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whatever4andnomore

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My kids are going to be showing rabbits for 4H this year. We have 2 mini rex rabbits (they are brother and sister littermates) that will be 6 months old tomorrow. They are pedigreed and have ear tatoos. (We got them at a rabbit show in September.) The truth is, we have never shown rabbits before and we have no idea what it all entails. We went to the county wide rabbit meeting a couple weeks ago, but it pretty much just went over the rules and regulations for the county fair that isn't until August 2015. This particular club doesn't meet again until January, and then not again until late spring. That really doesn't give us much to go on in the way of gaining experience. I was wondering if there are any suggestions on what we could be doing to prepare our rabbits, and the possibilities of breeding the female we have before the fair. Should we attend more rabbit shows in the meantime? Should we try to show our rabbits at some of these shows. Unfortunately the leaders and other members didn't seem to want to chat or visit after the meeting. I was really left feeling confused as to what we should be doing.
 
I'd say enter your buns in a couple shows, see how they do, you'll meet lots of friendly breeders who are willing to show you the ropes. Just ask for help, the show secretary is usually very helpful and friendly. The more you go to in the mean time, the more you'll know and learn.
 
And breeding before the fair is totally up to you, I think you could breed her and have a litter before the fair.

Good luck! PM me if you have any specific questions, I'd love to help as much as I can!
 
That was the one thing the rabbit leader DID say concerning our female. She highly recommended that we breed SunDancer, the female. We would need to find another male to breed her with since breeding her to her brother is out of the question. ((I wouldn't do that even if it was allowed) And thanks for the help. I am planning on going to a rabbit show on Sunday.
 
Good luck at the show! Let us know how it goes!

And yes, find another buck, that would be the best thing to do. See what a judge has to say about doe and take notes, and find a buck that compliments her.

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I went to that show yesterday and it turns out the rabbits we have will not show well at all, and are not recommended for breeding. (As stated in a different post) Looks like we will be starting over. We decided the castor coloring might not be the best since we are new and that coloration is hard to get right. My daughter wants to work with the blues both broken and solids. I am partial to the blues myself.
 
Just keep in mind that sometimes breeding dilute to dilute can cause mismatched toenails... Also in the rex coat, dilute usually loses some fur density. I used to raise Velveteen Lops which have the rex coat. I did self colors... Black, blue, and REW are good to breed together. There are more stringent rules about what to breed to what when rex coat is involved, but if you stick with one color group (self, shaded, etc) you should be safe. Also, make sure if you decide to do self colors, that it has self colors in the background. I'd stay away from any self color rabbit that has otter or tri in the background unless you're planning on breeding those colors. It takes A LOT of cage space to do multiple color groups.

My advice is to go to some shows and ask questions. Find a reputable breeder who can mentor you. Also, stick with bloodlines that work well together. You can have two amazing looking animals, but if their bloodlines don't mesh well, the whole litter will be culls.
 

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