History of raising rabbits part 2.

Since man has been raising rabbits for meat and fur for more then two millennia one question often arises; how did they keep them? There were three main systems used historically.

1.) Rabbit warrens
2.) Rabbit courts or gardens
3.) Rabbit Islands.

Warrens: A warren was a walled or a fenced area that allowed the rabbits to burrow and live as "Wild Rabbits" some warrens spread over many acres. In fact in Norfolk England large tracts of land were said to be more profitable under rabbits then cultivation.

Warrens were often divided into different sections. One section was for rabbits to be taken as food and fur, one section was for rabbits raised to be deliberately set loose in the wild to be hunted for sport.

The warrens that kept rabbits for food and fur were a substantial source of income for their owners for many generations. The warrens that kept rabbits to be released for sport hunting continued right up until just after the 2nd World War.

Warrens were wiped out after the disease myxomatosis effected most of the rabbit population in the 1950's.

Rabbit Courts or Gardens: Although very similar to warrens the rabbit court was a much smaller affair. In the "court" the rabbits were allowed to run free within an enclosed area while a large degree of management was applied to control the production of stock. We know from historical records that rabbit courts had been employed in monasteries since before the 5th century, and it was in these courts that genetic selections began to take place as different colours an mutation occurred. If you want to pin point the history when the domestication of wild rabbits started you should look to the papal edict issued by Pope Gregory the Great in 600CE

Pope Gregory decreed that rabbits (more correctly the unborn young or pre-furred young) were not to be classed as a meat and therefore could be eaten by the monks during Lent. Thus the monks could adopt the Roman habit of eating unborn or newborn rabbits which were called laurices.

Since the rabbit was an ideal source of protein and the fur could provide warm clothing for the monks in their closed societies both these desirable features were doubtlessly being selectively bred in the the types of rabbits the monks kept, as well as one more important feature: Tameness.

Rabbit Islands: The raising of rabbits on Islands in a warren setting was easy; no walls, hedges, or fences needed. Most rabbit islands were very successful and their histories and effects of the isolation on a rabbit population have been the subject of numerous studies.

Pens: Some sort of pen (cage, or hutch) has been used to confine rabbits since the days of the Phoenicians, who took rabbits on their sea journeys as a self-replacing source of meat. Following Pope Gregory's papal edict of 600CE that monks particularly in France started the process of domesticating rabbits in a combination of rabbit courts and pens. With the pens the monks could selectively breed for size, colour, coat, or body shape. As well as genetic mutations that started to occur the Monks would keep the ones that appealed to them and continue to breed that mutation into future stock.

Seeing is not always believing.

Recently I have been browsing a couple rabbitry websites (mainly Mini Rex) so of course I want to see pictures, scope competition etc. I make my way to the does page or the bucks page, and the for sale page. My first reaction to the pictures is whoa! That is one heck of a nice looking rabbit, mine cannot compare to that. My second impression is that something with the picture is slightly off. There is a slight distortion in the picture had I not been immersed in the world of photo-editing I probably would have passed off as a bad quality photo.

I have also had a couple fellow breeders mention after buying a rabbit from a picture, that when they got the rabbit in their possession no matter what they did they could not get the rabbit to pose as nice as the picture they were sent of said rabbit.

So what are people doing to their photos to make them look better? I did a little experiment to see what someone with a bit of photo editing knowledge can to to enhance a picture, and how easy would it be to do it.

The test? Use an editing program that is available for free download online, one I am not familiar with (or it wouldn't be that much of a test). Then see how fast I can edit a photo of a mediocre rabbit to make it look better then what it really was.

The original photo:


Not the prettiest pre-junior out there. A grand total and I'm not kidding you: 3 Minutes later she looked like this:

A grand total of 3 tools had been used. "Resize" "Smudge" and "Blur" and voila suddenly this rabbit has depth a short midsection and smaller ears, and a more finished looking coat instead of the wooly Jr one.

The moral? People are not always honest, as I just demonstrated a simple knowledge in photo editing can go a long way to make someones stock to "look good on the internet"

And when purchasing a rabbit it is always a good idea to see it in person before committing to it, or at least have someone you know and trust see it in person if you can't.

Common questions I receive.

I receive a whole variety of questions on a weekly basis, so I'll be posting some of the more common ones I receive with their answers.

1.) I bought a rabbit with a full pedigree, but when I entered it in a show the judge said (s)he wasn't all that great. I don't understand.

A.) A pedigree does not in any way guarantee that the rabbit is show quality, it is just a record of the rabbits lineage.

2.)Do I need a pedigree to show my rabbit?

A.) No, as long as the rabbit is an accurate representation of the breed you can show it. A Pedigree is not necessary but it helps to have one when trying to sell rabbits for show or brood, and if you wish to register the rabbit a pedigree is required.

3.) I saw a rabbit I really want as a pet, but it is listed as "show quality" can I still inquire about that rabbit.

A.) Yes, often times you'll find show rabbits make excellent pets because they are well socialized from being handled by many different people (judges) at shows, as well as easy travelers. Most "pet qualities" have never left the rabbitry and are only use to certain people handling them.

4.) Can I breed my pet rabbit?

A.) Can you? Yes. Should you? No. There are enough sub-standard rabbits born to show rabbits you don't intentionally need to make more.

5.) If I buy a rabbit from you and breed it; will you take the kits I don't sell?

A.) No. If you choose to breed a rabbit you bought it's your responsibility to look after the kits.

6.) I want to show rabbits where do I start. http://drcba.ca http://arba.net.

History of raising rabbits Part 1.

(116-27 BCE) Varro, the Governor of Spain wrote in his treatise on farming (De Re Rustica) the following description for rabbits "Everyone knows, too that if you put but a few rabbits of both sexes the warren will swarm with them in a short period of time."

it is believed that the rabbit actually originated in Spain, or at least in the Iberian Peninsula. It was the Romans who discovered rabbits kept in cages could successfully be bred, which gave them a portable meat (and fur) for their armies. Which ensured the rabbits distribution all over the Roman Empire. Seeing as the cage to house a rabbit is relatively small it made it ideal for transportation on ships as well to feed crews and again armies because the journey on ships were lengthy and a rabbits gestation period short, the meat supplies could be replenished during the voyages.

(Romans are equally responsible for the spread of the Pheasant, Quail, and edible door mouse).

The two theories of the domestication of the rabbit:

1.) Caged rabbits (and tamer) rabbits lived longer thus having more litters, so it is in fact caged animals that are continually breeding, thus furthering the domestication of the species. Therefore caging enhances the development of the domesticated rabbit.

2.) But if the caged animals are killed for food and fur, then it is these tamer animals that will continually be eliminated, leaving the wild rabbits to proliferate. Thus caging does not enhance domestication.

Which ever theory you choose to believe (or even if you theorize your own) It should be considered that rabbits have been managed by man, and thrived, in a variety of situations for at least the last two millennia.

I could have sworn I knew what I was going to write before I signed in, now that I have I cannot possibly remember what it is. So I'll just ramble on a bit until I remember it again.

ohhhh yes Now I remember !

The Silvering gene ! The great debate on the silvering gene. This is kind of really bugging me right now. Every genetic website and genetic wiz I've talked to about it is absolutely irrevocably convinced that the gene is recessive. From what I have witnessed and I'm sure several others have as well, that is definitely not the case the silvering gene is dominant.

Case #1 : Brun X Harlequin the cross resulted in 8 chocolate kits all of which silvered (I have pictures !)

Case #2 : Brun X Harlequin X Satin (1/4 Brun) 8 Kits, 2 black 2 chesnut 2 Jap Harlequin 2 Magpie Harlequin. All 8 Started to silver before they left. I don't have any pictures but I can track down the man I sold them too if need be.

Case #3 : Champagne Netherland Dwarfs. All F1's HAVE silvering. I can provide links if needed.


I could go on but my point is, I think some genetics need to be re-examined before it is stated as the absolute truth.

Update update update !

Alright so I really don't have an update so I'm just going to ramble on about whatever rabbit related things come to mind.

So yes, I have 2 Brun does bred. We'll be attending the PA state convention in February and offering transport @ $15.00 a hole. Exciting stuff.

I had an Awesome time judging at the Royal, but I did manage to pick up a little virus there so my posts may seem a little less then enthusiastic right now.

I'm also training a very promising little white Mini Lop for rabbit jumping, after she scaled my bookshelf and showed she preferred sleeping on beds rather then in her cage. The girl can JUMP.

So I think I'm going to go take some medicine now and go back to bed.

Okay I will be getting pictures tonight I promise :)

Anyhow once again the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair is creeping up on us. I believe we have a very promising bunch of rabbits we'll be taking and I'm very excited about them this year, mainly because I have not been able to make it to very many shows at all this year because they interfere with my work.

Anyhow my only litter right now is a very messed up mix. A Red Satin for a father, and a BrunXHarlequin for the mother. Unfortunately they're not as cute as they sound, I have come to realize Satins have possibly the ugliest babies ever. Although it's quite a collection of colours in that box. 2 jap Harlequins, 2 magpie harlequins, 2 Blacks, and 2 chestnuts, all of which have the possibility of getting silvering. How cool is that?

I won't be breeding any Bruns until after the Royal so I won't have any available until the End of January beginning of February. Although I currently have 5 Brun bucks available 3 Jr's, 1 sr, and a 6/8 and no I cannot make a trio that requires does, which I scarcely have.

Last week I finally got around to processing a couple fryers. It was the most frustrating day of my entire life.

Do to neighbours and a lack of privacy in the backyard it would be unwise to dispatch fryers outside which means the only place with a sink big enough inside is in the kitchen. Usually not an issue. Now add in two sisters. Both of which are highly against using rabbits as meat. You see where it starts to get frustrating. Two sisters, I told to stay out of the kitchen while I was processing fryers. Of course it's not going to happen.

Start with fryer one: Place fryer on the ground get everything ready and then. "STOP. I need advil!" so I stop what I'm doing and give her the bottle of advil. "WHAT is Nemo doing?" I look out the window, and Nemo is being is normal mental self. So I turn back to what I was doing and guess what? The fryer is GONE.

Gone, as in no longer there where I left it in the kitchen. What I had completely forgot about was in the corner beside the dishwasher there is a hole that goes under the counters were the baseboard was missing. Yep that rabbit went in the hole. I tried bribing it with food, I tried poking it out with sticks, I tried reaching in and grabbing it, I tried sending a dog after it, I tried leaving it be and hoping it would come out. I finally gave up and processed 3 more fryers, meanwhile I have sisters complaining the entire time to "hurry up" and "it smells" and "You're so mean" all the while that rabbit is still in the hole.

So I had enough even though I still had 2 other rabbits to do plus this rabbit in the hole. I'd just wait for a day when they're not home. So I cleaned everything up and they stopped whinning. My only problem was, that fryer went in the hole at 11am. It was still in the hole. So I gave up and at 3pm my mother came home and we tried again, only to find the rabbit was no longer in the hole, but in the dishwasher where the motor and all the wires are. Lovely. Yet we still couldn't coax it out. My dad gets home at 6pm and we try again literally taking the entire dishwasher apart, and by 7pm we finally got that rabbit out.

That rabbit was in there for 8 hours. How frustrating is that?

This past year the only thing I really wanted in my Argente Brun litters were does. I tell you, I tried breeding by the moon phases for does, I have tried breeding by Zodiac signs, I've tried folklore remedies and old wivestales. Heck for amusement purposes I may have even tried tribal dances, and processed my fryers in the name of the diety that promises does.

Why am I so desperate for does? Consider this, this year so far, I have had not one, not two, but three Argente Brun does born. Yes you read that right t.h.r.e.e. as in 3 I am quite frankly so desperate for does I literally tried every trick in the book to ensure I got them. Not that it worked, of course that's just silly, but it was fun.

So my herd mainly consists of bucks right now, very nicely typed bucks at that, very nicely typed bucks, with great fur and colour, bonus. So it does not bug me right now that my buck to doe ratio is so embarrassing that I won't post it. Heck I usually don't have more then two litters at a time anyways. So in the grand scheme does it matter I didn't have very many does born?

Yes. 1000x YES. Bucks are great but they can't have litters to help promote the breed and sell to new breeders.

I've come to terms with the fact I will be bringing in a new doe hopefully by the end of the year.

Update, finally.

So my website hasn't been updated in forever because of a complete computer meltdown and the only computer I had access too all summer does not have my update program on it. Everything is almost fixed though so my website will be updated VERY SOON I promise, so until them please bear with me.

Most of the rabbits on my for sale page and litter pages have been sold, but I do have some unlisted ones for sale all you have to do is e-mail and ask.

Please note, most days I don't get home from work until 9pm and I usually don't turn the computer on because I have other chores to finish. Then depending what time I work the next morning, I may not reply right a way and it may take a few days to get a response so if you don't get one within 4 days e-mail me again because my e-mail has not been working 100% on my backup computer either, and it's better safe then sorry.

Right now technology and I are not getting along.

Also, I will Not be attending any more rabbit shows this year until the Royal Winter Fair, as I work weekends, and rabbit shows don't tend to happen on Wednesdays and Thursdays (my days off). Tristyn will be going to the shows, so delivery will still be available to most shows, just not me :(

Okay, so I'm really impressed with my current crop of kits.

The just weaned Bruns (7 weeks) are silvering really well, all are between 3.4 and 4lbs. I should expect them to start to thrive, size wise now that they no longer have to compete which each other for food. There are a couple that just really stand out from the rest. Sonata and Prima Donna will be re-bred soon.

With the Mini Rex, Mercedes kits are just phenomenal. The type and fur on these guys is just mind blowing right now. Not to mention they are as friendly as all get out.

Boston's trio is fantastic, the fur is so dense, the bodies nice and compact and the personalities just complete the package.

Sancta Terra has 6 lovely kits all right now are equal quality wise, it will be really hard to decide who stays and who goes, because I cannot keep all 6.

Au Contraire's Kits are feisty little guys and I'm excited to see how they'll turn out.

Meridian's 11 are doing great, I have my eye on a couple right now who are sure to be show stoppers.

Speg, had 4 babies, and they each have a Je Ne C'est quoi about them.

Updates, it has been a while.

Seeing as it's been quite sometime since I've posted something. I'll start with litters. I currently have 3 litters on the ground out of Donatello that I am very excited for, they will be prime junior age for shows in September and October, and I have a couple litters due in the beginning of June that will give me some prime juniors for October and November shows.

For a couple of my Does, they're on their last litter here, because I do have several replacements out of them, so they will either be retired to pets, or conditioned back into show shape. For a couple of my show does, they have been retired from shows and have been put into production. So currently my show team consists of 2 Mini Rex bucks, 2 Satin Bucks, and 1 Brun Doe. Extensive isn't it?

New stuff. Well I went to Mini Rex Nationals, mainly to deliver some Bruns, and pick up a new Mini Rex buck, who I had pre-bought and everything. I ended up bringing a couple of rabbits (even though they were molting). They got great comments on their bodies, didn't place to well because of their coats (Figured that would be the case).

I purposely made sure I didn't bring an excess amount of money, because I didn't really need anything seeing as I now have a bunch in the nestbox of course that means I'm going to find something with something I need that fits into my tiny budget...Which I did. I ended up buying a black doe, with 2 legs. For $40.00... that's not it, she's bred to a black otter GC buck. Can you say DEAL?

But, that's not all folks. I get a message, from a friend asking if I can pick up a doe for him, so I do, and she's gorgeous (and if you decide you don't want her, she's more then welcome to stay here...) I also picked up a buck for another friend, and that buck has had a couple dates with a couple of my does, so all in all, I didn't need to spend big bucks for a couple rabbits all I had to do was pick up a couple for other people, and instead of charging a boarding fee, I get a couple breedings, and kits back. Which seems like a win win situation for me.

I have grown a considerable amount raising rabbits, seriously, when I started I was only about 4'5" now I'm 5'9". All jokes aside raising rabbits have taught me some of the best lessons I have ever learned.

1.) Patience. Waiting for a rabbit to have babies, those babies to grow up, and become prime for show does not happen overnight, and sometimes those babies you've watched closely don't turn out the way you want, which means back to the starting point.

2.) Responsibility. Rabbits are not going to feed and clean themselves, and it is not something you only have to do sometimes, it is an everyday thing.

3.) Independence. Rabbits are my responsibility, I should be paying for them, which means I need a source of income, because they aren't always going to pay for themselves, and I should not expect other people to fund my hobby. I need a job. (And right now, I need a better one).

Through raising rabbits, I have made many wonderful friendships. I've had a few heartbreaks, many more moments of pure joy, and I have learned to appreciate the finer things in life.

Grooming short haired rabbits.

Not many people think to groom a short haired rabbit, and often are told "they don't need it" they don't get matted like wooled rabbits, and they don't get wool block either.Well they do. And it's particularly important to groom when a rabbit is molting, removing the loose dead hairs so the rabbit doesn't ingest them while grooming, which can potentially lead to wool block.

My favourite tools for grooming short hair is a pumice stone, a comb, a spray bottle & water, and my own two hands.

What I do is, I'll comb the coat get the hairs all separated and standing up. Then I'll take the pumice stone and pull it through the coat starting at the base of the neck, and working my way down with slow stokes pulling up a bit at the end of the stroke. Going in the direction of hair growth, this removes any dead fur from the top coat.

Then starting at the tail, I'll use the pumice stone and go against the direction of hair growth in short strokes, to remove the dead for from the under coat

Once that is done, I take the comb through the coat again, then mist my hands with water and drag them through the coat to remove all the loose hairs. Then comb again.

If the rabbit is molting really badly, I usually repeat a couple times.

Um Hi. I have no idea what to blog about. I was bored, and figured, hey, why not blog? Well not such a good idea when you really have nothing to talk about.

Um well, I lost another Brun Kit. Sonata is down to 5 babies now, Prima Donna is down to 3, which Sonata is fostering. The thing is with the fostering is, Sonata's kits are all solid chocolate, 2 of PD's have big white streaks on their heads, and well the third doesn't so to tell him apart from Sonata's I coloured on him with Sharpie. He has black on his forehead, his right ear, inside his left ear, on his tail, and on his right hind leg. So if all that gets cleaned off I'm in trouble.

The Wiz is out in the exercise pen again, he loves it there.

Ice T is sleeping under my feet, he has free reign over the entire upstairs, yet you can always find him in the same place, under my computer desk, asleep or eating socks.

There is a week and a half until I have any litters due. 2 weeks until Mini Rex Nationals. So not much going on. I need to go to the feed store tomorrow if that's news?

Some observations

Observation between, Purebred and cross bred litters I have had.
Disclaimer: This is done with my own rabbits, and not to be taken to seriously because rabbits all have different personalities and different lines mature at different rates. So it won't be the same outcome for everyone.

Purebred Argente Brun litter:
-I have very similar sized kits in the litters. No runts, all sturdy kits.
-Really great meat qualities. No boniness what so ever.
-Fast growing. 5lbs by 8 weeks. (It's funny seeing an 8 week old baby larger then my biggest Mini Rex)
-Silvering comes in patches.
-Very friendly rabbits.
-Does not eat that much compared to size.

Cross Litter (Argente Brun X Harlequin)
-All different sizes, runts, large guys, and some in between.
-Very Weedy, lots of bone. Not very sturdy rabbits.
-Some were fast growers, some not so fast. None of them reached 5lbs at 8 weeks.
-Silvering came in strange. Like scattered hairs through the coat.
-Definitely not consistent in anything but personalities. (Very sweet rabbits).
-They eat a TON, actually more then a ton, yet they aren't growing that fast at all.

Purebred Mini Rex Litter
-All similar sized kits.
-Matured fast.
-All similar personality wise.
-I was able to accurately guess their mature weight while still very young.
-Eat A lot.

Purebred Jersey Wooly Litter
-Similar sized kits
-Matured at the same rate
-Accurately able to guess mature weight when kits still.
-Does not eat that much
-Very Reserved

Jersey Wooly X Mini Rex litter (raised by a Mini Rex)
-Very rangy, unusual for Mini Rex and Jersey Woolies.
-Matured slower (Like a Jersey Wooly).
-Shy personality (Like a Jersey Wooly).
-Typed like a Mini Rex
-Really strange fur.
-Did not eat that much (Like A Jersey Wooly)
-Died when I hit some bad feed, even though his cage mate who ate like a pig (Mini Rex) Lived.

Purebred Netherland Dwarf
-Small, similar sized kits
-Very Energetic kits
-Slow to mature
-Eat quite a bit compared to their size.
-More independent rabbits, didn't necessarily like human contact.

Jersey Wooly X Netherland Dwarf
-Very skittish babies
-Different sizes
-Very Slow to mature
-Ate quite a bit for their size
-They all had Wooly heads (if you've ever seen one without wool)

What I've learned from this is: You can't breed two different breeds together and assume you'll only get the good traits from each breed. Genetics don't quite work the way and you can have a completely random outcome the next time around.

I wish I had a video camera...

This past weekend I finally bought a Satin buck (two actually). Except this story is regarding the one my Mom likes to call "Charlie Sheen" a handsome broken blue. I've had him outside all day in the x-pen and he was enjoying himself quite well, eating grass, sleeping in the sun, and random bursts of running and jumping. He was quite the content guy...

...Until I went to bring him back to his cage. My mom and I decided that since he was relaxed and out anyways we should cut his nails. He let us cut them fine, then I had him on my lap patting his head and the dog wanders over and sniffs his face, (now that she's been freshly groomed she's not that much bigger then he is). Well he didn't like that at all, so he leaps off my lap to get away from her. My first instinct is to grab him, which would be fine if he were a 3lb Mini Rex, not a 9lb Satin with giant feet and freshly cut nails except thankfully for me my reflexes weren't quite as fast as a scared rabbit on the run, and I merely received two scratches on my wrist.

He sent a flat of pansies flying, which when they hit the deck were really loud and scares him even more, so he just takes off like a mad man on the run. There we stood watching him run off, the sun glinting off his coat spectacularly as he thundered through the neighbours yard. It was quite impressive watching him move, zig-zagging through the grass. We were sure of one thing as he ran away, we were not going to catch him while he was running. He hasn't even been here that long so he doesn't really know us. We were certain we just lost him.

That thought lasted all of two seconds, as he came to the neighbours yard 2 houses down, and stops running, and starts nosing around in the grass. So, wary of frightening him again, we sneak up on him, my mom going to the left, myself to the right as we go around the neighbours shed. And there Charlie looks at us like "What?" So I get on my hands and knees scoop him up, and we walk back home. He's just hanging in my arms exhausted from the effort. I stick him back in his cage and he flops on his side.

And that is why poor Charlie is a domesticated rabbit, and would never make it in the wild. The whole incident couldn't have taken more then 2 minutes, but it will definitely be in my memory for a long time.

St Hyacinthe Quebec Results.

Elvis Ain't Dead: 1st black senior doe. BOV, BOS
Noirette: 2nd black senior doe
Nuit Insensee: 2nd black junior doe
Born to Be Wild: 1st black junior buck. BOSV
Sancta Terra: 1st Chocolate senior doe.
Au Contraire: 1st Lilac Senior doe. BOV
Rendezvous: 1st Otter Senior doe. BOSV

Righty Vs. Lefty

A good portion of the population is right handed, and would thus pose their rabbits with the head at their left hand, and the back end at their right hand. This is how the rabbit would be then evaluated. When I evaluate a rabbit, I feel the body, I look at it, and 9 times out of 10, I don't look at the right side of the rabbit since being right handed and having the left hand side facing me, that will be the side I evaluate.

So I put this rabbit into 5 shows. 4 Shows it does extremely well. The 5th time the rabbit completely bombs. Upon investigating why, I find out the first 4 judges, like me are right handed therefore will pose the rabbit and evaluate it form the same side I do. The 5th judge, is left handed, and is seeing the rabbit from a different perspective. Remember, you can only feel so much when visualization is your main sense.

This is where the saying "Get my good side" for photographs comes in. Rabbits like people, may have a "better side" because one side, may not be the exact mirror image of the other, and this tends to be overlooked, because lets face it, trying to pose a rabbit with the hand that isn't dominant, is hard. So what can you do? Well you can have a friend evaluate from the opposite side, or you can do it the easy way, place a mirror behind the rabbit and get a good look for yourself. You may be surprised.

Pictures and video :)

heh heh oops

Never name your food right? How about never let random strangers passing by know that those 7 fluffy little bunnies on the front deck are going to become food.
My mother wanted to see the Harlequin doe and her litter, so being a nice day I stuck them all out on the front deck since the dogs were out on the back deck. So there they are, a enormous white and brown striped Harlequin doe and 7 solid brown babies all running around like lunatics on the deck. Of course it is going to attract people walking by, it's almost Easter, who can resist baby bunnies? So this lady comes up and starts oohing and awing over them. She asks questions like how old are they, is the striped one the mother, do we own the father...4 weeks, yes, yes... Then the "What are you going to do with them?"
"Eat them, duh." Which I said in my head, I almost said it out loud, almost. I must have stared at the lady awkwardly for a few moments before mumbling something about "pets". Had it been one of my neighbours I would have probably shrugged and said have a nice BBQ. Except I had never seen this lady before, and you just never know who you meet on the streets. It would have been rather daunting to have to explain why anyone would want to eat those cute babies.

All I have to say is, they're not as cuddly as you think.

Bucks...

So this morning I went out to the rabbitry to turn the light on, and Donatello was soaking wet and his water bottle was empty. He apparently spent all last night pacing which involved rubbing against his water bottle and thus creating a curly disgusting mess. I can't really blame him though, he was right smack dab in between two lovely does. Now he's a rather annoyed buck all by himself on the bottom row. At least now I have two does who will no longer be annoyed.

Just a little update.

I live with a 7 year old Mini Rex buck in my room, he's currently running around like a terror in my parents' and sister's rooms, occasionally stopping back in my room hoping for a treat. His treat of choice? Not the $3.00 pack of yogurt drops I bought for him. Nope, he wants Vanilla Shreddies. He'll do anything for those Shreddies. Rather he knows how to make me give him Shreddies. Having a rabbit lick you is cute right? Not when he's licking your toes while you're trying to work on the computer, and will not stop. Or how about when he climbs my leg, hops into my lap and stick his big ol' mug in my face. If that doesn't work he'll run circles around me and will not stop. I've learned that in order to be a happy owner, you need a happy rabbit. In order to have a happy rabbit you have to appease him and bend to his every whim. Who owns who?

Scarlett's litter. Some of you may not be aware of who Scarlett is, she is a chocolate magpie Harlequin doe. I bought her to be a meat production doe because my Aunt and Grandma are feeding their dogs the RAW diet. I realized that with my Bruns I wouldn't always have a steady supply being that I want to keep some to show, sell some to promote the breed, which leaves me with not very many for meat. So I bought this harlequin doe, Bred her to my Brun buck. She currently has a 3 week old litter of 7. 7 little brown babies 6 does, 1 buck. Except two are slightly different. One has a white streak on his head, the other has what looks like a white VM on her nose which I find interesting. From what I've gathered about the silvering gene in Argents these babies will most likely all be Bruns when they're older.

My First all Brun baby, is starting to get his silvering in. Each time I go out and look at him he has more and more silver. Prima Donna has been re-bred to Santos, and this time I hope for more then one baby.

Next Weekend I'm going to the DR&CBA memorial day auction and meeting. I don't have anything to put in the Auction, since I have pre-sold 5 rabbits leaving at the auction, and have another 5 pre-sold for my first show of the year which will be in St. Hyacinthe Quebec.

I have 2 Mini Rex does due In a week. One has been bred to my Shreddie monster, the other bred to my new buck.

So that's pretty much what is going on right now. The rabbits are definitely enjoying the nice weather. I know I am.

Seeing past colour

This is for Annette :)

My tricks on evaluating Mini Rex based on type and fur alone:

Sit at a table, on each side of you have a basket. One for those who make it past round one and those who don't. Put all the ones you wish to evaluate on a table. Close your eyes or put on a blind fold. Choose a rabbit.

As you feel this rabbit if you feel narrow or long bony shoulders, if your hand catches hugely at the hips. Or just overall rangy and boney. Put it in the "pet" basket.

A keeper should feel very solid and smooth, you shouldn't get caught on any hips or feel any pin bones or narrowness.

Once you go through all the potentials this way, put the pets back in their cages then go back to the keepers. (You can take the blind fold off too).

Evaluating potential keepers:
1.) Fold one ear down the nose, if it is longer then the face stick it in the pet basket. (Most likely oversized, ears out of balance)
2.) Sit the rabbit facing away from you. Place your hands on either side of it following the hip lines. If your hands point out in a V stick the in the pet basket.(Pinched). Your hands should sit parallel
3.) Pose the rabbit. If you can get two or more fingers between the base of the ears and the rise. Place it in the pet basket. (Long Shoulders)
4.)Keeping the rabbit posed (making sure the hind toe is in line with the hip and all 4 feet are flat). Place a finger between the ribs and the hip. If you can get more then one finger between the ribs and the hip place the rabbit in the pet basket. (Long midsection)
5.) Now place a pencil at the hind toes vertically. The highest point of the black should be in line with the hind toes. If the highest point is infront of the pencil the rabbit peaks early and you tend to get a flat spot over the HQ. If the highest point is behind the pencil the rabbit will tend to have a longer midsection. The highest point should also be higher then the ears.

to be continued (with pictures later)

When I breed to rabbits together, I don't do it for the purpose of selling babies and making money. I do it to improve my own herd which means I get first pick. Because they just happen to belong to me I don't have to sell any in the litter at all. I cannot stand when someone gets angry at me because I will not sell a baby to them. I'm not being mean, by not letting them have it I'm just doing what I intended the litter to be for in the first place. My personal use. First pick does not mean I am only keeping one, it means I get to choose whatever ones I want to keep, and if there are any left over those will be the ones I sell, if you don't like the ones I'm selling it is not my fault feel free to go elsewhere.

I keep the best and sell the rest, and sometimes I'll keep an entire litter it's why I don't have a waiting list. I recommend people to other breeders instead of making them wait.

"Altering"

I've seen this happen at so many shows I have lost count. People altering rabbits before they stick them up on the table. From something as simple as plucking stray white hairs, to spraying conditioner on the coat. Even people trimming coats to make them more even. It makes me wonder, have they ever read show rules before? Or maybe it's just will full ignorance.

What it is in reality is a BIG no no. The most common alteration I see people do, is spray a rabbits coat with a conditioner such as mane and tail. This makes the coat silky smooth and glossy. It can also get you banned from that show if you get caught. So most people trying to be sneaky will put the spray in a nondescript bottle and call it water. Since most people already spray their rabbits with water to prevent static and to removed loose hairs.

This really irritates me I suppose. As some people work really hard to get amazing coats on their rabbits without aid of a spray on conditioner, then someone comes along and cheats. Yes it is cheating. Breeding and proper nutrition can do wonders for a coat, but if it is not there genetically, then it is not there. Hiding it with conditioners only masks the issue temporarily.

Naming

I love naming my rabbits. The more unique the better.
Except what if you buy a rabbit, and it has a name you do not particularly like? Or a name you already have in your rabbitry. Is it rude to change it? I know it is different for most people, yes some will always change it, no some will leave it as is.

With my rabbits I tend to name the babies for potential buyers can more easily identify them. It is much easier for someone to say I am interested in "Oasis" then the blue-ish, white-ish, brown-ish one with the most blue-ish out of Mercedes. It is much easier especially when you have two or more of the same colours. The names I give my rabbits are not set in stone, I don't care if you change it to something that suits you more. The tattoo numbers on the other hand are. If I sell a rabbit that is not tattooed I always have a tattoo # listed on the pedigree, and that is the tattoo it will get if you decide to tattoo them. I'm usually good about having them tattooed just sometimes especially if there are no upcoming ARBA shows I tend to overlook it.

For rabbits I buy, if I absolutely don't like the name, or I have had a rabbit with the name before I will change it. Or if I don't know the name until the pedigree arrives I will name it myself. Generally I don't change the names.

ayee

As some of you may have noticed, I have an extreme lack of Mini Rex bucks right now. Lucky me? Eh Not so much. After nearly two years, everything seems to be either out of Ice T, Odie, or Mon Dieu. Not to to bad the only issue is Mon Dieu is the grandson on Odie, Odie is the grandson of Ice T. So that leaves me with very limited room to move genetic wise especially if I need to fix certain faults. So I brought in a new buck, I do not have his pedigree yet so I'm not sure if he is related to what I already have. Time will tell. Now my issue is I still could use another buck, one I was hoping to get out of Mercedes.

Have you ever tried breeding by the phases of the moon? Sounds silly does it not? I was desperate for a buck so I said hey why not and gave it a shot. Well, considering my shortage of bucks, I only had one buck remotely compatible with her, this buck prone to producing does, Just my luck eh? Well Mercedes gave me five babies. The chances of at least one being a buck, when I bred for bucks according to the moon phase chart, seemed reasonable. There are 5 babies after all. At one week I sexed them, and prayed I was seeing something wrong because it appeared to be ALL does. Two weeks, I sex them again, still all does. Now at almost 3 weeks, without a doubt every single one is a doe. So much for the moon phase chart.

I can't give up on it yet you say? Well Mercedes was not the only one I tried to breed for bucks. Noirette's litter, and Au Contraire's litter I bred for bucks. On the Contrary had 4 Babies two chocolate does, two black otter bucks (Woot!) Unfortunately we lost a chocolate doe, but she still counts. Noirette, had 4, two bucks two does. Out of 8 babies half are bucks, half are does. So maybe it did work after all. I can't be sure. I really can't see how the moon effects what you get in a litter, especially the quality.

Quality is not something you can pluck out of a hat. If it is not their genetically you will never get it. So I don't see how breeding at certain times of the month will enhance this. It is probably just me but I'm a known cynic.

So yeah we have two more litters due. Protege and Ice T and Boston and Donatello.

This weekend has been busy, Saturday we drove down to Schomberg to pick up my new buck (Thanks Uli!!) He is absolutely adorable. He is a broken black Mini Rex, about 5 months old and he is just TINY. I mean teeny tiny. Then today we made the trip to Orillia to pick up DevonGlen's Boston a Blue Sr doe out of Sundown. (Thanks Marina, I love love love having her back here)

The babies are all doing great, and are adorable (as usual!!) They are also turning out much nicer then I hoped so when it comes to decide who stays and who goes it is going to be really tough. I might just keep them all make it easier on myself.

So that is pretty much it. Nothing going on until March 20th (The DR&CBA Memorial day meeting plus live auction and silent auction).

Bunny shuffle!

I have hay and shavings in places hay and shavings should not be. I sat in a bin full of loose hay while trying to get two dividers out.

I did some re-organizing in the rabbitry today. I took out 2 dividers and now instead of four empty 18x24 cages I have two 36X24. Prima Donna and her kit are in one, and Scarlett is in the other. Which gave me two 30X24 cages open, so I stuck Au Contraire in one, and Sundown in the other, which in turn gave me two 24X24 cages free, so Epiphany and Elvis were put into those ones. For some reason another 24X24 was not in use so I put Miss Ren in to it.

In other news, the babies are all doing well. There is one in particular in Mercedes litter that really catches my eye. I'm getting a new Mini Rex buck tomorrow ! and on Sundown Boston is coming home, so no doubt over the next few days there will be lots of pictures.

Pricing

Pricing sale rabbits has to be the largest conundrum in raising rabbits. People are worried about not getting sales if they charge too much, or not getting sales by charging too little.

Charging to little? How would that effect a sale you ask? Well the common mindset of people today is that the more expensive = the better, but if you charge too much = probably not worth it. So the trouble is finding a ground between too cheap and too expensive.

So automatically a $25.00 = crap right? Not necessarily. $150.00 = amazing? No.
There are a lot of people out there who will try to fleece people into buying their culls buy pricing them just as high as their show stock. Just as there are a ton of people who feel bad about charging to much, and price their good stock for what some consider "pet" prices.

So how do I charge for my stock? Well I start at a base price, to what I feel the quality of the rabbit is worth quality wise, then for every leg the rabbit has one I add $10.00 onto the original price. This was suggested by a fellow breeder after a discussion on pricing.

The most expensive rabbit I have bought was $150.00, and could not beat my home bred stuff for the life of her. The best rabbit I have ever bought cost me $30.00 had a couple legs and won me a BIS or two.

Shelters

Shelters, are they good, or bad?
Most people say they are great, I won't disagree with them. I think it is lovely that they are standing up for abused animals, taking in abandoned and injured animals that people have so ignorantly discarded. Whenever I am out shopping, and there is one of those donation boxes for a shelter, I always put my change in them. Or fundraisers where a volunteer is standing in the bitter cold, I'll give them all my change, because someone should be there for the animals.

What is the bad thing? It is the people who take advantage of a shelter. Those who buy a pet for the glory of having it, then dump it at a shelter when they are bored of it. Dumping the animal at the shelter is a quick way of solving your problem by making it someone else's problem. You do not want it any more, it is far cheaper to dump it at a shelter then have it put to sleep or take the time to find the animal a new home. So having a place available to take in unwanted animals, makes people think that animals are disposable, when they are not. If people were unable to dump unwanted animals in a shelter, that would make them think twice about getting muffin the potbelly piglet, because they saw one in a movie and "wanted" one.

Of course you have a legitimate reason why you need to dump muffin. Like you are moving and you cannot take Muffin with you. Where are you moving? Mars? Most places allow animals nowadays. Your landlord cannot say "no animals" if you already have one unless that animal is certifiably deemed vicious.

You developed allergies to Muffin. Haha yeah right, you developed allergies to cleaning up after Muffin. Chances are if you are not allergic to them when you buy them, it is very unlikely you will develop an allergy after, in fact you have probably had a big 'ol boost to your immune system from owning muffin.

You have a new baby. Muffin is a living thing too, dumping a pet because you do not want to take them time to get them use to your new "addition" makes you look bad. What is going to happen when your baby grows up and needs to be potty trained? Getting rid of a pet because you had a new baby is like saying, "well I just had a new baby, I do not need my 4 year old child anymore, lets sell him"

You can no longer afford to look after Muffin. My question is WHY did you get it in the first place. Anyone can tell you the cheapest part of the animal is buying the animal itself. How you seen the price of pet food? Or the cost alone to walk into a vets office? If the price of a vet trip makes your mind boggle, chances are you should not buy a pet.

Your 2nd aunt twice removed cousin's uncle's stepdaughter's niece past away. Unless they are the ones looking after the animal this is no excuse.

So please before you buy a "pet" do not dive headfirst into it. Look down the road, can you picture yourself with in 6 months down the road, 10 years? Can you afford to even look after it? And please if the reason you want it is because it is a cute baby, DO NOT BUY IT. If you saw one in the media and you want it DO NOT BUY IT. If you have carefully taken the time to research the animal, and are financially stable, to support an animal for its entire life, and you can picture yourself with it say 10 years down the road, then yes you are ready for a pet.

There are many legitimate reasons for not being able to care for a pet anymore, but do not sugar coat it, or lie about your reason because you simply do not want it anymore it makes you look like an idiot. And if you can avoid it do not dump it in a shelter, take the effort to find it a good home because the animal deserves that much.

colour, colour, colour, BAH

Dude, I love colour, colour makes my world go round, but it doesn't make my rabbitry go round. One thing people notice is, I have a LOT of blacks, so I must love black right? Well, yes I do on a good Mini Rex. Is it my favourite colour? No. Well I get the question, why do you have so many blacks then?

Simple answer, because I am breeding for show rabbits. When I look at a litter I do not decide that I'm keeping the chocolate because I like that colour. That will get you nowhere especially if the chocolate happens to be the worst in the litter. When it comes to choosing a baby out of a litter, I go colour blind, I do not care anything about colour unless I have a tie quality wise between two rabbits, then I will pick the one that is more pleasing to the eye, and that is the only time I let colour come into play.

I would gladly keep an excellent tort otter, over a mediocre chocolate. I may night be able to show it, but I can breed it and get somewhere, instead of running in a circle of having mediocre rabbits because I am driven by colour alone

So you see that someone who has nice rabbits has a litter with the colours you like in it. You immediately jump up and ask for a baby. What happens if that rabbit grows up and simply sucks? Who are you going to blame when the rabbit bombs in shows? The breeder right? After all they sold it to you. When who is really at fault? You, you jumped the gun because you saw a colour you wanted, you did not wait to see if it turned out nice. The breeder cannot control how a rabbit turns out.

So what is my favourite colour? Broken black. Do I have any? No, have I had broken blacks born here? Yes, but they weren't the best, so why would I keep them?

So what is the simple way to buy or select a show rabbit?
1.) Ignore the colour, colour is not your friend.
2.) Age, hang on to those promising Jr's until they mature, or buy a mature rabbit. No surprises about quality then
3.) Read the breed standard, ask questions, get opinions from others.

Looking at colour alone will get you nowhere. Harsh, yeah, but it's the truth.

Ramble or Rant? Hard to decide

I do not know about other people, but I love when I go to a show and someone I sold rabbits to is there, and they either A.) Beat me with one of my own rabbits. Or B.) Beat me with a rabbit out my my rabbits. It makes me feel proud that I can say, hey I sold them a good rabbit, and they're doing great with it. They also feel like they weren't ripped off. There is a selfish reason to this too I suppose, I mean it gets your name out there saying hey so and so sells great rabbits. Where as if you only ever sell your culls to people it is like oh them they never sell anything good. So what would you rather have as feedback? Postive feedback does wonders for your reputation, and sometimes it is that that makes or breaks you in the show world.

Another thing is, when you see show results for a rabbit, and "Fluffy" Won 3rd. Not a bad placing right? What bugs me is when the person neglects to mention Fluffy won 3rd out of 3 rabbits. It is not being dishonest, because the rabbit did win 3rd, what it is doing, is being misleading. I'm not ashamed to say that one of my rabbits won a 10th place, I am actually very proud of it. He won 10th out of 42 in his class, I consider that a way better placing then 7th out of only 14. Bragging does not bug me at all, heck I have been known to brag a lot. What irks me is when someone starts bragging about a Best of Breed they won, and neglects to mention that that Best of Breed was won by default, being the only breeder with that breed, and only 2 rabbits in that breed were entered. I'm not going to say that rabbit didn't deserve to win, because obviously something has to win (as long as it isn't dq'd) but gloating about winning a BOB when realistically the only person you beat was yourself, just to make yourself look better to potential buyers, well that is low. To each his own, I suppose.

This brings me to shit lists. Yes I have one, lots of people do. Basically it is just a list of people you will not sell rabbits to, not because you're worried about them beating you, but because you are concerned about the welfare of the rabbit you are selling. Mine is very short, and I will not publicly announce anyone on it, I am not out to ruin reputations, I just really care about where my rabbits go. This is not to make anyone suspicious, or paranoid, but if you are reading this the chances are you are not on my list.

I am not trying to be mean to people, or judgmental but when I get an e-mail that has words purposely misspelled, or lacking any form of grammar, the first thing that comes to mind is: if they cannot take the care to write a simple e-mail, can I expect them to take care of a rabbit? Unintentionally misspelled words are fine, not every one is perfect, and I'm not a spelling Nazi, it is just when I get an e-mail like this "u haf ne bunys 4 sale" this makes me cringe, and it also really wants to make me reply "No, but I do have a book on writing in the English language you can borrow." I do not expect a 50 page essay on why you will be the perfect owner for one of my rabbits, just a little care when writing out an e-mail is all I ask for, or else I am expecting some sort of uneducated hillbilly (no offense to the educated hillbillies) to show up at my house, and that thought scares me just a little.

Not to be all cryptic but this just really irritates me :)

Baby update

Well Mercedes had babies on the 30th, and that's when I counted 3 brokens 1 solid. Turns on there was one hiding in the box I didn't count so that brings up the total to 4 brokens, 1 solid. I'm guessing broken black, 2 broken blues, and a broken chocolate? As well as the solid is a black. Anyone of those brokens can be a broken otter, it's very hard to tell right now.

So this starts the Countdown to Rendezvous, and Au Contraire Babies in hopefully 1 weeks time. Can you say otters otters and more otters? (Oh and chocolate and lilac?).

Noirette's litter is doing great, are first draft for what is staying here is complete, from the looks of it right now we will be holding on to the black doe, and a black buck. Meaning a black buck will be available, and the conundrum of the chocolate otter doe, I received 6 e-mails in one day alone regarding this doe, amongst countless others I quite simply have no idea what to do about her yet.

The Argente Brun Baby, is well, and very very adorable. Pictures have been posted on my facebook, and for those who can't see them there I'll post them later on my website. He is quite the looker, and has this cute white streak on his forehead already.

What else do you do at 12:23 in the morning besides blog?

Ha, well the Brun baby is doing great. Noirette's litter is doing amazing (they are so cute). Not much else on the baby front, besides I'm positive Au Contraire took as well as Mercedes, I suck at palpating but I think I may have felt something. I'm not sure about Rendezvous yet...

Besides that, today was another one of the cage cleaning days such fun! I also rearranged a bit and I know how a grand total of 6 30X24 cages in the rabbitry after digging two out of the snow. So know I have a couple of very happy does who are due soon. On that note, I counted my empty cages inside the rabbitry and there are currently 12 open holes (holy moleee). Then curious I counted the cages not in the rabbitry, and I have 6 out behind the bike shed, then by chance I stuck my head in the bike shed a low and behold, 5 more cages giving me a grand total of 23 open holes. How did that happen? You may be wondering how many holes are in use right now...the answer would be 27. For a grand total of 50 holes. That is a long ways off from the 4 I started with 7 years ago.

Now that I've completely exhausted myself through that strenuous math I have a bed calling my name.

Brun News

I had my first litter of Argente Bruns born on the 18th, Prima Donna had 1 bouncing ball of already slightly furred baby Brun. Yep Just one. She's being a good mother too now that she's calmed down a bit, yesterday she would hop into the nest box whenever someone went into the rabbitry, today she wanted treats and mellon rubs.

Not much more news besides that, I'm going to be breeding Scarlet soon (My Harlequin doe in case I forgot to mention it. I bought a Harlequin doe for meat production). Just under two weeks until Mercedes is due, and I really hope she doesn't have harlequin marked otters.

I hate snowmobiles. I really do. Last night I lost a Wooly doe who spooked when a snowmobile fired up to close to the rabbitry. This isn't the first time I have lost rabbits to it either. Last winter I lost an entire litter when the mother spooked and stomped them (She was a $$$$ Doe too, so I was looking forwards to that litter) I absolutely hate winter right now.


On a happier note Noirette's litter is doing great. We also managed to breed Mon Dieu to two does last night (Rendezvous, and Au Contraire). I am super excited, those two does are Gorgeous!!!!

Today I also had 3 rabbits leave to new homes, and I picked up a Harlequin Doe for meat production.

So I guess good tromps bad right now.

Late night :)

Have you ever had that split moment of panic when you have misplaced a pedigree? The "Oh shoot" followed by "I can always ask the breeder to send me a new copy..." Then the doubt "Wait, will that make me look bad?" So instead you, in a panic start looking for it, in all those strange places you know it will not be? On top of the fridge, in the washing machine, under your bed... You do not find it anywhere. So bucking up you start an e-mail to the breeder explaining when, low-and-behold...Half way through a cleverly typed e-mail, you spot it. Exactly in the place you knew you had left it.

Yeah... Me either.

So... Once again I attempted to breed Sundown to Mon Dieu. He must be really frustrated by now. I have done everything I can to stimulate Spring in the rabbitry. The light is on longer, I have a heater out there, I put her in a new cage that previously held a buck, she's currently housed beside one of my randy Wooly bucks. She gets a special diet, but will she breed? NO. Will my other does? YES. I bred Mercedes to Odie, (nearly the exact cross of her previous litter). I also bred Panache to Odie (for Jesse, I hope she produces something awesome for you!). Do I have a compatible buck for my other does? No, I could hypothetically breed Au Contraire to Mon Dieu... And the same with Rendezvous...Except Tristyn would murder me. Oh but a crop of babies for the fall shows would be great....

That should be it and I really ought to start going to bed before Midnight, but it's really hard when I shut the rabbitry light off at 10:30, then get sidetracked...

Oh I should also mention. I am working on Mini Rex tutorial videos. So videos on how to pose, select, and choose breeding pairs for Mini Rex.

Mini Rex, "The fur issue".

A lot of people when they think of a Mini Rex the first thing they think of is that plush velvety fur. As is the key aspect of the Rex breeds. Though many new breeders have the wrong idea of how the Mini Rex fur should be, they choose the softest, silkiest they can find, which is not what you want at all.

Mini Rex fur is recessive meaning that in order to have Rex fur the rabbit must have 2 Rex genes, only one Rex gene will result in a normal furred rabbit. Now you won't have to worry about that if you breed to Rex together. Now what makes the Rex different from other fur? Basically, it was a mutation seen in wild rabbits in France during the late 1800's that caused the fur to stand away from the body instead of laying flat. It also caused the guard hairs to become shortened to the same length as the undercoat.

So what should you look for in a good Mini Rex coat? What should you stay away from? Here are a few questions you should ask yourself when choosing that perfect coat.

1.) When I look at the coat, does it appear to be standing straight up? Is it even? Does it look polished? When you look at it you don't want to see any variation of lengths, you want the rabbit to have the look of a mink pelt (as if the coat had been evenly shaved) You do not want to see longer guard hairs. The coat should appear as one smooth surface (Picture a solid glass surface, smooth right?).

2.) When I touch the coat do I feel a resistance? Or does it just feel smooth and gives under the pressure of my hand? A good Mini Rex coat when touched should be springy, like it is resisting the pressure of your hand. When you press your hand down on it's back, do you leave a hand print, or does the coat regain it's shape? A good coat will instantly regain it's shape. A poor coat will have an imprint left on it. When you pat the rabbit one way does the fur return to an upright position, or does it stay smooshed? You want it to return as is, just like with the hand print

3.) Does the coat have density? Is it even all over? Density refers to the amount of hairs per square inch. The more the better in Mini Rex. A good way to test density is to pinch the fur between your index finger and middle finger. If it were not for the fur would you fingers touch? Or does it feel as if you cannot get a good grip and the fur is sliding out from between your fingers. If your fingers almost touch, the rabbit is lacking density. If you feel a resistance of the fur the rabbit has good density. Now try pinching the fur on different sections of the rabbit (Back, Hindquarter, middle, hind leg) You should be feeling the same resistance all over, if not the coat is uneven.

4.) How long is to long? The simple way to test this is to take a dime. Stand it in the fur, and pinch the fur against the coin. Does the coin disappear? Or can you still see the top? If the coin disappears the fur is too long. Now try this on different spots of the rabbit, the fur should approximately reach the same point of the time no matter where you place it.

5.) Texture, texture is a tricky thing in Mini Rex, if the fur is to coarse you have to many protruding guard hairs, if it is too soft, you don't have enough guard hairs. The key is to remember, you don't want silk, you want velvet. Unlike silk velvet has bite. You should feel a kick when petting a good Mini Rex coat, not the usual "It's soft" reaction.

So in point a good Mini Rex has a coat that is resistant, springy, dense, short, stands straight up, even, smooth, and velvety.

A bad Mini Rex coat, is soft, uneven, long, silky, thin, unresistant.

And remember, a curl should make you hurl.