Funny Things Rabbit People Say

Meat Rabbits, Pet Rabbits, Show Rabbits February 24, 2013 Comments: 3
zettmedia / stock.xchng

zettmedia / stock.xchng

One of the very best things we’ve done as people who will be taking rabbit breeding seriously is join the American Rabbit Breeders Association, Inc., or ARBA. One of the supports offered by this organization is a Facebook group where breeders gather to compare stories, share remedies, and communicate best practices.

 

I’ve learned an amazing amount from reading through past posts… but one thread tickled me more than any other! For the rabbit newcomer, there are many aspects about the care and nurture of our four-legged friends that might be confusing. Other breeders shared some of the funny questions and statements they’ve gotten from rabbit innocents:

“My female rabbit keeps pulling fur and putting in the corner of our sofa.”

Friend’s reply, “Are there any other rabbits in the house?”

“Yes.”

Friend’s reply, “IS the other rabbit a male?”

“Yes.”

Friend’s reply, “Then your female is making a nest to have babies.”

“But they’re brother and sister. They wouldn’t do that!.” (courtesy of N. Anderson) (Rabbits have no regard for anything except gender!)

“How far can my rabbit swim?” (courtesy of S.H. Brown) (Rabbits don’t do well with water at all)

“I judge 4H rabbit kids & sometimes you get some very funny answers. My favorite: I asked a young man senior showman (very experienced) What is smut? He lowered is head, face blushing & answered very quietly, “My momma won’t let me look at that stuff.” It was hard not to laugh but I continued with the judging. Later that day the young man came up to me and asked about the question. I showed him in the book & explained it to him. We had a good laugh together. Gotta love those 4H kids!” (courtesy of B. McCall) (Smut is a reference to poor coloring)

“I once had a FFA mom call me in a panic because she was bunny-sitting her daughters rabbit and while playing with it noticed a large tumor on its end. I asked her to go get the rabbit and bring it back with her to the phone. She did and I asked her to turn it over which she did and started screaming! She was so freaked out because now there were two growths on the rabbit! After I stopped laughing I told her, “Congratulations you have a boy!” (courtesy of B. Rowan)

“Can I breed this 3 lbs. mini Rex doe with that 11 lbs. Satin buck?” they asked me. To which I replied, “All things may be possible but common sense says that’s not prudent.” (courtesy of J. Veale)

“I was on one group and and one woman told everyone else that rabbits store MILK in their dewlap…I was like, “Really now???” (courtesy of K. Southall) (The dewlap is an extra amount of hair used by mama rabbits to pull and line their nests)

“At our local fair last year people kept asking us “What’s wrong with all the rabbits that they are broken?” (courtesy of K. Krejci-Giminiani) (“Broken” is a coloring description. It means the color is broken instead of solid)

“I have to admit I was confused with the “legs” a rabbit has when we were new. I told L. there was no way I’d pay for a three-legged rabbit that she couldn’t even show! But we figured it out!”(courtesy of M.S. Guidry) (When a rabbit wins at a show it is awarded a “leg.” After earning three legs, it is eligible to be given the honor of Grand Champion, which is quite desirable.)

 

I hope this has given you a bit of a chuckle, as I got a chuckle while reading! Thank you to all the people who posted on the FB page… and I’d love to hear of any funny questions you’ve gotten in the comments!

To Warm a Bunny…

Silver Marten February 6, 2013 Leave a comment
10 just born Silver Marten babies.

10 just born Silver Marten babies.

We woke up this morning to 10 Silver Marten babies! This is great news – but we’re also a little nervous because this is the mama’s first litter.

Proof she’s new to this whole “baby” thing? She didn’t pull fur and had the babies in the nestbox, but not in the hole. This resulted in 10 chilly baby bunnies.

Without even thinking about it for more than a moment, I pulled my first true rabbit breeder move and loaded all 10 of those suckers close to my skin and then went about the rest of the chores. By the time everyone was fed and watered the babies had warmed and we were able to tuck them back into the nestbox.

Because the mama didn’t pull hair, we lined her hole with dryer lint then pulled hair for her. Pulling it from the tummy helps stimulate milk production, but I’ve found it’s easiest to get clumps of hair out of the rabbit’s flank area. (Left to their own devices the doe will pull hair from any part of her body she can reach, specifically her dewlap and tummy.)

As of tonight we have warm babies and a mama who is looking quite skinny now that all those offspring are out of her tummy. Time to enjoy watching them grow!

Rabbit Legends

Meat Rabbits, Pet Rabbits, Show Rabbits January 18, 2013 1 Comment
Rabbit Legends!

Rabbit Legends!

Raising these rabbits has gotten me thinking about “Rabbit Legends” – as opposed to Urban Legends. Stories of circumstances that seem completely impossible and yet… are true!

There’s a wealth of bunny misinformation around the internet and a simple Google search is as likely to lead you astray in rabbit husbandry as award you a prize! Where do you go to find out the real scoop?!

I’ve found talking to other breeders to be the best way to figure out if what you’re witnessing is normal, possible, or just plain strange! Even among breeders there are some urban legends – “rabbit legends” if you will – things that some say are impossible… and yet others have experienced firsthand.

Just for giggles I thought I’d list a few of the rabbit legends that others have had to see to believe!

Here are some “Rabbit Legends” for the ladies:

1. Concurrent pregnancies. Perhaps the most hotly debated rabbit legend is the ability for rabbits to be pregnant with two separate litters at the same time. Here’s how it happens. Flopsy is bred on Day 1. One Day 14 the breeder palpates the doe and feels nothing, so, not wanting to waste time, rebreeds her. On the original Day 31, the doe drops some babies… and has more on Day 45!

I wouldn’t have believed this was possible except it’s happened to our friend. It’s not a good thing – in fact, she lost all the babies from both litters – but it is possible. Apparently this has to do with having two uterine horns, and one side can fertilize at one point while the other fertilizes at another. Some dangers are the physically taxing effect of dual pregnancies, delivering both litters at once (one set would be to term while the other obviously underdeveloped), or the doe terminating the pregnancy on her own.

2. Absorbing the feti. (I’m not sure the plural of fetus, but it’s from Latin so, in the theme of an educated guess, I’m going with the plural Latin ending “i.”) Here’s the situation: you breed your rabbit. You know for a fact the deed was accomplished. You watch your doe, she gets fatter and fatter, she even palpates pregnant! The appointed time comes and you wait. And wait. And wait. And nothing happens.

You aren’t crazy. That sweet little doe has reabsorbed the tissues of her babies back into her body. There are various reasons for this, most blame stress, sickness, or ill-formed embryos. Some rabbits have been known to do this if they seem to feel the timing isn’t right or they can’t find a safe place to build their nest. Who knows what’s going through a rabbit’s mind – after all, they aren’t genius or they wouldn’t be at the bottom of the food chain – so it may be the result of a special little bit of rabbit crazy. Regardless of the reason, it happens!

3. Multiple delivery dates. Another situation for the rabbit legend record books? Delivering the same litter over several days. It stands to reason if you bred the rabbit on one day the delivery would take place on one day, right?

Wrong. Many, many breeders report their does giving birth over the course of 2-to-4 days! After all, who needs to condense the child-bearing experience?! All a female of any species really wants is to be in labor for hours… no! days!

Depending on the rabbit this may result in the loss of all, some, or none of the babies. But there’s no doubt, the laboring process can take as little as 10 minutes, or it can extend for days.

Let’s talk about “Rabbit Legends” for those bucks:

1. Sympathy pregnancy symptoms. One breeder has a buck who gains weight and builds a nest, right along with his mate! She was so rattled by this behavior she checked him over thoroughly, convinced she had somehow gotten the buck and doe mixed up. But, no. It was the buck who was getting all maternal! That’s a prouder papa than most rabbits!

2. Breeding through the wire.  It’s never a good idea to keep a buck and a doe in cages right next to one another. Not only because your doe can get seriously aggressive, but also because two rabbits can be horny like… rabbits! When friskiness is in order, why let a sheet of wire stand in the way?! A pair of rabbits in the mood to do the deed will do the deed, right through galvanized steel if necessary.

Quite a surprise for the breeder who walks out to their “unbred” doe and sees her pulling hair for a nest!

3. Intentional castration. It’s an ugly facet of breeding rabbits – sometimes a doe isn’t too excited about a buck getting his north and south end confused. The truth is, a buck on a love-making mission is a hot, frenzied mess – and he’ll leap at anything he can manage to mount, without concern of whether his mounting is on the backside or in a doe’s face! One breeder tells the horribly story of a buck who was confused in this way and ejaculated up the doe’s nose! Ewwww!!!!

A doe, when inclined, can participate in a Lorena Bobbit-like manuever without hesitation! This is excellent motivation for not keeping litter-mates together for too long, as well. When it comes to romance there are some pairs that can be left without supervision for extended periods of time. But there are the other does who need constant observation or that poor buck may end up with only one (or no) testicle.

It’s a sad truth, don’t trust the ladies. And if you’re a buck, keep your tendermost parts away from a lady’s whose teeth never stop growing.

A few more, health-related “Rabbit Legends”:

1. Loss of pupil. One breeder took her rabbit to the fair – it was VERY hot in the rabbit barn and suffered a heat stroke. After cooling her rabbit off, she realized her rabbit was missing a pupil! The heat of the experience had caused her to blow her eye! She recovered her health, but was blind in that eye forever.

2. Rabbit c-section. One breeder had a doe that not only survived a c-section delivery, but went on to have four more litters as VBAC. Talk about talent!

 

Do you have any rabbit legends of your own to share? Please tell us in the comments!

 

Nesting & Birth!

Meat Rabbits, Pet Rabbits, Rex, Silver Marten January 12, 2013 Leave a comment

We caught the nesting and birthing on video! Dallas was an amazing mom and we have 8 new little ones!

Each baby has its own birth sack and placenta, which mom eats. Dallas got all but two and that’s what you can see her eating in the video.

The video isn’t professional quality, but it’s more than you usually see. Enjoy!

(Also need to mention these are not her normal quarters! This is a special cage we’re using because we had to bring her inside. It was -6* last night! We will move her back to her big space as soon as we can without losing all of them to the cold weather.)

The Rabbit in my Office

Rex January 10, 2013 Leave a comment
Dallas, the pregnant rabbit in my office.

Dallas, the pregnant rabbit in my office.

There’s a rabbit in my office.

 

A very pregnant rabbit.

 

Dallas is on day 28 today and I swear she’s about to pop! Last night I held her on my lap and gently wrapped my hands around her belly. All across my fingers, in different spots, I felt little nudges as her babies bumped along inside of her and against the pressure of my hands.

 

The temperatures are predicted to drop to zero again for the next week and instead of risking losing the entire litter to freeze we decided to bring her inside for the birthing and however long it makes sense after they’re born.

 

We’ve learned this lesson the hard way – we lost every baby from our other two litters last week to the weather. I’m heartsick about it and will be doing our best to keep that from happening again… thus, we have a rabbit in our office.

 

I have to admit, I’m hoping our close quarters will give me a chance to see her actually giving birth! If it works out, be assured I will be whipping out the video camera in a flash!

Sexing your Rabbit

Meat Rabbits, Pet Rabbits, Show Rabbits January 3, 2013 Comments: 8

We welcomed a litter of Silver Marten babies yesterday! It’s so exciting to see those little ones wiggling around and mama so proud!

Earlier this year I saw a post on a rabbit group claiming you can sex a rabbit at birth. I had never heard of this, so I’ve decided to try it with this newborn litter and see how it turns out in the end.

Traditionally, you need to wait until the rabbits are about six weeks or older to see if you’ve got a male or female. To check this, turn the rabbit over on its back and clasp the base of the tail between your second and third fingers. Using your thumb on the same hand, press down at the top of the genital area. This will cause the area to open and you will see a slit opening for a doe and a round opening for a buck.

Older bucks protrude a lot – there can be no doubt you’re looking at a penis! Another clue is whether testicles have descended, they would be located on either side of the genital area. The funniest thing I’ve read is about a gal who was too embarrassed to sex her rabbits and would sneak out at night with a flashlight to shine under the cage and try to catch a glimpse of testicles!

The post I read recently claims you can sex your rabbits at birth! They posted the following picture and explanation:

buck

“Both pictures of a buck, the one on the left is actual the one on the right is marked in red to make it a little easier to see. There is a little bit of a gap between the penile opening and the anus. This will not be present in the newborn doe.”

According to our observations last night of the newborns, we believe we have three does and three bucks. We have put a mark with sharpie on the left ear for our buck guesses and the right ear for our doe guesses. Now it’s just a matter of time to see if we guessed right! I’ll be sure to update and let you know!

20130113-212425.jpg

“This is a doe. The anus and vent will be touching.”

How to Make Your Rabbit A Smoothie

Meat Rabbits, Pet Rabbits, Show Rabbits December 28, 2012 Comments: 2
oatmeal-face-mask

Simply oats help relieve gastrointestinal stress.

I just finished making a bunny smoothie and thought it might be interesting to share.

 

In theory, this could be an occasional treat for any rabbit, but for us I had a rabbit who had diarrhea. Yuck! The first step was to take him off of his regular pellets and give him some hay. Next step, oatmeal smoothie!

 

I had recently made some yogurt for the family, so I got about 1/2 cup of the plain, unflavored yogurt and mixed it with regular oats until the oats were coated. We’re on day three of the oatmeal smoothie for his food, along with hay, and the diarrhea… cleared up!

 

The active cultures from the yogurt give the natural, good bugs in the rabbit tummy a boost, while the oats add roughage into the diet, making stools more firm.

 

The oats are simple (I used Quaker) but here is the recipe for the home made Crock Pot yogurt. (Adapted from Money Saving Mom)

 

Homemade Yogurt in the Crock Pot Recipe

  • 1/2 gallon milk (Whole milk will make the yogurt thicker, but any milk will work.)
  • 1/2 cup plain unflavored yogurt (Any kind with live active cultures will work but I use Greek. Be sure to save a half cup of this batch of homemade yogurt to use as a starter next time!)
  1. Pour the half gallon of milk into your Crock Pot and turn it on low. Cook it for 2 hours and 45 minutes.
  2. After 2 hours and 45 minutes, turn the Crock Pot off and let it sit for 3 hours.
  3. Spoon a small amount of the milk into a small bowl and add the half cup of yogurt to it. Mix together thoroughly.
  4. Dump this mixture back into the milk in the Crock Pot and mix it around well.
  5. Put the lid back on your Crock Pot and wrap pot with a large beach towel or blanket (make sure it is unplugged and turned off!). This step helps keep the heat in the Crock Pot and allows it to cool more slowly.
  6. Let the beach-towel-wrapped Crock Pot sit for 8-12 hours (or overnight). After 8-12 hours, it should be thickened.

You can stop at this step, but I like my yogurt thicker, so I go a little farther!

  1. Get a piece of cheesecloth and create a “bowl” by tying the corners around a sink or bathtub spout. (I use a large baby cloth given to me as a shower gift made of muslin. It comes in packages of three at Target).
  2. Pour the yogurt into the cloth bowl and let it sit anywhere from 1 to 6 hours, depending on thickness desired. The cloth allows the whey to drain – a long hang will end up turning into cream cheese! (The whey can also be collected and used for other healthful purposes, if desired.)
  3. When yogurt is desired consistency, spoon it into jars or plastic containers and refrigerate a few hours before eating. (It’s normal for the yogurt directly touching the cloth to be thicker.)

This will keep for one to two weeks in the refrigerator. Be sure to save a half cup to use as a starter for your next batch of homemade yogurt.

When we eat it we add a spoonful of sugar and about 1/4 teaspoon of vanilla extract to eat bowl. Yummy – and cheap!

 

Here is another list of Medicinal Herbs for Rabbits compiled by Rise and Shine Rabbitry. If your bunny is sick but you don’t have to use medicine, don’t!

When the Weather Outside is Frightful…

Meat Rabbits, Pet Rabbits, Show Rabbits December 19, 2012 Leave a comment

20121219-074814.jpgThe challenge of living in our area during the winter include a wicked wind and occasionally several feet of snow. It’s Arizona, but it’s definitely not the desert in our mountain top town!

This picture is of one of our hutches. It’s enclosed on three sides, and has a simple tarp that can be dropped down to shield the rabbits against our high winds. Having the entire area fenced helps as well. Not only from the wind, but from any passing dogs or other animals who might be inclined to make trouble or consider our rabbits their dinner!

We have been pleasantly surprised at the effectiveness of the tarp. The last several days, when the overnight temperatures have been in the teens, the water bottles have not been frozen (the metal spouts are another story, however…) Each morning we roll the tarp up and are greeted by sweet, furry, curious faces with wiggly noses!

One additional thought, we pull the tarp up every single day to allow for as many sunlit hours as possible. Rabbits have a hard time breeding if they spend too much time in darkness (natural instincts take over). We will only keep the tarps down during the day if we have driving, wind swept rain that would end up soaking the rabbits or extremely cold temperatures (well below zero).

Hutch

How do you keep your rabbits warm?

Birthday Parties and Easter Bunnies

Pet Rabbits December 12, 2012 Leave a comment
Wanna take me to your birthday party??

Wanna take me to your birthday party??

We have been busy breeding bunnies around here in preparation for two big rabbit seasons – Easter and the fair. We have several litters due around the end of December and beginning of January!

 

A friend suggested we give “birthday bunnies” a try and, after checking several other rabbitries that offer this option, we’re going to give this idea a whirl at Mad Hatter with our next crop of baby bunnies.

 

Do you have a birthday party coming up where baby bunnies would be a hit? We will bring cute, cuddly baby puffs of bunnies to your party (number proportional to the number of party attendees you have) and do a short, educational talk on rabbits, then give your kiddos a chance to play with a bunny! They learn a little, play a little, and we get a chance to spread knowledge about how awesome rabbits are to our community! Win, win for everyone!

 

We’ve tested this idea on a daycare center – the kids LOVED petting our rabbit, especially because the breeds we have are so exceptionally soft!

 

If you’re interested in scheduling a birthday party in February or March, shoot us an email at madhatterrabbits {at} gmail {dot} com!

Add. Definitely.

Mini Rex, Pet Rabbits December 10, 2012 Leave a comment

The last question was “To Add or Not To Add?” and the answer for us today is: “Add. Definitely.”

 

We’ve just brought Dexter and Kenya home with us and I can’t deny it, I love these mini Rex! As an added bonus, Kenya is pregnant, so we should have some more little Rex monsters running around here in about two weeks!

 

So, meet our new rabbits:

Dexter, chocolate otter buck

Dexter, chocolate otter buck

Kenya, chocolate doe.

Kenya, chocolate doe.

 

Dexter has an amazing red sheen to his coat, so I’m looking forward to what he creates with Butterscotch.

 

If all goes well around here, we should have a number of new rabbits available for the spring!