Baby bunnies are doing fine...even the ones that were born on their cage floor. There was obviously more fur packed in around them yesterday and their tummies were bulging, so Hyacinth has apparently settles down and intends to raise them.
We bred the does again yesterday, so that means in four weeks when the current litter is ready to wean, the next litter will be ready to be born. Then we’ll re-breed them again and in four weeks the first litter will be ready to be butchered, the second litter will be ready to wean and the third litter will be ready to be born...and so on. Every four weeks (actually every 31 days) we re-breed the stock.
We had a heck of a time breeding them last time...trying to get the does into the cage with the buck was difficult due to the fact that the does don’t like to be picked up and would thrash wildly! It worked but it was very stressful and they have claws like razors.
This time, we put up a small corral with some extra fencing we had from the old garden. It was grassy, peaceful and shady. Then we just opened the cages and kinda pushed them out into the grassy corral where they frolicked around, nibbled grass and did what rabbits do. Afterward, we put the does back in their cages but let Joshua sit in the corral and pet Buck.
It was very easy and stress-free.
Aww, poor bunnies. So just when they’re ready to enjoy life themselves you’ll eat them?
:-) Love was in the air!
So, are you gonna butcher all the bunnies or do you have friends lined up to buy some?
My friend who butchered the chickens with me sold three of them for $44...$2.25 a pound. She just about doubled her money. It ran her about $7.50 to raise each bird...not including the $700 it cost her to make the plucker. It probably ran me about $10 per bird because I had to buy a feeder and waterer and pay the $1.50 processing fee. I want to do it again next year, only with a different pen. This one was hard to move. I’d like to build one out of PVC. I have another friend who wants to do it with me and if we split the cost of the pen, I can use it and then transport it to her house and she can use it.
Mrsnad