size, and I really wish I had a backup doe to send the littlest ones to but is not to be. I may have pull the largest four every day so the smaller ones can catch up. Rotating the biggest ones out won't hurt them any. I need to get a pic of these kits yet, they are quite the handful. Watch me GrowSo I was getting rather concerned about Frosty before this litter was born. She was acting "off" and I couldn't quite trace down the issue. Her kits were born, nine in the litter. One was vastly oversized, and another was decomposing, with a third born dead. Six healthy kits of varying sizes survived. This will be her last litter. She is coming around again now that the kits are three days old. One is fairly small, the rest appear to be growing well. My hope is that one of the three light-coloured ones MIGHT be chinchilla, two I am fairly sure are chestnut, and the third dark one a lighter shade of whatever they are. :) Watch Me GrowSo we've discussed basic care for dwarf rabbits and holland lops. Today we'll broach the larger rabbits. The large breed rabbits, also known as meat mutts, that I raise are a mix of the various meat rabbits I have raised over the years. They will contain English Lop, New Zealand, Flemish Giant, Harlequin and more. They range in size from 8-11 lbs. As I'm getting older I find that prefer the rabbits more in the 8 lb range simply because that three pounds makes a difference in handling abilities. Hi! You have been directed to this page because purchased at least one of my rabbits as a pet or breeding animal. Congratulations! Whether you are a long-time rabbit owner, or a first time lover of rabbits, I find it’s good to learn how a rabbit breeder has kept their rabbits, as it helps in the transition of a bunny to new home. I focus on raising bunnies for health and temperament. I do my best to give you the best bunny I can. My bunnies are friendly and easy to handle buns. Just what does your bunny need? 1. A habitat big enough to be comfortable. That means a minimum of 24 inches wide and 36 inches long and at least 18 inches high. Nothing smaller and they'd love something bigger. this is PER rabbit (so if you have two make sure you at least double that size!). 2. Food and water daily. 3. Attention from you. Now on to some of the nitty gritty details for you. Some of my larger breed girls can get a bit grumpy when they are due to have kits OR are raising kits up til they are about two weeks old. I don't mind a grumpy doe as long as she doesn't try to bite me every time I look at her kits, or it persists longer than two weeks. A doe that is protective of her kits or her space tends to be a solidly good momma and I like that in my large breed girls. If you are raising a young large breed girl up as a pet I do recommend getting her spayed before she is fully mature so those hormones don't create issues for you. FeedingMy bunnies, depending on the season are fed, along with pellets, mixed greens (mostly the weeds from my garden), hay, and mixed grains. My large breed rabbits eat around 1/2-3/4 cup of pellets every single day. How much they get depends on the condition they are in. Due to my work schedule they normally get pellets in the morning. Along with fresh water. The pellets I use are 17% protein so if your pellets are less you may need to adjust how much they get. Occasionally I sell large breed crosses which will eat between about 2/3 cup of pellets daily. I feed pellets from the Hensall feed mill. It's a good 17% protein food. Pellets should just be pellets. High in Fibre, about 15-17% protein, and lower in fat content. They should look green and smell more or less like dried grass. In the evening they either get hay, greens from work (from the grocer I work at or my garden), or mixed grains. This is very seasonal in my approach. Growing season, more fresh food, and the non-growing season... more dry food. Hay I feed predominately during times of stress... moulting, seasonal change, first major storm of the year type of thing. The hay I use is grass based, horse-quality hay. It might have a bit of alfalfa in it, but is predominately grass hay. My mixed grains are mostly oats along with a black oil sunflower seeds and various dry goods (oatmeal, crackers etc) that are past due from the foodbank/grocery store. They get just a small amount but is huge favourite among the bunnies. HousingI always advise people to get the biggest cage they can afford or can make. Rabbits like room to roam but not all can be safely let out of their cages. A minimum cage size is 24 x 36 inches, larger is preferred. Larger breed bunnies are often kept in x-pens. Solid or wire bottomed cages work well, as long as rabbits are kept clean and away from their litter. Wire cages do not cause sore hocks, wet and dirty conditions along with poor genetics cause that. Fresh Water DailyIn the cold months my bunnies are watered using crocks (stoneware bowls) that I switch out twice daily. I wash out any bowls that get dirty so bunnies always have access to clean, fresh water. In the warm months I use roller-ball style water bottles. I refill them as needed. Monthly Check-UpsOnce a month bunnies need to have their nails trimmed and have a general good health check up. These are things you can easily do at home. You will just be running your hands over your rabbits body checking for any abnormalities. Checking that their scent glands aren't plugged, and they haven't damaged their teeth, or picked up in bugs from the hay you feed them (like ear or fur mites). Anything alarming and you can go to your local rabbit savvy vet for help. Neutering/SpayingRecommendation is to only do this surgery if your rabbit requires it. I do not routinely recommend neutering as sometimes it won't correct behaviour and rabbits are very sensitive to anesthetic and can die during surgery. Their behaviour will indicate this need. 1. Mating behaviour that doesn’t dissipate. These behaviours include spraying (males and females), running around your feet honking, false pregnancies, moody females, etc. 2. Over-protective behaviour. Males and females being protective of their space. Males biting, some male rabbits can claim a larger area then you might expect... a whole room or house if allowed to free roam. Females acting pushy and growly and not liking if you rearrange THEIR furniture. 3. Needs of a companion rabbit. Wanting to prevent offspring or trying to bond two same gender animals. As mentioned earlier, I generally recommend that if keeping a large breed FEMALE rabbit, get her neutered. I breed these rabbits to WANT to be momma's so hormones do play a factor in their behaviour. I would advise calling around to different vet clinics about this surgery as prices vary. Additional ResourcesSantini is such a funny girl and she's trying very hard to be a good mom. She's very cute and super watchful but not as fear inducing as her mom could be with a new litter! :) Litter of 10. All but two dark in colour. In retrospect I think she had 11 all told. I am really hoping for chinchilla colours, but time will tell eh? So no chinchilla. We've lost about four kits if I recall correctly. One white and three dark. Watch Me GrowLiving a life in Milverton, Cherry's girls are going to be part of a home breeding program. Nice youngsters.
They took along a rescue male as well. 12 light and dark kits born to Miss Frosty. She built a so-so nest which I needed to supplement with some straw. Over the next day she added more fur. She is mostly, these first few days, keeping the kits in separate nests of six kits each. She's done this before and I used to intervene, but since I've learned she cares for them all well, I leave her to do her business. :) She's an excellent mom. Watch Me Grow |
AuthorI have been breeding rabbits for a quite a few years. I thoroughly enjoy them as animals and think they make great pets. I also like to take some of them to rabbit shows to see how they measure up to the standards. For the BEST rabbit forum I've ever found. Go to Rabbittalk.com. Good for the pet rabbit owner as well as the breeder for meat or show.
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