Raising Rabbits - The Basics

Raising Rabbits is Fun

You may have different reasons for raising them - enjoyment, education,
business, show, laboratory, meat, fur, and the bi-products they produce, such as
fertilizer and fishing worms.

Join ARBA or TRBA

Before you get too many rabbits, it would be a good idea for you to join the
American Rabbit Breeders Association (ARBA) or the Texas Rabbit Breeders
Association. The low membership fee includes a very good booklet on raising
rabbits. It lists all of the recognized domestic breeds of rabbits along with their
characteristics. Membership in ARBA includes a subscription to Domestic
Rabbits magazine that supplies you with helpful articles on rabbit raising. Each
year you will also get a booklet listing the more than 35,000 ARBA members
and their addresses. Membership in TRBA includes a newspaper sent out once
every two months that has a listing of shows and other useful information. Both
associations haves websites.

Purchase Only Purebred Rabbits

Usually, it's not a good idea to go out and buy rabbits from someone who can't
give you a good pedigree certificate. Without knowing a rabbit's ancestry,
neither it nor its offspring to the fourth generation may become grand
champions. You risk getting a mixed rabbit (one that is not of a specific breed),
a low quality specimen of a particular breed that someone knew was poor and
sold it as a pet, or a rabbit that has serious genetic defects. The principle of only
buying animals with a pedigree applies anywhere. It is not absolutely necessary
that your rabbit has a pedigree but it helps to ensure that it is a purebred.

Even if you are purchasing a rabbit only as a pet, if you are planning on keeping
the rabbit for any length of time, you need to consider its resale value. You may
also later decide to raise rabbits on a larger scale. Having a pedigree certificate
ensures that you are starting out right. Breeders are guaranteeing the
background of the rabbit, specifying themselves as the owners, and
authenticating it by their signature. It is best to buy from a reputable person.
Try getting a recommendation from someone who shows rabbits. They usually
know the good breeders.

The key idea is to purchase your rabbits from a reputable person who can help
you with your questions after the sale, one who is recommended by others, and
one who guarantees the rabbits you purchase.
Pick Your Breed

The most difficult decision in raising rabbits is selecting the breed you want to
raise.

Breeds are characterized by size, shape, ears, fur texture, sheen, and color. In
some breeds, the individual fur characteristics are combined. The main fur types
are:

 Angora - The fur grows very long and is shaved or plucked and woven
into yarn to be used in making Angora sweaters, hats, and mittens. The
long haired rabbits can become a real problem for the casual rabbit
breeder. Their fur has a tendency to matt and shed. It's a real bear trying
to clean the cages that have long hair everywhere. The hair also floats
out and settles on anything in your rabbitry.
 Satin - The fur has a special shine to it. It is used to make fine fur coats
and hats.
 Rex - The fur has a velvety touch and is short. It is used also to make
fine fur coats and hats.
 Multi-color fur - The fur is made up of two or three colors. Rarely will
you find a fur coat made with these because of the problem of matching
the patterns and colors. They are sometimes found in small furred items.
Certain color patterns are sought for by judges when showing these types
of rabbits.

Dwarf Breeds

The smallest breeds, the Dwarfs, vary in size from 1-3/4 to 3-1/2 lbs. They
include:

 Britannia Petite (White, black, black otter, or chestnut agouti) 1-1/2 - 2-

1/2 lbs
 Dwarf Hotot (White with black around its eyes) 2 - 3 lbs
 Jersey Wooley (Many colors - Angora wool) 2 - 3-1/2 lbs
 Netherland Dwarf (Many colors) 1-3/4 - 2-1/2 lbs
 Polish (Black, blue, chocolate, blue eyed white, ruby eyed white, and
broken) 2 - 3-1/2 lbs

These rabbits, as a group, are less than 3-1/2 pounds mature. These are the
rabbits you will want to raise if you want small pets that don't consume much
feed (about 1/3 to 1/2 cup per day) and take up the least amount of cage space
(about 2-1/2 sq ft). Price depends on the rabbit's show background, quality, and
heritage, including the production characteristics of its parents.
 The average litter size is 2 - 4 bunnies, as opposed to the larger breeds
 which have 6 - 12 bunnies.

Small Breeds

The next group of rabbits make up the small size breeds. They vary from about
2-1/2 to 5 pounds. These rabbits consume between 1/3 and 2/3 cup of feed per
day and take up 3-1/2 sq ft of cage space. The small breeds have characteristics
between the dwarfs and the medium size breeds. They usually have 1 - 3 more
babies in their litters than the dwarfs. The small breeds consist of:

 American Fuzzy Lop (Many colors - Angora fur - Lop Ears) 3 - 4 lbs
 Dutch (The feet, front half of torso and face are white, the other parts
can be black, blue, chocolate, tortoise, steel, or brown-gray) 3-1/2 - 5-
1/2 lbs
 Himalayan (White with colored ears, nose, feet, and tail of black, blue,
lilac, or chocolate) 2-1/2 - 4-1/2 lbs
 Holland Lop (Lop ears - Many colors) 2-1/2 - 4 lbs
 Mini Rex (Rex coat - Many colors) 3 - 4-1/2 lbs

Medium Size Breeds

The next group of rabbits make up the medium size breeds. This group is
characterized by weights ranging from 4-1/2 to 7 pounds mature. These rabbits
consume between 1/2 and 1 cup of feed per day and take up 5 sq ft of cage
space.

Rabbits that make up this group of medium breeds include the following:

 American Sable (Also good for meat) 7-10 lbs

 English Angora (Many colors) 5 - 7-1/2 lbs
 French Angora (Many colors - good also for meat) 7-1/2 - 10-1/2 lbs
 Satin Angora (Many colors) 6-1/2 - 9 lbs
 Belgian Hare (Not seen much - different body style) 6 - 9-1/2 lbs
 Standard Chinchilla 5 - 7-1/2 lbs
 English Spot (White with spots of black, blue, chocolate, gold, gray,
lilac, or tortoise) 5 - 8 lbs
 Florida White 4 - 6 lbs
 Harlequin (Has alternate bands of color) 6-1/2 - 9-1/2 lbs
 Havana (Black, blue, or chocolate) 4-1/2 - 6-1/2 lbs
 Lilac 5-1/2 - 8 lbs
 Mini Lop (Lop ears - Many colors) 4-1/2 - 6-1/2 lbs
 Rhinelander (White with spots of black and orange) 6-1/2 - 10 lbs
 Silver (Black, brown, or fawn with white ticking) 4 - 7 lbs
 Silver Marten (Black, blue, chocolate, or sable with white on belly,
flanks, jaw lines, and eye circles) 6 - 9-1/2 lbs
 Tan (Black, blue, chocolate, or lilac with tan on belly, flanks, jaw lines,
 and eye circles) 4 - 6 lbs

Large Rabbits

Large rabbits make up the next group. They are characterized by weights
between 8 and 12 pounds. Most of these rabbits are shown a great deal. Rabbits
in the meat group consume about 1-1/4 cup of feed per day and take up 7-1/2 sq
ft of cage space. The rabbits that make up the large group include:

 American (Blue or White) 9 - 12 lbs

 Beveren (Black, Blue, or White) 8 - 12 lbs
 Californian (White with black ears, nose, feet, and tail) 8 - 10-1/2 lbs
 Champagne D'Argent (Starts as black, mature is silver) 9 - 12 lbs
 American Chinchilla 9 - 12 lbs
 Cinnamon 8-1/2 - 11 lbs
 Creme D'Argent 8 - 11 lbs
 Hotot (White with black around its eyes) 8 - 11 lbs
 English Lop (Many colors - giant lop ears) 9 - 14 lbs
 French Lop (Many colors - regular lop ears) 10 - 15 lbs
 New Zealand (Black, Red, or White) The standard meat rabbit 9 - 12 lbs
 Palomino 8 - 11 lbs
 Satin (Shiny coat - many colors) 8-1/2 - 11 lbs
 Silver Fox (fur resembles fox) 9 - 12 lbs

The Giants

The next group of rabbits are the Giants. These are raised because some
breeders just like giant rabbits. They can sometimes weigh up to 25 pounds. The
giants require 1-3/4 - 2 cups of feed per day and 11 - 12 sq ft of cage space. The
giant breeds also require stronger cages. Because few people raise these rabbits,
they are more rare than the other breeds. The giants include:

 Checkered Giant (White with spots of black or blue) weight over 11 lbs
 Giant Chinchilla 12 - 16 lbs
 Flemish Giant (Black, blue, fawn, light gray, sandy, steel gray, or white)
weight over 13 lbs

Feed and Cage Requirements

The above discussion of the various breeds of rabbits touched on the

approximate amount of feed and cage space required by each.

Feed Requirements
You should use rabbit pellets from a reputable source that has been supplying
rabbit feed for many years. Each day, a rabbit will eat approximately one fluid
ounce of feed per pound of weight. There are 8 fl oz in one cup. So a four pound
rabbit will eat about 4 oz or 1/2 cup of feed. An eight pound rabbit, about 1 cup.
Do not feed a rabbit more than one day's supply of feed at a time unless you will
be gone the weekend. If you allow your rabbit to get fat, it will not breed very
well, the judge will disqualify it in shows, and the rabbit will have a much
higher risk of dying.

Every now and then supplement the rabbit's diet with alfalfa hay. This will
supply it with good roughage. You can also use the hay to line the nest boxes
when they are ready to give birth. Make sure the rabbits have fresh water in
front of them at all times. Never feed your rabbits lettuce or vegetables such as
cabbage, kale, kohlrabi, brussels sprouts, cauliflower, or broccoli. If you want to
feed a treat, feed them raw sweet potatoes, carrots, or apples.

Cage Requirements

All rabbits should be raised in hutches that have 1/2" x 1/2" or 1/2" x 1"
galvanized wire mesh bottoms. This will allow their droppings to fall through. If
they stay on any other type of surface that allows their feces to accumulate, it
will cause disease because of the bacterial and possible parasitic build up. If
raising a giant breed it is recommended to use a solid wood floor because they
are so heavy that if they sit continuously on the wire it can cause sores. It is
usually best to surround the rabbit with wire or metal because the rabbit will
chew threw wood or plastic that they can get at. Be sure to protect the rabbit
from the sun, wind, rain, and extremely hot or cold temperatures. Use an
automatic feeder that can be filled without opening the cage. Also, I like to use
feeder bottles with nipples pointing into the cage. This type prevents
contamination and overturning that bowls experience. It's also OK to use large
tin cans tied with wire to the sides of the hutch.

I find that it's better to purchase cages from a cage maker. They usually do a
good job for not much more than the materials would cost you. But if you want
to make your own cages, allow 0.75 square feet of space for each pound of adult
weight. For instance, if a rabbit's adult weight is 10 pounds, multiply 0.75 by 10.
This gives 7.5 sq ft. This can be attained by building a cage 3 ft x 2.5 ft (3 x 2.5
= 7.5). The height should be 18 inches. If the adult's weight is 3 pounds,
multiply 0.75 by 3. This gives 2.25 sq ft. You can build the cage 1.5 ft x 1.5 ft
(18" x 18"). Its height, because it is a small rabbit, can be 15".

Never make the hutch more than 3 ft deep or the sides more than 3 feet from
your grasp. Otherwise, you'll have trouble getting the rabbit out when you need
to.

Do not put rabbits together after they are 3 months of age. The ones of the same
sex are territorial and will fight. The ones of opposite sex will attempt to breed.
This can lead to unexpected results.

Important Considerations

 It's an excellent idea to join the American Rabbit Breeders Association

(ARBA) and/or the Texas Rabbits Breeders Association (TRBA) in
order to get their book on Raising Rabbits, the membership roster, the
subscription to Domestic Rabbits Magazine, and the newspaper listing
shows and updates. These will provide great material for raising rabbits.
Membership will also allow your rabbits to get grand championships,
thus increasing the rabbit's and its offspring's value.
 Only purchase rabbits from an established breeder who will stand behind
the sale with a signed certificate of pedigree. Any other way invites
problems such as genetic defects, disease, and bad specimens of the
breed. Always buy a purebred.
 Select a breed that you want to become an expert in. You should love
that breed. Concentrate on what judges are looking for in that breed.
Strive to attain the perfect standard.
 Your cages should give you easy access, be self cleaning, and provide
good protection for your rabbits. They should not be too small.
 Feed rabbits the correct amount of rabbit pellets for their size and
occasionally supplement their diet with alfalfa hay. Do not feed them too
much - a fat rabbit has lost stamina and doesn't breed well.
 Do not put rabbits together after they are 3 months old until you are
ready to breed them at 6 months. The subject of breeding is covered in
another section.

 Finally, protect your rabbits from other animals, especially from dogs
and raccoons. They'll do a number on your rabbits if given the chance.