New to the "show rabbit" world ... much to learn!

[JulieinPA]

We've had rabbits before. I had rabbits as pets when I was young, and my daughter has had pet rabbits, etc.
But today we picked up our FIRST breeding pair of PEDIGREED rabbits. Suddenly this feels like a whole new ball game!
We bought Holland Lops
So having pet rabbits is no big deal ... you love them, you feed them, water them, pet them, and that's about it. But now that we have show rabbits - that we paid a pretty penny for, we suddenly feel "lost" and clueless. I always thought "a rabbit is a rabbit" .. but after paying $170 for a breeding pair ... let's just say I look at these rabbits in a whole new light.

Anyway .. is there some good basic advice that you can give me? I mean - I know this forum is FILLED with all sorts of advice on raising, showing, breeding, etc. And trust me - I DO plan to go through and really read things! But to get me started, I was just looking for some quick basics.

For example ... here's just a couple questions I have already:

When breeding, is it OK to leave the buck with the doe for a few days?

Also, I read something about not putting the buck into the doe's pen to breed because the doe could be aggressive and terretorial .. is that true?

What is the best diet for rabbits? (more hay, less pellets ... more pellets, less hay ... something else completely? ...???)

How do you do the pedigrees? We got a paper for each rabbit that is a pedigree ... I've NEVER had or done anything with a rabbit pedigree before. So what do I do with this??? And what's the process to do pedigrees for the babies once they're born ...??

I have a bazillion other questions ... but these are some of my top questions that keep popping into my mind.

 

[majorv]

Welcome to the "show" world! I'll try to answer your questions.

It's not usually a good idea to leave the buck and doe together in the same cage unsupervised...and you should take the doe to the buck's cage to breed them. Anyway, leaving them together overnight could result in one dead rabbit, unless you KNOW your rabbits and are 100% sure they will get along. We've only done this once, with two Californians who were very sweet and docile. I would not consider doing it with any of our current rabbits.

We keep each of our rabbits' pedigrees in a clear sleeve in a 3-ring notebook. You can buy a pedgree program, like Evans or Kintraks, or do it by hand. We started out doing it on an ARBA pedigree form, handwritten, and then later got a computer program to do it as we got more rabbits. We can keep track of matings, litters, health, finances and print pedigrees for each kit. If/when you sell one of the kits to another breeder they will most likely want a pedigree on the rabbit.

As far as what combination of pellets/hay, it's variable. There are a couple of Holland Lop breeders who come on here and they can help with how much they feed. We feed our Polish 1/4 cup per day, sometimes a little more, and hay 1-2x/wk. Our Tans get a little more.

If you'll look through the postings in the Rabbitry and Show Room area it will give you some more good information. You can post future rabbitry questions over there, too.

 

[woahlookitsme]

Welcome also me and my mom (majorv) raise polish and tans in Texas! She gave you some great advice already but I just wanted to say hi and I hope you enjoy the rabbit hobby it's very fun and a huge learning process. Did you get to ask the breeder questions also such as how to pose or what the good and bad characteristics of your rabbits are? You can always post pics on here and we can try to give some opinions also

 

[OakRidgeRabbits]

Very good advice already!

I thought I would chime in with advice for Holland Lop diet. For adults, it's pretty straight forward. Usually a 15-16% protein, alfalfa-based pellet is best. I feed a leveled 1/2 cup daily to my weaned junior and adult Hollands. If you have any larger brood does, a heaping half cup may be better.

You can adjust that amount of pellets either way, once you find out how much each rabbit cleans up in a day and how they maintain their weight. Your rabbits should feel well-fleshed and smooth if you pet their backs, not bony or rough. However, you don't want them to have a big belly. If they start feeling "chunky," cut back on their food. Does should be kept trim (not skinny, but fit) if you want to breed them. Too much internal fat can make them less likely to conceive or infertile.

I also have hay racks in each cage (just wire bent into a square and zip-tied to the cage to hold it). I fill their hay racks once daily with timothy hay.

When you have babies, that's where the real supervision comes in. Holland Lop kits are particularly sensitive to weaning. When they start eating pellets, I usually offer 1/2 cup of pellets in momma's dish and 1/2 cup of pellets in the baby's dish (no matter how many babies there are). And load them up on timothy hay (not alfalfa!) After a day or two of mostly hay, I start offering 1/2 cup of pellets per two babies, it can all be in the same dish. Still offer lots of hay. Then around 5-6 weeks of age, you can offer the usual 1/2 cup per rabbit in the cage.

Check daily to make sure there are no soft dropping stuck to the baby's bottom and if there are, clean them up. I'm not sure what it is about Hollands. I've had the occasional messy baby in other breeds, but little Hollands have been rather high maintenance for me. I find that if you transition them slowly, they do just fine. But if you just fill a big bowl and let them chow down right away, that's when the problems can start. I guess they just have no personal discretion. LOL They can be piggies.

Hope that helps.

 

[JulieinPA]

Thanks for the replies! I have so much learning to do! :brown-bunny
Apparantly the doe and buck we just got are already accustomed to each other ... because I asked the breeder if when we picked them up yesterday if we could put them in the same crate together (it's not a crate with a divider or anything) she said they'd be fine. She said they'd be ready to breed, so we could breed them right away. So that's how we picked them up, and then yesterday we put them in the same hutch together. I didn't get these replies until this morning - and we did leave the two together over night (I just thought they'd be fine) and they are doing great - so obviously that's a good thing! We would've croaked if we found a dead bunny this morning! :sad:



You can see pictures of the bunnies on her fb fan page : https://www.facebook.com/JasminesRabbitry
:bunny19

 

[OakRidgeRabbits]

Oh, you are in PA too! I guess I overlooked the "JulieinPA." I am also a Julie in PA!

I liked your FB page so I could follow along your bunny adventures. We are on Facebook too at Oak Ridge Rabbitry, if you want to find us!