"Read Before You Breed: - work in progress

I started this a while back and then put it aside - so perhaps breeders can help get this done up so we can put it up as a sticky?

Here are the posts I as I originally wrote them:

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Here is what I'm thinking of - breeders and other mods - please jump in and add your thoughts/comments and tips.

a. BEFORE YOU BREED - things to consider
motivation for breeding
what breed you want to work with
expenses - cages, food, how much on hand for vet bills
how many rabbits are in a litter
show quality or pets

b. You've decided to breed - now what!
How to buy your bunnies
What to know BEFORE you buy your bunnies
Recommended memberships (ARBA, etc)

c. Maybe a bit of color genetics? Like dont' take a tort to a black otter?... basic stuff like that?

d. Why we don't recommend cross-breeding except for certain situations

e. Age for breeding various breeds


What else? Go ahead and post links and various tips and stuff in the thread in the working area section and I'll try to put everythingtogether in a post...

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[align=center]Making the Decision to Breed[/align]

• Attend a show and talk to breeders who have rabbits
• Preferably - find a mentor at the show and have them teach you what to look for
• Purchase a trio from one person if at all possible
  • Even if they have several different "lines" of their breed - there is a good chance they are compatible for breeding togther
  • If you have TWO does...you can breed them both at the same time and have one of them be available to "foster" if the other doe has problems with the litter
  • Make sure to buy the VERY BEST buck you can afford. His qualities will be passed on to EVERY litter hesires. If you are starting out with one buck only - you want all of your babies to get the very best traits they can get.
• You can also join an internet list (checkhttp://www.yahoogroups.com) of breeders either for your breed or in your state.

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Breeders - rabbitry mods - why don't we work on this??? Suggestions? comments?

I really appreciate you posting this.Arewe aloud to addour own little tips?

Brilliant as always Peg. I LOVE what you've already done, especially about the best buck etc., things that breeding websites don't tell you!

I'd also like to see some questions to ask yourself that are big and bold and hard to ignore or skip, along the lines of this:

Are you ready to breed?

"Why do I want to breed my rabbits?"

You should be aiming to improve your breed of choice in some way - such as by working on a colour to increase its strength, improve markings, improve temperament or some other feature. Any rabbits used for breeding must be of breeding quality in addition to being in good healh. Knowleage of a rabbits parentage is very valuable to assess any genetic weakness that might be present in the bloodline.

It should be noted that it is very, very difficult to make any profit from breeding rabbits. It is an expensive but rewarding hobby, not a business.

"What is needed to breed rabbits?

A hutch of adequate size for the breed for the buck.

A larger hutch for the doe and her babies.

A nest box.

Extra hutches for the babies after weaning.

A good rabbit vet and transport at any time of day or night.

A healthy bank balance available to cover emergency vet bills which can include among other things an emergency C section. Also feed and bedding bills will rise.

You will need a lot of time. You need to be available 24/7 at least during the latter days of pregnancy and during the birth, if something goes wrong you need to be there or you risk losing your doe and the litter.

And most importantly, good, responsible and loving homes for the babies you bring into the world.


...That's all I've done for now.

What do you think? I can think of plenty more if you want to go in that direction.

I am nothing to do with anything, but I think this looks great

Educate yourself... Ask questions.... lots of questions...

Learn aboutany genetic issues with your breed of choice, (Double dwarfing, max factor, maloclussion, etc.)

Learn about the proper care for Rabbits in general and your breed specifically (appropriate cage size, flooring, diet, growth rates, etc.)

Expect the unexpected... nothing will always go as planned.

BlueGiants wrote:

Educate yourself... Ask questions.... lots of questions...

Learn aboutany genetic issues with your breed of choice, (Double dwarfing, max factor, maloclussion, etc.)

Learn about the proper care for Rabbits in general and your breed specifically (appropriate cage size, flooring, diet, growth rates, etc.)

Expect the unexpected... nothing will always go as planned.

Click to expand...

or for nethie all of the above



I think having a part specifying things that can go wrong in kindling would be good such as stuck kits pencil kits just to show it doesnt always go like the sayign breed like rabbits!

the rest looks great


Would it also maybe be a good idea to have a list of breeders who know their breeds from RO and what they breed in there or on a sticky so that if someone was particulalry interested in a specific breed they would know who to ask certain questions to??

I'm going to go ahead and post-

Breeding rabbits can be heartwrenching. Expecting a box of happy kits and finding that even one was DOA, or a peanut, or was crushed... It's awful and you can never get over it.

Please, for the sake of the bunnies, and your fellow breeders, don't breed mutts! No one wants to be a backyard breeder but there are sooo many!Those whoare breeding for pets, or breeding to have some cute fluffy faces around, are the ones spurring the pet population out of control, not those of us breeding to better the breed.

Don't rush into it, don't wing it.Breeding requires a lot of research and without research, you may end up with disasterous results.

First of all - I will be out of town from Friday, Feb. 13th until at least March 4th. So y'all will have to be without me - but this is something that folks could be working on with maybe a different breeder editing each section or combining the thoughts.

I'm merging my writing with Jenson's to show what it could look like:
[line]Are you ready to breed?

"Why do I want to breed my rabbits?"

You should be aiming to improve your breed of choice in some way - such as by working on a colour to increase its strength, improve markings, improve temperament or some other feature. Any rabbits used for breeding must be of breeding quality in addition to being in good healh. Knowleage of a rabbits parentage is very valuable to assess any genetic weakness that might be present in the bloodline.

It should be noted that it is very, very difficult to make any profit from breeding rabbits. It is an expensive but rewarding hobby, not a business.

"What is needed to breed rabbits?

A hutch of adequate size for the breed for the buck.

A larger hutch for the doe and her babies.

A nest box.

Extra hutches for the babies after weaning.

A good rabbit vet and transport at any time of day or night.

A healthy bank balance available to cover emergency vet bills which can include among other things an emergency C section. Also feed and bedding bills will rise.

You will need a lot of time. You need to be available 24/7 at least during the latter days of pregnancy and during the birth, if something goes wrong you need to be there or you risk losing your doe and the litter.

And most importantly, good, responsible and loving homes for the babies you bring into the world.

Steps to take once you have decided to breed:

• Attend a show and talk to breeders who have rabbits
• Preferably - find a mentor at the show and have them teach you what to look for
• Purchase a trio from one person if at all possible
  • Even if they have several different "lines" of their breed - there is a good chance they are compatible for breeding togther
  • If you have TWO does...you can breed them both at the same time and have one of them be available to "foster" if the other doe has problems with the litter
  • Make sure to buy the VERY BEST buck you can afford. His qualities will be passed on to EVERY litter hesires. If you are starting out with one buck only - you want all of your babies to get the very best traits they can get.
• You can also join an internet list (checkhttp://www.yahoogroups.com) of breeders either for your breed or in your state.

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Here is my request....if you want to help write this - would you look at the outline listed below - and at the top of your post - label it where you'd put it in the article.

Let's say for example I wanted to see something put in about the risk of pencil kits....my post would look like this:

Possible Birthing Issues
One issue that breeders need to consider is the age of the doe they are considering breeding - particularly if it is a first time doe. If she is older than the recommended age for her breed - she can have a hard time giving birth and have pencil kits. These kits are called this because......


By labeling what your suggestion is by where it would go in the outline - it helps whoever will finally write this up....to sort through things...

[align=center]TOPICS SO FAR: (Feel free to add more)

[align=left]a. BEFORE YOU BREED - things to consider
motivation for breeding
what breed you want to work with
expenses - cages, food, how much on hand for vet bills
how many rabbits are in a litter
show quality or pets

b. You've decided to breed - now what!
How to buy your bunnies
What to know BEFORE you buy your bunnies
Recommended memberships (ARBA, etc)

c. Maybe a bit of color genetics? Like dont' take a tort to a black otter?... basic stuff like that?

d. Why we don't recommend cross-breeding except for certain situations

e. Age for breeding various breeds
[/align]
[/align](Someone else needs to figure out where in this outline is the best place to put risks - OR - make a whole new outline - which won't bother me).

WARNING: Possibly upseting post

Okay, here is one of those instances where I hesitate to say anything, but this is a "how to breed responsibly" discussion so I'll bring it up and deal with the consequences.

TinysMom wrote:

And most importantly, good, responsible and loving homes for the babies you bring into the world.

Click to expand...

Breeding produces culls. Its just fact that you can't keep every rabbit you produce. Further, not all rabbits may be suitable for pets (or have suitable homes available). This can be for any number of reasons but I'll use malocclusion as an example.

A malocclused rabbit in the best cases will have misaligned teeth in the front of their mouths--they can be clipped like nails by a careful owner. In the worst cases their teeth will have to be pulled or trimmed by a vet on a regular basis. Finding homes for these animals is very difficult. Further, letting these animals go into the pet population is verging on irresponsible since that rabbit's condition is likely to worsen as it grows and whoever owns it will suffer some expense in keeping it.

I have often stated (just never on here) that if it comes down to a rabbit going to a home where it may not be suitably cared for or having that rabbit put down I would much rather not see the animal suffer. If in the course of things, that rabbit goes on to serve another useful purpose (such as things I can't mention on this board) I think that would be a better alternative because at least that rabbit wasn't wasted.

I know its hard to consider these things, but it's a very big reality of breeding rabbits. The rabbits you produce will have to go somewhere, consider deeply what is the most responsible way of placing your culls. Find out how you feel morally.

Thanks for bringing up a good point.

I have kept rabbits (and never bred their parents again) if they developed malocclusion. That was my personal choice as a breeder - I have yet to put a rabbit down.

But that is a situation that people need to think about and decide on their own - and it helps if they are aware of it before breeding....so thanks for bringing it up!

Please don't reply to this if it's not relevant - just something I thought of.

If you're breeding for meat, make sure you find out the health regulations in your country and that you do everything legally and with great hygiene. And keep in mind animal welfare laws when it comes to breeding livestock for food.

Just found this topic. Good reading for those looking to breed.