Rabbits....The Basics:

Female rabbits are called "does", male rabbits are "bucks" and babies are "kits".

Rabbits should be fed primarily a commercial rabbit pellet feed and quality hay.  Buy your pellet feed from a dealer who sells a lot. Feed deteriorates quickly with age and old feed can cause nutritional problems or even death.

Some fresh greens (no iceberg type lettuce), carrots, apple and potato peelings, celery tops, day old bread, grass clippings (if unsprayed) can be fed on a limited basis and introduced very slowly when first starting "wet" foods. 

Babies should not be fed anything but pellets and dry hay.

Weaned babies and pregnant & nursing does should be fed all (but not more than) they can eat each day.

Bucks & dry does should be fed only enough to keep them healthy and trim but not fat, about 3 to 6 oz. of pellets per day, depending on the size of the rabbit.

Rabbits MUST have plenty of cool fresh water at all times.

Rabbit cages should be constructed of wire & metal and not wood.

Rabbits can chew through "chicken" wire.  A thicker wire should be used to build cages.

Rabbit cages must be designed to be self-cleaning, that is manure and urine will fall through a wire mesh floor and located where predators or free roaming dogs CANNOT get close or under them.  Rabbits can easily break their back from smashing into the side of the cage from being frightened.

Rabbits do not need to be kept warm, but need protection from rain, wind, sun and hot temperatures.  Temps of over 90* can cause high levels of stress in all rabbits and infertility in bucks. 

Rabbits are highly susceptible to drafts.  On a windy day, sit where you plan to house your rabbits and see if you feel any draft.

Ammonia fumes from a wet dirty rabbitry can cause fatal respiratory disease.

Adult  rabbits need to be housed in separate cages.  Adult rabbits, especially males, will fight and can seriously injure or kill each other.

Rabbits reach correct breeding age at 5 to 7 months old.  Baby bucks and does should be separated at about 2 months of age to avoid breeding too early.  Doe kits from the same litter can sometimes be caged together till breeding age, while young bucks over 2 months need individual caging.

When breeding, the doe is always taken to the bucks cage as does are highly territorial and she may attack the buck if he's brought to her cage.  The doe is only left in the buck's cage until mating has occurred (most likely less than a minute) and then returned to her cage.  Never leave a buck & doe together unattended.  You will know when the buck successfully breeds a doe as he will fall over backwards.

Does are "induced ovulators" and can be bred at almost any time.  They do not "cycle" like cows, horses, pigs & sheep.  Ovulation takes place about 5 to 7 hours after mating, so a return mating or two spaced 4 hours apart on breeding day may increase conception rates.

A good test for pregnancy:  take the doe back to the buck's cage 2 weeks after mating.  If she growls and runs from the buck, she's almost certainly pregnant. Note: Do NOT let the buck breed the doe at this time. Some submissive does will let the buck breed them even if already pregnant resulting in two pregnancies.  This will cause the doe to abort and can be fatal.

Be sure a pregnant doe has access to a salt "spool" , block or loose type salt/minerals in a cup or container.  Craving for salt has been known to cause a doe to eat her newborns...

The doe will have her babies on average 31 days after breeding.

A nest box with nesting material in it like dry clean straw  or hay should be placed in the doe's cage 27 days after breeding, but not before or she might use it for  a "litter box".  Most does will appreciate being given some extra hay for nest making.

The doe will make a nest when the box is placed in her cage and line it with her own fur  a few hours to a day before giving birth.

Kits are born naked and blind but grow quickly.  It is best not to touch newborns with your hands the first few days.  The doe might reject the kits if your scent is on them.  A mother rabbit will not move her babies like a cat.  If a baby crawls out of the nest or away from the other kits, you must move it back or it will die.  A nursing kit is sometimes pulled out of the nest by the mother as she leaves and he's still "latched on".  Rabbits give birth VERY easily, and from time to time a kit may be born before the mother makes it into the nest.  If this happens, a mother rabbit may not recognize that the kit is her baby. Possibly thinking it is an intruder like a rat or mouse, she may even  attack and kill it. 

The doe will only enter the nest box to nurse the babies 2 or 3 times a day, and almost never if she knows you're watching.

Kits must eat the mother's cecotrophes (night feces) to inoculate their digestive tract before they can digest solid food; a common fatal mistake for those trying to raise orphan wild bunnies...

Babies are weaned at 5 to 8 weeks old.

Weaning should be done over a few days, removing the largest babies first.

The doe is ready to be bred again 3 to 7 weeks after giving birth. 

The doe should be re-bred before her babies are weaned.  If not, accumulation of fat in her abdomen can make conception difficult or impossible.  Does having 6 litters a year is very common.

A doe's breeding life span is 3 to 4  years.

A buck's breeding life span is 5 to 7 years.  Bucks should not breed more than 3-4 days a week.

One buck and 2 does can produce as much as 300 lbs of meat a year.

"Fryers" are butchered at usually 9 to 12 weeks of age or when about 6 to 7lbs.  Rabbit will dress out at 50 to 65% of live weight.  Older rabbit makes delicious rabbit sausage.  Rabbit is also by far the easiest and quickest of meat animals to butcher and dress.  A rabbit can be processed quite easily in under 10 minutes.  (I teach it if you'd like to know how).

Rabbit meat is higher in protein and lower in fat, cholesterol and calories than beef, pork, chicken or lamb.

Rabbit is all "white" meat and is very similar to the taste and texture of white meat turkey & can be used in almost any chicken/turkey recipe.  It can be boiled, fried, stewed, baked, casseroled or barbequed but be aware that rabbit is very low in fat and can dry out and toughen if cooked improperly.

An internet "search" using the key words "raising rabbits"  will locate many web sites on this subject for more information.

A very good source for wire, cage making and rabbit care supplies is "Klubertanz Equipment Co.",  1 800 237-3899, klubertanz@ticon.net   Also try the folks at BunnyRabbit.com for meds and rabbit supplies