My Bunnies!

**Daisylover** · 03-27-2003, 02:40 PM

Lizbud
I am sorry you think the thread got distracted from the original intent. Looking back at the postings, everyone has commented on how cute all of Equine's bunnies are. We always love to see pictures of other people's pets and hear their stories.

However, you also saw concern expressed for the rabbits, esp. the 4 wk old female, who was not part of momma's litter.

As someone who has been involved in rabbit rescue for over 5 years I DO get distressed when see a bunny who is taken from its mom too early. Because I constantly work with unwanted, homeless rabbits I get very concerned about the breeding of rabbits, just like any cat or dog rescuer would get concerned about puppy and kitten mills. The homeless rabbit problem that has been ongoing for years and is not going to go away until people start waking up. And Luckies4me points out correctly the wire floors in cages are very hard on tender bunny feet. A rabbit has delicate, easily ripped skin and no padding on the feet except the fur. Continuous pressure of the rabbits' weight and bones pressed on the wire eventually causes a very serious condition call sore hocks. This happens when the skin disintegrates and the feet become raw, and then painful and infected.

On POTD we all love our pets and want what's best for them. Likewise we want what is best for everyone else's pet(s) too.

The idea of a forum such as this is the sharing of information about our pets, their care and needs. I bet even you have given advice or made comments to others yourself at one time or another. So my thought about your reaction to this thread is that you need to stop and consider what is being said instead of just reacting...... There was no criticism expressed, only some concern.

**Vermontcat** · 03-27-2003, 09:49 PM

Originally posted by Equinebehaviorist
I finally got pics of my bunnies today! Here they are.....

I love my Buns!

Hey Equine, I finally got here to check out your cute Bunnies!

I like this one the best, it looks like a bunny my friend owns.

I hope you have some photos of your horses too, especially the Morgan but I guess that will have to go in another thread. (This one has been busy!)

**Equinebehaviorist** · 03-28-2003, 12:53 AM

Originally posted by Daisylover

However I am distressed to see you have a new? 4 weeks old. Yes, this is the age when they are the cutest but they should not be taken from their mom until they are 8 to 10 weeks old....

Yeah, I am aware of this. I was really disappointed in the girl that I got them from for weaning them so early, but she said that her mom was going to make her sell them for snake food if someone didn't take them now. I am going to do the best I can with her and see how she comes out.

I have been breeding and raising rabbits most of my adult life, so I hope that I can help her come along okay and if she can't be a good momma, that's okay, we will just make a pet of her.

I would hope that you are not intentionally breeding your bunnies and adding to the homeless rabbit population. We have found that rabbits are impulsively purchased this time of year

Okay, now this is were everyone is going to hate me, but I do intentionally breed them. And

we eat the ones that aren't placed in pet homes by 12 weeks old. I carefully screen pet homes and only the kits with very tractable and easy going temperments are sold as pets. The pets are also sold under the condition that if the pet doesn't work out, the rabbit comes back to us, much like a responsible cat or dog breeder, and we will assess what is to be done with that bunny then.

I can totally understand and respect what you are saying about homeless bunnies. It is in some ways worse than the dog and cat breeding crisis. However, responsible breeding, placement, and follow up have been extreamly sucessful in my experience with bunnies (nearly 15 years). I bought the little rex and Wolly becasue I felt bad for them not being appreciated. I would like to see how the rex comes through for breeding, because, like I said, we do eat them and use the pelts. But we are very humane and give our bunnies the best of care, and the really sweet ones are given a good chance to become a pet or further breeder to replace our older retirees. And our older bunnies are gracefully retired, not butchered or abandoned.

Hope this clears the air.

**Equinebehaviorist** · 03-28-2003, 01:12 AM

BTW, I don't take anyones comments personal. I know that every person on this forum, doggy, kitty, or otherwise, loves and cares for animals in every shape and form. I respect your concerns and comments.

As I said in the last post, which I wrote before I read the rest of the posts, my bunnies are very healthy, happy, and somewhat spoiled. I would spoil them even more if I could, but ....

My momma and papa are my friends and pets. The Rex, Fru Fru, is now my pet also, as is Rudy. I have a very, very small herd now, but back about 10 years ago I maintained a herd of 150 does and 50 bucks, not counting all the kits. They were New Zealand Whites and Californians. I am a farm girl, I eat alot of what we raise. But we make pets out of the parent stock to apease our need for animal friends. I am not saying it is easy, but it is our way of life. The young are not named until they have been choosen and sold to a pet home. The pet homes are carefully screened and schooled in the care and upkeep of their new pets. In some cases contracts require that the animals (I raise more than just bunnies) are altered by a certain age. 90% of these situations have resulted in satisfied homes and fulfilled contracts.

As for the kits having a solid place to go, yes, they still have their nest boxes to go into and I place a removeable slab of wood in the corners of the cages for the buns to sit on and chew if they like. At the time that I took the picks I was in the middle of cleaning cages and replacing the wood slabs. Believe me, I know what sore hocks are,

I feel so bad for bunnies who get them.

As for the after care of my sold pets, I am constantly running around playing pre-vet for many of my clients, especially when they first get their new friends, checking out every concern that comes up until the new owners are more comfortable with assessing and addressing the situtations themselves.

I hope you all understand about my "use" of my rabbits. I know many of you have them strictly as pets and even as house bunnies. I think that is great, and I would support any bunny rescue effort I ever came across. But remember, only about 20% of all bunnies really like being house pets as we like them to be, and some are specifically bred to be used for meat and pelts.

Okay, enough

don't want to sound like I am on a soap box here, just wanted to express my respect for your opinions and views, and explain mine.

Oh, and Vermontcat, I will get some pics of my Morgan mare. I have one I will post on the equine trivia site of her last summer, but it is not the best. She is SO shaggy right now, she looks like a big dirty teddy bear. But, if that don't bother you, I will take some pics the next nice day we get here of her and Zon, my Arab.

**zippy-kat** · 03-28-2003, 01:25 AM

Originally posted by Equinebehaviorist
I hope you all understand about my "use" of my rabbits. I know many of you have them strictly as pets and even as house bunnies. I think that is great, and I would support any bunny rescue effort I ever came across. But remember, only about 20% of all bunnies really like being house pets as we like them to be, ...

I know people eat them but it makes me cry everytime I hear of it.

I'm curious where/how you came up with the 20% figure. Do you have a link to the place where you got that information? If it's a 'meat rabbit' site, please warn me of any possible graphic photos.

Thanks in advance,
Zippy-kat

**Equinebehaviorist** · 03-28-2003, 01:30 AM

I am sorry,

I know it is not a fun thought for many. There are just many bunnies who are not cut out to be pets. Like I said, I take the most personable ones and nurture that quality in them to sell them as pets. In my town, everyone knows me as a rabbit breeder. There is actually a waiting list for suitable pets. I have never had to butcher one of the ones that I have raised as a pet. But the ones that end up in the freezer are agressive and/or very skittish, most often, and I wouldn't sell them as pets to anyone.

I can't remember where exactly I got that figure. It was actually a pet bunny site I was looking at a long time ago. I will dig around my favorites and see if I can find it.

**popcornbird** · 03-28-2003, 01:38 AM

What do bunnies taste like?

I know people eat them. Actually, lots of people eat rabbits. Personally, I wouldn't, not because I think its wrong, but I just can't imagine eating a rabbit. One of my friend eats them though.

**Equinebehaviorist** · 03-28-2003, 01:45 AM

I can't say they taste like chicken, cuz everything tastes like chicken. They have a milder flavor than chicken, cleaner, not greasy. It is healthier, supposedly, probably for many reasons. One being, they are mostly raised off ground, and are realtively parasite free without chemicals. They also are foragers, whereas technically chickens are scavengers, they eat anything just about. They have less fat than chicken, and the meat is not stringy like chicken. It also is an all white meat.

My husband makes a stew that is just to die for!

I remember when I first got into raising rabbits, I couldn't imagine eating one. But, I tried it, and I have been hooked since. But I was only able to try it because I had never had a bunny as a pet at that point, and advidly ate homegrown pork, beef, chicken, turkey, and lamb. But, for you pet bunny lovers, I can totaly respect your feelings. If anyone tried to feed me horse, I would get violently sick.

**Daisylover** · 03-28-2003, 09:45 AM

Equine,
Thank you so very much for your replies. I greatly appreciate hearing more about your bunnies. I LOVE to talk about rabbits as pets and hear from others who are owned by these balls of fur. I also think a discussion like this helps foster better understanding of different views on the same subject.

Of course I realize there are a lot of people who raise rabbits for meat. You obviously care about your bunnies and that makes a great difference in the way I perceive the situation. Unfortunately the work I do has a very ugly side to it and it has made me very defensive on behalf of rabbits. My personal rabbits are very spoiled and much loved. The sanctuary "permanent resident" bunnies are likewise loved and appreciated even though they are suspicious of humans due to their various backgrounds and circumstances. And it is because of them I want other people to understand, appreciate and love them as much as I do. Yes, it's a rather naive wish to be sure but I will NEVER stop putting my two cents in on the offchance I can make someone think twice about rabbits as pets, oth their treatment of them.

I also want to give you a big high-5 for rescuing the 4 wk old female...... I admit here is where I get crazed .... selling for the
babies for snake food....that is so sick.

**luckies4me** · 03-28-2003, 11:32 AM

Your not going to eat those babies you showed us are you?

Just for future reference please don't show ones that are going to be used as meat.

I respect your views and it seems like you take very good care of them but are those bunnies even meat rabbits?

I have never heard of Californians and Chinchillas as food. The meat rabbits I have seen have been HUGE!

I was really amazed at their size. Your bun buns are cute and I am glad to hear that you have contracts etc. I too am a breeder, not of rabbits but of rats and almost every kitten that is born into my rattery is sold before even being born. I actually have to breed on demand. Like you, any animal that I sold can always come back.

Do you have any other types of rabbits? How do you kill them? I am just curious, you can PM me if you want. It just seems like it would be such a hard thing to do...I couldn't do it personally. I could probably eat rabbit but could never slaughter my own as I have had them for pets all my life.

They are just so cute!

Congrats on saving the little bunny, she's a doll!

**Logan** · 03-28-2003, 12:05 PM

I think we would rather not hear about the "eating" part. At least I wouldn't. This is a pet forum...and to think of pets, even if they can't be domesticated becoming food is a bit tough for any of us.

**Daisylover** · 03-28-2003, 12:16 PM

I agree, Logan. I don't want to hear about any of this meat business. Let's stick to pets, please.

**luckies4me** · 03-28-2003, 12:44 PM

I didn't ask her to post on the forum did I?

I am just simply curious. I would like to know how they are put down to be eaten because that concerns me. I for one couldn't do it, not for a million dollars. I guess I just want to hear that they go humanely so that I can rest easy.

**Logan** · 03-28-2003, 01:39 PM

Originally posted by luckies4me
I didn't ask her to post on the forum did I?

I am just simply curious. I would like to know how they are put down to be eaten because that concerns me. I for one couldn't do it, not for a million dollars. I guess I just want to hear that they go humanely so that I can rest easy.

Luckies, my post was not directed at you. It was just a general comment.