5 C's of Raising Quality Rabbits
by Shiny Satins Rabbitry
1. Culling and careful selection (a.k.a. genetics).
2. Cleanliness. Dirt, dampness and manure buildup inside a cage can become a vector for disease. Parasites or other problems that reach clinically significant levels can cause slow growth rates and poor condition even without severely obvious symptoms.
3. Consistency.
4. Care (or Calmness—avoiding stress). Stress and sudden change is hard on rabbits and can compromise their immune systems.
5. Culling and careful selection again.
1. Culling and careful selection (a.k.a. genetics).
- Starting with quality breeding stock is important. You won’t get quality rabbits out of poor-quality stock. Look for the traits that are important to you and necessary to succeed at the purpose you’re raising rabbits for. Health, bone structure, firm well-muscled bodies, good conformation, growth rates, fur, meaty build, mothering skills and temperament are all elements with a strong hereditary component, along with general overall quality. A rabbit that refuses to pose often has either structural or temperament issues. Never buy or breed a rabbit with a poor immune system or other hereditary defects.
- Use the same criteria in selecting rabbits to sell—never sell a rabbit you would not buy yourself, or use in your own breeding program. Don’t put poor quality rabbits on the show table, either. Ask yourself if that’s a rabbit you would be proud to have out there with your name on it, representing you.
(If you’re selling it as a pet, it just needs to have good temperament and health. If you’re selling it to eat, anything goes as long as it doesn’t have any health issues that would affect edibility. :) )
2. Cleanliness. Dirt, dampness and manure buildup inside a cage can become a vector for disease. Parasites or other problems that reach clinically significant levels can cause slow growth rates and poor condition even without severely obvious symptoms.
- Cage. Keep trays cleaned regularly; don’t let manure or anything that holds moisture pile up. Pay special attention to buildup on the floor and in the corners, even in hanging cages or hutches. Try to avoid using porous materials such as wood, cardboard, fabric or carpeting. If you use resting mats, choose mats that can be kept clean and sterilized, and put them in a spot the rabbit doesn’t use as a bathroom. The slotted plastic resting mats are easy to sterilize and clinically proven to help foot health in rabbits that otherwise might be prone to sore hocks.Try to brush off clingers or any buildup from the cage floor and other surfaces every day or two; it takes 24 to 48 hours for coccidian oocysts to sporulate and become infective. One clinical study found that a rabbit herd was cured of a severe, active coccidia infection simply by keeping the cages very clean.
- Nest box. Clean and sterilize between litters. Remove any dead kits, bloody spots or uneaten placentas right away after the doe is done giving birth. I also like to clean the box out and change the bedding around day 10 when eyes open, to help prevent nestbox eye. Keep an eye on the bedding and spot-clean or change it as needed. Look for signs it’s time to remove the box as kits get to be around 3-4 weeks of age.
- Food. Keep food clean and dry. Never feed damp or moldy feed or feed that doesn’t look and smell right. Store it where moisture, insects and rodents can’t get into it. Don’t put more than about what a rabbit will eat in a day in the food dish. If they don’t eat it all, remove any old food that’s been sitting in the dish for more than a day or two and give fresh. Do not use a dish that’s overly easy for rabbits to climb into or tip over. Clean out any feces or urine in the dish daily.
- Water. CLEAN, fresh water at all times. Avoid water sources prone to become easily soiled or tipped. If you use crocks, empty and clean them frequently. Watch for algae and soiling.
- Rabbit. Grooming is important. Watch for bucks soiling and rubbing on urine guards or spraying nearby rabbits. Check regularly around feet/tails/genital areas for soiling, signs of sore hocks, matting, etc.
- Disease control and biosecurity. Always quarantine new stock, rabbits coming home from a show (if at all possible—this is particularly important with a long or national show), and anything showing any possible sign of illness. Care for quarantined rabbits last, and change your clothes and wash up well before handling or going near the rest of your herd. Be careful about people or other things coming in that may be vectors to carry disease. Using someone else’s buck or letting them use yours is risky—if you do choose to do it, I recommend checking both animals over very carefully first, and quarantining afterwards.
- Disinfect equipment appropriately. I try to disinfect any time I’m using a cage or carrier for a different rabbit, plus any time I suspect disease, and also as part of routine cleaning as needed.
First, start with a clean surface—No disinfectant works well on a dirty or excessively rusty or rough surface.
Secondly, use the right disinfectant for the job. Bleach kills most bacteria and viruses, but has no effect on coccidia oocysts. Ammonia kills coccidia oocysts, but may actually encourage the growth of clostridia and some bacteria. For both bleach and ammonia, you need a 10% dilution to stay wet on the surface for at least 10 minutes to effectively disinfect a clean, smooth surface—if the surface is rusty or you’re not able to get it totally smooth and clean, you may need a higher concentration left on for a longer period of time. Iodine is good for killing Staphylococcus (causative agent in many cases of mastitis) and fungi directly on the skin, and is effective against many bacteria, but is completely useless for killing coccidia or microsporidian oocycsts.
Be aware that disinfectants need to be fresh in order to be effective—for instance, your bleach dilution should be mixed fresh from unexpired concentrate within 24 hours of use.
NEVER, NEVER mix different disinfectants, and always use in a well ventilated area away from rabbits and people, and dry and/or rinse completely before using anything else.
Torching can be helpful in cleaning off loose fur, but can create hazardous fumes and damage the galvanizing on the wire. It is not a disinfectant method, as it would be too dangerous to you and the cage to leave the flame on long enough to kill germs.
Steam cleaning that heats the surface to temperatures of at least 165 degrees F will kill most things, and sunlight is helpful too.
In our rabbitry, we do routine cleaning by powerwashing, scrubbing and scraping if needed, powerwashing again, bleaching, and if we have reason to suspect coccidia we will then follow up with ammonia after a thorough rinse/dry. If there is sun (not always the case in the Pacific Northwest), we’ll let the cage sit in the sun for a while if possible.
3. Consistency.
- Pick a quality feed that your rabbits do well on and that meets their nutritional needs, and stick to it. You will end up culling to your feed over time. See our article on nutrition for more on feed selection.
- Use caution with supplements and treats. They can throw off the nutritional balance of feed, and dietary changes stress the rabbits’ system and make them more prone to illness. Quality commercial rabbit pellets are made of hay and grains and are well-researched to be nutritionally balanced. My vet recommends feeding nothing but pellets and water unless you’re addressing a specific issue. I use hay in the nest boxes and hay, oats and medicinal plants for rabbits that are moulting, go off feed, or are having intestinal issues. But on a routine basis I feed literally NOTHING but pellets and water.
If you are using a non-pellet-based diet, do your research to make sure it is balanced and complete. The House Rabbit Society’s dietary recommendations are not designed for rabbits that are reproducing or growing, and the incidence of gut problems on that diet is very high even for non-producing house rabbits. - Feeding routine: If your rabbit is limit-fed, it’s a good idea to feed a measured amount at close to the same time each day. Once a day is standard, but it’s fine to feed half the amount twice a day if you prefer. General rule of thumb is ½ to 1 oz (by weight, not volume) of feed per pound of the rabbit’s ideal adult weight, but pay attention to your rabbit’s body condition and make adjustments as needed.
If free-feeding, you need to have a dish large enough and attached securely enough that it never runs out or gets dumped. J-feeders are good for this purpose. Actively growing and lactating rabbits generally need to have free access to food with a high enough protein (17-18% for commercial rabbits) and the right nutrient balance. - Make sure the rabbit always has fresh clean water. Don’t let water sit for days in the bottle, and clean the container when it starts to look icky or grow stuff. If your rabbit is knocking off or over its water dish, dirtying the water, or drinking enough that it’s empty before the next time you fill it, it’s your responsibility to find a solution. Rabbits aren’t smart enough to figure out that if they dump out their food and water, they won’t have any. :)
- It’s a good idea to set up a regular schedule or routine for grooming, cleaning and care. A checklist and care log can be helpful. If you’re consistently finding you are having difficulty keeping up or are getting stressed out by the required cleaning and care, consider adjusting your setup or having fewer rabbits.
4. Care (or Calmness—avoiding stress). Stress and sudden change is hard on rabbits and can compromise their immune systems.
- Handle your rabbits firmly, gently and calmly. If you drop or hurt them it can take a very long time for them to feel secure again. Never pick up a rabbit by the ears or scruff—always support their weight from underneath.
- Handle them frequently. From the day they are born until they get out of the nest box, pick each one up and check it over at least once a day to make sure they all have clean bottoms, clean eyes and full bellies and generally look healthy and well-fed. Check the doe to make sure she doesn’t have engorgement, mastitis, a retained kit or an infection. The more they are handled, the more relaxed they will be when handled.
- Even if you don’t handle your rabbits frequently once they are past the nestbox stage, you can still select for temperaments that are calmer and easier to handle over more high-strung rabbits that are difficult to handle. Much of this is hereditary. Even for strictly meat rabbits, it makes your life and theirs more pleasant if they aren’t overly stressed when handled.
- Do health checks on your rabbits often, and do a careful visual check every time you walk through the rabbitry, paying attention to each rabbit’s appearance, behavior and posture. If anything seems off, do a hands-on check right away (after you finish caring for your other rabbits if it’s not an immediate emergency but may be contagious).
- Don’t medicate unless it’s necessary. I personally do not routinely medicate for anything, even for parasites. Simple cleanliness and good care is often enough to keep them below clinically significant levels. If you suspect parasites, it generally costs about $10 to have a fecal test run to see what exactly you are dealing with. If you do medicate, carefully make sure the medication and dosage is appropriate for what you are treating. (A “pea-sized amount” of Ivermectin horse paste, for instance, is enough to treat 50 to 100 lbs. of rabbit even if it’s distributed evenly in the tube, which is unlikely.) Be sure to observe recommended treatment lengths, repeat at the correct intervals if needed, and be aware of the effect on edibility for rabbits that may be eaten by humans or animals. Some medications are not approved for use in meat animals and an animal should never be eaten after having that medication; others have recommended withdrawl times. For meat pen rabbits for JLA or rabbits being sold to certain processors, you need to remove them from the food chain if they receive any medication at all.
- Have a vet you trust that is knowledgeable about rabbits, and/or be willing to cull anything that isn’t readily treatable yourself. Never let a rabbit suffer.
- Try to minimize stress on the rabbits as much as possible. It is perfectly appropriate not to allow strangers or strange animals in your rabbitry, especially when you have does kindling. The calmer you are around them, the calmer they will be. It helps to talk to them when you approach. Some people find having a radio or some sort of background noise helpful in reducing stress for their herds.
- If at all possible, breed more than one doe at a time so you can foster kits if something goes wrong or one has a large litter.
- To minimize stress when weaning, you can either leave the babies with the mom until butchering age, or remove the mother and leave the babies together in their familiar cage until they are 8 to 10 weeks old. Unless you are trying to regulate their growth, it’s generally best to wean the whole litter at once as weaning a few at a time can increase the doe’s chance of mastitis. Giving the doe mint can help dry up her milk if you're concerned about engorgement. You may need to cull or move a few of the offspring early if they are getting crowded, you have obvious culls that you don’t want to grow out, or you have one that’s bullying the others. For hobbyist rabbitries, weaning between 6 and 10 weeks is recommended—commercial rabbitries with more intensive production may wean as early as 4 weeks.
- It’s best to separate genders by 10 weeks of age, and keep a close eye on even same-sex siblings to make sure they are not fighting. It’s usually not a good idea to keep unaltered rabbits in the same cage unless they are same-sex siblings that grew up together, are still getting along well, and are not pregnant or crowded.
- Make sure you have an adequate cage—one that has protection from drafts/rain/direct sunlight, is easy to clean, has an appropriate floor (14-gauge ½” x 1” galvanized wire is ideal, 16 gauge is OK but may require a resting mat), and is large enough for all rabbits in the cage to be able to stretch out and have freedom of movement in the cage. I don’t recommend solid-bottomed cages or ground pens for raising litters because they are clinically proven to be correlated with slower growth rates and poorer health. See our article on wire floors and our collection of studies on flooring types for more info. about why we prefer all-wire cages.
If your litters are fighting before 10 weeks, that may be a sign that your cage or food dish is too small for the number of rabbits. 30” x 30”, 24” x 36”, or 30” x 36” is the smallest I’d go for a commercial-breed doe and litter, and even that may not be large enough to last until weaning if it’s a large litter. It can be helpful to cull a few early in this case, or separate some into a different cage.
5. Culling and careful selection again.
- The harder you cull and the more selective you are about what you keep and breed, the faster your quality will improve. To cull means to remove from the breeding program (which may or may not involve putting the rabbit down, depending on the situation). Breed only rabbits with qualities that you want reproduced in their offspring.
- Again, health, temperament, mothering skills, growth rates, milk production, type, etc. are highly hereditary.
- Keep a healthy herd. Pasteurella is not considered curable once established, and is a risk to the rest of your herd even if you attempt to quarantine, and most other respiratory illnesses do not have a much better prognosis. Sneezing and snot should be immediately and terminally culled. Wry neck is a sign of a dysfunctional immune system, such as a T-cell deficiency—rabbits with adequate immune systems do not get wry neck from e. cuniculi. Allergies are a sign of a poor immune system and can be hereditary. Parasites and some mild intestinal issues can in many cases be treatable with a good prognosis, but if you have one rabbit that is sick while the rest are healthy, and it has recurrent issues, it probably has an underlying immune system deficiency.
- Breed quality to get quality. Issues such as split penis, malocclusion or a significant propensity for sore hocks are hereditary. Severely pinched hindquarters or long shoulders are very difficult to fix once you get them established in your lines. If you need to work with what you have, just keep selecting the best and they should improve over time, but consider bringing in rabbits from outside lines with the traits you want.
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