We began raising rabbits yesterday. We now own two eight-week old, American Chinchilla Rabbit does (female). We will get a buck (male), of the same breed, from another nearby breeder soon. We weren’t completely ready for rabbits, but the opportunity presented itself and we decided to take advantage of it. The hutches were all assembled, but we hadn’t build the covered area to put them in yet. So the two does are staying, temporarily, in one of the completed hutches in the garage. We put blocks underneath the hutch to raise it off the floor and cardboard underneath to absorb the urine.

Actually they could stay there for a while, we aren’t really in a hurry. Females can’t breed until six months of age (males at five months). The gestation period is 31 days; the kits are typically butchered at three months. So we need to get a mature buck not later then the beginning of October; then the soonest we could have our first litter would be the beginning of November; and the soonest they could be butchered would next February.

Part of me wishes we could have gotten older ones, to be able to move the process along faster. But I think we’ll appreciate having the extra time to learn about our rabbits, before we have to worry about breeding them and dealing with the litters. There’s times we feel impatient, but I think this is a good time to move slowly and deliberately.

We’ve only got the one hutch, that they are in, fully set up. Last night we just put water and food into bowls. Today I made a trip to the feed store and bought a feed bin, a water bottle spout/holder (that works with a two-liter plastic bottle), a 25-pound bag of rabbit feed, and a bale of grass hay (I commented to Sarah that’s the first bale of hay I’d ever ‘owned’).

As far as the breed we didn’t go looking for Chinchilla Rabbits, we actually didn’t go looking for any specific breed. We were given the name of a reputable breeder, and that’s what he had. But I had seen them before and thought they were a very attractive breed. Apparently they are considered a rare breed rabbit (threatened with extinction); so it’s kind of neat to be able to help a threatened species. They are considered excellent for both fur and meat, they quickly grow to a good size, breed large litters, and are good mothers. Apparently their “demand” has dropped since we now rarely use rabbits for their pelts, and white rabbits are the most in demand for meat.

Our goal of becoming more self-sustainable has taken another large step. By bringing in rabbits we’ll be able to produce a high quality, quickly regenerating source of protein. While they’re alive we’ll give them the best life we can, and in death we’ll quietly thank them for what they give us.

We know nothing about raising rabbits, but we will learn. We’ll keep you posted on our successes, failures, and learning experiences along the way. For anyone considering getting rabbits I highly recommend RiseandShineRabbitry.com (also like him on Facebook, he puts out lots of tips and info on rabbits) and the book Story’s Guide to Raising Rabbits by Bob Bennett.

(Wednesday: Sarah’s View)