FAQ

Fast growth needs a balanced ration of roughly 15–17% protein and 14–16% fiber. A home mix usually includes barley, wheat bran, a little wheat or maize, sunflower meal for protein, plus chalk and salt, with good hay always available alongside. Feeding grain alone without hay leads to bloat and diarrhea. Do not use chicken or cattle feed: its fiber content is wrong for rabbits and it may contain coccidiostats that are unsafe for them.

A rabbit drinks roughly 50–150 ml of water per kilogram of body weight a day; a nursing doe drinks 2–3 times more, up to 1–2 liters a day, and all rabbits drink more in heat. Clean water must be available day and night, because going without water becomes dangerous much faster than going without feed. Rabbits on juicy greens drink less, but never take the water away; in winter refresh it several times a day so it does not freeze. A rabbit that stops both drinking and eating is ill and needs a vet; do not add medicines to the water without advice.

Do not use bread as regular feed: it is high in starch and almost free of fiber, and in larger amounts it causes fermentation in the gut, bloat and diarrhea. Never give bread soaked in water, which sours quickly. Moldy bread is poisonous to rabbits. A small piece of dry, clean bread now and then does little harm, but it adds nothing either; hay and balanced feed are far better.

Safe in small, gradually increased amounts: carrots and their tops, a little cabbage, apple, and mulberry leaves and branches, which are especially good. Do not give: - branches, leaves or pits of apricot, cherry, plum or peach, which release poisonous compounds; - potato and tomato plants, or green potatoes; - datura, buttercup, and garden flowers such as tulips, daffodils and lilies. Keep prunings from fruit trees away from the pile of greens.

It is not recommended. Cottonseed cake is cheap and common in Uzbekistan, but it contains gossypol, a toxin that builds up in the body and does most harm when fed over a long time. Use sunflower or soybean meal as the protein source instead. When buying ready-made feed, ask whether it contains cottonseed cake.

Approximate sizes: - a medium-breed doe with kits: at least 90×60 cm and 45–60 cm high; - giant breeds such as the Flemish Giant: around 100–120×70 cm; - a buck: his own cage, which can be a little smaller than a doe’s; - nest box: about 50×35×30 cm. Do not overcrowd growing rabbits: in a hot climate keep to no more than 18 rabbits or 34 kg of live weight per square meter, or losses rise.

Bucks start fighting from about 3–3.5 months, so move them into separate cages. Adult does can fight too, especially when a new rabbit is added or before kindling. Bite wounds quickly turn into abscesses, so keep them clean and show the rabbit to a vet if swelling or pus appears. For mating, bring the doe to the buck’s cage, but do not keep them together permanently, or the doe is mated again on the day she kindles and wears out fast.

This is pododermatitis (sore hocks), usually caused by thin or widely spaced floor wire, a wet and dirty cage, or excess weight, and it is common in giant breeds. Put a smooth board or plastic mat in part of the cage as a resting spot and keep the floor dry. An open, bleeding or swollen sore can become infected, so show it to a vet. Crusty sores that look like mange may be mites or fungus, so it matters to find the real cause.

Keeping breeding rabbits in a basement is not recommended: ammonia from urine and damp build up in a closed room and increase respiratory disease, and preventing that takes powerful ventilation running all the time. A roofed shed in the yard with one open side, shade and moving air is much safer. One or two pet dwarf rabbits can live in an apartment, but breeding for meat there is impractical because of smell, space and neighbors. A basement is useful as a store for feed and equipment.

It is possible, but a hard and risky route for a beginner. Free-ranging rabbits pick up coccidiosis and worms from the soil, fall prey to dogs, cats and birds of prey, and you cannot tell who is pregnant, who is sick or who mated with whom, which leads to inbreeding. Pits and burrows are damp, and sick rabbits are hard to isolate or vaccinate there. Cages, or a dry, shaded pen enclosed with mesh, give far more control.