food

Before you buy rabbits, decide why you’re raising them. This one choice affects everything else.

Beginner Tip: Don’t buy rabbits first and figure out a plan later. Housing and purpose should come beforebreed.

Why Are You Raising Rabbits?

Pets / Show Sales

• Choose popular, marketable breeds (Rex do well)
• Breed for traits buyers want: color, coat, size, personality
• Breed to SOP
• Watch trends, but also look for gaps in your local market

**I do not enjoy selling pet rabbits but it is an option. 

Beginner Tip: Spend time watching local listings and social media before breeding. What’s already selling tells you what people want.

Food

• Focus on fast-growing, efficient breeds (New Zealand, Californian)
• Breed for size and speed to market, not looks

Beginner Tip: Bigger and faster is usually better than “prettier” when raising meat rabbits.

Housing Options

Cages

• Require climate control
• Easier breeding control and litter monitoring
• Less natural, more predictable

Beginner Tip: Cage systems are often easier for first-time breeders because problems are easier to spot early.

Colony

• Rabbits regulate temperature by digging
• Little breeding control unless sexes are separated
• Must prevent escape
• Introduce rabbits at the same time to reduce fighting

Beginner Tip: Colony systems work best when planned ahead, retrofitting almost always causes headaches.

Hybrid

• Colony-style living with barriers to prevent digging out
• Requires weather monitoring, especially in summer
• Include an underground or partially buried area for cooling

Beginner Tip: Hybrid systems offer a good balance for beginners who want natural behavior with some control.

Shelter Setup

Primary Shelter
Where your breeders live.

Beginner Tip: If breeders are stressed, everything else goes downhill: prioritize this space.

Grow-Out Area
A separate space for young rabbits so breeders don’t get overcrowded.

Beginner Tip: Overcrowding is a fast way to create health problems.

Rabbit Tractor
A movable pen for grow-outs that provides lawn care.

Beginner Tip: Tractors are great for grow-outs, but not ideal for breeders long-term.

Substrate Choices

• Hay: Great for nesting, edible, but holds moisture and waste
• Wood Chips: Similar to hay, not edible
• Wood Pellets: Absorb liquid well, easy to clean, usually the most expensive

Beginner Tip: If something smells bad, it’s time to change it, even if the schedule says otherwise.

Food & Feeding Basics

• Free-feed quality rabbit pellets
• Supplement with grass or garden clippings when possible
• Keep food off the ground

Beginner Tip: Most feeding problems are actually feeder placement problems, not feed problems.

Common Beginner Concerns

Choosing Rabbits

• Decide on housing first
• Cage-raised rabbits may struggle outdoors in heat
• Colony-raised rabbits usually adapt better to cages, but may struggle mentally

Beginner Tip: Ask breeders how their rabbits were raised before buying.

Heat

• Underground hides work best
• Fans and frozen water bottles help
• Always provide plenty of water

Beginner Tip: Heat kills faster than cold, plan for summer first.

Cold

• Rarely a problem
• Keep rabbits dry and out of wind

Beginner Tip: Wet + cold is dangerous; dry + cold usually isn’t.

Losses

• Some losses are normal
• Disease and stress happen

Beginner Tip: Everyone loses rabbits at some point—don’t quit after the first setback.

Health Issues to Watch For

Coccidia

• Weight loss, dirty tails
• Treat quickly
• Many breeders select for resistance

Beginner Tip: Clean, dry pens dramatically reduce coccidia risk.

Weaning Enteritis

• Around 4 weeks old
• Often sudden and severe

Beginner Tip: Watch young rabbits closely during weaning, it’s the most vulnerable time.

GI Stasis

• Gut slowdown
• Remove pellets, offer grass hay

Beginner Tip: When in doubt, simplify the diet.

Pasteurella

• Spread by wild rabbits
• Often fatal
• Symptoms: heavy sneezing, nasal discharge, lethargy

Beginner Tip: Occasional sneezing is normal—constant sneezing with discharge is not.