Suburban Rabbit Ranch - MateFrio's Backyard Bunnies.

[ZX9RCAM]

I missed this thread altogether the first time.....

 

[TexasRedneck]

Missed it, too - we raised rabbits commercially for a while when I was younger. Had (literally) thousands of 'em, raisin' 'em for labs under contract. Nastiest, smelliest things - after a while. That's the key. Starts off as being okay, but the urea and other odors gradually build to an unbelievable level.

Even worse was the eventual raids by dog packs - local dogs attracted by the odor I reckon - that started ravishing the pens. We're talkin' 2-3 am "raids" carried out by packs of 20-40 dogs. First time they caught us off guard - we only got about a dozen of 'em w/shotguns. After that, Dad pulled the plugs and we went to #4 shot - killed 15 or so dogs on another night. Neighbors (bear in mind that this was VERY rural) started raising cain until Dad and the PD pointed out that we could ask for damages from the dogs' owners. Ultimately, though, between the dog raids and the stench we go shut of 'em - I was SO glad!!!

 

[matefrio]

Starts off as being okay, but the urea and other odors gradually build to an unbelievable level.

Even worse was the eventual raids by dog packs - local dogs attracted by the odor I reckon -

Odor is not bad at all in this small scale and the way I have things working. This a year in. It smells earthy like a garden but no stench.

The quail are another issue and don't smell bad but attract flies like crazy if not controlled. Dogs are controlled by my fence and you'll notice I've added an electric fence as well. :-) It's already taught several vermin as it's right outside my window and I've heard it's results.

 

[indpendnt]

Wow - I missed this first time out too... My son and I raise rabbits as well.
How you do over the summer?
It absolutely devastated our heard - we're just now considering getting back into production now that the temps have cooled.
Lost some of our best breeders. All pens covered and shaded (but still open to air flow), used rotating frozen 2-liter water bottles, had a soaker hose hooked up... still lost a bunch.
How'd you get thru it and are you breeding again yet?

 

[matefrio]

Got through the summer with water misters and a box fan. Shade is a bit over done with a 12x8 roof. Lost a female but I think it was due to birthing issues.

They gave birth in July. Just culling them now due to how little weight they gained over the summer. I didn't bread them over the summer.

Californians and NZ are all I'd recommend due to heat tolerance.

Wow - I missed this first time out too... My son and I raise rabbits as well.
How you do over the summer?
It absolutely devastated our heard - we're just now considering getting back into production now that the temps have cooled.
Lost some of our best breeders. All pens covered and shaded (but still open to air flow), used rotating frozen 2-liter water bottles, had a soaker hose hooked up... still lost a bunch.
How'd you get thru it and are you breeding again yet?

 

[indpendnt]

We're doing full sized Rex at about 9-12 lbs ea. We'll usually end up with 4-6 lbs of meat.
We do these because they make great pets (for sale), are big enough for meat, and give us some great winter coats for skins.
I'm thinking we may need more shade seeing as we lost some trees during the spring storms allowing more of the hottest afternoon sun over the summer. We have a good sized overhang on the pens but well short of 12X8. You also have the advantage of not being near the coast where it’s not quite as dry and hot as it is up here in DFW – maybe not much different, but different enough and every little bit counts.
Need to figure out the Fan and electric that we can set up out there before next summer - had some finance issues recently that prevented the investment this summer.
I am curious how often and how long you run your misters. Could you post up a couple of pics? We did some of this over the summer, but I’ve always heard rabbit breeding and excess water don’t mix real well for a variety of reasons. Even though almost everyone uses it, I can’t seem to find solid info on it, so the voice of experience would be helpful.
We only have a few to cull off and maybe purchase one or two restocking a couple of breeders.
We've been considering a cross breed with Californian, NZ's, or even some wild cotton tails. We don't show them - so it's mainly as a consideration of genetic diversity and trying to get a heartier animal. Thoughts?

 

[matefrio]

For the fan I'm close to the house so electric was easy. Next summer though I have plans for solar powered fans. Misters were $9 each from Lowes with a timer set to go off one hr on on hr off during the heat of the day. I used a box fan to keep them cool as well.

Next summer I'm upgrading to 12v radiator fans and a solar\battery powered system plus a better misting system.

2x Orbit Cobra Mistands

 

[Kimber_me_timbers]

OMFG! Teh bunniezzzz!!!!


Just kidding, just reading this thread made me wanna eat my sons guinea pig. He wasn't too fond of that idea though...

 

[indpendnt]

For the fan I'm close to the house so electric was easy. Next summer though I have plans for solar powered fans. Misters were $9 each from Lowes with a timer set to go off one hr on on hr off during the heat of the day. I used a box fan to keep them cool as well.

Next summer I'm upgrading to 12v radiator fans and a solar\battery powered system plus a better misting system.

Timers! <d'oh!> I am such an idiot! It didn't even occure to me...


Do you think the excess water contributes to issues with flys?

We're thinking solar fans as well...

 

[matefrio]

Timers! <d'oh!> I am such an idiot! It didn't even occure to me...


Do you think the excess water contributes to issues with flys?

We're thinking solar fans as well...

Flies are 100% a quail problem and have persisted even after we've taken off the misters. Only thing the misters did is keep the grass around the area greener. 99% of the flies are attracted to and located in area directly under and around the bottom of the quail cage a 3x2 foot area.

 

[ZX9RCAM]

^^.......I guess picky flies prefer Quail poop.....

 

[TheDan]

It's about $6 /lb of meat.

Seems expensive... Can't just feed them hay?

 

[matefrio]

Seems expensive... Can't just feed them hay?

Not enough in hay to grow them big. I'm kinda all inclusive with that number. It costs about 3 pennies a day each to feed them. Ideally they're at weight 8 to 11 weeks in. I had to buy some cooling stuff for this hot summer so I was adding that cost.

 

[indpendnt]

Hay won't work to grow them big - not enough protein - even so called "free range" beef cattle get supplements, but then cattle also have a unique digestive system allowing them to extract all possible proteins from the grasses they eat. After the initial outlay for set-up and facility, once you get it going, the costs come down considerably.