Eunoia’s rabbitry: Why do I want to farm rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus)?

The new venture was in my mind for quite a long time now, it’s a venture that needed some space with time and research. Following my 2022 goals and plan, I listed the rabbitry and now I started doing so. Learning and understanding rabbits will be a great deal for me. I had some research proposals in mind and I need rabbits in my own life. Here are the reasons why I need a rabbitry.

First, my background must conclude. I am an agriculturist and I had some background information about farming, particularly ruminants. I saw some opportunity in conducting an integrated farm that concludes rabbits, and rabbit farming is underestimated and fresh venture that must everyone must aware of things.

Rabbitry or rabbit farming had two sides of focus. The fancy farming or breeding rabbit for the purpose of displaying pet and rabbit meat farming, that concludes the consumption of lapan. Lapan is what we called for the meat of rabbits, lapan is a great substitute for pork which some people cant consume because of religious beliefs and some health issues problem, so they want to raise rabbits.

Understanding that rabbit is edible is somehow the hindrance that loses the market in the Philippines. Some people see rabbits as pets not to be consumed or eaten but like their farm animals. Lapan is considered as clean meat when it was raised or tame and game meat if the rabbit was wild living its own life and diet.

As I said there were two sides to rabbit farming, the pet or fancy type has its breed and the meat-type also has one.

Entering the venture wasn’t that easy, I remembered myself in starting a mushroom production. Technically and paper were within me, but the actual and manual practice made me lose time and money. Starting in a very small number will be a great lesson rather than executing it in huge numbers. That is why I choose to start my kits with only 3 specimens at the moment, but it will soon add some.

i. Acquisition of specimens.

Originally I wanted to have at least 4 specimens. Three Doe (female rabbits) and 1 buck (male rabbit). But I wanted a specific breed for a doe and buck, and particularly the age and the self characteristic that needed for my records.

I brought 2 female does' that was given birth on November 17 2021, they are siblings for the record. I want at least 3 females under the same age but I was lost to do so, the doe was followed by giving birth on November 19 2021. It was favourable for me for easy recording and planning.

They are C1 or the first generation of F1. They are considered good breeding so I must say they are capable of multiplying but in the next generations C3 toC4, I don’t plan to use them in breeding but for some research much applies.

ii. Preparing the cage and pens.

They are under the same cage at the moment, but when they reach at least 4 months they must be separated from each other for the purpose of equal food allocation and be ready for breeding rest preparations.

iii. Feeding and nutrition.

I need to still give them the diet that was given to them by their previous owner. They must not be given alien accommodation in an immediate change. They must be prepared for the changes of food by their diets when I saw their stress was now filtered.

But next month, I must change its diet with a new specific brand and higher crude protein ready-made feeds for their vital growth. I still give them an ad libitum style of water and feed. Ad libitum meant that food available was stable every time.

But in the next few days, I must start my own practice with them.

iv. Recordings,

The recording is much more important in any venture. You can't just bring, give food and let them live. No there was nothing like that. I recorded their initial weight the moment they came rehome, I needed to weigh the food they took so I could compute the gain weight or loss of weight they had.

Records are the most important thing in rabbit farming, know the date where they birth, know the exact date where they must breed, expected day of gestation and giving birth, and the days that the mother stays in pen and leaves her young.

Rabbit farming wasn’t just an easy set-up and lineup. A practical way okay. But the main reason I need to start my rabbitry is that I need them to be integrated into my future farming plan.

The rabbit will play a vital part in my mushroom production. They eat wood chips, and mushrooms were a waste of sawdust after the production. I want to undergo such critical research on how to make the mushroom waste a new product that will make the rabbit supply gain, I need to look for an alternative yet sufficient way of farming, that’s my goal.

Learning is a process gained by reading and experience, that’s why I must see and prove things first in my mind. Let the year be filled with great opportunities to start something new and learn something big. Thanks for reading…