Bagotville Bunnies

Interpreting Body Language And Behavior

Rabbits have a language all their own. Here are some tips on interpreting your bunnies hops, kicks and grunts. 

Sniffing: May be annoyed or just talking to you.

Grunts: Usually angry, watch out or you could get bit!

Shrill Scream: Hurt or dying

Circling Your Feet: Usually indicates sexual behavior.

Spraying: Males that are not neutered will mark female rabbits in this manner as well as their territory. Females will also spray.

Chinning: Their chin contains scent glands, so they rub their chin on items to indicate that they belong to them. Same as a cat rubbing it's forehead on people and objects.

False Pregnancy: Usually unspayed females may build a nest and pull hair from their chest and stomach to line the nest. They may even stop eating as rabbits do the day before they give birth.

Bunny Hop Dance: A sign of happiness.

Begging: Rabbits are worse than dogs about begging, especially for sweets. Beware of giving the rabbits treats.  Overweight rabbits are not as healthy as trim rabbits.

Territory Droppings: Droppings that are not in a pile, but are scattered, are signs that this territory belongs to the rabbit. This will often occur upon entering a new environment. If another rabbit lives in the same house this may always be a nuisance.

Playing: Rabbits like to push or toss objects around. 

Don't Rearrange The Cage: Rabbits are creatures of habit and when they get things just right, they like them to remain that way. Rabbits often are displeased when you rearrange their cage as you clean.

Stomping: He's frightened, mad or trying to tell you that there's danger (in his opinion).

Teeth Grinding: Indicates contentment, like a cats purr. Loud grinding can indicate pain.

 

Some facts

* A male rabbit is a buck​

* A female rabbit is a doe.

* baby rabbit is a kit.

* When the doe gives birth her babies are collectively referred to as a litter.

* The gestation period for a rabbit averages 31 days.

* A rabbits teeth never stop growing.

* A group of rabbits is called a herd

* A group of rabbits live in a warren

* Mothers typically only feed their kits about 5 minutes a day

* Rabbits can be litter trained

* A pet rabbit can live as long as 10 years

* Bunnies get weaned at about 8 weeks old

* Rabbits can purr similar to a cat

* Domesticated rabbits are born without fur

* Domesticated rabbits eyes do not open until they are about 2 weeks old

* Rabbits cannot vomit

* Rabbits need hay to assist the digestive system and prevent fur balls in their stomach

* Rabbit meat is lower in fat, cholesterol and calories than chicken, pork and beef

* Rabbit meat is all white meat

* Rabbit droppings make an excellent garden fertilizer

* Rabbits have 28 teeth that continually grow

* Rabbits need to have plenty of fresh water available all the time, especially in hot weather.

* Bunnies love to chew and will chew a pine cone or hard wood (untreated) to help keep their teeth trimmed.

* Rabbits can jump 36″ and higher

* Rabbits can suffer heat stroke

* Rabbits can see behind them,

* Rabbits have blind spot in front of their face

* When rabbits are happy, they will jump and twist, this is called a binky

* Rabbits can start breeding as early as 3-4 months of age

* Predators can literally scare a rabbit to death

* Does will pull fur when pregnant to assist in the building of their nest

* Rabbits can have false pregnancies

* Rabbits groom themselves

* The only place a rabbit sweats is through the pads on its feet

* Rabbits eat their own night droppings called cecotropes

* Kits should not leave their mother until at least 8 weeks old

* Rabbit meat is one of the best for nutrician.

* Rabbits do not compete with humans for food

* Americans eat 8 to 10 million pounds of rabbit meat every year.

* Cholesterol level in rabbit meat is much lower than chicken, turkey, beef, pork.

* Rabbit mat is lower in % of fat than chicken, turkey, beef, and pork
* Unsaturated fatty acids is 63% of total fatty acids.
* Rabbit meat is also highest in protein %.

* The office of home economics, state relations of the U S Department of Agriculture has made extensive

  test and have stated that domestic rabbit meat is the most nutritious meat known to man

* Rabbit meat is seasonal any month of the year and is especially recommended during the hot summer

  months, as it does not contain the heating properties of most all other meats.

* Rabbit meat has been used and is suitable for special diets, such as those for heart disease patients, diets

  for the aged, low sodium diets, weight reduction diets, ect.

* A doe rabbit that weighs 10 pounds can produce 320 pounds of meat in a year (which is more than your

   average cows gains in a year.)

* Rabbits will produce 6 pounds of meat on the same feed and water as a cow will produce 1 pound

  pound of meat on the same feed and water.

* Baby rabbits feed off mothers milk so rich that they can double their weight in 6 short days

  as compared to a pig at 14 days, calves 47 days, and humans 160 days.

* It was decreed by law in the Roman Empire that all young maidens be fed rabbit meat because it would

  make them more beautiful and more willing.

* The first recorded rabbitry husbandry was in early Roman times, Where rabbits were kept in walled

   rabbit gardens for food.

* Sailing vessels distributed rabbits on islands in various sea lanes to be used as a source of food by sailors.

* In 1859 a single pair of rabbits was released in Victoria, Australia, and in 30 years gave rise to an

  estimated 20 million rabbits

* France is the world's largest producer and consumer of rabbit meat. In Hungary there are rabbitrys

  with over 10,000 does producing rabbits for export to Italy. Some sites and figures show china as

  the number one producer.

* Rabbit meat was the number 1 Export item of Red China.

* Rabbits are known to be used for meat as far back as 1500BC

* Taken from the Domestic Rabbit magazine from the early 1990's rabbit manure​
  has the following percentages of dry material.​
  2.20% Nitrogen​
  0.87% Phosphorus​
  2.30% Potassium​
  0.36% Sulfur​
  1.26% Calcium​
  0.40% Magnesium

* Vitamine E and Selenium as well as Phorporus are esential to rabbits's good health.

​* A doe can produce up to 1000% her body weight in food per year.

* It is much easier to grow food for rabbits than it is food for chickens.

* Since rabbits are raised in confinement, it drastically reduces the threat to your herd from predators.

* Rabbit fur can be a separate barter item.

 

​NOTE:​

It is very important to decide how much room there is for raising rabbits. Think about different housing options . Do you already have a chicken coop on premises or perhaps a greenhouse with some leftover space? If there is only room for a few hutches, there is a limit on the number of rabbits which can be raised.

​

Flemish Giants are commonly bred for meat production. They are fast growers often crossed with new Zealand whites or Californian rabbits to better meat to bone ratio.

 

Flemish Giant is known as the Gentle Giant. Larger rabbits make better pets as they are more docile rabbits than the smaller breeds.

 

Breeding for BRC show

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