All the rabbits are safe and divvied out into their respective cages complete with hutch cards carrying their very own names! I’m not going to lie: i may still make some name changes, but for now – may i introduce:
Hazel also known as Hazel-Ra in honor of the protagonist in Watership Down. He’s alert, he’s relatively easy going and i hope he will make many years worth of beautiful babies!
Blackberry is the least friendly of the four, not keen on my caresses and generally terrified most of the time. I moved her to her own cage this weekend in hopes that she’ll get more food in her belly as she’s not keeping up with the other juniors in terms of growth. All three juniors are about 3 months old and the girls will be ready for their first litters sometime in May/June while Hazel will be ready to service about a month earlier.
Bluebell is technically “blue” a color not approved by ARBA but quite lovely. She’s my sweety! I can pat her as she eats, even pick her up without much struggle. I can’t wait to see what lovely colors come out of her litters.
And finally, though the ‘vote’ went to Clover, i’ve chosen Strawberry for my senior doe’s name. She is just so darned strawberry red! I plan on keeping a buck from her first litter whom i’ll name Peter and i may keep a doe from her as well who will be able to breed with Hazel without any line genetics.
Names i’m sure to choose for future bunnies are Dandelion and Clover and once i grow tired of Watership Down names i’ll just pick out local flora with pretty sounding names. So far i’m completely in love with my new farming venture! I can’t wait to learn more about genetics and i can already tell that i need more space for expansion! I recently joined ARBA and look forward to learning more from their publications and members and i’ve found a few great Facebook and Yahoo groups that offer support to fellow raisers of domestic rabbits (for meat, pelts or pets). My current rabbitry has 8 cages which is about room enough for 3-4 adult does and one buck. I need room for 2 bucks, several back up junior does and bucks and 3-4 adult breeding does PLUS growing cages for the fryers. That’s a lot more cages than i have room for! So, i’m dabbling with the idea of growing out the fryers in tractors on the lawn. This will save on feed though may result in slower growth and may introduce some pests and disease to the mix. I figure if these rabbits aren’t destined for longevity anyway, the freedom to expand and have rabbits eating grass and veg instead of strictly store-bought pellets while they grow for the table is worth the potential mites or cocci we may encounter along the way. More on the methods and my madness with rabbits to come!
A final thought on names: it is essential to good rabbit breeding and maintenance to keep precise records. I found a few good ‘hutch cards’ online but wanted to create my own with room for all the items i want to track on them. I’d be happy to share this pdf with you for free! Click here to find my hutch cards available for free download.
Rabbit farming is pretty awesome so far! Have you ever kept rabbits, as pets of for meat? What are/were some of your favorite resources?
