I got a Flemish Giant buck from a breeder who imported him from Holland. He cost me an arm and two legs, and two does came with him, but the dogs liberated the does and ate them. Dogs and rabbits …no. They must be caged.
Three weeks ago, there was a litter of dead baby rabbits dragged out of the underground burrow the does dug. I am now sure they were Cindy the French lop eared rabbit's babies, because Sandy, the red sandy Flemish Giant has been tending babies and today was the very first day I saw one.
Oh my, they are so adorable. How can I even think of eating one? The rabbits are pedigreed and it would be better for me to sell them for breeding stock because they are so beautiful. They are meat rabbits, however, and their purpose on the farm is to provide lots of fresh rabbit meat. I must yet learn now how to care further for the babies, when to remove them from the mother and I will rebreed the does. I will leave one in the kennel and take the other out though, to prevent the killing of the babies again. Poor Petey, he is just biding his time now. He can stay with the adult females for three weeks approximately, which is the time it takes for them being pregnant. Then Petey will go do a winter kennel and the ladies will be separated until the babies are old enough to remove. Finally, the girls will go to their winter kennel too. They are given straw bales and they burrow into the bales to create a snug warm den for themselves. They do get along - that is if they do not have babies, they do! If you click on the photo, you can just see a baby coming up from the burrow in between the two nesting boxes.
Three weeks ago, there was a litter of dead baby rabbits dragged out of the underground burrow the does dug. I am now sure they were Cindy the French lop eared rabbit's babies, because Sandy, the red sandy Flemish Giant has been tending babies and today was the very first day I saw one.
Oh my, they are so adorable. How can I even think of eating one? The rabbits are pedigreed and it would be better for me to sell them for breeding stock because they are so beautiful. They are meat rabbits, however, and their purpose on the farm is to provide lots of fresh rabbit meat. I must yet learn now how to care further for the babies, when to remove them from the mother and I will rebreed the does. I will leave one in the kennel and take the other out though, to prevent the killing of the babies again. Poor Petey, he is just biding his time now. He can stay with the adult females for three weeks approximately, which is the time it takes for them being pregnant. Then Petey will go do a winter kennel and the ladies will be separated until the babies are old enough to remove. Finally, the girls will go to their winter kennel too. They are given straw bales and they burrow into the bales to create a snug warm den for themselves. They do get along - that is if they do not have babies, they do! If you click on the photo, you can just see a baby coming up from the burrow in between the two nesting boxes.
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