Newbie questions about feeding whole rabbits

[Deleted]

Hi all, I am a long time(>3 months) lurker and 1st time poster on this forum.

I don't know if it's okay for me to blurt out a bunch of questions but I've tried searching the forums and haven't been able to track down the answers.

I am planning on breeding new zealand white rabbits to feed my ferrets Louie and Puppet. 
I've done the maths and figured out it would cost me (to raise and breed them) roughly $1 per 2lb of whole rabbit (meat, bones, fur, guts and all) and $1 per 1lb dressed, though I will be feeding with fur on and removing only the digestive system parts. So it is super super cost effective, although there is some work involved.

My questions are

1. If I was feeding a raw diet of 4 parts bone in meat, 2 parts muscle meat, 1 part heart and 1 part other organ.(which I think is a rough translation of what I've read on the forum about an appropriate, balanced, raw diet) Can I think of the whole rabbit as a balance of these (assuming the ferrets are eating bone and organs too)? (I will still feed at least two other types of meat and balance the rest of their diet)

2. When people feed whole rabbit, if your ferret is eating 5oz per day on their regular diet, do you feed 5oz of rabbit as a meal or take the fur into consideration and feed more? How much more?

3. If anyone reading has ever bred rabbits, would it be harmful for the dam (mother rabbit) to remove the kits earlier than the 6 week minimum so that I can have smaller rabbits for my ferrets? Is it better to remove them all in one go or gradually? The reason I ask this is because at 6 weeks the rabbits are about 3lb and I want to be able to feed whole rabbits once in a while. I can't imagine my 2 fuzzies can eat a 3lb rabbit in 48hours??? Before you ask, I am breeding this large size rabbit because I also want meat for myself... breeding a smaller rabbit would only make sense if the meat was just for the fuzzies.


I'm sure I have more questions but can't think of them right now.
I hope if these are answered they help others in the community who are also wondering the same things!!


Thanks!!!

[Deleted]

OOps forgot the 1 part liver!

[Heather]

When I'm feeding rabbit, how much is consumed depends on the ferret, gender, season and temperature. My wee jill, normally eats about 2 oz, but she's in season right now and is eating practically nothing (her mind is on other matters). My hobs during the winter eat up to 4 or 5 oz each but right now are only consuming about 2 to 3 oz if I'm lucky. It's spring here and my guys are already cutting back on their food. If you're feeding baby rabbits remember they're not as nutritious or beneficial as feeding adult rabbit. I know my guys got a bunch of baby rabbits that the mother killed but the rest of the time I bought adult rabbits. If I'm feeding whole rabbit, it usually took them about 2 to 3 days to consume the whole rabbit. I usually added some taurine to their meats at that time. I know that it's supposed to be prey and I know that one heart per prey but when you've got 10 ferrets eating it, somebody isn't going to get any heart. When feeding this sized prey, I do supplement with taurine.
I don't know anything about raising rabbits, and the lady who I was buying them from stopped raising them because it was too difficult to do. I wished she had continued because she raised good rabbits. I wish you luck. You will have to find other proteins but at least if you raise your own rabbits you will have one source that you can trust. Good luck
ciao

[Sherry]

My largest(neutered) males eat maybe 4-5oz a day right now. My smallest female eats maybe 2oz a day. So you are likely overestimating amounts per ferret Also ours never eat much if any of the rabbit fur, so base your amounts on meat, not fur.
If rabbit is going to be the bulk of the diet I'd definitely be looking at a taurine supplement, unless you also plan on feeding a meal of just hearts during the week.

[bitbyter]

Also, you can't just feed rabbit. They need a variety of protein sources. Most carnivores / omnivores cannot survive on rabbit alone: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabbit_starvation. The meat is to lean and does not contain enough fat to sustain them over the long term.

Breeding your own rabbits would be a great portion of their diet though and if the ferrets cannot keep up with the breeding, then you can eat them or sell them.

[goingpostal]

You don't have to feed the whole rabbit at once, you can chop them up and freeze the rest for later.

[Deleted]

Thanks so much for all of your replies! I was pretty sure the rabbit was too lean to feed alone and theres only one heart per rabbit, so feeding a meal of hearts will definitely be taken on board
I have been reading about mastitis caused by weaning too early, so I think I will be allowing the rabbits to reach 8 weeks and doing what you said (chop them up and freeze the rest later).