This document provides an overview of basic rabbit management and care. It includes definitions of common rabbit farming terms, reasons for raising rabbits, descriptions of male and female rabbits, guidance on housing and cages, comparisons of rabbit meat to other meats, estimated costs for building DIY cages, and considerations for location and starting a rabbit farming operation. The document is part of a module on rabbit farming and management from Morning Star Rabbitry in the Philippines.

1. BASIC RABBIT
MANAGEMENT &
MODULE 1
MORNING STAR RABBITRY
POBLACION, BILAR, BOHOL
PHILIPPINES

2. Morning Star Rabbitry
MODULE 1
• Talk like a rabbit Farmer
* Why Raise Rabbit ?
• Doe & Buck
* A Rabbit Farmer
• Rabbits are Profitable
• Rabbit Care Guide
• Housing/Cages
• Rabbit Meat vs the rest
• DIY Cage-Estimated
Cost/Materials
* Things to Consider

3. Talk like a rabbit Farmer
Doe - female rabbit
Buck – male rabbit
Dam –mother rabbit
Sire – father rabbit
Breeding – Mating rabbit
Testing - Confirming doe pregnancy
Nesting –Putting a nest box in the
doe’s cage
Kindling – Giving Birth
Gestation – Time between breeding
and kindling
Spraying –Marking its territory
Chinning - Rub chin containing scent
gland
Stomping – Nervous
Kits – Offspring
Litter – Group of offspring
Weaning – Separating the litter
from the dam

4. Why Raise Rabbit ?
* Farmed and slaughtered all over the
world – mostly in European countries
* One of the healthiest meat – low in
fat, high in protein, protein does not
convert to uric acid (according to W.H.O.)
* Can be butchered at home
* They have a light impact on the earth,
and they're healthy, all-white meat.”
Rich in highly-quality proteins, omega-3
fatty acids, vitamin B12, and minerals
like calcium and potassium
* rabbit meat is also lean and low in
cholesterol

5. Doe & Buck
Here’s how we hold
them - bottoms-up in
our lap, head against
our stomach and hind
end towards the
knees
The protruding
circle
is the boy
bunny
The flatter slit
is the girl
bunny

6. A Rabbit Farmer
Before, taking actions a rabbit farmer
need to know this
Their behavior – Important
to strengthen care
Shelter – Make plans for
housing before start raising rabbits.
Feeding process.
Care setup, and Maintenance
Diseases and the prevention steps
Most importantly the breeding process

7. Rabbits are Profitable
 Affordable to feed
 Medium-sized animals that grow fast
 Prolific and multiple easily – can be bred
at 5-6 months old with gestation period of
only 28 to 32 days (no estrus cycle)
 One breeding pair of rabbits – and their
offspring – can create nearly 4
million rabbits in only 4 years
 As prey animals, reproduction is
the rabbit's only defense against
extinction.
 A single female rabbit can have 1-14
babies per litter, but let's be conservative
and say that the average litter size is five.

8. Rabbit Care Guide
* enjoy and experience of being a rabbit
owner to the full.
* They can be easily raised by women
and children
* Relatively odorless
* Require little space (can be raised in a
small space at home)
* Easily adapt to the climate
* Gentle and quiet
* Can be raised as pets
* By-products: rabbit feet, fur, tails
* Manure and urine are used as fertilizers

9. Housing/Cages
* The hutch or cage should be high enough for
your rabbit to stand on their back legs and
with enough floor area to allow a minimum of
three to four hops in any direction.
* The living area should be as large as
possible. At least:
* big enough for your rabbit to lie down and
stretch out comfortably in all directions;
* be high enough for it to stand up on its back
legs without its ears touching the top; and
* be long enough so that it can move around,
feed and drink. As a guide, your rabbit should
be able to take three hops from one end to
another as a minimum.
* Take note that females must be separated
from males to avoid unintended breeding

10. Rabbit Meat vs the rest

11. DIY Cage-Estimated
Cost/Materials
(materials)
6 meters 1x1 =(200/meters) = 1,080
3.5 meters ½ x ½ =(380/meters) = 1,295
Cable tie/M CLIPS = (300) = 300
Nipple drinker ( 15x4 pcs ) = 40
Clay pot ( 15x4 pcs ) = 60
2,775
DIY 5 Doors Cage
Labor Cost not included

12. Things to Consider
Cage
* Usually made of
wood and has a
wire mesh front
* Take note that
females must be
separated from
males to avoid
unintended
breeding.
* Standard size ng
kulungan:
T-16”x L-24”x H-
48”
Location
* Road to Rabbit Farming
• Society’s approval of the
idea of consuming rabbit
meat
* After preparing everything,
that’s the only time you can
proceed with the actual
rabbit farming, which starts
with the mating of the
rabbits.