Activity Three: Clipping the rabbit nails, 1 hour

Like humans, rabbits have finger nails. However theirs are more rounded and look more ike claws. If domestic rabbits dont have their nails clipped, not only will the owner be uncomfortable but so will the animal. See rabbit nails will keep growing and growing and will start to curl which is extreamley uncomfortable for them. Also, long nails are prone to getting caught in cage bottoms which can break their toes. (broken toes are not overlooked on the judging table)

Activity two: going tp rabbit shows, belmar, 5 hours

Rabbit shows are like the dog shows you see on TV every thanksgiving. The judges judge each rabbit to see which one best represents the standards of that breed that are chosen by the American Rabbit Breeders Association, (ARBA) At my last show my rabbits were up against 3 other rabbits of the same breed. My Jr. buck (not fully grown) got best reserve of breed (second place) I think that at the fair my rabbit will be able to get Best Of Breed after he develops more muscle and gains more weight.

Activity one: General rabbit care, home 5,100 hours (Jan1-Dec31)

When I say general rabbit care I mean just feeding, watering and cleaning the rabbit cages. This take abut 15 minutes a day (give or take a few minutes in the winter when the water freezes) So assuming that I go out every day for 365 days a year in total I would have 5,475 hours. BUT I go out of town once and while, so I have taken 375 hours off since I havent been home to tak care of them for 25 days because I was either on vacation or overnight trips.

Skill Three: Picking the right parents, home, 1 hour

When you breed your rabbits you want the kits to be born with the nicest features possible. So you pick the  father and mother based on their genes. For example, lets say your buuck is a little on the small side, but has a big head...you would pick a mother who has a bigger body and a thinner head. The same goes for fur texture and color. Lets assume that your doe has very bright red fur, you would want to find a buck a darker red color to his fur. The Red variety is usually a "happy medium" between a bright copper color and a darker rusty color.

Skill Two: How to write a lesson plan, 1:30, home

One of my major goals in life is to teach agriculture. I feel like I could expand my SAE by not only learning about rabbits, but take what I learn and teach it to others. So I researched how to write a lesson plan. I have written them before, but i wanted to know if there were different formats I could use and brush up on what I already learned. Here is the link i found most helpful in addition to what i already know.

http://712educators.about.com/od/lessonplans/ht/lessonplans.htm

I found that this format was a little more complicated then the one I learned in class and would work well with a high school class rather than an elementary class.

Skill One: Breeding The Rabbits, home, 1 hour,

When you breed your rabbits you want to remember the following:

1. The gestation period of a doe (female) is usually 31 days without fail. For example, if I bred two rabbits on May 11th, the kits (baby rabbits) will be born on June 12th.
2. Start giving the doe access to a lot of straw and hay. She will start making her nest as soon as she feels pregnant.
3. Feed both the doe and buck (male) plenty of water and greens in addition to their regular feed starting two days prior.
4. Make sure that neither of the rabbits look lathargic on the day of. If they do, don't breed them until they return to their normal selves.If they don't, contact someone with lots of rabbit experience or your veternarian.
5. When you breed the rabbits you want to put the doe inside the buck's cage. If you put him in her cage, he would spend more time sniffing her cage then paying attention to her.
6. After they breed, leave her in his cage for about half an hour. If they breed again, thats ok. It just ensures of a big litter.

Rabbit Gestation Chart.





I bred Libby and Hurley on May 11th. This means that the kits will most likely be born on June 12th.

The next rabbit show.

The next 4-H rabbit show is on February 13th. I only plan on bringing the two younger red rabbits because the older two are retired from showing. The older a rabbit gets, the quality of his standards go down. Even though they are retired from showing, these rabbits make great pets and I love them! Anyway, I am hoping that the judge will be able to tell me which rabbit would be better for showing and breeding. I think she would make a better guess than I would, because she will be more experienced than I am and probably knows more about the breed than I do. Hopefully in the future I will have had enough experience to decide which rabbit I would like to keep. I’ll ask the judge her opinions and also take into account my own. While I am at the show I will ask the other New Zealand breeders if they will be selling any does soon.

http://somerset.rce.rutgers.edu/4h/pdfs/4h-2010-Small-Animal-Show.pdf

New Zealand Red Rabbit Standards

Rabbit Breeds - NZ RED Overview Is a Normal Fur breed by show class. Large in size. Short coated and mainly bred for pelts and meat. Sentinel rabbit for laboratories. Standards Ring Size H Faults Too long, lacking uniformity. Showing woolly factored, especially on stomach and crotch. Stains. Guard hairs over 6mm. Long, narrow head. Poor ear carriage. Mandolin type. Serious Faults Fur short, stubby and too soft. Thin, shallow fur . Long narrow body or extremely short coupled body. Dewlap in bucks. Weight Ideal Adult buck 4.1-5.0kg Adult doe 4.5-5.4kg Type and Weight - The ideal type should create an impression of balance and uniformity. Body to be medium length with good depth throughout. Top body line - Should rise in a gradual convex curve from base of ears to centre of hips and then fall in a smooth curve downward to base of tail. Viewed from above, sides should taper slightly from hindquarters towards the shoulders. Side appearance should be of good depth to conform with the width of body. Belly firm and free from potty appearance. Hindquarters - Broad and smooth, depth should equal width consistent with a well rounded top, well filled with firm flesh especially on lower sides of hips and down as far as possible. Midsection - Back to be broad and smooth to balance with hindquarters with good width of loin with as much flesh as possible on both sides of spine. Shoulders - Well developed but slightly narrower than sadly and hips. Rib spread wide enough to provide the smooth gradual taper from hindquarters to shoulder without the weakness often found just in front of the hips. Head - Size to balance and conform with body. Head full with well filled face and jaws. Bucks more massive than does. Slight curvature between eyes and nose. Head set closely on shoulders with as short a neck as possible. Medium dewlap allowed in does. Eyes - Bright and expressive with good depth of color. Feet and Legs - Bone to be straight. Medium heavy, medium length. Hind feet and legs to be full, firm and stout. Toenails - Flesh colored or white. Fur - Very dense and thick to the touch with enough resistance to almost resume its normal position. Not too fine and silky, harsh or wiry. Under fur to be soft, fine and dense interspersed thickly with decidedly heavier guard hairs which are visible down to skin. Balance and uniformity in length of fur with difference in length between tip of guard hair and the under fur not to exceed the maximum of 6mm. Coat to be in prime condition set tight in skin without breaks due to moult, broken spots or guard hair mats or stains. Coat bright and clear avoiding cream or yellowing. Guard hair glossy. Ideal length 25mm. Color –Three colors: red, black, and white. (all solid) Condition - Flesh to be firm and solid over entire body being free from any fatness or loose flabby condition.

Why am I doing my SAE project on breeding rabbits? (1)

I joined 4-H in sixth grade with a mixed rabbit named Andy. In 4-H, kids like to show their rabbits. It's kind of like when people show their dogs according to certain breed standards. I felt left out becuase my little mixed bunny didn't stand a chance against the pedigreed rabbits the other kids had. So I took it apon myself to look up various breeds to see which one I would enjoy owning. After a few months of reasearch, I decided that I was going to save up and buy my first pedigree rabbit; a male New Zealand Red Rabbit who I named Hurley. After taking Hurley to a few shows, I noticed that Hurley did very well against the other Reds on the judging table. New Zealand Rabbits have certain standards (which will all be in my next post), and when you breed two rabbits who have good standards the litter will have even better standards.