Raising Rabbits for Meat—Managing Animals' Health, Part 2

Speaker 1

Welcome to Living on the Land, an award-winning source of useful information brought to you by your Oregon State University Extension Service.

Speaker 2

Sometimes to protect the health of your rabbits, you may need to put individual animals in quarantine. It's a good idea to put new rabbits into a month-long quarantine before introducing them to your other animals because even if new rabbits seem healthy, they could have illnesses that won't show symptoms for a few weeks. Another case where a quarantine makes sense is after returning from a rabbit show, competition illnesses can be transferred any time your rabbits are around other animals. Finally, it's important to have a quarantine area for treating sick animals. When you're planning your quarantine area, keep it downwind of other animals. Also, don't share equipment between your quarantine area and the area where you have the. Rest of your rabbits. Make sure you do your chores for your quarantined rabbits wash your hands and change your clothes in between. Working with quarantined and healthy animals. Keeping cages clean and disinfected can help to reduce your rabbit's health issues. Lastly, store your food and water properly to prevent mice and to reduce the chance that mosquitoes will breed nearby. For more information on raising rabbits for meat, contact your local OSU Extension Service agent or the ARBA.