How do breeders manage...

[gentle giants]

minirexmama wrote:

irishbunny wrote:

Ya but if a breeder has 100+ rabbits they are going to be out in the rabbitry most of the time anyway since I'm sure there is plenty of chores to be done.

To me, if a rabbit is fed, watered, kept out of the elements, and provided with hay, snacks, ect., they are well taken care of. Not every rabbit is going to have a good pet home with a large run, but that doesn't mean they have an awful life. There are plenty of pet bunnies who are treated far worse than breeding/show rabbits who do not get outside time. JMO.

YES!! Absolutely, thank you. I have taken in so many rescue rabbits that didn't have half of those basic needs provided for, that when I see one that is, even if it doesn't get run time (assuming the cage isn't incredibly tiny, or something) it is a relief to me. So long as the rabbit has those things and is obviously healthy...I'm ok with it.

 

[W5Skittles]

i believe that everyone has different beliefs when it comes to rabbit care idont believe there is ever a 'right' way to looking after a pet as really we dont know how a rabbit thinks inside do we :?

i also believe a rabbit cant miss what it hasnt had so a rabbit who does live in a cage 24/7 never had run of the garden cant miss it as its never had it if you get me so will feel safer inside its cage rather in a strange run.

but me personally think all rabbits should be given a large hutch and daily exercise if possible i watch my buns binky up and down my garden everyday i feel guilty when i lock them away.

im someone who tries to see 2 sides to a story and not just what i think is right because through the years helping rescues etc. ive noticed that their is never a perfect way to look after a rabbit.

what is wrong is neglected rabbits who are locked up in dirty hutches no water and given food when the owner remembers or those who think its ok to keep rabbits in carriers and bread bins

 

[DyemondRabbitry]

I have to say this is one of the best breeder threads I've read! I topped out around 200 rabbits, going to school, varsity basketball, competitive shooting and honors bands on top! One word- adapt. You find ways to do things better, you get into a groove and it gets things done RIGHT not just half-a**ed

 

[Luv-bunniz]

I remember going to a breeders house before we got CJ and she bred pet dwarfs (ie. good quality but not too show standards) and she had 2 teenagers come in daily to help with the rabbits. They took on the jobs of cleaning and feeding whilst the breeder obviously did all the expenses and breeding side of things. I was just amazed at how in synch everyone was! There was a 30'x22' shed with about 8 rows of 7 cages long and 5 cages high. (all cages were the same size 2ft deep by at least 3.6ft wide by 18" tall and these were for maximum of pairs.) But for a total cleaning day it pretty much worked like this:

1 girl took out the rabbit and checking him/her over for anything un-usual, the rabbit was then allowed to run around the whole shed whilst that person took out resting mats and mesh bottoms and hosed them off, during this the other person would be hoseing off the tray and putting new bedding into it. The rabbit was then given its daily veggies and some rolled oats whilst out of the cage and put back with fresh sterlised bowls and resting mats and new hidey houses (card board boxes lol). This would continue for all the cages and for babies a small play pen was set up by the side of the cage so they were safe and secure but were still able to watch everything going on. After everyone is cleaned out they would go along choosing does for breeding and allowing them ot mate, socializing and feeding fresh food/hay. Then the whole shed got sweeped out and floor hosed down with F10 and all bowls left in a tub to sterlize over night. Daily they went around the cages again checking for anything abnormal on them, feeding hay/pellets/veggies, watering, 20 minutes exercise for the more hyper young rabbits (and those who cared ofr it) and wet patches taken out of the pans (they used wood pellets so it was easy to see and scoop out pee patches with a dustpan.).
But it was just like everybody judged each others moves - nothing was a suprise to them and they worked like clockwork! anyway thats just my experience of this breeder. I was very please that the rabbits were getting socialized/exercised/veggies daily and wouldn't think twice about buying from her if she was still in the breeding buisness!

 

[Sabine]

I have six rabbits at the moment and I'm planning to breed in spring but I'm hoping to only add one or two bunnies to the lot. I have 5 kids, a part time job etc... and i do find it hard to keep up with the bunny chores. But I couldn't bear knowing that any of the bunnies have sat in their cage all day. I shift them around constantly to give them various different exercise. I don't do it all at the same time but bits and pieces all day long. I think all in all it takes me an hour a day

 

[BlueCamasRabbitry]

Luv-bunniz wrote:

I remember going to a breeders house before we got CJ and she bred pet dwarfs (ie. good quality but not too show standards) and she had 2 teenagers come in daily to help with the rabbits. They took on the jobs of cleaning and feeding whilst the breeder obviously did all the expenses and breeding side of things. I was just amazed at how in synch everyone was! There was a 30'x22' shed with about 8 rows of 7 cages long and 5 cages high. (all cages were the same size 2ft deep by at least 3.6ft wide by 18" tall and these were for maximum of pairs.) But for a total cleaning day it pretty much worked like this:

1 girl took out the rabbit and checking him/her over for anything un-usual, the rabbit was then allowed to run around the whole shed whilst that person took out resting mats and mesh bottoms and hosed them off, during this the other person would be hoseing off the tray and putting new bedding into it. The rabbit was then given its daily veggies and some rolled oats whilst out of the cage and put back with fresh sterlised bowls and resting mats and new hidey houses (card board boxes lol). This would continue for all the cages and for babies a small play pen was set up by the side of the cage so they were safe and secure but were still able to watch everything going on. After everyone is cleaned out they would go along choosing does for breeding and allowing them ot mate, socializing and feeding fresh food/hay. Then the whole shed got sweeped out and floor hosed down with F10 and all bowls left in a tub to sterlize over night. Daily they went around the cages again checking for anything abnormal on them, feeding hay/pellets/veggies, watering, 20 minutes exercise for the more hyper young rabbits (and those who cared ofr it) and wet patches taken out of the pans (they used wood pellets so it was easy to see and scoop out pee patches with a dustpan.).
But it was just like everybody judged each others moves - nothing was a suprise to them and they worked like clockwork! anyway thats just my experience of this breeder. I was very please that the rabbits were getting socialized/exercised/veggies daily and wouldn't think twice about buying from her if she was still in the breeding buisness!

That is a really neat system! lol. I would love for people to help me clean cages, but it would cost to much and I dont have my own job lol!

Karlee helps sometimes when she's over and we appreciate that, and me and my sister can usually bribe our niece and nephew into helping somedays, so it's all good lol.

Emily

 

[Luv-bunniz]

BlueSkyAcresRabbitry wrote:

That is a really neat system! lol. I would love for people to help me clean cages, but it would cost to much and I dont have my own job lol!

Karlee helps sometimes when she's over and we appreciate that, and me and my sister can usually bribe our niece and nephew into helping somedays, so it's all good lol.

Emily

Yeah, I thought it was great and it shows even with 100-150 rabbits its still possible for them all to get jobs done and easily give them play time and cuddles when they want. And she dosent pay them anything, she gives them lunch and sometimes breakfast on the weekends and they just love doing it for the experience of different things (breeding, medical stuff, hand rearing, feeding, conditioning for shows etc) and they never really seem to be like "ugh, another day of cleaning" they seem quite happy to clean them out and have the luxury of babies

 

[gentle giants]

Sabine wrote:

I have six rabbits at the moment and I'm planning to breed in spring but I'm hoping to only add one or two bunnies to the lot. I have 5 kids, a part time job etc... and i do find it hard to keep up with the bunny chores.

It rarely works out quite that simply, though. What if you can't find a home for one or two of the babies? And the cleaning and such will be a lot more work while you have litters, because a momma and 4-6 babies make a lot more poop than just momma does. If you are having hard time keeping up now, and trust me, I understand that, it will get harder when/while you have a litter or twoto raise.

 

[Sabine]

gentle giants wrote:

Sabine wrote:

I have six rabbits at the moment and I'm planning to breed in spring but I'm hoping to only add one or two bunnies to the lot. I have 5 kids, a part time job etc... and i do find it hard to keep up with the bunny chores.

It rarely works out quite that simply, though. What if you can't find a home for one or two of the babies? And the cleaning and such will be a lot more work while you have litters, because a momma and 4-6 babies make a lot more poop than just momma does. If you are having hard time keeping up now, and trust me, I understand that, it will get harder when/while you have a litter or twoto raise.

That's why I will only breed in spring/summer because they'll spend most of the time outdoors and their cages won't get half as messy. I have four different covered runs in the garden

 

[Luv-bunniz]

Sabine wrote:

gentle giants wrote:

Sabine wrote:

 I have six rabbits at the moment and I'm planning to breed in spring but I'm hoping to only add one or two bunnies to the lot. I have 5 kids, a part time job etc... and i do find it hard to keep up with the bunny chores.

 

It rarely works out quite that simply, though. What if you can't find a home for one or two of the babies? And the cleaning and such will be a lot more work while you have litters, because a momma and 4-6 babies make a lot more poop than just momma does. If you are having hard time keeping up now, and trust me, I understand that, it will get harder when/while you have a litter or two to raise. 

That's why I will only breed in spring/summer because they'll spend most of the time outdoors and their cages won't get half as messy. I have four different covered runs in the garden

And if no babies find homes? Whenever somebody breeds they run the risk of not finding homes for any of them. This could happen to anybody at any time so unless you can keep up with 8 (and possibly more) kits it really isnt advisable to breed.

 

[TinysMom]

Luv-bunniz wrote:

And if no babies find homes? Whenever somebody breeds they run the risk of not finding homes for any of them. This could happen to anybody at any time so unless you can keep up with 8 (and possibly more) kits it really isnt advisable to breed.

Then a responsible breeder will keep them until they find a home. That's what I've done.

It's possible to breed and care for those that don't find homes right off (you just don't breed another litter right away).

 

[Becca]

Though I don't have a lot of bunnies, neither do I breed them but this thread is really interesting and I've enjoyed reading it!!

I did't know that about nethies and their shoulders!!

I'm gonna keep reading LOL

Becca

 

[Luv-bunniz]

TinysMom wrote:

Luv-bunniz wrote: 

And if no babies find homes? Whenever somebody breeds they run the risk of not finding homes for any of them. This could happen to anybody at any time so unless you can keep up with 8 (and possibly more) kits it really isnt advisable to breed.

Then a responsible breeder will keep them until they find a home.  That's what I've done.

It's possible to breed and care for those that don't find homes right off (you just don't breed another litter right away).

Exactly, thats why I said "so unless you can keep up with 8 (and possibly more) kits it really isnt advisable to breed." meaning, unless you can keep hold of all the babies until they find homes (if ever), then you shouldnt breed because what will happen to the babies?.

 

[Sabine]

Luv-bunniz wrote:

TinysMom wrote:

Luv-bunniz wrote:

And if no babies find homes? Whenever somebody breeds they run the risk of not finding homes for any of them. This could happen to anybody at any time so unless you can keep up with 8 (and possibly more) kits it really isnt advisable to breed.

Then a responsible breeder will keep them until they find a home. That's what I've done.

It's possible to breed and care for those that don't find homes right off (you just don't breed another litter right away).

Exactly, thats why I said "so unless you can keep up with 8 (and possibly more) kits it really isnt advisable to breed." meaning, unless you can keep hold of all the babies until they find homes (if ever), then you shouldnt breed because what will happen to the babies?.

It is rather unlikely the babies wouldn't find homes. But if for whatever reason I didn't of course I'd hang on to them. It wouldn't be ideal but what else would I do

 

[Luv-bunniz]

Sabine wrote:

Luv-bunniz wrote:

TinysMom wrote:

Luv-bunniz wrote: 

And if no babies find homes? Whenever somebody breeds they run the risk of not finding homes for any of them. This could happen to anybody at any time so unless you can keep up with 8 (and possibly more) kits it really isnt advisable to breed.

Then a responsible breeder will keep them until they find a home.  That's what I've done.

It's possible to breed and care for those that don't find homes right off (you just don't breed another litter right away).

Exactly, thats why I said "so unless you can keep up with 8 (and possibly more) kits it really isnt advisable to breed." meaning, unless you can keep hold of all the babies until they find homes (if ever), then you shouldnt breed because what will happen to the babies?.

It is rather unlikely the babies wouldn't find homes. But if for whatever reason I didn't of course I'd hang on to them. It wouldn't be ideal but what else would I do

And again, exactly!

 

[chinbunny1]

Most of the time I have about 30-40 rabbits at a time. I care for them myself. So I keep back what i can handle every year. Breeding rabbits shouldn't have to be let out since most of us keep them in cages that fit their needs per ARBA standards. Since I have rabbits that grow no larger then seven pounds, most of mine are in 24x24 inch cages. save for one that's in a 30x30. I used to let my rabbits out in a couple of yard pens so that they'd each get a few hours of yard time during the week. Until my neighbors dogs started going after them, and even went as far as getting into my barn one day to kill one. So the bunnies can't go outside anymore for free time, unless its strictly supervised.

I clean a few cages every night to keep up with the amount of poop they produce. I try to handle each and every one. But as other posters have said, sometimes its not possible. Plus I have a job. So I can't be home to let the rabbits out or handle them all the time. Most of my rabbits are friendly and socail enough where I can pick them up and handle them at any time.

30-40 rabbits might seem like a lot to handle. But, really, its not.

I know a lot of show breeders who do not allow them out of their cages at all. Those rabbits are well cared for, and look great. They show well. They are well muscled, and they win.

If you have a few rabbits to bred with, you will end up expanding. There is no way you can have a sucessful breeding program by keeping a select few of them. You'll end up breeding, and getting rid of alot of rabbits to replace the few breeding stock you keep back, that way.