A lot like cats, rabbits are pretty self-sufficient creatures. They don’t need daily exercise (although they appreciate it). They don’t crave your affection (unless they’re used to it). They don’t need trained (unless you’re really into it). They do, however, require daily care and maintenance. Make sure you check out a few of the books recommended in the “Resources” page for more in depth coverage.
Equipment – Feed – Daily Care – Maintenance
Equipment
We recommend you acquire equipment before you acquire rabbits. Sure, you can take them home in a cat carrier. You just shouldn’t make them live in it.
Housing
All wire! All wire! All wire! Poo falls through to the ground. Pee drips down to the ground. If you’re worried about Bunny’s sensitive feet, get her a plastic resting board. The wire mesh should be 1/2 inch by 1 inch so that kits can’t fall through and Bunny’s feet can’t get caught in the holes. If your hutch is over a floor you’ll want trays underneath so you can easily empty the poo into your compost bin. If the hutch is over the dirt, no worries!
For your buck, you’ll want a cage with at least 600 sq in of floor space. For your breeding does, you’ll want cages with at least 900 sq in of floor space. Kits take up room.
Adult rabbits are territorial, so they each need their own “hole,” or individual cage. Kits are weaned at 6 to 8 weeks by moving them out of the hutch they share with their mama two at a time over the course of a week or so. They can still be in the same hole with each other, but we separate the girls and boys when we wean them.
Feeder
We’ve recently discovered plastic J-feeders. Available at Woody’s Wabbits or Quality Cage Co. The metal ones are more commonly available, though, and sift the feed a little better. We also use EZ Crocks for the bucks, because they don’t need a whole J-feeder to themselves.
Water
Water is important! Rabbits should have clean, fresh water available at all times. We’ve noticed they drink the most at night, so we check the water in the morning and make sure it’s full at night.
Choose water bottles that are easy to fill and empty. For bucks and non-breeding does, we use 16 oz bottles and they usually drink about half. For our does with young litters, a 32 oz bottle is good. For does with older litters, go for the 64 ouncer. There are automatic watering options out there and someday we’ll figure that out. For a small rabbitry, the bottles work fine.
Nest Box
Does need a place to have their babies. Nothing is better than a nice, cozy nest box! Galvanized is best with a removeable plywood bottom. Give her one that is big enough for to get in and turn around in, but not any larger. 10″ across is good. Give it to your expecting mama bunny about 28 days after you breed her. Put a half inch or so of aspen bedding in it and give her hay to arrange in it.
Feed
Choose the highest-quality feed you can. We choose 16% rabbit pellets (meaning 16% of the feed is protein from soy) because they’re easy for us to come by (i.e., sold at the local feed store). We’ve looked into buying organic rabbit pellets over the interweb, but they are just too expensive for our budget. Hillsboro Feed Co. could mill us organic feed, but they mill a ton at a time. It would take us a loooong time to go through that much feed, so we are looking to split an order. Takers?
Pellets are like dog or cat food. They are (supposedly) a complete and balanced feed containing everything your rabbit needs. Well, we personally believe that animals need to eat food that is alive. So we supplement with greens from our yard (dandelions!) and from our garden. Some bunnies have sensitive stomachs, though, so watch out for diarrhea. If your bunny should become ill, quit giving it greens. Don’t give bunnies greens until they are fully weaned!!!
Daily Care
Bunnies need fresh water every day. Check ‘em in the morning and afternoon. Fill and rinse their bottles once a day at least.
Bunnies need fed every day. Check ‘em in the morning and afternoon. We feed ours around dinner time because rabbits, being mainly nocturnal, eat at night.
For bucks and non-breeding does, feed about 3/4 cup per day. Run your hand down the length of your rabbit every day. You should be able to feel the spine, but it shouldn’t be sticking out. Too fat? Feed less. Too skinny? Feed a little more.
Pregnant does should be fed their normal (non-breeding) ration until they’re 2 weeks pregnant. Then start gradually increasing until you’re feeding 2 cups by the 4th week.
Mamas with litters should be given free choice pellets. Growing kits should be given free choice pellets until approximately 6 months old. Fill the feeder every time it’s looking empty.
Give your bunnies hay! Hay has lots of vitamins and minerals and fiber! Bunnies just love munching on hay. Junior animals (less than a year old) can eat alfalfa and local grass hay. After a year old, orchard mix or timothy hay should be given. Alfalfa has too much calcium for bucks and non-working does.
Maintenance
Bi-Weekly
Or however often you need to, clean out droppings trays.
Weekly
Disinfect the cage with a 10:1 water:bleach solution. If you are leaving bun in her cage, soak a rag in the bleach solution and wipe it down. Alternatively, use a spray bottle of the bleach solution if you take her out.
Monthly
Clip your bunny’s claws. We use a cat claw clipper. Be careful not to cut too far down on the nail or they’ll bleed and you’ll feel like a horrible person.
Well, I do things a little different
My buns are outside (and we have foxes…) and so they have wooden hutches.
However, they are very clean because they use a newspaper lined plastic tub with 1-2 cut down sides as a toilet
(this is also a doddle to clean!)
One thing to consider is that the doe has an urge to dig during pregnancy, and the second plastic box (uncut) with wood chips is always much appreciated and stops the bits from flying everywhere.
My girls build impressive nests with the straw I give them! When the babies leave the nest, I put shallow boxes (cat loos etc) everywhere to cover the floor of the hutch, and after a short while they start to use mommy’s toilet, by day 30 they are perfectly toilet trained and the hutch stays clean. another good trick to keep the hutch floor clean is to use slate tiles.
Water bottles are too much like hard work, so I invested in an automatic watering system, all I need to do now is to fill a large bucket and once a week I put a very weak bleach solution for 10 minutes and flush. Much easier than the bottles which were a chore to keep clean from the horrid algae.
Best thing about that system is that you never ever run out of water and if you have big feeders, your buns can be safely left for 2 days if you want to go away the weekend!
Where are y’all located? I live in South Georgia and I am looking for organic or natural rabbit feed. I have some recipes for blending a balanced rabbit feed using different grains, salt, etc. I would prefer non-peletized feed. The process of peletizing rabbit feed greatly destroys the nutritional value.
Dear iraqvet08 & rabbit enthusiasts: I am interested in getting your rabbit diet recipe. I would like to go organic, but I am afraid this will be difficult and expensive for our 80 show rabbits! We have 120 acres in upstate New York so maybe I can do something myself. I am also concerned with some mysterious production problems and wonder if they are linked to herbicides and pesticides of commercial growers. Thanks in advance for any helpful comments….Laura
I am seriously thinking of raising bunnies for meat and profit but, I have no idea on how to do this. Right now, I live in a trailer park and I am thinking of moving to the outskirts of town where it will be ok to become as self reliant as possible. I have no idea of how to go about any of this and I am in the looking stage right now. Please send any and all information you can on the legality of raising rabbits and where to purchase and how many to start out with.
thanks so much for your help
When choosing feed for your rabbit (or for yourself or any other animal), just remember they are what they eat. GMO’s (genetically modified organisms) are becoming quite prolific and should be avoided when at all possible. Soy, corn, canola (rape seed) and cottenseed are the major players in this right now. More than 80% of each of these crops come from GMO sources.
Why do I bring this up? My wife gets EXTREMELY ill if she eats anything produced with GMO ingredients, including any meat or animal protein (except butter for some reason) that has been raised on GMO tainted feeds or hormone therapy. I call her my little frog since frogs and amphibians are environmental indicators.
There are also political reasons for shunning GMO crops. Watch the movies King Corn and Food Inc to get this message.
You could grind your own bunny food with a grain mill,cranked by hand set at coarsest setting. They are pricey but maybe you could buy one used on ebay. Also great for
grinding your own flour. Could you share your organic reciepe/ Thanks Cindy
Hey Ladies, love your site. Just started keeping meat rabbits here in Portland too, and hope to get out of the big bad city soooooon….the yard is too small, and with all these critters, getting smaller.
So, do you do anything for bunny enrichment? While their lives will be short, I want those lives to be quality. Exercise on the lawn? Toys? Would love to hear your thoughts on this subject. Also hope you don’t mind if I link to your site on my brand new blog….
cheers
Laura
I finally have my first litter of bunnies born two weeks ago. I have New Zealands. My question is, how long should I wait to breed the female again after a litter? I am in no hurry to breed her again, I am just curious.
This is a disgusting website. Why don’t you start eating dogs and cats as well..
Disgusting? In what way?
Eating meat means killing something. Rabbits are cute, yes. But in terms of intelligence, sensitivity, or ability to feel pain they are no different from almost any farm animal. Rabbits have been bred and hunted for meat for thousands of years.
If you want to see something disgusting, go have a look at industrial feedlots and slaughterhouses. These two fine ladies are doing their part to prevent that kind of cruelty, and they deserve respect for their efforts.
So my bunny has extremely sharp claws and I can’t seem to clip them without her freaking out.
I also need to know how I can clean her… NOT BATHE. She just smells a little (YUCK) and when my friends hold her they tell me to wet down a cloth a little bit and then do that…Is that OKAY to do?
And my bunny likes to be held tightly, and that seems to calm her down a little when she breathes too hard. Why’s that?
Wonderful site ladies!
I’m an Oregon native transplanted to Ohio, so I am happy to see your site. Currently, I have a 7 hole rabbitry, of Californians, New Zealand Whites and Mini-Rexes. We will be phasing out our New Zealands soon as I am wanting to switch to American Chinchillas.
In response to Laura:
Something very cheap (and easy) that you can do for bun entertainment is to take a toilet paper roll and stuff it full of hay. This allows them to “work” for their food. they will toss it and scoot it, and likely chew it up. It’s a good thing it is so easily replaceable!
I’ve been told to use parrot toys, but my buns have shown no interest. I use untreated wood blocks as chew toys and also apple tree twigs. Every now and then I put in a very light aluminum bowl so the does can rearrange to their heart’s content.
An exercise yard is also a great investment, if you have the time! You have to stay out with them to watch them to prevent predation from hawks or owls – not to mention raccoons, weasels, etc.
To Vanna – Have someone teach you the proper way to flip your bun. When it is done properly and your bunny feels secure, it will be much easier to clip her nails. Also, I wipe mine down with sensitive skin baby wipes at fair time. this helps with fly away hair and any stinkiness. Bunnies like to feel secure. Mine will often bury their heads under my arm when I hold them. For yours, the tight holding is her security.
i WAS WONDERING ABOUT FRESH MOWED GRASS IN THE YARD……NO CHEMICALS OR PESTICIDES
We’re newbies with two NZ does and one buck ~ 3 months old.
I’ve been searching for organic feed – its around but shipping is a killer. We live near Saratoga NY – anyone out there have any info? Co-ops?
Thanks!