INTRODUCTION

What do you know about Rabbits?

Volume 1, Issue 1 October A: What is a rabbit called? Lagomorph, they are closely related to hares and pike. B: Are rabbits rodents? No
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H: How do rabbits talk? Stomping, Grunting, Screaming, Squeaking, and more. I: What do you call a female and male rabbit? Doe and Buck J: How much do the biggest and smallest breeds of rabbit weight? 2 lbs to 20 lbs. K: What is a rabbit less than 6 months called? A Junior L: What is a rabbit 6 to 8 months called? An intermediate for large breed. M: What is a rabbit more than 6 months called for a small breed and more than 8 months on a large breed? Senior.

Inside this issue:

Selection Type of Project Health Check Small Breeds Medium Breeds Large Breeds Giant Breeds

C: How long do rabbits live? Up to 10 years and sometimes longer D: How many breeds are recognized by the American Rabbit Breeders Association (ARBA)? 47 breeds. E: How young can rabbits be to start breeding? 2 months old. F: How long from breeding before a doe has her litter? On average 31 days. With 1 to 12 kits total. G: Can rabbits be litter box trained? Yes

Rabbit Projects
Rabbits are used for many different projects. Some people own rabbits simply to have a wonderful pet. Others use rabbits for fun or even to make money. (Although many rabbit raisers will tell you that rabbits are not good money makers). Some rabbit raisers use rabbits as a source of meat. Rabbit meat is lean and provides an excellent source of protein. Some companies use rabbits in the lab to test products and procedures. Other hobbyists raise rabbits for fiber or wool. The wool is used to make yarn. Many rabbit raisers use and/or sell the manure for use in gardens. It is a cool manure meaning it can be placed right on plants. Some raisers grow worms under the cages to sell for fishing. Other raisers breed rabbits to compete in shows and improve the quality of the breed.

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Introduction

How to Choose a Rabbit.

You have decided what project to participate in, so now what? If you choose a pet project do you want a purebred rabbit or how about a mixed breed? If you choose another project what breed should you choose? The type of project you decide to do will determine the type of rabbit you choose. There are 47 recognized breeds with several in development. Looking on the ARBA website http:// www.ARBA.net will help you choose the breed you like that will help your project. Rabbits come in all different shapes, sizes, body and fur types. Some are small, some medium and some large. Some rabbits have normal fur, others have wool, some have both, some have rex fur, while others have Satin fur. Body types could be compact, some cylindrical, some that run, some that have a partial arch and some with commercial bodies. You must also decide if you want a pedigreed rabbit. This will determine if you buy from a pet store, a breeder, a feed store or even adopting from a shelter or rescue.

Size of your project

Some rabbits have normal fur, others have wool, some have both, some have Rex fur, while others have Satin fur
Now you have picked what type of project you want and what kind of rabbit. How big of project do you want to have? Some rabbit hobbyists choose to have a single rabbit. Owning one rabbit can be quite satisfying because you can spend more time with your rabbit. Makes for a happy rabbit and happy owner. What if you want a larger project? A small rabbit raiser generally has up to 10 or 20 rabbits. This could be someone with multiple pets or maybe someone participating in a small breeding or wool project. So you want to breed, you could have few rabbits, generally three or more or you could have up to 100. If you want to go all out you would be considered a commercial raisers. Commercial raiser generally have more than 100 rabbits and use the rabbits for meat production.

Getting your new Rabbit

You have picked your breed, the size of your project, and you have decided where to get your rabbit. When you go to look at the rabbit you must make sure it is healthy. This is important for several reasons. Purchasing a sick animal could cause you added expenses and heartbreak if you cannot cure the rabbit. A healthy rabbit will make a happy situation for everyone. The basic health check requires checking the rabbits condition, the eyes, nose, ears, the personality, the tail, toenails, and teeth. You also want to check whether the rabbi is a buck or a doe and that everything looks normal. This process is also called showmanship and is something you can compete in.

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Small Breeds
The small rabbit breeds are ones that average from 2 to 6 lbs. These breeds include; -American Fuzzy Lop -Britannia Petite -Dutch -Dwarf Hotot -English Angora -English Spot -Florida White -Havana -Himalayan -Holland Lop -Jersey Wooly -Mini Lop -Mini Rex -Mini Satin -Netherland Dwarf -Polish -Silver -Tan Unrecognized: -Lionhead -Thrianta

Medium Breeds
The medium breeds of rabbit are those that weigh from 6 to 9 lbs. These breeds include; -Belgian Hare -French Angora -Harlequin -Lilac -Rex -Rhinelander -Sable -Satin Angora -Silver Martin -Standard Chinchilla.

Medium breeds range from 6 to 9 lbs

Large Breeds
The larger breeds average in weight from 9 to 11 lbs. Many of these breeds are used for commercial or meat uses. These breeds include: -American -American Chinchilla -Beveren -Californian -Champagne DArgent -Cinnamon -Crme DArgent -English Lop -Blanc de Hotot -New Zealand -Palomino -Satin -Silver Fox

M ESLOH M ENAGERIE

Providing Quality Show Bunnies

Mesloh Menageris

Mckinleyville, CA 95519 Phone: 707-845-8060 E-mail: heather.pnsano@meslohmenagerie.com

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Giant Breeds
The giant breeds are large rabbits that have average weights over 11 lbs. These breeds include: -Giant Angora -Checkered Giant -Flemish Giant -French Lop -Giant Chinchilla