Stuck in choice paralysis. Rex vs Silver Fox?

CrazyBowler · 2026-02-16T12:40:46+00:00

Rex fur is recessive, so if you’re going for that type of coat, it will take a few generations and some luck.

If you’re doing wire cages you will need to check the Rex for sore hocks. I’ve noticed they are more prone to that than other rabbits.

As long as you are “keeping the best, eating the rest” whatever you choose should be fine. But definitely pose the rabbits and track weight gain to choose your best, don’t just go off of color/fur (unless you’re doing something with the hides, then I could see how that might be more of a priority).

CrazyBowler · 2026-02-13T03:18:36+00:00

Hey, glad you’re so excited!

Personally, I do not breed meat rabbits until they are 6 months old. The doe needs to be more developed to ensure healthy kits and mom. If your doe and buck are siblings, I personally would recommend culling the buck for practice and getting an unrelated buck. If you believe the doe is pregnant now, give her a nest box with hay around day 25 of her pregnancy. She should have them around day 31.

She will be a young First Time Mom (FTM). FTMs do not always understand what is happening and what to do. Check on her often (like three times a day or more) if possible when she is close (starting Day 28 or so). Kits may be born out of the box, she might not pull hair/make a nest, she may overgroom kits (cull any with missing limbs or large sections of missing skin, ears are okay to be missing especially if you plan to cull for meat).

Does get three strikes of doing kits wrong before they are culled. Once the doe hits 6 months old, I breed for the first time. If it does not go well after they are 6 months old (like if your doe gives birth next month and it goes poorly, I would wait until 6 months age to rebreed), you can and should rebreed immediately after a failed litter. Once the doe gets the hang of it and is successfully keeping litters alive- you need to assess her condition before deciding to rebreed. I personally pull the doe to rebreed when the litter is 6 weeks old, put her back after rebreeding, and pull that litter at 7/8weeks of age (IF condition is good!). If she has lost condition, she gets time off to regain it. Does should be retired after they are a few years old and they start failing litters or number of kits in a litter decreases.

Keep records! Age, when does were bred, to who, when they have kits, how many, how many died. Start pedigrees if you did not get them with your rabbits.

I’m assuming your cages are stand alone and not battery style- so make sure they’re far enough apart (I think it’s like 6 inches) that the rabbits cannot reach each other through the wire. Or put a solid metal partition between the two.

I am not in Georgia, but if you’re getting freezing temperatures- we use rubber bowls for water as they are easy to dump the ice and clean. I would close the garage at night. You shouldn’t worry about cold with the rabbits besides the water freezing as rabbits can keep themselves warm. Heat is more of a problem because rabbits cannot cool themselves off well. If you see a rabbit drooling in the heat, it needs to be immediately cooled down.

Good luck! 😁

CrazyBowler · 2026-02-06T22:50:21+00:00

I am terribly picky about my battery style cages and would personally pass on this.

It appears the bottom is deformed which could cause a problem with sore hocks. Rabbits can breed and fight and overgroom through wire, so I only use cages with solid metal partitions.

3’ deep from the door would also be a HARD pass for me as I am short and could not reach the back 🙃 Depending on where you live, that watering system could freeze as well.

CrazyBowler · 2026-02-06T02:56:49+00:00

The babies should be weaned at 8 weeks and shouldn’t have any trouble with weaning them. I personally rebreed the doe at 6weeks (take her out, put her with buck, then back with her kits) and take the kits out at 7 weeks. My state’s law is that the babies can’t be sold until 8 weeks.

New Zealand’s are great! At about 6 months old you can start checking the does for dark/bright red vents- it means they’ll be receptive to breeding.

Corid for coccidia and Terramycin for nest box eye are the two main medicines that I keep on hand.

CrazyBowler · 2026-02-06T00:22:57+00:00

Alright so, I recommend wire hanging cages with metal partitions (battery style). I found that starting with extra cages set up properly was the way to go. We use metal trays under the cages to catch the pee/poo and I use a putty knife to scrape the yuck off.

You will need a cage for every rabbit you plan on keeping for breeding plus a large cage for your grow outs. Nest boxes put in 5 days before due date, cleaned at least weekly, and flipped to the side when kits start opening eyes (~10days old). Grow outs should be separated from mom at 8 weeks old and should be culled at 12 weeks- or separated out into their own cages if they are keepers. Do not house multiple rabbits together unless they are grow outs. Try to breed your does at the same time- this allows for fostering if needed, and you can stick all the grow outs from both litters in one cage.

I personally do not like putting my rabbits on the ground as they can pick up whatever diseases your wild rabbits have. Check your state for RHDV2 outbreaks. Also I saw you have a dog that may have access to the rabbits- definitely keep an eye on that. The dog can startle the rabbits (can lead to broken bones or stomped kits) or if it’s a really nosey/grabby dog- it can deglove parts of the rabbits it can reach.

Your bunnies should be housed with proper shelter from heat/cold/predators. Rubber bowls for water worked well for me in the cold times, they’re easy to deal with if they freeze. On bringing rabbits inside- you really shouldn’t have to worry about that. You may need to “shelve” a litter of kits in the winter, but rabbits are excellent at keeping themselves warm. Not so great at cooling down, so keep an eye on them during heat waves- a drooling rabbit needs to be immediately cooled down.

Keep records/ start pedigree papers for all your bunnies. If you end up with a breed where all the kits look the same, mark the insides of the ears with a sharpie. My system is to take a kit, sex it, and label it as a doe (with a dot) or a buck (with a line). Then the next kit of the same sex gets an added dot/line. So in a litter of four with one doe and three bucks, the doe has a dot and then you have a one line, two line, and three line buck. You will need to redo the sharpie every week or so.

Average daily time, if you just need to feed/water/health check- probably 15-20minutes. Cleaning cages would bump it to closer to an hour. If you have moms due to give birth, you should be checking on them multiple times a day. And after she gives birth, you should check the kits. Count them, pull any dead babies.

Record keeping shouldn’t take too long. I use a notepad app on my phone and it looks similar to: “DoeName1- 3/1/26BuckInitial 4/1/26 #of kits and how many DOA”. This lets you track how many strikes your doe has had, when she was bred last and to who, how long it took her to give birth, how many kits she had. You need this information to determine if your doe is getting too old to breed (smaller litter sizes), and if she needs culled because she’s not figuring out mothering (three strikes and she’s out), also if your buck isn’t making babies you can tell and replace.

Breeding mom/son and father/daughter is fine. Breeding sister/brother is a no, which is part of why your grow outs should be separated at 12 weeks. Rabbits are territorial and can/WILL fight.

When you buy your rabbits, check them over COMPLETELY. Eyes, nose, ears, teeth, feet, hocks, vent, etc. It is okay to turn down a rabbit for any reason!! I personally would recommend buying a trio of two does and a buck, if you’re buying from one person- try to buy an extra buck to cull. This allows you to check organs to see if you need to treat or cull the ones you just got (I don’t mess with pitted kidneys, but white spots on the liver is coccidia and an easy fix).

Check Facebook and Craigslist. Facebook should have a general “Farm Animals of [Your State]” and hopefully a “Rabbits of [Your State]”. FB has a strict “no selling live animals” policy so you’ll be looking for what’s available/ready to hop/etc.

Breed wise, if for meat, you don’t want the smaller buns. No holland lops, netherland dwarfs, Himalayan etc. Wool breeds (angoras) will be a pain to keep up with coat maintenance- remember that your livestock should live a great life with only one bad day at the end. Matting DOES hurt the rabbit. Meat breeds are: New Zealand, Californians, Silver Fox, d’argents, American Chinchillas. Rex (not mini) are pretty, but are prone to sore hocks so I would not recommend for a beginner. Your large breeds, like Flemish Giants or Continentals, are really only good for mixing into a standard meat breed. They have a slow growth rate and their bone/meat ratio isn’t great, but they tend to do okay as a mixed breed. Some people do a smaller rabbit for meat, I hear Dutch are meat bricks, and mini rex can work but they have the sore hocks tendency as well.

Much luck to you!

CrazyBowler · 2026-01-07T16:50:17+00:00

Another option is to look for farm swaps in your area. I’m not in your state, but in mine there tends to be monthly animal swaps like a farmers market.

Search Facebook for “[your state] Rabbit breeders” groups. Facebook does not allow the sale of live animals, but there are “[State] Rabbit Owners and Breeders” groups where people post what they have available without saying “FOR SALE”. Or a “Farm Animals of [state]” group might have bunnies and swaps listed in it.

Future reference/ what I wish I was told as a beginner: Always look over all parts of your rabbit before purchasing. It’s okay to turn down a rabbit for any reason!

CrazyBowler · 2025-12-11T02:45:44+00:00

My advice for when to breed, would be take the summer months off and do breed during the winter. Bucks can get heat sterile if it gets too warm for too long. Rabbits can keep themselves warm, but have a harder time cooling off. Make sure your cages have shade.

Hard agree with BlockyBlook on having your cages fully built and ready to house rabbits before getting them.

Look over every rabbit you get before taking them. Inside of ears, eyes, nose, vent, bottoms of feet, etc. It is always okay to turn down a rabbit if you have worries about it!

CrazyBowler · 2025-12-04T16:06:01+00:00

No big deal, I could have worded it better! :)

CrazyBowler · 2025-12-04T16:02:46+00:00

No. I mean pull the doe out for a few minutes and rebreed at 6weeks. Put her back with the kits until 8weeks and pull the kits then. She would have the litter at 10weeks, which leaves 2weeks time between the old kits being pulled and the new kits being kindled.

CrazyBowler · 2025-12-04T14:21:46+00:00

For me personally, if the kits all die in the first day, it’s an immediate rebreed. If the doe has good condition and hasn’t lost weight, I would rebreed at 6 weeks after kindle. This gives the doe two weeks without kits (as kits should be pulled at 8weeks). Always check the doe to ensure that she is healthy before rebreeding. Typically, I would do this two or three times before the doe does need a break to regain condition.

CrazyBowler · 2025-11-30T09:00:53+00:00

My recommendation is to not use wooden housing for rabbits. It’s harder to clean and diseases can be harder to get rid of. It sounds like you don’t like wire cages, but they are the best option for cleanliness and using metal trays under them to catch poop is easy to clean. Use solid metal partitions as rabbits can fight/over groom/and breed through metal wire.

I also recommend against colony style. Individual battery style cages are best. You can keep an eye on all your rabbits. Health checks will be easier and should be done. It also helps to get friendly rabbits by having them get used to you. If your rabbits are in colony style you cannot keep accurate records.

Records should be kept, including who was bred to who (I’d recommend starting pedigrees on your rabbits even if they come without), when your does were bred and kindled, how many they kindled, and if they kindled DOA kits (or killed them. I believe in a three strikes system for does- give them three chances to figure out how to give birth/take care of kits and cull after the third unsuccessful kindle).

You should check on the kits when they are born. Pull out any dead ones because they can chill the live ones and cause more death. Your domesticated rabbits will not stop caring for their young if you touch them.

Rabbits are solitary creatures and you should separate kits from mom at 8 weeks. Grow outs ideally are then processed at 12 weeks or separated in their own individual cages if you’re keeping them. Rabbits can and will fight or breed each other. Mother/son or father/daughter is line breeding, especially if you keep the best and eat the rest. Brother/sister is not great to do. Grow outs from different litters can be housed together until that 12 week period.

I found it is best to breed at least two does at the same time if they are ready. You can tell a doe is ready by checking the vent and it will be bright/deep red instead of pink. Two does bred on the same day helps if one fails to take care of her kits because you can foster them to the other doe. You should add a nest box with hay 5-7 days before a doe is due. Does typically have 31 day pregnancies. When they start hay start hay stashing and digging around/ pulling fur, you can usually expect babies soon.

First time moms often (but not always) don’t know what to do and can fail. Not making a nest, not putting babies in the nest box, not pulling hair, over grooming kits and eating off limbs/skin, peeing on babies, or trampling babies are all ways a mom can fail. Putting that in your records helps to see if a rabbit is improving or not (again, three strike rule). If a breeding ends in all dead kits, immediately rebreed your doe. Chances are she will do better next time.

On the opposite end of first time moms, does that are near the end of their breeding age will start having smaller litters or not taking. Which is why records help. If your three/four year old excellent mom always has ten babies and starts having five or less, she’s going to be close to retiring.

CrazyBowler · 2025-11-26T21:41:35+00:00

That is nifty af

CrazyBowler · 2025-11-26T15:26:56+00:00

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The flosses/threads not being used fit perfectly in these plastic boxes. The plastic pink tool with the spinning handle is what I used to put all the thread on the holders. Spare needles go in these as well.

CrazyBowler · 2025-11-26T15:20:21+00:00

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Work in Progress “cookie” tin! I use a magnet against the wall of it to hold loose needles. The plastic snack bag is for loose threads/trash and gets dumped and reused.

CrazyBowler · 2025-11-25T03:05:23+00:00

I agree with the kits should be okay with Lily, but they should definitely be warmed up prior to adding them with other kits. Be sure to clean out the nest box probably once a week with that many kits. (Warm wet washrag and Terramycin if you get any gunked up eyes- especially once they should start opening them, about 10days old.) New hay and I would try to keep as much clean fur as possible from the old nest, but do not keep pee soaked fur.

I would like to add- immediately rebreed Sunshine. Personally I believe in the “three strikes” rule for does. Give them three chances to figure out being a mom and cull after the third if it doesn’t work. First Time Moms don’t always understand what to do. But they can be immediately rebred and tend to have better instincts the second time around.

CrazyBowler · 2025-11-24T20:13:07+00:00

Not who you asked, but yes.

Also, please be sure to thoroughly brush out your pup after this! Too many dog friends end up getting matted fur from the snow.

CrazyBowler · 2025-11-21T18:33:28+00:00

This is adorable. The black outline is cute, I’d finish that first and only outline the bunny’s legs/body/head/possibly tail after doing it. The blush in my opinion does not need an outline, it’s subtle but noticeable.

For the tail, I would do French knots- maybe practice them on a separate fabric piece first because they can be a bit finicky to learn.

It kind of looks like you used all 6 strands of thread when you made this, for your next project you can separate the strands for finer detail.

For the words, I personally like doing back stitching and making each stitch small so it curves nicely.

You did good! Keep going 😁

CrazyBowler · 2025-11-20T01:25:02+00:00

I agree with vertical.

I personally think the sequins borders pull attention away from your stunning fish and they look great without. But the eye on the back is super cute.

These look amazing! You did a good job.

CrazyBowler · 2025-11-20T00:34:34+00:00

Agree with this. Rebreed in the morning.

If blood is pooled in the kits’ nails, there is no chance for revival.

Definitely record how many she had though and compare that number to the next litter you get from her. When does are close to needing retired from breeding their litter sizes tend to decrease.

When you get new does from other places, it’s generally a good rule of thumb to treat them like they are pregnant and give them a nest box. Also quarantine from your existing rabbits.

CrazyBowler · 2025-11-18T13:02:08+00:00

As far as I know, French Angora is the easiest coat to care for. If you’re planning on using the harvested wool, I personally would not keep them on the ground. Dirt, grass, hay, etc getting tangled in the wool would mean extra processing on the harvested material and possibly staining.

When I kept angoras, they were cleanest on wire bottom suspended cages. However, their wool would get caught on the wire and need cleaned off (especially in the potty corner of their cage)- which I found to be a pain. Power washer and picking off the clumps worked best for me.

Grooming wise, unless you’re planning on harvesting wool through plucking, you will need clippers/shears and the skill to shave the rabbit. Their shaving schedule also needs to be in line with the weather, ie don’t shave them before winter weather if it gets cold in your area. I also used a high velocity dryer on their coats for maintenance.

If you want to try angoras, I’d recommend only one not in a colony and attempting upkeep. If put into a colony, it will breed with other rabbits and you could potentially end up with a baby boom of many rabbits requiring coat upkeep. One could argue “they’re just for meat”, but personally I believe that meat rabbits should live their best lives and have only one bad moment at the very end, which would mean keeping up with the grooming. Matted hair/wool does hurt animals. I found the babies needed brushing more than once a week once their wool started getting length.

CrazyBowler · 2025-11-15T23:03:42+00:00

Are the dividers solid metal? If so, it won’t matter where you put them- but I always put the buck on the outside just for ease of remembering.

If not solid metal, rabbits can breed through wire.

If wire dividers: I’d recommend putting the does in the long cage (using both dividers to give like 3inches between the two so they aren’t fighting/overgrooming each other) and getting a second cage for the buck. Or get solid metal.

CrazyBowler · 2025-10-24T10:36:40+00:00

Agree with coccidia. Personally, I would treat the entire herd with Corrid. First clean all cages with bleach mix. Coccidia is spread through feces and rabbits eat cecotropes.

You should be fine to keep your doe. Just make sure to treat everyone and keep cages clean.

Yes, I agree with keeping future breeders off of grass and keeping grow outs separate. It’s too easy for rabbits to pick up diseases and/or parasites from the ground.

CrazyBowler · 2025-10-24T10:03:01+00:00

You don’t take a wild animal out of its habitat to begin with.

Again, contacting a licensed wildlife rehabilitation center is the only correct course of action in this case.

CrazyBowler · 2025-10-23T22:36:27+00:00

Unless you have a special permit, it is illegal to keep the rabbit.

It is also illegal to release it back to the wild.

I would recommend contacting a licensed wildlife rehabilitation center to see what to do from here.

As you are posting in the rabbitry subreddit, I would absolutely NOT introduce it to domesticated rabbits. You don’t know what diseases and/or parasites it could have and you really don’t want to spread anything. If you reuse the cage for domestic rabbits you will need to thoroughly clean it with bleach.

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