DK Mini - Rabbitry

Abscess: Pocket or blister filled with thick white pus. Bladder sludge: Urine is very thick, like a paste, & dries at a consistency of cake-batter. Bloat: Rabbit will stop eating/drinking & will become listless, stomach will swell up & become gassy, & will present with constipation or diarrhea. Broken leg: Injury causing bone to be broken. Coccidia: May present with constipation or diarrhea with / without presence of mucous, also stops eating/drinking, listless, loss of weight, swelled belly – commonly effects weanlings and older rabbits alike. Constipation: Bowel blockage causing rabbit to be unable to defecate, may present with swelled belly, lethargy, refusal to eat/drink. Cuts / Wounds: Due to injury. Ear mites: Rabbit may shake or scratch at ears, inner ears will have appearance yellow or brownish color substance. Enteritis (BacterialL or Mucoid): Buildup of gas in stomach, very painful, loss of appetite, diar...

Conception: Conception, by definition, is the fertilization of the egg(s) of the doe by the sperm of the buck and the subsequent attachment of these eggs to the uterine horns of the doe. A dwarf doe usually has an average of 4 fertilized eggs that attach to her uterine horns. This number is highly variable and can range from 1 to 8 or more. A larger breed rabbit has an average of 7 - 8 fertilized eggs, and can vary from 1 to 14 or more. The number of fertilized eggs depends on the age and health of the doe and buck, the season, the number of eggs available for fertilization, the amount of sperm deposited and its viability, the capacity of the uterine horns, the genetic backgrounds, and other factors that may or may not be controllable. The  estrus  or  "heat"  cycle of a doe rabbit is so often that it may be considered continuous. You may see a doe mounting a buck or another doe. She may even attempt to mount another animal of the same size if it is available. It is ...

Some Basics Sexing rabbits is not really hard to do. You can usually do a good job identifying a buck from a doe, at least from the age of 3 weeks and on. An older buck is easy to identify. The head and body is generally more blocky than the doe. Does of the medium and large breeds often develop a fold of skin under their chins. This fold is called a dewlap. Older does are usually larger than bucks of the same breed. A buck's testicles can be seen on a hot day. The testicles must be kept at a certain temperature in order for sperm to be produced. The testicles descend further on hot days and are brought back toward the body on cool days. In this way their temperature is regulated. Determining the sex of an older rabbit from a distance is usually easy to do, keeping the above differences in mind. Before discussing close up sexual identification, let's go over some definitions. Definitions Anus The round opening at the rearmost area of the rabbit, on the belly side, next to ...

Definitions: A female rabbit is called a doe. A male rabbit is called a buck. When referring to the parents of a rabbit, the mother is called the dam, and the father is called the sire. When you mate two rabbits together, this is called breeding. When you check to see if the doe is pregnant or when you breed her again before she is due to give birth, this is called testing. When you put a box in the hutch that is lined with hay, this is called nesting. When the doe gives birth, this is called kindling. The period of time between breeding and kindling is called the gestation period. She gives birth to a bunch of bunnies called kits. This bunch of bunnies is called a litter. When you take the young rabbits away from the mother, this is called weaning. Introduction: A small breed doe is normally ready to mate when she is 5 months old, and a buck is ready at 6 months. The medium size doe is ready to breed when she is 6 months old and the buck at 7 months. The heavy breed doe is ready at 8...

Line Breeding And Inbreeding Rabbits on Line Breeding And Inbreeding Rab Can you inbreed rabbits? More so, should you? What is line breeding? Learn how to develop a good eye and good judgment in your rabbit breeding. Can you inbreed rabbits? What is line breeding? More importantly, should you? Line breeding is the process of breeding closely related animals, usually father to daughter or mother to son, in an effort to improve individual traits. Inbreeding is the same as line breeding but the animals are much more closely related, typically brother and sister. Nearly all animals have been inbred or line bred at some point, and rabbits are no exception. In fact every breed of domesticated rabbit (or cow, dog, cat, and even fish) have been bred by humans into what they are now. Hundreds or sometimes thousands of years of breeding lines have created the cows, pigs, sheep, and other farm animals that we now have. Rabbits are no differen...