Rabbit Information

Water! Water! Water! This nutrient is essential to all animals for life to exist and is probably the most neglected nutrient in our rabbit production today. Water intake can be limited due to impurities in the water, due to stagnation and fouling of the water supply and due to the water being frozen in the wintertime. When water intake is limited, the body calls upon the excess cellular fluid and the subcutaneous fat supply for its fluid needs. After a period of time, the body becomes in a state of dehydration. Also, when there is a lack of water in the animals diet, there is a decrease in food consumption and this leads to a more rapid breakdown of the subcutaneous fat supply, and the animal deteriorates in body and fur condition. A rabbit will drink and not eat, but a rabbit will not eat without drinking. Feed: Rabbits need to eat. Make sure that you are using a fresh feed. Ask your dealer to show you how to read the code on their feed which will show the date it was milled. Two to three month old feed is old and needs not be used. I like to see one month or less since it may take you a month to finish the bag for your meat pens. Feed your rabbits at the same time every day (later afternoon or early evening is best as they are nocturnal), using the same brand of food. Give your rabbit about 1 ounce of food per pound of bunny. A 4 lb. Mini-Rex should receive cup of feed per day. An 8 lb. or larger rabbit will need 1 cup of feed. Meat pens will need to be put on full feed to start with and then adjust it as they get older according to how each rabbit weighs. Protein and fiber are essential in meat pens. Use a feed that has a 16 18 % protein level. Fiber should range from 14 16% the higher the better. Cowtown Feeds or Buzbee Feeds; I have worked with Mr. Buzbee and a good solid rabbit feed has been developed. This is a 17% protein feed with an 18%+ fiber and 2.78 %+ fat. It is high in vitamins and minerals. The alfalfa base hay comes from Kansas. The alfalfa is guaranteed to be 17% plus and is sun cured alfalfa. The oats and barley are grown in Canada and the Dakotas. Lysine levels were increased to aide in breeding conception. Selenium was increased to improve fertility and carcass quality or normal muscle function. Conditioning feed; Black oil sunflower seeds are one of the best supplements that you can add. They are high in oil content and is good for the condition of coat. Start slow so that the rabbits do not scour. A tablespoon is a good feeding in the end. Mixing barley, crimped oats, and wheat germ oil is good. The mixture will need to be 3 parts oats to 1 part barley with enough wheat germ oil, just enough to settle the dust. Molasses can be added to this mixture to increase the water intake and in turn make the rabbit eat more.1/4 cup is fine; no more. If you are trying to push a pen then use Boost-Em. Rabbits like the conditioning feed and will scratch it out so feed this in another bowl. Limit the conditioning feed.

Rabbit Information
Cage Requirements: If possible use all wire cages and if possible hang with wire from rafters or etc. Depending on what breed you have will determine what size cage you need. For meat pens or larger size rabbits, we like 30"DX36"WX18"H for our Bred Does so they have plenty of room for the nest box and then their litters when they come out of the nest box. Some will say you don't need them that big but we like our Californians to have plenty of room. Open Does, and Bucks and growing stock can be put in smaller cages 24"DX24"WX24"H. Hanging cages are the most sanitized method. Use 1/2"X1" galvanized wire mesh bottoms. This allows their droppings to fall through. If they stay on any other type of surface that allows their feces to accumulate, it will cause disease because of the bacteria and possible parasitic build up. Sides and top can be1"X2" galvanized wire. Use baby saver wire going up all four sides about 6" to prevent kits from falling out of cages. Rabbits will chew through wood and plastic, .Never use treated wood or cedar around rabbits. The fumes from the cedar will cause respiratory problems and if they chew on treated wood the chemicals used to treat the wood would be fatal to the rabbits. Only use pine shavings if you prefer shavings to hay. We prefer hay! Put cages where they will be protected from the sun, wind, rain, and extreme hot or cold temperatures. It's very important to have ventilation. The air in the rabbitry must be controlled very closely. Records At 6 weeks before the show stat weighing and keep a list of the weights. Weigh the same time each day (6 p.m. each day) It is important that you start weighing each rabbit at 6 weeks old and keeping a chart on how much they are gaining. It is easier to slow one down or push one if you have 4 weeks to work with the rabbits. Rabbits can gain as much as 2 oz. per day the last week. Sanitation The use of Agriculture Lime sprinkled under cages can be beneficial in controlling odor and will also help to dry wet areas. It also will help to control fly problems because flies are attracted to odor and breed in wet dark areas. Try to minimize the rabbits from breathing the dust from the lime as much as possible and yourself also. Wear a mask if possible for your own protection. Attaching hopper feeders to the cages is also beneficial for your ease of feeding and more sanitary for the rabbit than a crock. Water bottles are also better than crocks for watering but you can also set up a automatic free flowing water system with a small bucket, adapters, pvc pipe, and a float ( like in a toilet tank that refills as emptied) and a rabbit nipple specially designed for automatic water systems. Some feed stores carry these but if not small animal supply stores do. Hot Weather. Temperatures above 90 degrees can cause death. It is vital that rabbits be cool on hot days. Two liter plastic soda bottles frozen full of water can be put in days. Two liter plastic soda bottles frozen full of water can be put in the cage. A piece of ceramic tile can also be put on the cage (just has to be cleaned often). If you know a rabbit is overheated you can mist the ears with a spray bottle of water and bring it in the house into the air conditioning and give it plenty of water until you are sure it is cooled off enough to safely put back out. Sometimes you might have to give it water with an eye dropper or a syringe to make sure it gets re-hydrated. You also can in extreme cases submerge the rabbit up to its head in cool water until it's body temperature can drop to a safe level and then get the rabbit as dry as you can before returning it to it's cage. Cold Weather Cold temperatures are not usually much of a problem for rabbits as long as they are protected from drafts and have a constant supply of fresh water. A rabbit and even newborn kits in a well made nest can withstand temperatures to 20 degrees without additional heat. But to be on the safe side until the newborns get their fur a clip-on light with a 40 or 60 watt bulb can be clipped on the outside of the cage made nest can withstand temperatures to 20 degrees without

Rabbit Information
additional heat. But to be on the safe side until the newborns get their fur a clip-on light with a 40 or 60 watt bulb can be clipped on the outside of the cage shinning down into the nest box on really cold nights. Just make sure to turn them off in the morning if it is going to warm up that day. You don't want to loose them from over heating them either. Also make sure the electrical cords are not where the rabbits can get to them because they will chew them if they can get to them. ******************************************** Dust from the feed is normal, but not good in large amounts for the bunny. Because of this it is important to keep the feed container clean. Feeders, which hang on the cage 9J- Feeders) and have wire mesh bottoms allowing the dust to fall through, are also available.

The best feeds are usually the ones with only the boring green pellets. There are

several good feeds on the Market the one I use is Cowtown and can be purchased at Buzbee Feed in Waco. These should contain everything the bunny needs nutritionally. The ones with the cute shapes and fruits etc. will tend to make fat bunnies, which arent as healthy and picky eaters, as they will pick out the junk food or treats and leave the nutritional pellets. Find a green pellet that smells like hay. There are many good brands of pelleted feed. It is important to find one that works well for your bunny and stick with it. If you should need to change brands, do so gradually. Mixing some of the new into the old at each feeding; gradually increasing the new until they are eating just the new feed. Plenty of fresh water is a necessity! A large water bottle keeps the water cleaner, but a crock that cannot be tipped over is also fine as long as it is kept clean and full. A good indicator of your bunnies health status is its droppings. These should for the most part be round, rather dry and solid. If they should become pasty or very wet, it is important to increase fiber. The easiest way to do this is with hay. The hay cubes are a convenient, neat way to do this and are available at most pet supply stores, and places, which have a fairly large assortment of pet supplies. Bulk hay is fine as well, but it is important to give horse quality grass or timothy hay. The horse quality is lower in molds and dust, which can cause respiratory problems in bunnies. Do not wash rabbits. To work hair or the coat of your rabbit put a small amount of water on your hands. Rub together and apply to your rabbit starting behind ears going across the back down to the table. Then rake your hands back forward to the ears. Remove excess fur and continue this until very little fur is on your hands. Do this daily starting two to three weeks before the show.