These are answers to every possible question new breeders begin to ask as they fin themselves at the entrance to the rabbit hole. Many of these topics are discussed at length in the other articles on the site if you decide to take the red pill…..
Commonly Asked Breeding Questions
What age should I breed a doe or buck for the first time?
How often should I breed my does?
How can I tell if a doe is pregnant?
Why won't my doe get pregnant?
Why does my doe keep missing?
Should I breed the doe in the buck's cage?
How long is rabbit gestation?
When should I put the nest box in?
Why did my doe have babies outside the nest box?
When is it safe to rebreed after a litter?
How many litters should a doe have before retiring?
What causes small litter sizes?
Why are my kits being born dead?
Why does a doe sometimes eat or injure her kits?
When should kits be weaned?
Commonly Asked Genetics & Breeding Strategy Questions
What is linebreeding, and why do breeders do it?
What's the difference between linebreeding and inbreeding?
How closely related is too closely related?
How do I start a breeding program instead of just producing litters?
How do I choose which buck to breed to which doe?
Should I breed two rabbits with the same fault?
Can breeding two excellent rabbits still produce poor offspring?
How many generations does it take to establish a line?
When should I bring an outcross into my herd?
Can an outcross ruin an established line?
How do you know whether a problem is genetic?
What traits are strongly inherited?
Why does consistency matter more than occasionally producing an exceptional rabbit?
What does "prepotent" mean in rabbit breeding?
How do you figure out what a rabbit actually produces instead of judging it by its own appearance?
How important is the pedigree compared with the actual rabbit?
Commonly Asked Selection, Type & Culling Questions
How do I decide which kits to keep?
At what age can you really evaluate a rabbit?
What should I look for when evaluating an 8-week-old?
Can an ugly junior turn into a great senior?
When should I stop waiting for a rabbit to develop?
What faults should automatically remove a rabbit from a breeding program?
What's the difference between a fault and a disqualification?
Should a rabbit with excellent type but poor color be bred?
Should a beautiful rabbit with a bad temperament be bred?
Why do good breeders cull heavily?
Does "cull" always mean euthanasia?
How many rabbits from a litter should I realistically expect to keep?
Why don't breeders keep every nice rabbit?
How do you decide between two promising littermates?
When should you keep a buck versus a doe?
Is it better to keep the best rabbit or the rabbit that complements your herd?
Commonly Asked Genetics, Color & Pedigrees Questions
What colors can I get from this breeding?
Can two rabbits of the same color produce different colors?
What does it mean for a rabbit to "carry" a color?
Can a rabbit carry a gene without showing it?
How do recessive genes suddenly appear generations later?
How do I read a pedigree?
How many generations should I look at when planning a breeding?
Does a grand champion-heavy pedigree mean the rabbit will produce well?
Can two rabbits with great pedigrees produce mediocre offspring?
How do I track recessive traits in my herd?
Should color ever be prioritized over type?
Commonly Asked Kits & Litter Development Questions
How can I tell whether newborn kits are being fed?
What does a well-fed kit look like?
Why are some kits much smaller than their littermates?
Should I foster kits between does?
How do you foster a kit successfully?
When do kits open their eyes?
When do kits start eating pellets and hay?
When can I sex the babies?
Why do kits suddenly die around weaning?
Should I separate bucks and does at weaning?
How do I evaluate an entire litter rather than individual babies?
Commonly Asked Showing Questions
How do I know whether my rabbit is show quality?
What does a judge actually look for?
Why did my rabbit win under one judge and lose under another?
What does BOB/BOS/BOV/BOSV mean?
What does it take to earn a Grand Champion?
How do legs work?
When should I start showing a junior?
When is a rabbit too old to show?
How do I condition a rabbit for a show?
Why do some breeders keep excellent rabbits home instead of showing them?
Does winning prove that a rabbit is a good breeder?
How important is posing and handling?
Should I show a rabbit that's molting?
Commonly Asked health & husbandry Questions
What should healthy rabbit poop look like?
Why isn't my rabbit eating?
How do I prevent sore hocks?
What causes ear mites?
How do I recognize GI stasis?
What causes weaning enteritis?
How do I prevent coccidiosis?
Should rabbits be quarantined before entering the rabbitry?
How long should quarantine last?
What should I look for when buying a rabbit from another breeder?
How do I manage heat in the summer?
Can rabbits tolerate cold weather?
What should I feed breeding rabbits?
How much protein should rabbit feed contain?
Should rabbits have unlimited hay?
Do supplements actually improve condition?
Commonly Asked Rabbitry Management Questions
How many rabbits do I need to start a breeding program?
How many bucks should I keep?
How do I avoid becoming overcrowded?
How do I decide when to sell versus keep a rabbit?
How do I keep good breeding records?
What information should I record for every litter?
How do I track what each buck and doe produces?
When should I retire a breeding rabbit?
When is it time to replace a herd buck?
How do successful breeders improve their herd without constantly buying new rabbits?
How do you build a recognizable "line" of rabbits?