For many years now, I've desired owning rabbits as pets & even breeding them for the purpose of meat. Time & other circumstances hindered me from making that dream a reality. So, daily life (aka reality.com ) took my mind off rabbit farming. Not until recently. I saw a video of a rabbit farm & that quickly reignited my desire to own & breed rabbits
Though Rabbit farming isn't exactly new, it is relatively uncommon in this part of the world. So, by the Grace of God, I intend on documenting my journey as I begin & grow my rabbit farm.

To begin in my journey, it was imperative that I made a lot of research & acquire much knowledge about rabbits, housing, feeding, breeding, diseases etc., That way, I can be prepared to handle & manage issues that arises as far as rabbits are concerned. And so, I read a lot of Rabbit books, articles, watched tons of YouTube videos & learnt a lot from the experiences rabbit farmers have in the course farming rabbits.

Having gained knowledge about rabbits, my next step was to start making a budget for everything & provide housing. And since I was just beginning I decided to start out with just 3 rabbits. 2 Females & 1 Male.
Apparently rabbit females are called "Does" while the males are called "Bucks"

When setting up my budget, I had budgeted 25 thousand Naira for the construction of my rabbit hutch. And I consulted with a carpenter to that effect.
But then Nigeria happened
On the 28th of February, the carpenter & I decided to go to the market to purchase the materials that would be used to construct my rabbit hutch. I initially sketched a diagram of how I wanted my hutch to be & so, I wanted a precise look with precise dimensions.
For the [b][/b]width: 4 feet. [b][/b]Height: 3 feet. [b][/b]Length: 6 feet.
I wanted a cage that gave each rabbits enough space to move around & could comfortably house 3 rabbits.
So, the 6 feet length is designed to be divided into 3, giving each rabbit 2 feet space & when calculated with with the width each rabbit will have 16square feet of space.
The 1st image is my sketch. The second is the carpenter working on making my sketch a reality

Constructing the cage wasn't as easy or as cheap as I thought it would be This is due to how expensive Building materials cost. It even baffles me how people still build houses in this economy
A list of the things I bought & their price list.
2x2=#500 each
2x3=#1000 each
2x4=#1200 each
Wire mesh=#1500 per yard. Bought approx 10 yards.
Chicken wire=#700 per yard. Bought 5 yards.
Nails=#700 per pound. Bought 2½ pounds
Medium Hinges=#300 each. Bought 2.
Locks for padlock=#300 each. Bought 2.
2feet by 2feet Aluminium sheet=#600 each. Bought 5
New Zinc=#3000 each. Bought 2

As I said earlier on, I budgeted just 25 thousand Naira to construct a cage of this decent size, but with the present situation of the country, constructing this cage cost over #50,000
The carpenter's workmanship is #7,000

Please I'm interested in hearing or reading all your thoughts, suggestions, advice, Criticisms & observations ....

.

Following bumper to bumper.

Ahnie, abeg bring those chairs come.

Foodqueen:
Following bumper to bumper.

Ahnie, abeg bring those chairs come.

Which chairs fQ?

Caaz:

Which chairs fQ?

Those plenty chairs meme

Foodqueen:


Those plenty chairs meme

I don forget o fq.

Foodqueen:
Following bumper to bumper.

Ahnie, abeg bring those chairs come.

Considering the fact that I am unable to sleep, I thought I'd just update this thread.
So, I had a very long day. Yesterday 05/03. I decided to go and meet a farmer to purchase rabbits. I noticed that it was actually easy to get in contact with Rabbit farmers but getting them to sale it to you seems difficult. I stand to be corrected. This is due to the fact that I contacted almost 10 different rabbit farmers but their response was slow, their enthusiasm to sell rabbits seemed non-existent & at a point, it felt like I was even begging them to sell rabbits to me. On Top My Own Money Oooh!
Long story short, I was disappointed with how some of the farmers handled their business. Such behaviours in the long run can negatively affect the progress/growth of their farms.
Luckily, I got in contact with a young farmer. His name is Emmanuel. He was patient & kind & willing to help me purchase quality rabbits 🐰 he advised me & we basically just communicated throughout via WhatsApp & of all the farmers I got in contact with, he is the only one I can confidently claim to be a real business minded fellow & due to his kindness, I pray His rabbit farm grows bigger, in Jesus Name. Amen!..

Locating Emmanuel was a very difficult thing to do, as I lived very far away from him & waybilling wasn't an option. It was way too expensive. It cost me just #2000 to travel to get my rabbits, meanwhile waybilling from the same location, even a bit closer cost #10,000 that was just soo funny to me so I had to travel & get it in person.
When I got there I was greeted with beautiful rabbits of different breeds such as New Zealands, Pamolinos, Dutch, Chinchillas etc and they were all really larger than usual. I was amazed. And their babies (kits) looked soo cute. I wanted to take them all. I apologise. It didn't come to my mind to take pictures of his farm while I was there.
So, I decided to get 2 female Palominos from him that were very beautiful & are from good breeding stocks, and I plan on getting my Male from a different breeder.
Emmanuel had told me when he first got his Palomino doe, she littered 10kits at once of which they survived. That was really amazing.
After paying for my rabbits I brought them home & they were really stressed & tired due to the long journey, so, I mixed half a spoon of glucose in about ½ litre of water & I gave it to them. And I gave them the feed I purchased from their former home & added Yam peels with it. They didn't eat it immediately but they're gradually getting used to the environment & will Come around with time.

Better pictures will be uploaded soon

More pictures...
Breakfast was Tridax & their formulated feed

Both rabbits are exactly 1 month 2 weeks & 3 days old.
Their dad is a Purebred Newzealand White & Their mum is a Purebred Palomino. That's a really nice combination as they grow to be quite big, since they have both the Newzealand & Palomino in their genes.

How much did you get them

Foodqueen:
How much did you get them

They were priced at #7,000 each. As weaners.

Sijiade77:


They were priced at #7,000 each. As weaners.

Ok. That's a good deal

Foodqueen:


Ok. That's a good deal

Yes
Are you a rabbit breeder yourself?
Or do you perhaps own rabbits?

Sijiade77:


Yes
Are you a rabbit breeder yourself?
Or do you perhaps own rabbits?

No, am not. But looking forward to it someday.

Remember when I use to rear rabbit...

I bought mine for 600 naira for two ....

ShinjaWWest:
Remember when I use to rear rabbit...

I bought mine for 600 naira for two ....

600 naira?!!!!!

Wow!
What year was this?

Sijiade77:



600 naira?!!!!!

Wow!
What year was this?

2014

ShinjaWWest:
Remember when I use to rear rabbit...

I bought mine for 600 naira for two ....

I can relate to this . Rabbit was actually cheap then

Underdawgg:


I can relate to this . Rabbit was actually cheap then

But it is expensive now sha.... The beauty of the whole thing is that rabbits are easy to manage and they hardly fall sick... I remember giving one of my rabbit a bloody nose for escaping for almost a day.... When I even caught it, I was so furious cause of the stress it made me pass through.... I beat it so hard with my hand that it started bleeding from the nose.... So I thought it was going to die, but surprisingly it didn't die, but rather after some hours of sluggishness, it started jumping everywhere in it cage like nothing happened.... So rabbits are strong animals, and will thrive well as long as it environment is kept clean, there is good supply of clean drinking water and it food on a steady.... Cheers 🍷.

There are so many breeds of Rabbit found in Nigeria. Some of which include The New Zealands white or Black, Chinchillas, Californians, Dutch, Rex, Palominos & Hyla, etc.
You might wonder. Why the Palomino??

I got 2 Palomino does (female rabbits) because I was immediately attracted to its coat. It has a Golden brown or lynx coat that is extremely soft to touch & standout amongst other breeds. They are medium to large sized rabbits & they are good producers. And so, I picked them & I wondered what breed I'd get as my male rabbit.
Originally, I was interested in getting a new Zealand white Male that'll serve my females but after searching for a while & due to a little impatience on my part I luckily stumbled upon, or should i say i was introduced to the "Hyla" breed.
Many people find it difficult to differentiate between Hyla & New Zealand White rabbits. This is due to a lot of striking similarities between the two. But in reality, there are also a lot of difference such as;
1.The Hyla is bigger in size than New Zealands.
2. The Hyla has a bigger head shape & ears than New Zealands.
3. The Hyla was bread to mature faster and reach table size at a very early age, as early as 2 - 3 months. And as such, they're considered Broiler rabbits.
4. The Hyla may have dark makings on its nose & ears.

After reading about the Hyla rabbits & learning more about it's Characteristics & genetics, I decided I'd purchase 1 as a male. And so, I got a Hyla grower.
I intend on crossing Him with my females when they are Old & matured enough.
Many rabbit farmers are located far away from the area I live in, and so, I am going to be part of the very first amongst the few farmers that exists in this part of Abuja.
Join me as we monitor the growth of my rabbits & the growth of my farm. And when they're old enough to start reproducing, I look forward to getting customers that'll get rabbit from me, on this platform...
I will be updating this thread weekly. Every Mondays...

More pictures . . .

Got two rabbit as a gift,don't know shit about it. What should i feed it. Am in ojo Lagos state

blackbone989:
Got two rabbit as a gift,don't know shit about it. What should i feed it. Am in ojo Lagos state

If you're interested in selling I want to buy

blackbone989:
Got two rabbit as a gift,don't know shit about it. What should i feed it. Am in ojo Lagos state

How old are there?....feed them with fowl feed. or grass

I don't too know much about rabbit but i suggest you should separate them like female and male, moreover rabbit bully each other too.....I even placed my pregnant doe on pellet only don't know if it's good for her health and the pregnancy...this the 4 times i crossed her but without her litter, but i observed the last mating she's actually on her heat so she didn't restrict the buck.

Mrcyruz:


How old are there?....feed them with fowl feed. or grass

I don't even bid the ideal of fowl feed, reason is that they eat and eat before they are ok, but on pallets just little they are ok and it makes them add more weight..my rabbit is 9 months and she's very giant she was the only survival after my cat killed 6 of them.

Sijiade77:
More pictures . . .

Their poo will give you problem cos the holes in the net is too small for their poo to penetrate..you could check mine in the pic below.

Fabulouslouie:


If you're interested in selling I want to buy

Will sell d offspring

Mrcyruz:


How old are there?....feed them with fowl feed. or grass

Don't know but they are big o. The bigger one keep mating like he is on drug.