Take a look at this chart on the nutritional values of rabbit meat and other popular meats:

Rabbit meat is so healthy and lean that some doctors actually prescribe a rabbit meat diet to people who are overweight and obese. Because the fat and calorie levels are so low, but protein so high, one can radically change their life by eating a rabbit meat diet and exercising.

Does that mean that it would be healthy to eat only rabbit meat all the time with no additional other foods? Actually no. Because rabbit meat is so lean, your body can actually suffer if you eat nothing but rabbit meat all the time because it does not contain enough fat. So the good news is, you’re encouraged to eat other foods that you might not otherwise get to eat because of their fat content — thanks to rabbit meat!

Rabbits, like many other animals, put on thick winter coats as cooler temperatures approach. And what is most important to remember when preparing your rabbit housing for the cold is to eliminate drafts and prevent cold winds, rain or snow from entering the rabbit cages. But you don’t want to make the housing airtight or you will also harm your rabbits.

Some people will just place plastic sheeting over the sides of their hutches or cages to keep out the elements. Others may want to build a lean to or structure over all of their cages and then frame it in with plastic sheeting to block some of the cold. You can also place a box inside your cages for your rabbits to burrow into for warmth, but do make sure that these boxes are staying clean because they might be mistaken for a toilet. All you really need is an enclosed box (even from cardboard) with a hole big enough for your rabbit to get though and some bedding material.

Rabbits may need extra brushing during the winter due to their thicker coats. And be sure to check them for any signs of coughing, obstructed breathing or mucus discharge around the eyes or nose. Rabbits can get colds and will need to be treated. If you rabbits become lethargic and limp, they are too cold. Get them inside a warmer space immediately and get their body temperature back up.

© Ervinpospisil

Californian rabbits are a medium-sized rabbit breed (adults weigh 7-10 pounds or 3.5-4.75 kilos, with the does being heavier) that was specifically developed for meat and fur production by US breeders in the 1920′s. The breed was developed by crossing Himalayan, Standard Chinchilla and New Zealand white rabbits.

As of now, it is the second most popular meat producing rabbit breed in the world, with only the New Zealand breed ahead of them. Californian rabbits still look very similar to the Himalayan rabbit with a predominantly white body and black on the feet, nose, ears and tail. They have pink eyes.

The body of a Californian rabbit is plump but fine-boned, giving it a high meat-to-bone ratio which is essential for good meat rabbit breeds. Californians are so popular as a meat breed because they are truly an excellent meat rabbit breed. They usually produce large litters of 8-12 kits, which have a fast growth rate to fryer size (4-5lbs) in 8-12 weeks. They are also usually good mothers.

But, Californians may not be so suitable for children to assist with because they can be difficult to handle by an inexperienced person due to their size. And they are sometimes very moody and aggressive.

The average life span of a breeding Californian rabbit is 5 to 6 years.

To learn more about Californian rabbits, find breeders or learn about rabbit shows, visit www.nationalcalclub.com

I wrote Raising Rabbits to Survive a few years ago after I started raising meat rabbits myself. It seemed like there was tons of information out in the world for pet and show breeders, but very little about those who had decided to break off into homesteading or small-scale farming practices. Other books focusing on homesteaders mentioned how great rabbits were but they didn’t say much about what to do when your rabbits got sick and only skimmed over basic care. So I decided to venture into the world of ebooks and put something together myself.

The first version was only 45 pages– and it was all meat (pardon the pun). But I wasn’t convinced it was really finished yet…so I kept working on the ebook. I added to it and nutured it…and before long it was over 80 pages. I’d added new information about the best meat rabbit breeds available (for a total of 19 profiles) and created a resources section to help new breeders find their way.

Then I created new partner books to go with it. The first version included a collection of over 75 rabbit recipes that helped me get through some of the crazy moments when I just had more rabbit meat than I knew what to do with. It happens to all of us…especially if we forget about planning ahead.

When I started the second version of Raising Rabbits to Survive, I also spent months putting together a breeders list of rabbit breeders across the US because I had so many readers requesting help with finding a breeder. (I’m always available by email to those who purchase my ebook whenever they have questions or concerns.)

Every time I get an email from someone who has bought my book and found the courage to start on (or expand) their journey into self-sufficiency, my heart swells. There is nothing I like better than to know that I have passed on some of my own knowledge to help another family grow and flourish. I hope that someday, gardening and homesteading will be the norm in households — not just a novelty.

Metal nests are best because they last a very long time, are easy to sanitize and are great for summer nesting. In the summer, if the pups are hot, they will lie against the metal sides to dissipate heat.

Barley straw is the best option to line nests. Shavings and sawdust are terrible for your rabbits — they absorb water and become damp and cold. The dust from it can also cause illness and breathing problems in your rabbits. Also, most wood products now contain some preservatives and it has been banned for use as hog bedding. A good barley straw nest can last up to six weeks without changing. It sheds liquids and it has a hollow core so it provides constant insulation value even when wet.

Rabbit nesting boxes can be purchased in many places, made from wood, sheet metal, wire or a combination of these. Because you’ll be needing several nesting boxes around the same time, you may find buying them a bit expensive. Building a nesting box yourself is a fairly simple and inexpensive option. The material you select will not only dictate the price for the box but also how much cleanup time you need later on.

Regarding the flooring of the nest, building or buying one with pegboard floor will make sanitation a lot easier, especially if it is removable. You can use treated masonite peg board for the perforated floors of either metal or wood cages. Cut the peg board to fit the bottom of your nest, soak it in linseed oil and then dry it in a warm place for a couple weeks. It will become impermeable. A hinged top is also a great option for simple cleanup in colder climates where the rabbits need more warmth.

Whether you buy or build your nest boxes, be aware of the box’s size versus the size of your rabbit. The box should be large enough for your mother doe to comfortably turn around in after bedding has been added to the box and the entrance hole should be easy for the mother doe to fit through. The babies will also be hanging out in here for about 3 weeks so you need to allow space for them too.

Rabbit Nesting Box Dimensions by Breed Size
(Length x Height x Width)
Small – 12” x 8” x 10”
Medium -  16” x 10 1/2” x 10”
Large -  20” x 11 1/2” x 10”

Closing the box up with at least a partial top will give the mother rabbit a perch to escape to and will keep babies warm in cold weather. This will also allow you to isolate a doe that is causing problems with the pups. If you cannot close the box you will need to remove it from the cage.

Keeping the Nest Clean

An extra nest or two is essential when you need to clean it before the kits are ready to hop around the cage freely. Nests, especially wooden ones, should be scraped and scrubbed with lots of elbow grease and bleach or a disinfectant spray at weeks 2, 3 and 4 after the litter is born. Once the majority of the funk is gone, take a small propane torch to the cage to lightly burn off the remaining hair and manure (where nasty organisms love to grow and multiply.) Torching should be used in combination with other cleaning because neither will get the job done alone. Leaving the box out in the sunlight for a while will also help kill off harmful organisms.

An alternative cleaning process involves scrubbing and lots of bleach. First scrub out and rinse boxes and floors, then wash them in strong bleach solution. Soak floors or wooden sides in clean water, twice, scrubbing between soaks. Then drain them off and spray them with a strong bleach solution, keeping them wet five minutes. Finally, air dry the nest floor and wooden boxes for at least a week and re-bleach them. They are then ready to dry and be used again.

To keep your rabbits as safe as possible, you should suspend cages from the ceiling or rafters with 14-gauge wire or mount them on the wall.  If you can’t, use metal legs to support the cages. Wooden posts and benches will give rats, snakes and other small predators access to your rabbits. They’ll also rot out quickly and need lots of scrubbing to keep odors at bay.

Adult rabbits need individual cages. Having more than one in a cage will result in fights and two does in one cage can induce labor in each other. Kits can be left in with the mother until 8 weeks old if adequate space is provided. They’ll also prefer the extra warmth that a full cage offers in colder weather. Fryers can also be packed into cages during colder temps. But if it’s warm, make sure at least 25% of the floor space is cleared for them to stretch out.

Bucks can be housed in slightly smaller cages but will benefit from some extra exercise in a decent sized cage. You will also want an isolation cage for any sick animals or to quarantine rabbits which are being introduced to the herd or have been away from the others for a period of time (such as at a show.) These extra cages will also be useful when you are cleaning the rabbit cages so you have a safe place to temporarily house the rabbits.

A good rule to follow for rabbit cage sizing is one square foot for each pound of rabbit. Examples: Small breeds —2 1/2 x 2 1/2 ft. = 6 1/4 sq. ft.  Medium breeds—2 1/2 x 3 ft. = 71/2 sq. ft.  Large breeds—2 1/2 x 4 ft. = 10 sq. ft. with at least 18 inches of head room. Don’t crowd your doe into a small cage that will be overflowing when 8-10 bunnies join her.  Also ensure that you can get your hands on the rabbit wherever it may try to hide in the cage. If it is too deep, the rabbit will run to the far corner out of your reach! Making the cage longer, not wider, will allow you easier access.

Rabbits and hares inhabit most of the temperate regions of the world. Rabbits were once believed to be related to rodents because of their similar chisel-like teeth which continue to grow if not regularly worn down by chewing. Rabbits, however, have two upper and two lower incisor teeth and two smaller pulp teeth behind the upper incisors—a total of six teeth. Rodents only have four.

Breeds of modern domestic rabbits have developed since the 18th century. There are now several hundred varieties throughout the world, varying in size, color, type of hair coat, and other characteristics. There are currently 45 breeds which are recognized by the American Rabbit Breeders Association.

Feeding your meat rabbits is definitely the most expensive part of raising them but you’ll still get more bang for your buck than you would if you were raising other animals for meat. What you put into your rabbit will be directly reflected in what you get out. Quality, not quantity, is the key.

Rabbits are vegetarians but a large portion of the meat rabbit’s diet needs to be proteins and amino acids. However you try to combine them, there’s no way that a meat rabbit could ever get the protein needed to produce it’s fullest capacity and be in top health by getting these amino acids from salads alone.

If you’re not focusing on the goal of high production, rabbits can easily survive on grains, vegetables, lawn clippings, or garden and table scraps. Give them the tops of carrots, salad hearts that aren’t used in the salad itself, pumpkins and more. Subscribe to the Meat Rabbit News mailing list on the side of this page to get a whole list of fruits, vegetables, herbs, tree cuttings, leaves and flowers which are safe to feed rabbits for free.

During the Great Depression and in some third world countries, people still raise rabbits on a diet of scraps and grains alone.  The rabbits continue to produce and grow just fine, but their litters are smaller and grow more slowly. Not optimal if you’re raising meat rabbits. The rabbits may also lack protein, salt and other nutrients that they normally consume from feed pellets. Using a good store-bought feed pellet just simplifies your feeding routine and keeps you from spending a lot of time mixing together your own feed. An over- or underweight doe is more susceptible to disease and may have trouble breeding and kindling.

Feeders

Galvanized metal self-feeders are available at most feed stores for $6-7 each. A feeder is a metal box which attaches to the outside of the cage with a trough which sticks through a hole cut in your cage. Some hang entirely inside the cage. Get the model with the screened bottom so “fines” (dusty bits of the feed pellets) sift through. They only cost a bit more but will save you from cleaning them out all the time. Rabbits won’t eat the fines and the dust could cause respiratory problems if left in the cage.

You can also use dishes or crocks for food dishes but they get mistaken for a toilet by babies, are sat in and get knocked over. Using a feeder will make the process a lot easier and allows you to feed the rabbits without opening every cage door. They also hold more feed for times when your rabbits should have plenty of food available, such as when your doe is pregnant or has a litter being weaned,

Water bottles or watering system

Fresh, clean water is essential for your rabbits and needs to be available at all times. During warm weather, a doe and her kits may drink up to a gallon of water per day. Avoid using any sort of crocks, bowls or open-topped water bottles. As mentioned in the feeder section, rabbits love using bowls and crocks for a port-o-potty and will constantly flip them over. They are also a breeding ground for diseases like liver coccidiosis. If do decide to use a crock, make it a half-gallon stoneware crock that is heavy enough to stay put. Getting one with a sloping sides and a concave bottom will keep it from breaking during freezing temps in the winter.

The hanging water bottle with a dew drop valve is a common and inexpensive solution. If you buy one, spring for the hinge-topped rather than the bottom-filled bottles to save a lot of hassle and time. Remember, bigger is better when it comes to bottle size. You could also build your own bottle watering system with large jugs (such as a bleach bottle) and the dew drop valves themselves but make bottles small enough that you still need to refill them daily so you keep them cleaner. Build a rack to hold the jug upside down and feed the valve into the cage. Punch a few small holes in the bottom of the jug (which has become the top when it’s upside down) to vent it and keep the water flowing. Using large jugs keeps you from needing to add or change water so often, the rabbits will always have plenty of fresh water and freezing isn’t an issue since the jugs are plastic. Each rabbit will need his own bottle and they will need to be scrubbed out and disinfected from time to time with bleach or sanitizer.