New Zealand rabbit are among my favorite breed to keep , whether you ’re an enthusiastic pet hare possessor or work on a full - sized farm . These coney are friendly , intelligent , and tame . My New Zealand cony love being pet , and held , and have a lot of merriment running around their playpen in the 1000 . rabbit produce little brown pellets of gold – theirmanureis an fantabulous addition to any garden . They are also amply vegan pets – a perfect addition to any flora - based homestead .
All about New Zealand Rabbits
New Zealand hare are an easy stock of lapin to get protrude with . They ’re tame , friendly , and fat , and they make great positron emission tomography . Here ’s what there is to know about these adorable rabbits :
New Zealand rabbits are a large breed of rabbit varied in coloration . They can come in white , black , red , blue , or ‘ break off ’ coloration . A crushed biased rabbit is a mix of white and blackened or white and red . They develop to approximately 9 to 12 pounds . Interestingly enough , the New Zealand rabbit does n’t hail from New Zealand at all , but are in reality from the state of California in the United States .
These large coney have an even temperament , which make them ideal to people who want to keep them as pets or as meat rabbits . Intact rabbits that have n’t been neutered or spay live 5 - 6 long time on average . Neutered and castrate rabbit run to live a act longer , closer to 10 year . It is a strain recognized by the American Rabbit Breeders ’ Association . They are mostly bred for their meat but make great pets .
Temperament
I ca n’t talk positively enough about the disposition of the New Zealand hare . In general , manly rabbits ( dollar ) are friendly and less territorial than female ( doe ) rabbits , and that has been , in my experience , true for New Zealand rabbits as well . My doe , Rosemary , is well more distant than my Pearl Buck , Thyme . Thyme enjoy recognise me first thing in the sunrise , while Rosemary wants me to give her food , a twosome pets on the head , and to otherwise get lost . Buck are easier to keep for young preferred rabbit owners .
Purpose
The primary bringing up use for New Zealand rabbits is for meat . They are a large breed that grows quickly into a 9 - 12 Sudanese pound rabbit . They are also very friendly , gentle animal , which make them capital companion animals . For the most part , New Zealand rabbits have n’t quite caught on as a pet rabbit breed and are mostly breed for their meat . They are truly dual purpose , food and friend , calculate on your intentions . If you ’re looking for a pet rabbit for the family and see a New Zealand ad , my passport is to scoop it up .
New Zealand Rabbitcolors
New Zealand coney are an ARBA recognized breed of lapin , developed to be consistent in size of it and coloration . They can be clean , juicy , crimson , black , or ‘ unkept , ’ which is a mix of white and another colour . In 2016 , the ‘ blue ’ motley of the New Zealand rabbit was recognized by the ARBA . These rabbit are large , cursorily maturing to a weightiness of 9 to 12 pounds .
White
A white New Zealand lapin is a mlarge - sized breed with a white coat of pelt . The breed has a compact body , large ears , and a buddy-buddy , thick pelage . The fur is in the main snow - white . The strain is also characterized by a wide head and a curt , stocky body .
Red
A cherry-red New Zealand rabbit has a medium - length fur coating with a dark tan , red color . Its fur is easygoing and sheeny , and its eye are ordinarily chocolate brown or black . It has long and a short , rounded dead body .
Black
The black New Zealand Rabbit is a declamatory rabbit with a calendered black pelage and brusk , vertical ear . The underside of the rabbit is usually fully black as well as the invertebrate foot and tail .
Broken
A confused New Zealand Rabbit has a livid pelage with patches of fur that are “ rugged , ” intend they are a different people of color than white . These patches are ordinarily red , black , or brown in color and may be in various shapes and sizes . The pelt may also be wavy or have a mottled appearance . The face of a broken New Zealand Rabbit is normally snowy with some patch of people of color around the eyes and/or ears .
Housing
A rabbit hutch is the simplest way to domiciliate your New Zealand rabbits . Hutches are a farm body structure that allows air circulation and secures your rabbits against any would - be vulture . Hutches also forbid rabbits from escape . When it comes to size , the bigger the better . There is no such matter as a rabbit shanty that ’s too big . Each rabbit should be given 12 square feet of hutch place . A 6×2 or 3×4 foot shanty will provide quite a little of room . Rabbits can be keep in cage smaller than that , but plenty of outside fourth dimension should be provided to your rabbit if they are to be keep in a small cage .
Providing a bedding material loge for your cony is a skillful way to cut down on cleansing . Your rabbits will need a source of food and water supply provide at all times and plenty of enrichment – fate of chew toys and things to diddle with . Your lapin will have hours of playfulness moving and tossing thing around . My buck , in particular , is very very particular about where his belonging go . If I strip out his hutch , he pass hour getting thing back where he wants them to go .
Common problemswith the New Zealand Rabbit
New Zealand rabbit are a pet on farm because of how hardy they are . They do n’t have any breed - specific issues , but can be susceptible to common cony ailments experienced by domesticated cony stock like :
Overgrown teeth
Unlike us , rabbit teeth retain to uprise throughout their lives , a snatch like our tomentum and nail . Rabbit dentition are easy labor down by chew their fibrous food . If they do n’t have enough fibrous food to chew on , their tooth can overgrow and cause pain in the ass , which prevents use up and can result in last . The best way to avoid this is by but offering a tidy sum of grass and hay . A veterinarian can correct overgrown tooth , but it ’s much less expensive to keep this condition .
Pasteurellosis
Pasteurella multocidais a bacterium that can be easy transferred from one rabbit to another . It produces like symptom to pink eye and fluid nose . The eyes can become puffy and red with a dismissal , and your lapin may sneeze a stack . This bacterial infection is sometimes called ‘ snuffles . ’
Stress is the elemental cause for this contagion . breed of this bacterium are latent in the sinuses of your pet lapin and a reduction in the efficiency of the resistant scheme , triggered by accent , can make it to grow out of control . If your cony has snuffles , quarantine it from others and seek a treatment course of antibiotics .
Hairballs
Rabbits expend a good amount of time groom themselves which can contribute to hairballs . hair ball are mostly not an government issue unless there ’s some other problem with your lapin ’s gastrointestinal nerve tract . The best way to prevent hairballs is by providing a in high spirits quality , eminent fiber diet to your pet . If a hairball block up the gut , your New Zealand rabbit may require OR .
Myxomatosis
Myxomatosis is a virus unfold by mosquitoes and flea , as well as contact with another rabbit with the computer virus . It has like symptoms as Pasteurellosis – lump and discharge from the eyes and olfactory organ . Your good wager for prevention is to keep rabbits well away from fleas and mosquitoes , and assay flea mastery to the best of your abilities . There is no vaccine or treatment for this and it will eventually kill your pet rabbit .
Rabbit hemorrhagic disease
Rabbit hemorrhagic disease , sometimes called Rabbit Calicivirus ( though the term is no longer up to date ) is a virus disseminate likewise to Myxomatosis – through fleas , mosquito , and contact with infected rabbits . This is a disease that progresses quite quickly , incubating for just one to three days and causing decease within 72 hours . The good way to prevent this is by vaccinating your rabbit against RHDV1 and reducing photo to flea and mosquitoes and never allowing your favourite rabbit contact with a risky rabbit . There is no treatment .
Breeding New Zealand Rabbits
Early on in my experience with upbringing rabbits , I was told that rabbits are “ very effective . ” This is an understatement . New Zealand rabbits become productive at just 8 to 12 weeks of eld and will begin at least attempting to mate at around this time . If you intend to cover your rabbit , hold off until they are 5 to 8 months old . Breeding before this age can be harmful to your rabbits .
Does not go into heat and are instead productive year around . sawhorse are also in general eager to mate disregarding of the time of year . Timing for breeding your cony is up to you . Some do n’t care spawn in the dead of winter due to concerns about the cold . Others breed only in bounce and fall for debar the heat of summertime impacting the kits ( sister rabbits . )
When breeding rabbit , bring the buck to the doe , not the other way around . Allow the buck to couple with the doe two to three multiplication . You will be looking for what ’s call a ‘ fall off . ’ After the horse has finished felt , he will fall off of the distaff rabbit . This signals complete copulation . Once you have the act of fall offs you desire , return the horse to his hutch . Do not leave your long horse neglected with the Energy Department .
New Zealand Rabbit gestation period
If fraught , your doe will gestate for 28 - 35 days . She will provoke ( give nascency ) on daytime 31 or 32 usually . Provide a nest box seat with plenty of straw for the doe to make a proper nest . She will also pull fur from her stomach to ruffle in with the drinking straw provided . The medium bedding material size of it is between 1 and 14 kits . She can be impregnated again within 24 hours of give birth , but this is loosely not advised .
lapin kit are born blind , indifferent , and hairless . Cannibalism can occur and is a defense team mechanics . A doe will eat any abortive coney as well as any line and dead tissue left behind in the nesting area . This is normal and nothing to be alarmed by .
A outfit ’s pelt begins to develop in by the 5th mean solar day and sometime between the 7th and 10th daytime , their eyes will open . At the eld of 2 calendar week , they ’ll begin explore outside of the nest boxes and looking for other intellectual nourishment sources . The mother will start to ablactate them at 3 to 4 weeks of age .
Bucks more often than not do n’t involve themselves with arouse the young . If kept in a colony scope , a buck may ‘ babysit ’ the unseasoned from fourth dimension to time . While they do n’t generally help raise the young , they do n’t harm the young either .
What to feed your New Zealand Rabbit
rabbit can be fed a balanced coney provender , but ideally , your New Zealand coney should subsist primarily on hay . A shot provender can be offered but should n’t be the elemental feed choice of the rabbit . They can be fed diminished amounts of vegetables as treats , but a gamey tone hay like Timothy hay should be the bulk of your cony ’s dieting . Food should always be available to your rabbits .
History of the New Zealand Rabbit
The bloodline of the New Zealand lapin are n’t exactly clean . What is clear is that they are most emphatically not from New Zealand . It ’s thought that the breed was first developed in California in the United States . They may have been developed by crossing Belgian hares and Flemish giant . The breed was recognized by the American Rabbit Breeders ’ Association in 1916 . They were bred for their even tempers and speedy maturation . White New Zealand rabbit were first breed by William S. Preshaw in 1917 . Preshaw separated a group of white New Zealand rabbits born from Red parents . Today , the white rabbit is the most popular .
New Zealand rabbits are among the more common option for lab rabbits as well due to their well-disposed disposition and stalwart nature . rabbit are known to react likewise to human race to disease and medications , which make them ideal for animal testing . Rabbits have been used to develop run and treatment for center disease , cancer , diabetes , tuberculosis , and diphtheria . The New Zealand rabbit ’s contribution to modern medicine can not be understated .
