I have been breeding rabbits for over 15 years now.  I started as a child breeding meat rabbits and selling them at the market.  I simply love it.  I learned, as an adult, the important of educating my pet rabbit buyers.

I admittedly didn’t know a whole lot about raising rabbits as a teen, and when I look back, I made TONS of errors.  This knowledge helps me to be more tolerant of the errors I see others making.  Sometimes a person just doesn’t know any better eh?   To that end, when I sell a bunny I do my best to educate the buyer in how to best care for a bunny. 

How to Educate Pet Buyers

The education of pet buyers takes many forms for me.

1. conversation when picking up a bunny
2. bunny care sheet emailed and handed out depending on form of communication
3. website information
4. emails, phone calls and texting

Conversation when Picking up a bunny

If this bunny is to be a child’s pet (Over the age of 8) I do my best to engage the child.  Talking to them about what they think a bunny needs (Carrots and hugs is often the answer) and then telling them what a bunny really needs.   I engage them in learning how to pick up a bunny safely … not only for them but also for the bunny.   Learning how to feed a bunny, water and housing requirements and how to litter train their pet. 

One of things I often ask them is “does your mom let you have a chocolate bar every day?”   Sometimes the answer surprises me with a “yes” but usually it’s no.  I then help them understand that to a bunny, sweet food like carrots and apples is like giving a bunny a chocolate bar every day and do they think that would be healthy for the bunny?

If the bunny is for a child younger than 8, I emphasize that the bunny is a family pet.  They can’t expect a youngster to independently care for the bunny or know what to watch out for. To that end I talk with the parent about care, show them how to pick up a bunny, tricks for helping their child handle the bunny and so forth. 

Some people when they come for a bunny merely want to pick bunny up and then dash off.  It’s hard to engage those folks in conversation, so I remind them I’ll send them a care sheet and off they run.  I can’t force people to learn. 

Care Sheet

I have a PDF that I send people.  This contains a brief summary of how to care for a rabbit along with links to my website that has a number of helpful articles for people to read.  It contains my return policy and other basic information.  A two page document meant to give information without being overwhelming.

Website

I have worked hard on my website over the years.   Writing articles to help the pet buyer, answering questions, rabbit friendly veterinarians and more.  I think overall I’ve done well though sometimes think some tweaking has to be done. 🙂

Email, Phone Calls and Texting

I much prefer conversing with people over email.  It’s easier to be clear about what I am saying.  It’s easier to link to articles and websites to facilitate communication. I can easily clarify points made, send pictures stored on my computer, and send files.

Long phone calls require the most patience for me, particularly when people don’t seem to listen to what I say.  I find that often the message is not heard and needs to be repeated.  This gets rather frustrating.  It’s hard to remain patient when what you are trying to say isn’t heard because emotions or agendas get in the way. 

Texting, though quick, and excellent for communicating whereabouts, vehicle descriptions and quick question/answers is not ideal for long discussions or linking to relevant articles. Texting is an excellent way to share a picture of good weed to feed bunnies, or one to stay away from. 

Knowing when to let go

Even though I dearly want to make sure that I am educating my pet rabbit buyers I know there is only so much I can do.  Despite conversation and communication people will choose to think they know better and want to do things a different way.   Sometimes they are influenced by the preponderance of house rabbit society information on the web. Often times they are misinformed by vets and well meaning people. Then there are financial constraints that sometimes hit people and they cut corners and figure bunny is okay so they continue to cut corners.   Things happen that I cannot control.   I can only do my best.  

Others in this Series

• American Fuzzy Lop.
• Baby Bunnies.
• Culling well.
• Discussing Death.
• Errors in Judgement.
• Feeding Rabbits.
• The G’s of rabbits.
• Holland Lops.
• Interesting facts about rabbits.
• The Joy of Bunnies.
• Choosing Rabbits to Keep. 
• Leaping Lagomorphs. 
• The Scoop on Poop.
• Not Wanted Rabbits.
• Over the Hill.
•  

Letter P Link Up

Each week we will be linking up with the hosts of Blogging Through the Alphabet. Please visit some of these other blogs to get things like book lists, vegan recipes, and wonderful places to visit, just to name the topics I can think of off the top of my head.

• Amanda @ Hopkins Homeschool
• Christine @ Life’s Special Necessities 
• Kimberly @ Vintage Blue Suitcase
• Dawn @ Schoolin’ Swag
• Wendy @ Life On Chickadee Lane
• Yvonne @ The Life We Build
• Jennifer @ A Peace Of Mind
• Kristen @ A Mom’s Quest To Teach
• Kirsten @ DoodleMom Homeschool

I had a fellow breeder ask me the other day “when do you decide to sell your breeding rabbits”? When someone suggested a post on over the hill bunnies that conversation came to mind.

Through keeping records and paying attention, I generally know what’s going on with my bunnies.  Twice a year, I give my rabbits a good hard look.  Who will stay, and who will go? My thoughts concern age, reproductive rates, temperament, number of bunnies raised to sell to pet/breeding homes, and peculiar traits. 

Age

I used to have a hard and fast rule.  My bunnies start to breed at five months normally (some are slower some insist on earlier) but the average is five months.  Therefore once they hit a year I’d have gotten two litters at least out of them.  These litters told me alot about the quality of the doe and what type of offspring she would throw.  Every year I would rehome any rabbit over 14 months old.  It meant that I changed my herd over almost yearly.   

I changed to a three strike rule, as it seemed a better approach than looking at age alone.  Three strikes…. move the bunny out.  So if ALL my other rabbits are raising kits and one doe isn’t.  She gets a strike.  If all my other rabbits are raising healthy kits and one isn’t… she gets a strike.  If all my other male rabbits were doing their job and one isn’t.  He gets a strike. 

Once you reach three strikes, you are on my “sell list”.   Age is no longer my primary reason to sell, it’s now just one of many factors.

Reproductive Rates

As part of what I do is breeding rabbits for the pet market, rabbits that get pregnant and raise their kits is part of my business.  My approach is different for a first time mom having a singleton, versus an experienced doe giving me a singleton.  The first might be first time mom jitters, the later is a sign of a doe aging out.  Now, if all my other first time does aren’t having problems and just one doe.. that doe will get a strike against her. 

Temperament

Did you know that rabbits are as individual as people? It’s surprising eh?   You have dominant and submissive personalities, bunnies that are hard to read, and bunnies that will surprise you. 

I’ve had hormonal young does chase my hand when I go to feed them.  The odd one nip me unexpectedly. This isn’t a strike against them, it’s just a young rabbit telling me she’s growing up. I give her a couple of days to settle down and then introduce her to one of my boys.  But a doe biting me just because? Well different story.  A doe lunging out of the corner of her cage to bite will get a strike against her.  A doe being a goof because of hormones… different story. 

I recently had a doe who was “tetchy”.  I thought her a wonderful rabbit overall, just didn’t like people messing with her. Having one rabbit out of 15 like that isn’t a bother.  Then she had kits.  She was okay but nervy, actually settled a bit.  Her kits acted scared all the time once they got out of the nestbox and I was curious as to why.  I stood quiet in the rabbitry and watched and speedily learned why.  This doe would randomly nip her kits.  EVEN IF they weren’t in her space, she’d just go over and nip them.   That behaviour was an immediate three strikes.  A doe attacking her own kits… I can’t have that.  Not good for the kits to be bullied by their own mom when they were still dependent on her. As soon as they were old enough to hold their own, that doe was culled.  She didn’t have the temperament for a pet home and I wouldn’t pass a doe like that on to someone else.

Kits raised to 8 weeks

Occasionally you’ll get a doe that despite everything can’t raise her kits to eight weeks of age.  It can be hard to track down why most of the time, but some reasons are: failure to thrive, digestive issues, nestbox eye and what not.

Failure to thrive happens in holland lops… where a kit is doing well, then hits four weeks when they are transitioning to solid food as the bulk of their diet.  Some kits simply can’t make the transition. Supportive care can help them pull through.  When a doe has a litter where she has kits like this she gets a strike, and then if it happens again… another strike.  Often times if I change the buck she is bred to, it solves the problem, but occasionally it’s just the doe.  Her genetics passed on to kits just don’t work.   

Digestive issues where kits get poopy butt.  This happens when kits are learning to take care of their own elimination clean up.  Sometime they are lazy, other times it’s environment (no longer needing the nestbox), other times it’s just too much fur getting in the way.  Trims help, removing nestboxes early, and bathing the lazy kits helps.   Too many lazy kits earns doe a strike.  I don’t keep poopy butt kits as I don’t want to breed it in.

I used to get nestbox eye (when kits have eyes stuck together with pus while still in the nestbox) in most of my litters.  Rabbit folks tend to blame a dirty nestbox.  My own research disputes this, and since breeding against it, my numbers dropped radically.  Ergo I don’t keep kits who get it, and I don’t keep does that throw it in more than one litter. If I could totally eradicate it, I would.   Perhaps one day my numbers will be only one a year!  🙂

Peculiar Traits

Since rabbits are so unique from each other it funny to see how they turn out at times.  I have one doe who loves her babies.  She’ll be seen licking them, and snuggling into them.  She’s a love you-love me bunny.  BUT once her kits hit three weeks she won’t feed them.  A fantastic doe in many ways, but not one I will keep in my herd, despite the ease of fostering older kits to her.

Then I have another doe, whose not keen on being picked up, though loves the odd ear rub and head pat. Young, small doe who had eight kits in her first litter and fed them until I took them away from her.  Her second litter she’s doing the same.  Fat, sassy, sweet kits. I adore does like this.

I have another doe who EVERY Tuesday takes the door of her cage off.  She makes me laugh.  I’ll come in and she’ll be hanging her head out waiting for me. I don’t know why she does it, but there she’ll be. This girlie will also stomp her feet at me if I don’t feed her first… ONLY on Tuesdays, go figure eh?  She’s a silly old thing.  If I could get kits from her I’d be delighted, but, as a predominately pet rabbit it’s not an issue.  She’s my “make me laugh” doe.  🙂  The best pet rabbit ever!  

Summing Up

Since going to a three strike rule I sometimes have rabbits stay in my herd until they are three years old.  Many leave by the time they are a year old.  Temperament and health play a huge role, and now, as my rabbits are getting better, their type comes into play as well.  I consider rabbits a wonderful animal to raise and I want to give people the best pet I can.  That means finding my “over the hill” bunnies the best way I can.

Others in this Series

• American Fuzzy Lop.
• Baby Bunnies.
• Culling well.
• Discussing Death.
• Errors in Judgement.
• Feeding Rabbits.
• The G’s of rabbits.
• Holland Lops.
• Interesting facts about rabbits.
• The Joy of Bunnies.
• Choosing Rabbits to Keep. 
• Leaping Lagomorphs. 
• The Scoop on Poop.
• Not Wanted Rabbits.

A surprising thing happens when you raise animals. They produce manure. I KNOW! It’s so shocking. And rabbits well.. they produce WAY more then you’d think they should. Want to know the scoop on poop? Read on eh?

And unsurprisingly maybe, monitoring their output is actually kinda important! It tells you a lot about a bunnies health. The scoop is all on poop when it comes to bunnies. IN FACT I have a bunny right now that I’m fussing with.

Miss Treble is a three year old bunny that is new to my herd. Her previous owner had to downsize so I took her and two herdmates under my wing.

A buck Max gave me two hard days but then came around. A doe Aida didn’t even blink for the first few days though tonight she’s snubbed her pellets (she’s a two year old). But Treble.. she’s a special case. Doesn’t want to drink from a bottle and a bowl is scarce tolerated. Doesn’t like my pellets and thinks mixed grain is questionable. BUT she will lick water off her coat if I give her a soaking AND she thinks leaf lettuce and dandelion flowers are to die for… so I have a fighting chance! One of these days this feisty doe will come around. In the meantime… I poop watch!

The poops she is having right now are Stasis Faeces… hard small dry poops. At least she is still pooping! When they stop, it’s not a good thing.

Hormonal Links & Poop

On facebook this morning I talked about FlamesLight, she’s getting a tad bit too big for her britches (picking on her littermates) so it was time for her to get a cage to her own. 

I think she’s a bit hormonal, she’s having abnormal caecotrophs right now.  Does often have that when they are hormonal (having babies, due to breed, maturing etc).   They are messy and rather ick,  Ick with a bossy teenager means a cage all their own otherwise I end up with three young does covered in ick.  BLECH!

 Anyways, what do you do with all this lovely manure?

Rabbit Manure Compost

I have the best garden dirt EVER.  It grows well, holds water decently, and is a lovely dark healthy soil due to all the rabbit waste in it.  Each spring I empty my compost/manure bins into my gardens and cover it up with dirt from last year.  Over the summer the worms break it down nicely into a rich compost. It feeds the roots of my plants and helps them grow.  If you want to know the specifics of rabbit manure this post or this one would be helpful. It’s good you know, to have the scoop on poop!

Others in this Series

• American Fuzzy Lop.
• Baby Bunnies.
• Culling well.
• Discussing Death.
• Errors in Judgement.
• Feeding Rabbits.
• The G’s of rabbits.
• Holland Lops.
• Interesting facts about rabbits.
• The Joy of Bunnies.
• Choosing Rabbits to Keep. 
• Leaping Lagomorphs. 
•  

Letter M Link Up

Each week we will be linking up with the hosts of Blogging Through the Alphabet. Please visit some of these other blogs to get things like book lists, vegan recipes, and wonderful places to visit, just to name the topics I can think of off the top of my head.

• Amanda @ Hopkins Homeschool
• Christine @ Life’s Special Necessities 
• Kimberly @ Vintage Blue Suitcase
• Dawn @ Schoolin’ Swag
• Wendy @ Life On Chickadee Lane
• Yvonne @ The Life We Build
• Jennifer @ A Peace Of Mind
• Kristen @ A Mom’s Quest To Teach
• Kirsten @ DoodleMom Homeschool

One of the challenges in having a rabbitry is deciding who you will keep and who will not keep.  Sometimes it’s very easy, but other times it is very challenging.   How one makes a decision depends on several factors and is affected by your over arching goal for your rabbits.   This post is all about choosing rabbits to keep in your herd.

People keep rabbits for all sorts of reasons. Homesteading, showing, companion animals, pets, or as livestock. The reason you keep will change what you look for in your animals.

Why Is It Important?

It is important to keep your end goal in mind or you will end up sabotaging your own efforts. When I started raising rabbits as an adult I took my time to talk to old time rabbit raisers. They all told me “breed for what you want” and “what you breed you get”.

So if you want calm tempered rabbits (great for anyone) then don’t breed the nicely typed doe that bites you. Or if you want typey rabbits good for the show room don’t keep the poorly typed rabbit that just happens to be colour you want. If your focus in on feeding your family from the profits of your rabbit sales: show, fur, pet, companion don’t keep rabbits that don’t meet your market goals. Meat rabbits need to be as meaty as possible and need to be able to reproduce without tearing your hand off in the process … don’t keep the rabbits that do not meet your long-term criteria.

Different Styles of Keeping Rabbits

Show rabbit fanciers will focus on the rabbits they have meeting the standard for their breed. A good breeder will look first at type (how well the rabbit meets the standard) and second at colour, temperament, etc. If you have the body you need, you can get the colour you want down the road. Mind, you also need to have an animal you can handle because rabbits who bite the judge get kicked out of the competition.

A homesteader will most likely look at temperament and how well the rabbit produces what they need. Meat, wool, companionship etc. Whatever their goal is will be their primary focus. In this video below an unexpected reason was the fact that rabbits are (for the most part) quiet.

Companion animal seller, Pet rabbit seller. Should look first at health and temperament, and then at colour, type, and all other considerations.

Pet people (so people who just happen to have two random rabbits) will often just breed two rabbits together and keep any offspring they can’t sell or whatever bunny makes them the happiest. I’ve been there and done that it’s totally a way to do things. 🙂

Livestock. Just like with the homesteader the person breeding rabbits to be livestock will breed for animals that grow quickest, produce the best final result and are easy to handle. The video below speaks to what you want to look for in a meat rabbit. I do disagree with him that you need to start with purebred stock. The advantage to purebred is you know what is behind the rabbit. BUT meat rabbits, bred for their meat only, are often built differently than a show rabbit is. So look for what you need in a meat animal and start with good stock that will give you what you want.

Others in this Series

• American Fuzzy Lop.
• Baby Bunnies.
• Culling well.
• Discussing Death.
• Errors in Judgement.
• Feeding Rabbits.
• The G’s of rabbits.
• Holland Lops.
• Interesting facts about rabbits.
• The Joy of Bunnies.

Letter K Link Up

Each week we will be linking up with the hosts of Blogging Through the Alphabet. Please visit some of these other blogs to get things like book lists, vegan recipes, and wonderful places to visit, just to name the topics I can think of off the top of my head.

• Amanda @ Hopkins Homeschool
• Christine @ Life’s Special Necessities 
• Kimberly @ Vintage Blue Suitcase
• Dawn @ Schoolin’ Swag
• Wendy @ Life On Chickadee Lane
• Yvonne @ The Life We Build
• Jennifer @ A Peace Of Mind
• Kristen @ A Mom’s Quest To Teach
• Kirsten @ DoodleMom Homeschool

I didn’t know what to do for the letter G so I asked people on the homeschool review crew forum for suggestions.

They suggested: Gestation, Giant Breeds, Grooming. They also suggested other posts like “buying your first bunny and Growing bunnies” but those are posts for another day. So today I talk about the G’s of rabbits

Gestation

Most rabbits, I’d say 90% in my experience, will kindle (have babies) 31 days after mating. Gestation is very easy on rabbits and rarely do you see any sort of strain on the momma. The earliest I’ve had them come in is 28 days the latest was 38 days.

Sometimes you will see hormonal differences, momma rabbit either become more mellow or becoming more space protective.

Breeders will sometimes, between day 11-14, palpate to see if the doe is bred. I choose not to do this, figuring 30 days is nothing to wait and I normally have bunnies on a schedule and why mess with it?

People have this misconception that rabbits can have two pregnancies at one time. This is WRONG. Although rabbits have two tubes, they only have one pregnancy at a time. The misconception is due to the fact that rabbits can reabsorb their kits. If they start to do that, and then deliver their babies, the size difference and seemingly different developmental stage causes people to think separate pregnancies.

Grooming

Most rabbits need very little in the way of grooming. Like many animals, rabbits groom themselves quite handily. They occasionally need help, like baby bunnies as they are learning to care for themselves, or injured rabbits needing support.

The main time they need help is during their moult. Just like with dogs, rabbits sometimes need a good brush out when moulting. This is really easy to do. Just dampen your hands and run them through your bunnies coat against the grain. Rub off the gathered hair and repeat until all the loose hair is out of the coat. Sometimes you will need to actually pluck the loose hair out, especially around the tail/rear end area.

In the picture above I have Horatio sitting on a plank over my compost big. Horatio was in a very heavy moult and was miserable. I brought him out every day for about 8 days and plucked out the loose fur on his back end as well and running my hands backwards over this body. He was so much happier when we finished everyday. Took about 5 minutes daily. The hair you see sticking out is a tuff that needs to be plucked.

Giant Breeds

The most common giant breed in North America the Flemish Giant. These are a lovely breed of rabbit. Miss Wafer pictured below is the largest rabbit I have at 16 lbs. Her dad was a Flemish Giant. She’s a big girl but not nearly the biggest rabbit I’ve ever seen. They are known as the gentle giant, but mind you… they aren’t all docile or gentle. Wafer can be bossy. I’ve known others that nippy. On average they make excellent pets or breeding animals. They aren’t great as meat animals due to their large boney frames and slow maturation..

Just for Fun! Guinea Pigs!!!!

Others in this Series

• American Fuzzy Lop.
• Baby Bunnies.
• Culling well.
• Discussing Death.
• Errors in Judgement.
• Feeding Rabbits.

Letter G Link Up

Each week we will be linking up with the hosts of Blogging Through the Alphabet. Please visit some of these other blogs to get things like book lists, vegan recipes, and wonderful places to visit, just to name the topics I can think of off the top of my head.

• Amanda @ Hopkins Homeschool
• Christine @ Life’s Special Necessities 
• Kimberly @ Vintage Blue Suitcase
• Dawn @ Schoolin’ Swag
• Wendy @ Life On Chickadee Lane
• Yvonne @ The Life We Build
• Jennifer @ A Peace Of Mind
• Kristen @ A Mom’s Quest To Teach
• Kirsten @ DoodleMom Homeschool