A Better Way to Raise Rabbits

(Page 3 of 3)

July/August 1977
By Luilla P. Thompson 
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The rabbits loved their new run. Left to themselves, they played outdoors throughout the night and early morning (weather permitting), then slept in the rabbit house during the day.

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Every four or five months we had to clean the rabbit house. This, however, was a simple matter: We just pushed the wheelbarrow right into the pen, loaded it up with old litter (straw mixed with manure and alfalfa stems) from the floor of the building, and carted the load to the compost pile. Afterwards, I took care to place the boxes that had babies in them back in the same spots where they'd been before.

Our rabbits were so prolific that we sometimes found it necessary to restrict breeding temporarily. We did this by partitioning off a corner in the pen, placing an old ammunition box in that corner for shelter, and retiring the bucks to this compartment for 30 days or so.

We ate rabbits all summer, sold great numbers of bunnies, and put 65 fryers in the deep freeze that first year. Our rabbits not only bred more vigorously in their "dormitory" than they did in cages, but they seemed healthier and happier too. And my workload was cut by a good 80% or more.

After raising rabbits this way for more than five years now, I'm convinced it's the only way to go. If you're tired of cooping your bunnies up in cages, why not try the rabbit-house method yourself? All you need is a small building and enough hay, straw, or alfalfa to keep the animals occupied. The rabbits will do the rest!

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  • Teri Kennedy 6/17/2009 1:51:13 PM

    In this article, the author seems to have let his two bucks, a California Giant and a New Zealand, to freely mate with all his does.

    I'm new to rabbit raising, and I've been told not to let my Mini-Rexes breed with my New Zealands...

    I'd like to use the rabbit house and run method described by the author, but am concerned about letting both breeds run freely together.

    Please help me with this question.

    Thank you,
    Teri Kennedy
    Payson, AZ

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