Post by Kathie on Jun 15, 2014 10:51:15 GMT -5
The farmer's market in a neighboring town had "Rabbit Days" yesterday, including a class on "Raising Meat Rabbits". Got my oldest son, who loves rabbit meat, to take me. The *expert* teaching the class had what really seemed like to be weird ideas, so thought I would see what you all thought. 1, NZs should be bred at 4.5 months, if you want them to be good and consistent breeders. 2, Does MUST be bred by 9 months, or their bones atrophy and they can no longer carry kits. 3, and this one might be right, as I have a terrible tendency to over-feed ALL my animals , once they reach 3 months, rabbits kept for breeders should be fed no more than "a tuna size can" of grain. He also advocates 1 Tablespoon of pellets, free choice timothy--not alfalfa--hay, and a "handful" of weeds, when available.
On a good note, as we were leaving, there were 2 ladies there who were grumbling about not having good sales of their rabbits, because the "expert" had said only New Zealands made good meat rabbits. One had Californians, and the other Rex...and they had come from 3 hours away. But, I got a 3 month old NZ/Cal buck from pedigreed parents, for $15. And a pedigreed 3 month old Blue Rex doe for $20. She's beautiful! And I was sending my son to go try and get some boxes, and instead, one of the ladies sold me a 2 compartment carrier for only $17! Both are all settled in the cages hanging in the barn, while my NZs are down in the rabbit shed, so I even managed quarantine!
Oh! The other thing he said was that all rabbits must be treated with Ivermectin every 30 days or they would get warbles and earmites. Several people tried to tell him we don't have bot flies around here (He's from Arizona) and he responded with, "EVERYBODY has warbles!" And personally, I haven't had earmite problems since I went with all wire hanging cages 20 years ago. When everyone argued about the Ivermectin, he said anyone who tries to raise rabbits organically is stupid. Don't get me wrong, I would use it in a heartbeat if I needed it, but I think every 30 days if you don't have a problem is excessive.
So, all in all, I don't think their expert was much of an expert, or else I have always been doing it wrong.
On a good note, as we were leaving, there were 2 ladies there who were grumbling about not having good sales of their rabbits, because the "expert" had said only New Zealands made good meat rabbits. One had Californians, and the other Rex...and they had come from 3 hours away. But, I got a 3 month old NZ/Cal buck from pedigreed parents, for $15. And a pedigreed 3 month old Blue Rex doe for $20. She's beautiful! And I was sending my son to go try and get some boxes, and instead, one of the ladies sold me a 2 compartment carrier for only $17! Both are all settled in the cages hanging in the barn, while my NZs are down in the rabbit shed, so I even managed quarantine!
Oh! The other thing he said was that all rabbits must be treated with Ivermectin every 30 days or they would get warbles and earmites. Several people tried to tell him we don't have bot flies around here (He's from Arizona) and he responded with, "EVERYBODY has warbles!" And personally, I haven't had earmite problems since I went with all wire hanging cages 20 years ago. When everyone argued about the Ivermectin, he said anyone who tries to raise rabbits organically is stupid. Don't get me wrong, I would use it in a heartbeat if I needed it, but I think every 30 days if you don't have a problem is excessive.
So, all in all, I don't think their expert was much of an expert, or else I have always been doing it wrong.