Raising Rabbits for Meat – Preparing for Baby Rabbits

When you are raising rabbits for meat, you will first purchase a set of young rabbits and wait for them to grow into breeding age. Or you might purchase a breeding trio that are already of age to reproduce. Either way, you will need to know what to do to prepare yourself for the baby rabbits that are sure to come. I have put together some basics to get you ready for when your female rabbits are ready to have babies.

Some Simple Facts for Rabbits and Breeding

Before we start with what you need to know, lets get some basics down.

• Rabbits are called does (female) and bucks (males). Babies are called kits.
• Female rabbits don’t go into heat like many mammals. Their ovulation is stimulated by breeding and can be bred at any time (more later on times that are better than others).
• The gestation period for a doe is 31 to 33 days.
• Most rabbits give birth to 3 to 12 babies and have 8 to 10 nipples to nurse them.

How Old Are Your Rabbits?

When you purchase your rabbits, it is very helpful to know how old your rabbits are. I know people sometimes get rabbits and do not know. But best practice is that you know the age or at least have an idea.

The reason that this is important is that your rabbits will be ready to breed at a certain age. You don’t want to start breeding them too young. On the other side, if you get an older rabbit that has never been bread or it has been a long time since breeding, you might have trouble getting that one pregnant too.

What is the Right Age to Breed?

Depending on which book you read or the person you talk to, this answer could be different. That can be frustrating, but what I have found is that the 6 month mark is a good age to start. Some breeders start closer to four months, and while your rabbits may be showing signs that they are ready at this age, they most likely are not.

I have also read other books that say wait until your rabbits are closer to eight months for the larger breeds. Unless I get a rabbit at an older age (which I tend to avoid), I do not tend to wait this long.

When I sell a breeding trio, I like to sell a buck that is slightly older than the does. The bucks tend to be ready a little later than does, so that tends to work out well.

What Happens if You Breed at the Wrong Age?

Usually nothing! I have tried to have one of my younger does bred earlier than the six month mark and she was not ready even though things seemed to go well. She did not get pregnant. So we tried again when she was closer to six months and all went well.

I have been warned that if you try to breed males too young then they will stop growing past the age you breed them. I have not found this true as all my young bucks have continued to grow after the first breedings. But it is something to consider.

Since rabbits have a very short gestation (around 30 days), it isn’t a huge deal if they do not have a litter when you thought they were bred. If you have reached that 33 day mark and there still aren’t any babies, you can rebreed your rabbit and you should have babies in a month. I usually wait to 35 days just in case.

Basics of Breeding Rabbits

When you have a doe and a buck that are of breeding age, you can breed them. You will want to bring the doe to the cage of the buck. Never the other way around. The doe is very territorial and may hurt the buck. Or the buck will spend the whole time sniffing the doe’s cage and not do what he is supposed to.

You can also bring both rabbits to a neutral space that is accessible from the top, which is a bit easier for you to help if needed. I have a baby gate corral that works well for this. Some people use an open wagon with sides.

Once the buck has bred the doe (look for 3 “fall offs” like in this video), you should be good to go and return the doe to her cage. She should be bred.

If you only get one or two fall offs from the buck, you can do a few different things.

If it was early in the day, you can try again later that evening.

Or if it wasn’t early, give them a day and rebreed the next morning for a just in case scenario.

When is a Good Time to Breed?

Like I said before, you can breed a rabbit at any time because she does not come into ovulation on a time table. She will accept the buck at most any time. If she doesn’t seem to accept the buck and won’t lift for him to be bred, the act of the buck trying should bring her into ovulation.

So if it doesn’t work the first day, bring her back to the buck the next day and she should be willing.

Some things to Consider

You might have a bit of trouble breeding and these are some things to consider:

• Are your rabbits getting enough day light? If they are in a dark place and not seeing much of the sunlight, you will need to supplement with lights. They are sensitive to being in the dark and do not want to breed.
• Is it really cold or really hot? Most rabbits will not want to breed if the temps are very cold. So I usually give my breeding rabbits the winter off. They can be bred in winter, but it depends on your temps and setup for housing. If bucks are exposed to heat over 85 degrees F for over 5 days, they can become temporally sterile. So breeding in the heat of summer can also be a bad idea.

Prepare Your Doe and Her Cage

When you have bred your doe and are waiting for babies, you will want to make sure you have all the supplies needed for when the kits come.

This is what I have on hand:

• A nesting box made out of wood or metal. Here are simple plans if you need them.
• Pine shavings (I keep a big bag on hand for rabbits and chickens like this)
• Hay or Straw

On day 28 you will want to get out the nesting box. I fill the bottom layer with pine shavings and then put some hay or straw in there loosely. I put the filled nesting box in with the doe along with another handful or two of hay/straw for her to make her nest.

This is where I like to hang back and watch to see what she does. Usually the doe will be interested in the nesting box and go right over and start sniffing it out. She will then usually jump in to check it out.

Sometimes she will go straight to the hay or straw and start shoving as much as she possibly can into her mouth. Then she will take it into the nesting box to start arranging her nest.

She might ignore it for a bit, but most likely will have done something with it by the time you come back if you give her a bit of space.

Be careful to not put the nesting box in too early. It might just become a litter box for mom if she has it in there much before that 28 day mark.

Pulling Hair to Get Ready for Baby Rabbits

The last thing that your momma rabbit will do before her babies come is pull fur for the nest. Due to pregnancy hormones, her fur will get loose and she will pull it from around her neck and chest.

She may pull hair a few days in advance or just right before her babies come.

Some does pull just a bit of hair, but others pull a lot. The amount of hair will also fluctuate with how warm or cold it is outside. The momma rabbits are able to make a nice nest to keep their babies warm with all the fur they pull and place in the nesting box.

How amazing is that they they are able to make such a cozy place for their babies?

Just in case: If I have a doe who loses a litter or pulls an extreme amount of fur, I will sometimes collect some of the extra to have on hand for an emergency where another doe may not pull enough.

False Pregnancy

Sometimes does will do the above behaviors even when they are not pregnant and they really get you convinced babies are coming. But they never do.

Don’t worry, just move on and rebreed after that 33-35 day mark.

The Baby Rabbits are Here

When you check on your momma doe at that 31 day mark, she might have her baby rabbits with her. I have found that my rabbits tend to have their babies in the evening or very early morning. But it is usually early morning.

Rabbits have their babies very quickly. Sometimes I have gone out and not realized that they just had their babies. I have even seen them in the nesting box having them. I try to be extremely quiet or leave them alone until they are done.

Rabbits usually only take 30 minutes to have their babies. The babies are born without any fur and their eyes and ears are closed.

What to Do Next for the Baby Rabbits

When I see that the doe has had her babies, I assess the situation. If it just happened and everything seems to be fine, I leave them alone for a bit.

I will bring the mom a treat and make sure she has enough food and water.

After a few hours or most of the day, I will check on the baby rabbits. The first check is very quick and is mostly to make sure there are not any dead in the nesting box.

I feel around and depending on the weather (if it isn’t freezing), I will pull them to the front of the box quickly to count and make sure they are all alive.

If I find a dead baby, I will pull it out right away. This is common to have one not fully formed or one that seemed fine, but not alive.

Some momma rabbits will eat their dead babies if you do not remove them. I like to take them out so that the nesting box stays as clean as possible.

Then I leave them alone after the quick count.

The Doe Nurses the Babies

Something different about rabbits than most other mammals is that rabbits will only nurse their babies one or two times a day!

So you will notice that the doe stays out of the nesting box most of the time. She might hop in right after you return the nesting box to make sure all is ok. But she mostly only nurses them in the morning and then again in the evening.

This is when I like to make sure to check on them. Sometimes the doe will jump out of the nesting box and a baby will stay attached to her as she jumps out.

The baby rabbit is not able to get back to the nesting box on their own and the momma is not able to pick it up and return it either.

That means that the baby will die on the wire if you don’t see it soon enough. If you do notice this, grab it right away and return it to the nest. The fur and the warmth of the siblings is the best bet for the kit to warm up and survive.

The First Week After the Baby Rabbits Come

The first few days

During the first few days I will recheck the babies quickly to make sure they are all ok and alive. I try to keep it very brief. Most of my does are very happy to share their babies and don’t seem nervous and have never gotten aggressive during this time.

The FirsT and Second Week

The babies will start to wake up a bit more the first week. They are still blind and deaf, but they do have a very heightened sense of when you are reaching in the nest. I like to call this the popcorn stage.

The baby rabbits pop all around and squeak at the interruption of the nesting bax. Be careful because they can pop right out of the nest. Make sure it is in a safe place if you are looking or counting them.

By the end of the second week, they should have their eyes and ears open and be little fuzzy cuties. They are so much cuter at this stage and are fun to hold. Just watch out because they will most likely pee on you at this stage.

Beyond the Second Week

Kits grow really quick and you will be surprised how soon the fur comes in and how quickly they grow.

Depending on the litter of kits, they might be starting to peak out of the nesting box and be getting curious of what is going on outside of their little area. Or if it is really cold, they might prefer to stay right in their cozy nest of fur and straw.

Keep an eye on the nesting box. You want to check to see if it is getting damp and needs to be cleaned out. The mom will add more fur if needed after a clean out.

Usually by the time they are starting to jump out of the box, I will turn the nesting box on the side so that they can use it still, but can go in and out easier.

The momma will usually sit on the top to get away from her babies throughout the day. They try to nurse all the time and she gets annoyed.

The nesting box can be removed entirely after another week or two or you can leave it all the way to weaning stage around 6 weeks. Sometimes it just depends on space and if they start to use it as a litter box. Each group of rabbits is a bit different.

TroubleShooting – What to do When Things Go Wrong

What to do if the Baby Rabbits are Born Dead

It isn’t too uncommon for some of the litter to be stillborn or even to have a whole litter of baby rabbits be stillborn or die shortly after.

One time we got a rabbit from a friend and we didn’t know she has been bred by a brother. We didn’t put in a nesting box because we didn’t know she was pregnant. So by the time we found the babies, they were all cold from being on the cage wires.

We tried to save them by warming them on a warm bag of water, but it was too late. It was probably for the best since they were a litter born from siblings, but it was still hard to deal with.

Another time we had an experienced doe have a litter that started out a day early and then was long and drawn out. That doesn’t usually happen and her very large litter of 13 were either born stillborn or died shortly after. Something was wrong, but we weren’t sure what. I waited a few months and very nervously rebred her. Everything has been fine with the litters since then. I was a bit apprehensive about it happening again, but I always give a second chance.

The fact that babies can be born dead is the reason that I like to check on the babies right away. Then I can take them out and dispose as needed. This keeps things clean for any baby rabbits that do survive.

What to Do if You Find a Baby Rabbit Out of the Nesting Box

If you go and check on the baby rabbits and notice a baby rabbit out of the nesting box and stuck on the wires, you will need to pick it up immediately. The mother rabbit cannot get it back into the box herself.

When you pick up the kit, take notice of a few things:

• Is it breathing?
• Is the kit warm or cold?
• Is it stiff?

If the kit is flexible and breathing, you should immediately put it back into the nest to be warmed up by the fur lining and the warmth of its siblings. I have been able to get many kits warmed up and healthy this way.

If the kit is stiff or doesn’t seem to be breathing, you could try to warm it up by putting it on a towel lined plastic water bag with very warm water inside. It may warm up enough to move back into the nest. Or it may not.

Know that You Will Have Losses

The hard part about raising any animals is that you will have losses. Raising baby rabbits is no different.

Sometimes it goes fairly smooth and you don’t have any losses for a long time. Then other other times, it hits hard and you might wonder what you are doing.

My advice when you feel down from losses is to just keep going.

It most likely will get better.

Maybe you need to stop breeding a certain doe or pull back your numbers of breeding does for awhile while you regroup.

Or maybe your losses have all been in the winter or in the heat of the summer. Think through your breeding program and how you can change things up a bit with timing.

Tips for Success with Baby Rabbits

One thing that I have done with my breeding does is breed two at the same or near the same time. This has helped with a few things:

• If one doe has a large litter and one has a small litter, you will be able to even it out a bit by transferring a few of the kits to the momma with a smaller litter. Just nestle them down into the nest. I have never had any rejected that way. That way the babies will have a more equal chance to get fed enough.
• If anything were to happen to a mom, I would be able to transfer the baby rabbits to the other doe. If you lose a doe, it is almost impossible to bottle feed the baby rabbits and you will lose them too.
• Find a mentor you can ask questions of when you aren’t sure what is going on. I have a friend I text every time something is new or seems a bit off. She has given great advice and much more efficient that searching Google.

I hope you enjoy your baby rabbits like we do and find success at raising them for your family.

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