Sarahs_Rabbits
New Kit
My 11 year old daughter has kept rabbit's for over 5 years. Her first was a flop eared female we adopted from a neighbour who no longer wanted her. We had her for 4 years before she died from a spinal arthritic condition whilst under treatment.
We decided that we would like to keep more and as we have a large lawned fenced and secure back garden in which rabbits can roam during the day, we adopted three 13 month old sisters from our local animal sanctuary having been thoroughly vetted. However all three died within 36 hours one weekend in August of VHD. We had only had them for 10 months and they were supposed to have been inoculated by the sanctuary, but thats another story.
This weekend my daughter has been offered four ten week old rabbits from a local council park that keeps small animals (they are from the same litter). I intend to ensure that these were inoculated for VHD before they come near our property but am not sure if they are too young for this?
Also their sexes are unknown. I have looked at the excellent post regarding how to sex rabbits and know from other parts of this forum that bucks can be neutered after four months and doe's spayed after six months. But are they likely to breed before then?
Whilst we have a reasonably large shed with 3 large interconnected hutches within, it would be difficult for us to keep the sexes apart.
Both these questions are very important as my daughter was distraught after both deaths and want to ensure I cover all bases before making a commitment.
We decided that we would like to keep more and as we have a large lawned fenced and secure back garden in which rabbits can roam during the day, we adopted three 13 month old sisters from our local animal sanctuary having been thoroughly vetted. However all three died within 36 hours one weekend in August of VHD. We had only had them for 10 months and they were supposed to have been inoculated by the sanctuary, but thats another story.
This weekend my daughter has been offered four ten week old rabbits from a local council park that keeps small animals (they are from the same litter). I intend to ensure that these were inoculated for VHD before they come near our property but am not sure if they are too young for this?
Also their sexes are unknown. I have looked at the excellent post regarding how to sex rabbits and know from other parts of this forum that bucks can be neutered after four months and doe's spayed after six months. But are they likely to breed before then?
Whilst we have a reasonably large shed with 3 large interconnected hutches within, it would be difficult for us to keep the sexes apart.
Both these questions are very important as my daughter was distraught after both deaths and want to ensure I cover all bases before making a commitment.