Welcome to Pecatonica Family Rabbitry! We are a small Rabbitry located in Blanchardville, WI. We first started with rabbits back in 2004 with 3 rabbits that we got from a Rabbit rescue for our kids. My daugter, Rochelle soon took on the responsibility of her new pets. After signing her up for 4h and attending the fair. We decided that a crossbred rabbit just wasn't going to cut it. We went to a show in Dodgeville, WI and brought home our first Flemish Giant. What a rush that was, there is a whole new world out there when you have rabbits. How many of you really thought that people were out of their mind selling a Broken black rabbit with 3 legs for 125 dollars? Why in the world would anyone want a broken rabbit with 3 legs? Let alone spend that kind of money for it...WOW. That's what our ride home sounded like and my daughter adding "I looked at the rabbit and it had all of it's legs". Gotta love the Memories.
Although my daughter loves the Flemish we realized that they were just too big for her to handle. She saved her babysitting money and purched a beautifull broken black Mini Rex buck "Oreo". Of course this wasn't fair to our youngest that Rochelle would have 2 rabbits and she would only have one we decided to buy a doe for her "Diamond". As time passed the population of Mini Rex has grown in the barn. Both of my daughters show them at many ARBA shows, fairs and youth shows. There are a couple of breeders that have really helped my girls with their rabbits. Thank you Sue and Monica!! My daughters adore their Mini Rex and seeing all of their friends at the shows.
About 4 years ago my husband and I decided to become 4h rabbit project leaders for our County. There wasn't a whole lot for purbred rabbits in our County, we felt that we really needed to do something about it. We hold monthly meetings teaching the kids everything that they will need to know. When we first started after talking to the kids we found out that many of our 4hers have never been to an ARBA show or youth show for that matter. This coming year will be our 3rd youth fun show, held the first Saturday in October in Mineral Point, WI. We would like to eventually set up judging teams and hopefully go against some of our other counties. There is a whole world of possiblilies.
My family and I are also members of the WSRBA (Wisconsin Rabbit Breeders Association), ARBA (American Rabbit Breeders Association), NFFGRBA
(National Ferderation of Flemish Giant Rabbit Breeders Association) and Misty Hills. My huband Jason just became the president for Misty Hills and I
the Secretary.
Although my daughter loves the Flemish we realized that they were just too big for her to handle. She saved her babysitting money and purched a beautifull broken black Mini Rex buck "Oreo". Of course this wasn't fair to our youngest that Rochelle would have 2 rabbits and she would only have one we decided to buy a doe for her "Diamond". As time passed the population of Mini Rex has grown in the barn. Both of my daughters show them at many ARBA shows, fairs and youth shows. There are a couple of breeders that have really helped my girls with their rabbits. Thank you Sue and Monica!! My daughters adore their Mini Rex and seeing all of their friends at the shows.
About 4 years ago my husband and I decided to become 4h rabbit project leaders for our County. There wasn't a whole lot for purbred rabbits in our County, we felt that we really needed to do something about it. We hold monthly meetings teaching the kids everything that they will need to know. When we first started after talking to the kids we found out that many of our 4hers have never been to an ARBA show or youth show for that matter. This coming year will be our 3rd youth fun show, held the first Saturday in October in Mineral Point, WI. We would like to eventually set up judging teams and hopefully go against some of our other counties. There is a whole world of possiblilies.
My family and I are also members of the WSRBA (Wisconsin Rabbit Breeders Association), ARBA (American Rabbit Breeders Association), NFFGRBA
(National Ferderation of Flemish Giant Rabbit Breeders Association) and Misty Hills. My huband Jason just became the president for Misty Hills and I
the Secretary.
"Shy Girl" Winner of the 2011 Flemish Nationals
BOB 2011 Flemish Nationals Jefferson, WI.
Sr. Sandy Doe "Shy Girl:"
That First Lt.Gray Flemish Giant oppened a whole new can of worms in our barn. We Love these Big Beautifull Rabbits!! Since my daughter's decided to go with the Mini Rex, my husband "Jason" took them over. He has been working very hard on improving the breed.
We've noticed a big change in the sizes of our Lt.Gray's and Whites both in the shoulders, rumps and weight. We raise four of the seven colors; Lt.Gray, Sandy's, Whites and Fawns.
Flemish are one of the most layed back rabbits that you can find. They have such a calm and loving personality. We've been through many breeds and have never found one quite like them.
In raising a Flemish the most important things that you need to know is nutrition, housing and genetics. If you are truly intersted in showing Flemish only buy the best. It takes the same amount of feed an time to feed a poor rabbit than what it does a good one. Although a breeder will not sell you his/her best, you will always have those genetics to start out your herd. Pick the breeders brains. They are a troth of information and are always willing to help. If not, you don't want their rabbits in the first place. We've learned so much from the breeders that have been doing it a while.
Nutrition in any living being is important. You need to find the base of your feeding schedule and that's a high quality pellet. There are so many show feeds out there and you will find so many different comments about each one. First things first, don't use a feed that has a corn base, this will give your rabbits bloat, Eneritis and you could possibly risk loosing your whole herd. Some good feeds that are out there are; Heinhold, Pen Pals, Purina and Nutrina. There are others, these are just the ones that come to mind. For Medium to Large breeds ALWAYS go with an 18% protein feed. This is what helps the rabbit fill out (protein builds muscle). Another good thing to add to their diet is a good grassy hay given DAILY. We give a small hand full to all of our Flemish Giants daily. You can do a small amount of top coat ie; whole oats, rolled oats, sunflower seeds or any type of enhancer is also fine.
Housing also plays a role of the health of your rabbit. Flemish need a lot of room. A 36x40 cage is just about right, how ever if you have a doe with a litter you will want to go at least double that size. Those little buggers will grow fast and need the room to do their binkies. If you are going to keep them in a wire cage make sure that you have something that they can rest on to get off of the wire. Flemish are so heavy that the wire will cut into their feet causing soar hocks. Things that you can use are; plywood sheets, tag board, straw and resting boards. Remember if you are using any of these things they have to be cleaned every other day. To ensure that the rabbit is not sitting in moisture. If a rabbit sits in too much moisture it can develope a disease called "Hutch Burn". Hutch Burn looks a lot like "Vent Disease". If a Rabbits sexual organs are constantally wet, pustules will form on the penis or ureater. These need to be cleaned and poped daily until gone. A antibacterial ointment should be put on twice a day. Remember a clean rabbit is a healthy rabbit.
Hope that you enjoy our site, if you need to contact us email me at [email protected]
Thank you!
Jason, Lisa, Rochelle and Carissa Swenson
We've noticed a big change in the sizes of our Lt.Gray's and Whites both in the shoulders, rumps and weight. We raise four of the seven colors; Lt.Gray, Sandy's, Whites and Fawns.
Flemish are one of the most layed back rabbits that you can find. They have such a calm and loving personality. We've been through many breeds and have never found one quite like them.
In raising a Flemish the most important things that you need to know is nutrition, housing and genetics. If you are truly intersted in showing Flemish only buy the best. It takes the same amount of feed an time to feed a poor rabbit than what it does a good one. Although a breeder will not sell you his/her best, you will always have those genetics to start out your herd. Pick the breeders brains. They are a troth of information and are always willing to help. If not, you don't want their rabbits in the first place. We've learned so much from the breeders that have been doing it a while.
Nutrition in any living being is important. You need to find the base of your feeding schedule and that's a high quality pellet. There are so many show feeds out there and you will find so many different comments about each one. First things first, don't use a feed that has a corn base, this will give your rabbits bloat, Eneritis and you could possibly risk loosing your whole herd. Some good feeds that are out there are; Heinhold, Pen Pals, Purina and Nutrina. There are others, these are just the ones that come to mind. For Medium to Large breeds ALWAYS go with an 18% protein feed. This is what helps the rabbit fill out (protein builds muscle). Another good thing to add to their diet is a good grassy hay given DAILY. We give a small hand full to all of our Flemish Giants daily. You can do a small amount of top coat ie; whole oats, rolled oats, sunflower seeds or any type of enhancer is also fine.
Housing also plays a role of the health of your rabbit. Flemish need a lot of room. A 36x40 cage is just about right, how ever if you have a doe with a litter you will want to go at least double that size. Those little buggers will grow fast and need the room to do their binkies. If you are going to keep them in a wire cage make sure that you have something that they can rest on to get off of the wire. Flemish are so heavy that the wire will cut into their feet causing soar hocks. Things that you can use are; plywood sheets, tag board, straw and resting boards. Remember if you are using any of these things they have to be cleaned every other day. To ensure that the rabbit is not sitting in moisture. If a rabbit sits in too much moisture it can develope a disease called "Hutch Burn". Hutch Burn looks a lot like "Vent Disease". If a Rabbits sexual organs are constantally wet, pustules will form on the penis or ureater. These need to be cleaned and poped daily until gone. A antibacterial ointment should be put on twice a day. Remember a clean rabbit is a healthy rabbit.
Hope that you enjoy our site, if you need to contact us email me at [email protected]
Thank you!
Jason, Lisa, Rochelle and Carissa Swenson
