Management

Rabbits, for the most part, are friendly creatures that respond when treated with kindness. Good management is the key to successful rabbit raising.

Handling Never, never, never lift a rabbit by its ears or legs! Ears are NOT handles! Young kits can be scooped up and cradled in both hands. When handling fryers (8-10 week old rabbits), you can pick them up by the loin, with the heel of the hand toward the tail of the animal. When lifting larger rabbits, grasp the loose skin over the shoulder while simultaneously placing the hand over the ears.* Use the your other hand to support the weight of the rabbit by placing it under the rabbit's rump. To carry the heavier rabbit, simply tuck the bunny under the arm that is supporting the rump and hold him close to your body (sort of like a football). Of course, if you've been loving and cuddling your bunny from day one, he or she may have learned to tolerate slightly different handling methods. The main thing to remember is that generally rabbits prefer not to be held (petted yes, carried, no). Proper handling is designed to protect the rabbit raiser as well as the rabbit. Rabbits have very sharp claws and if they feel insecure or have a sense of "falling", they will struggle and scratch. as an aside, we might point out that we have yet to see an experienced rabbit breeder that does not carry a few 'battle scars'! * Note: If rabbits are to be shown, they should be picked up in such a way that grasping the fur at the shoulders is avoided, as this could result in breaking of the fur in that area. We lift our show rabbits (large and small), by scooping them up with one hand placed against the chest, and between the front legs, and the other hand firmly supporting the hinquarters. We then proceed to the "football" position when carrying the animal. Sanitation No rabbit breeder should be without a wire brush. This is used to clean off any droppings that may accumulate on the bottom of the all-wire cage. Hair, likewise, should not be permitted to accumulate on the cage wire. A small hand-held propane torch is ideal for this purpose. A vacuumn cleaner can also be used, but is much bulkier and harder to handle than a torch. Calcium deposits from the rabbit's urine can easily be removed with a vinegar solution. It is a good idea to periodically sanitize the entire cage with bleach solution (1 oz. of bleach:1 qt. of water). An excellent disinfectant that has many other uses besides simple sanitation, is Vanodine. We highly recommend this compound, which can be purchased from Barbie Brown's Bunnies in Manteca, CA. Temperature When dealing with rabbits, always remember - HEAT KILLS! Rabbits have few functional sweat glands and begin to feel discomfort when the ambient temperature reaches about 85ºF. Hot weather/environments, can cause bucks to go temporarily sterile and otherwise puts everybody out of the 'mood'. The 'comfort zone' for a rabbit is 60º-65ºF. In order to bring the temperature closer to that zone, several things can be tried in hot weather. Fans will get the air moving. If you are fortunate to have a completely enclosed building, an evaporative cooler can be very effective (if humidity levels are not too high). When we lived in hotter climates in Utah and Arizona, we had misters installed over the rabbits, which seemed to have a positive effect in lowering the surrounding temperature. It is important to install the misters high enough so that most of the moisture dissipates before reaching the rabbits.Plastic pop bottles filled with frozen water are really appreciated by wilted bunnies on hot days! Cold weather is not as great a concern, though it is important to keep rabbits out of drafts! The main challenges in cold weather are keeping newborn kits warm enough and keeping drinkable unfrozen water available to the buns. (The kit situation will be discussed in the article on "Breeding". Heat tapes for automatic watering systems or extra water containers you can rotate help to assure an adequate water supply for the rabbits. Record Keeping Record keeping is important to keep track of who is who (if you have LOTS of rabbits), but most importantly, to keep track of breedings made, parentage of litters, when to wean, put in nest boxes, etc. The most common method of record keeping is through the use of Hutch Record Cards. These can be obtained at low cost or you can make your own. Important data to track consists of: rabbit's name or ear no., birthdate, buck or doe bred to, date bred, date palpated, date kindled, no. of kits born, added, removed, or died, no. weaned, weaning weights, etc. There are also various rabbit software programs out that make record keeping easy and fun! We personally use the "Rabbit Register" program by Evans Software Services.