So BrightSong's first litter with me was a bit slow to start but overall she did an excellent job with them.  Her kits ended up being little butterballs so fed them so well.  I had HIGH HOPES for her next litter.

Her second...not so good but potentially my fault as she didn't pull sufficient fur so thought I'd add some...most rabbits are fine with that, but Song apparently was NOT.   Dug out the box and I only saved two which I promptly fostered.

This litter she AGAIN pulled very little fur and the two does I bred to go with her kindled late.  I saved chilled kits and brought them in the house to keep warm (the kits) but Song never got around to producing milk...

So as soon as I could I fostered them to SunnyRock as I know she feeds her kits well and she only had one.. but chilled once kits are easily chilled again AND they'd gone without food for a couple days so it was cross your fingers and hope! Last night I went out and found one dead, one almost dead and one doing fine (and well fed).  The one almost dead looked like it had gotten chilled again.

SINCE two kits (Sunny's single, and Song's one left) can't keep themselves warm I fostered them over the Daisy.   

​All were looking good this morning AND fed.  WOOT WOOT. 

In the future Song will only be bred with at least two other does, and come spring she'll be looking for a new home.   She's a very mild-mannered doe so I expect I can get her into a pet home no problems.  Time will tell.

My goal in this post is to introduce you to some basic coat colour patterns.

The two main coat patters you will come across in rabbits are solid and broken.

This rabbit (Magic) is a solid black holland lop boy.   As you can see he is all one solid colour.  This coat pattern is called solid.   This other rabbit is a solid chocolate polish named Mittens.   I don't breed a lot of solid rabbits except in polish.  I like the broken and harlequin colours along with a smattering of agouti the best in my rabbits.

Georgia (broken black polish) and Acorn (broken chestnut holland lop) are two examples of broken.  Broken means white with another recognized colour.   It is different than vienna marked or harlequin.   It's a distinct colour patterning.. can be heavier or light (such as a booted broken, or a very light broken called a charlie).

Here we have two examples of the harlequin colour.  Harry (black magpie) and holland lop baby pet (black japanese) show off the main colour variation of this colour pattern.   Magpie is white with black, blue, lilac or chocolate) Japanese is red with black, blue, lilac or chocolate).   Harlequin is a confusing colour because it is also a breed of rabbit.  Harry is a harlequin breed rabbit which comes in the harlequin patterning.   They are to have a split face, opposite colouring on their feet and banding along the opposing sides.   it's a fascinating type to breed for.   This is one of my favourite colour patterns.

Agouti... I think Mousewhisker is a chocolate agouti.   Silver was a blue chinchilla.  I would LOVE to have a bunch of chinchilla coloured rabbits in my barn.  But breeding chinchilla gives alot of chestnut... and chestnut I'm not real keen on..it's like having a bunch of cottontails running about (and I have enough of those in my yard as well).  :)   Agouti is a specific colour patterns that has rings in the fur.  white, black, and other colour.  The other colour defines what TYPE of agouti it is.

Shaded rabbits.   PinPin is a black tort, IvyPool  is a Siamese Sable.    Shaded rabbits have darker color on the feet, ears, tail, and head. These areas fade to a lighter shade on the rest of the body.     Shadeds include: Sable Points, Siamese Sables, Seal, Smoke Pearls and Tortoise (Tort for short).

Rabbits with the tan gene come in two varieties... silver marten or otter.   This pattern is recognized with ear lacing, a triangle behind the head, lacing around the eyes, and in the crease of the nose.   It is either a silver colour or a tan colour.

The vienna gene.   The blue eyed white factor.   These are some kits off a doe rescued who appeared to either be an oddly marked broken or with the odd marking of a vienna marked rabbit.  They show very much that she was a vienna marked rabbit.   Vienna marks can be a snip down the face, a white paw on a solid rabbit, a broken rabbits whose spots are "off" from the normal broken pattern, blue eyes, dutch markings with no dutch in the background.  It can cause havoc for a long time in a line of rabbits.   One can breed with it or try to remove it from one's herd.   It can be frustrating to work with.   The kit i nthe middle is a normal blue-eyed white rabbit.  All three are vienna marked, making them vienna gene carriers.

So that in a nutshell are the basic colour patterns that you will run into.   There are others since breeding one rabbit to another can lead to some interesting genetics being shown   Like tricolour rabbits with tan ear lacing.   Orange rabbits with smutty noses from having a shaded in the background.  You can have steels (which look a lot like an agouti but with a gold or sliver tip to the hair shaft).

Hopefully you found this helpful.  
Tell me if you would please, what colour rabbit do you have?

In order to raise rabbits I need to know how to breed them   And though what I know isn't complete, I've learned a thing or two about doing so.  :)

I thought I'd share what a normal breeding OUTSIDE the bucks cage would look like.

First complete a health check.  Clean eyes, ears, nose, vent/penis.  No matting of front paws or groin region.  Nothing that was missed in daily checks.  You want rabbits that are both in excellent health (minus any moulting issues).   Wafer bucked a bit when I checked her vent which is a signal that she was ready to bred.  I figured she would as she's been temperamental that last few days which is how her mom would get as well.   Wafer is a flemish giant cross.

Red Max is kept in a standard cage, adding a big doe like Wafer means that the cage is a wee bit cramped so Red Max and his date come outside the cage to make each others acquaintance.

Here they say hi to each other in bunny language.  Note the ears are pricked forward for Max and the head is lower for Wafer.  Her ears aren't flat back like she's scared or unhappy, just a young doe saying hi to a mature buck.

This prompted Wafer to do what many does do.  Race around madly.   You'd think she was scared of him by how madly she was racing around, but everytime he'd look at her sideways she'd stop and look him over.  Isn't she a gorgeous girl?    

NOTE: the tail flaps (just like her momma's does when she's in the mood)  Bright expression, ears forward.. not the frightened look of a young doe looking for the quickest way out of dodge.

Anyways, everytime he'd look at her sideways and approach her she'd stop and flatten herself to the ground.  He'd come over and say hi, sniff her over and occasionally paw at her which.... prompted her to run around like a mad duck again.

NOTE: the lowered head, the NOT flattened to the body ears, the flat look with her legs back and not tucked under.  Ears flat to the body, low grunts and legs tucked under is a frightened doe in no mood to breed (generally speaking).   Some does have ODD body language.

Eventually the two of them would finish the whole courtship aspect of their date.  He approached, she lifted her rear end

and he finished.  doing the classic curl and fall over routine.  No squeal.  He's a very quiet grunter.

Even though I knew everything went as planned, I gave them a moment to recover themselves and then I flipped Wafer over to make sure that she did have ejactulate where it was supposed to be.   I've had more than one buck look to complete the deed only to find it on the tail, or on the backside, or somewhere other than intended, so doing a quick flip is beneficial.  It also gives the buck a moment to go "HEY, that worked.. now breathe a moment cause...ooh.. we get to do it again!".  :)

That's how I do an out of the cage breeding.   It works for me.  :)

It's important when you are getting a new rabbit to check it over for signs of good health before taking that rabbit home.  It's doesn't help the hidden illnesses that only become symptomatic after the rabbit is in it's new home, but it helps to cut out some of the obvious.

EYES

Are the eyes bright and clear?   No weeping, odd spots, tearing, debris in the corner, no red areas, excessive white showing?   

No mites or other signs of illness.   No unexplained rips or tears or frostbite damage.  Furred decently?  Tattooed if necessary?

Good colour?   Developing properly?  Not butting, no Malocclusion, no underbite.  Nothing that seems "off" to you.  Just regular ordinary rabbit teeth.     While here check that nose out carefully.  No hidden signs of snot at all?   Clean, no damage, looks like a good normal nose?

No matting on those front paws that indicated sneezing/snot issues.  Not broken?  Check those nails that they are the correct colour and not missing. (important for breeding/show homes, not so important for pet homes).

Well furred, no sores, all toes/nails etc.   

Make sure your boy is a boy and  your girl is a girl.  CHECK.  If you don't, you've no cause to complain.   Know what to look for.  Boys look like a pointy burrito and depending on age will have testes and a penis emerge.  Girls will have two thin red lines on either side of the vent.  They tend to look like a taco (so to speak).

IF I am not sure on a bunnies gender I will say so, some bunnies mature late and simply are hard to sex.   Most of the time I am right on my genders, but sometimes I am wrong.  Judges get it wrong sometimes as well.  :)

Other reasons to cull

• poor mothering
• bad temperament
• improve disease immunity
• health reasons
• Disease control
• Sterility
• hit the three strikes rule (for whatever reasons)
• Animal doesn't fit with your management style.

Rabbit manure is such a useful thing to have around when you are a gardener and if you are a gardener...the rabbits will thank you.  :)

IN this garden I have planted various items that will appeal to the rabbits.
Peas, beans, carrots, various lettuces, plaintain, radishes (love the greens), turnips (love the greens), parley and more.  My son was very helpful in getting the garden planted and marked off.  The sticks are leftovers from the bunnies nibbling this winter.

I needed to replant my parsley as it didn't manage to over-winter this year.

Last year my spinach got so huge it was amazing!   The rabbits loved it in small quantities so they kept me busy mixing spinach in with their other greens.   I often needed to chop the spinach into smaller bits for them as the big leaves they just wouldn't finish.   But it grew well and lasted almost all summer for me.  I was delighted with it's longevity.

I am very hopeful that the garden will be as productive for me this year as it was last.  It keeps us all happy (animal and people) quite happy.

One of the greatest things about having the rabbits is they will eat 99% of all the weeds that come up.  Different times of the year they prefer different things, but they'll  eat it up regardless.   Mind... if you don't know you weeds, either have a tester rabbit OR research it to learn what it is.    If it is toxic to rabbits then don't feed it.  I have one weed here that is not good for horses... if it's not good for horses it generally isn't good for rabbits either.

So what's growing in YOUR garden?  :)

Watching fecal output on animals tends to be something owners keep a watch on.  BUT if you don't know what's normal, how do you know what is different?

I never thought of doing a post like this, but had my way pointed to a post someone else had done up and thought hey... neat idea.  BUT I haven't done up a post NOR taken pictures of rabbit or guinea pig poop so I'll just like you to this post for now until I decide to do up a post of my own.  :)

Cheers.

Guide to Rabbit Poop. 

If everyone watched this video very few people would own rabbits.   
Myths 
1. Rabbits are low maintenance.
2. Short Life Span
3. No Vet Care
4. Rabbit should be outdoors
5. Rabbits love to be picked up and cuddled
6. Rabbits okay eating only Pellets
7. Rabbits smell
8. Rabbits good for small apartments
9. Can't leave a rabbit for a week-end 

Okay so let's address these comments
1. Rabbits are low maintenance.   According to the speaker rabbits require more care than a large dog : Space cleaned, exercise, food.   Hmm... seems the same as a large dog to me.   Seriously.   Rabbits... Clean the litter box, feed them, and if you have time, let them out to run around the place.

2. Rabbits have a short life span.   As with any animal their life span can vary.. sometimes dependant on the care they receive, sometimes based on genetics.   Oldest rabbit I had lived 13 years, youngest one died unexpectedly at 6 months.   Go figure.

3. No Vet Care required.   Raising rabbits for the past 8 years I've been to the vet twice with my rabbits.   This is very dependant on your rabbit AND your care and handling of same.    Fed an appropriate diet and purchased from someone who focuses on breeding for health, your rabbit should be fine.    MIND with any animal purchased you need to expect and budget for animal care.   With rabbits the toughest part is finding a rabbit savvy vet.

4. Rabbits should be outdoors.   The speaker implies that a rabbit raises outdoors gets less than great care.     Not everyone wants to nor desires to keep their rabbit indoors... doesn't mean the rabbits isn't well cared for.

5. Rabbits like to be picked up and cuddled.   Not sure why so many pet/house rabbit society folks think this.   Makes me wonder what they are doing wrong.   Rabbits can and do enjoy the care and handling from their owners IF they are handled properly and with confidence.   Too many people aren't confident and in charge when handling their rabbits.

6. Rabbits eating Pellets only.   Yet another person who insists that rabbits MUST HAVE unlimited hay all the time for their teeth.   Seriously folks... Rabbits wear down their teeth as they eat ANYTHING.   A good pellet with have fibre in it.   Hay is NOT a requirement for caring for rabbits.   It's honestly just another part of the care of rabbits.  BUT if you are allergic to hay then you can still own a rabbit... you can feed grasses, green feed, or a GOOD quality pellet, and your rabbit will do just fine.

Mind I believe in feeding rabbits a variety of feeds so that you have a feed arsenal if your rabbit goes off feed.   Sometimes rabbits do that.. and if you don't have a feed arsenal to give them how will you get your rabbit back to eating???

7. Rabbits smell.   Umm... it's an animal.  Any animal has a odour to it.   How you manage it depends on how much odour is released.   Daily litter box cleaning helps heaps, adding a touch of apple cider vinegar to the water helps, use of proper bedding materials etc.

8. Rabbits good for small apartments.   IF one would believe this video you'd be required to own a mansion to have a rabbit.   Rabbits are FINE for whatever house you happen to live in.   They will use the space they are alloted.

9. Can't leave a rabbit for a weekend.   Where it is true that rabbits need more immediate care if they happen to get sick.. ANY animal can get sick easily and you could have a major problem when you get home.   Many a rabbit can be left for a weekend if you provide sufficient food and water... if going away for a weekend that might mean three water bottles, a feeder stuffed with hay, a j-feeder loaded with pellets etc.   You can't deprive them of sufficient food to eat.

PET CARE COSTS
How much is that doggie (or kitty, rabbit, rat, goldfish or guinea pig…) in the shelter window? In addition to the initial cost of adoption, there’s a whole litany of expenses that the average pet owner will incur within a year. To make it easier for you to plan for your new arrival, we’ve prepared a financial breakdown of the annual costs of caring for a variety of species.   To see the chart in full click here.

I found their price guidelines rather a lot off.   $730 to care for one rabbit over the course of one year and that's just regular care.  AND if one considers what all the first year costs might be with neutering and other such things at over $1000.   It was like HUH?   how do you figure that.

For ONE rabbit, even using the expensive litter....$730 for one year????  NOT....

At the most for litter it would be $240 ($20 bag of carefresh per month) for litter (most people go cheaper and do pine or aspen which would significantly bring that amount down.   If one wished to you might be able to get pet insurance, you might wish to buy toys but you certainly don't have to, litter boxes for rabbits don't tend to cost $25.  
Anyways, I found it interesting, you might too. .

I watched this video this morning and it made me consider the goals people set in their rabbitry.

For some it's a matter of winning on the table.  Simply producing a rabbit that physically is all that it can be for winning on the show table.   I like doing that with my polish.  I have to admit it's fun.  :)

For others it's producing a rabbit that is temperamentally sound and of a good size for selling to the pet market.    Doing that with my holland lops and my guinea pigs gives me a huge feeling of satisfaction.   Not that I don't focus on that with my other rabbits as well.  :)

For others it's reducing the amount of time needed to get your rabbits to make weight for providing food for the table, or food for their animals, or for the animals of other people.   I have to admit, I'm not where I want to be with my meat rabbits, but I'm getting closer.  :) 

They are all great goals.
It means work and effort.  
It means choosing animals for your herd that will further your goals.
It means deliberation and thought, and not just randomly throwing two rabbits together.

This is what makes a breeder.
This is what makes for a good rabbitry.
That thought and deliberation, followed by good animal care.