Conformationally correct is a term used to describe the structure of the animal.  All breeds have a standard in which breeders use as a guideline in producing offspring.  The goal is to get as close to the standard as possible.  No animal will be 100% perfectly Conformationally correct, and in order to be able to breed towards this, its important to have your animals evaluated by a variety of judges on a regular basis. 

The placements, wins or losses, should also be considered when pairing up two animals for a litter.  The judges comments are not something concrete, but something to always keep in the back of your mind.  Each  judge will see something different in the same animal.  On occasion each judge will see the same thing, and in that case you should keep that at the top of your list to breed out, or not breed that animal all together.  Things such as a narrow head, light bone, well breed to a larger boned animal.  All breedings should be made for improvements.

If a breeder is not showing their animals then there is no way to really learn the breed standards as they are subjective.  It is easy for a person to not notice a particular fault and focus on certain things such as shoulders.  It is easy to become "barn/Kennel Blind", which is why having your animals evaluated is important.  Watching all the animals being judged that day is also a huge learning experience for the owner/breeder as you can see how the winning animal exhibits and what you could be missing in your breeding program.  Showing is an extension of the knowledge of the breed.​

It's been said that the Registration System denotes an animal of quality.  ARBA's process stands above the rest as each animal has to be inspected for quality, and only those that are quality are approved for registration.

Not really.

Now, before I get into anything else, I would have to say, that I do appreciate this method to a certain extent verses the AKC method.  However AKC does allow registration of animals that are only non showable due to color, and ARBA does not.

When you register your rabbit you bring the animal, a full 3 generation pedigree (all info must be filled out, including the weights of all animals), and your ARBA Membership card and present these to the Regsitrar.  First, the Registrar goes over the pedigree and ensures that all the information is included and points out any information that is missing.  Then, providing the pedigree is complete, the rabbit itself is inspected.  The rabbit must be within the required weight limit and must not bear any disqaulifications from show at the time of registration.

But, your pedigree is only as good as the peice of paper it is written on.  Do you know your breeder well? Do you trust them?  Anyone, ANYONE can fill out a 3 generation pedigree providing Names, Ear Numbers, Colors and weights for a rabbit to make it look valid.  Anyone.  Not to mention the fact that I know of MANY MANY of the top breeders in this hobby that DO NOT register any of their animals.  None.  I also know of many who do not even keep records, so when you ask for a pedigree...who knows what you are truely getting!  At least AKC does DNA testing for studs.  Can you imagine the rabbit world if we did that? 

So then why do I register?  Well because I am adding to the database.  Once you submit your registration application, that rabbit's pedigree cannot be changed or altered.  EVER.  (okay well you can change the owner info and I think you can have them update the weight....but that is ever changing and not worth updating once a month)  The more rabbits registered behind a rabbit I purchase, means I can trust that pedigree to be authentic and true more so than I can one that is not.  But even then, should a person want to they could create a pedigree from Bucky bred to Doelina and write a pedigrees for the litter that never happened.  At least with AKC the owner of the parents must sign the litter registration verifying the breeding did infact take place.

I also register my animals because I do take the time and funds to send in for their Grand Championship Certificate.  It is a shame that ARBA does not allow other step ups in the showing process after Grand Champion.  But it is what it is.  The certificate goes in the rabbits file.  The more filled out my pedigrees are, the better I can show my animals are of QUALITY.

 However, in my opnion, quality is better determined by a judge not a registrar.  Sure your rabbit might be registered.  But does it win.  Does it have legs?  Can it be a grand champion?  If your rabbit is constantly loosing, chances are it is not a quality animal.  But that's okay.  Listen to the judges, find the one or two things that animal is lacking and breed up! 

I do feel that the registration process should include "sport" colors that are required to produce showable colors, such as Tri and Blue Eyed Whites.  Breeds like Rhinelanders and Spots, Checkered, Hotot and Papion all use the Sport or Solid to make the showable, desired color and markings.  The only reason the sport is not showable is due to color, and color alone.  All other aspects should fit the same standard.

Another reason to register, espeacially if you raise a breed that is listed on the Livestock Conservatory List, is because each rabbit registered is counted.  Those with low counts are considered endangered or threatened.  This is how the Livestock Conservatory receives this information.  Do not count on others to keep the counts up, you need to take part in this too.  And this is also another reason why the Sports should be allowed to be registered as a BROOD ONLY animal.

So register your stock.  Protect what you have worked for.  Ensure that future generations will have accurate information and that your breed numbers are properly being recorded.

Do you know how frustrating and heartbreaking it is to watch a young kid come to their first rabbit show, toting with them their most prized possession...the rabbit they bought from you.  The one you told them was show quality and would no doubt do well in the shows.  Only to watch that kid hold back the tears as their best buddy, beloved freind was disqualified off the show table, being told the rabbit they purchased from you was not a show quality animal, or it was not quality at all?

Sadly, this happens all too often.  It hurts.  It really does.

First lets clarify Show Quality.  When someone states that an animal is show quality, it simply means that at that time, the animals meets all the requirements for being able to be shown, and does not exhibit any disqalifications according to the Standard set forth for that breed.  Also, two rabbits bred together that ARE show quality will not always produce show quality offspring.  To know an animal is show quality, you have to be very familiar with the standard for that breed.  If you are not familiar, then you should at least have the standard so that while examining your litters you can compare them to the written standard.  

The standard was created to give breeders a blueprint to breed towards. Without it, you can end up with animals not able to perform the duties in which they were bred for.  Yes, even rabbits have a purpose.  When you start breeding subpar animals, you are destroying what generations of hard work has created.  You will end up with animals that are unhealthy, poor coloration, poor meat/flesh condition, Poor temperments,  Twisted spines, cronic illness, low immune systems, poor fur....the list goes on.

In addition to disqualifications, there are faults.  Now faults do not mean that an animal cannot be shown, but depending on the fault, it does mean it could be less likely to win.  Knowing what these faults are, are very important when it comes to breeding.  You do not want to breed two rabbits with pinched hindquarters together, because, well...what do you think they are going to produce?  That's right.  Pinched Hindquarters.  How well do you think a rabbit with pinched Hindquarters will place against one without?  Not very well.  

Now I know its not to hard to read a breed standard and figure out what the disqalifications are.  But, can you tell easily the difference between Long, Low or Narrow shoulders?  What does it mean when an animal is hollow in the loin?  Is the crown slipped?  How wide should the eye set be? Are the teeth budding?

If your not showing, you cant know all this.  This is not something you can learn from a book.  This is not something you learn from attending one show.  This is something you learn over years of showing and even years of breeding.  Dedicated breeders who show know to breed that narrow shouldered doe to a wide shouldered buck.  Good breeders know how to breed for improvements, evaluate, cull and breed again.

And again, breeding to a standard is not just for creating a show animal.  It is to create an animal that is correct in movement, sound in temperment and in good health!

If you are looking to purchase a rabbit that you would like to show at any time in the furture, ask your breeder:

Are you an ARBA Member?
Are you a member of the National Breed Club?
Are you a member of any local Clubs?
Do you have registered stock?
Do you actively show?

Ask your breeder to show you POSED photos of the animals for purchase.  Or, if you are face to face, ask the breeder to pose the animal for you.  Ask the breeder to highlight the animals good points and bad points,

But if you are serious about wanting a show rabbit...then go to a show.  Meet the breeders, look at the breeds.  Learn, watch and buy.  Do not be fooled by these so called breeders who are only breeding for money.  Chances are, you will find a better bred animal....for cheaper, from a breeder who breeds for a purpose, other than money.

I asked for mass, I asked for bone, I asked for a beautiful thick doe.  And I got BHMB In Flames!  Sister & Littermate to BHMB Hostile!

When your hoping for a nice typey showy doe.......and you get a buck!!!!!

​You’ve probably read somewhere, maybe even from me, that a breeder that won’t let you see where animals are kept or meet your animals is a big red flag.
That breeders who won’t let you meet the animals or see where they are kept must be hiding something.
Well that’s no longer true
Why you ask?
Because there is a vendetta in the USA right now against breeders, even the really good breeders.
Anti breeder types, be they from HSUS or PETA or other animal rights groups or overzealous animal shelter workers or other similar people are making it their life’s work to get breeders animal seized and stop all breeding.
Many times this involves lying, filing false complaints or worse- setting the breeder up.
Sometimes these people even gain the breeder’s trust or work for them.
No matter how clean your animals are.
No matter how well fed and clean your animals are.
No matter how careful you are to only breed the best and most fully health tested animals
No matter how much time and money you put into them and how much money you lose.
These people are looking to get your dogs seized, to get another “horrible breeder” story in the news, to use you and your animals to get restrictive laws passed.
Breeders now must not only do their absolute best , they now must guard against those that would destroy their life’s work and the animals they love for no reason other than hate.
So the next time an animal breeder grills you with questions, or meets you in their driveway or even at the shopping center in their town, don’t hold it against them - they may just be doing all they can to keep hateful people from destroying all they love.
This was copied from a friend's page .. please please help spread the word

Culling....to some like the ARA's this is cruel. When in essence culling isnt always terminal. To Cull is to remove. There are more than one way to remove a rabbit from your program. And it doesnt always mean to destroy it. Culling is essential to every serious rabbit breeder in hopes of building good quality stock.


Every breeder needs to have a plan in place to take care of the over-burden of young and older stock that is no longer useful for your programs. If you do not have a plan in place, then you will become overloaded and stressed out. It's always good to have more than one plan in place, a back up, because the first one may not always work.


Listed below are several different ways to Cull your herd:


1.) Sell: By selling your stock you are allowing another breeder/exhibitor to add to their lineage and improve qualities in their own herds. A person could want to purchase your stock for a variety of reasons. Such as to improve quality, color, or lineage. But be careful, your not going to want to sell a super crappy animal just because of color, especially if your name is on it, and you are wanting to build up a good reputation and lineage that people later down the road are going to want. Which brings us to pet sales. Your less than quality animals could possibly be sold as pets to pet owners for less, without papers. But is that a road you are going to want to go down? Sure that extra $10 pays for half a bag of feed. But take into thought what happens to the pet. Sure baby bunnies are cute and fuzzy, and they are easiest to sell the younger they are, because they are cuter than. But what is going to happen to this rabbit that a person paid $10 for when it gets older, when it no longer has that cute and fuzzy factor?


2.) Butchering/Terminal Culling = Death. So what do you do if that rabbit does not sell? Are you willing or able to hold on to it, allow it to take up space, stop breeding until you find it a home, and continue feeding it? If it's a stellar specimen, I would. If not, and that cute and fuzzy factor is no longer there, finding it a pet home is going to get harder and harder the older it gets. What about those rabbits that are just not good specimens of the breed? Are you willing to let them go out into the public? Potentially with your name on them? Even if you sell it for a pet, and a person asks where they got their pet from, your name is going out there, pedigree or no pedigree. There is not a home available for every single rabbit born, simple as that. I am a firm believer in terminal culling for many reasons. But I am also a firm believer that a life should not be wasted!


If you are wanting an additional meat source for your family, rabbit is an excellent source of low fat protein. You can use rabbit in any chicken dish and it is just as tasety. There are many safe and humane ways to put a rabbit down, and cleaning only takes a few minutes. Depending on how often you breed, you can have an endless supply of meat for your family.


If you do not think you can handle the whole aspect of home butchering and eating what you have raised, you can also check into other resources such as a zoo or raptor rescue. These places will take your healthy culls and feed them to other animals in need. Some may even give you a bit of money for your rabbit culls. Always check first to see what sizes, and if they will take them live or need them already down.


On occasion you can find a local cull buyer at local shows. These buyers usually have a price per pound. They purchase your culls and take them to their USDA processing plant to butcher, clean and dress for meat supply.


Other resources are those who own large snakes, or feed their dogs/cats a RAW diet.


3.) Retirement. Everyone has that lifer in their barn. Some have more than one lifer. That favorite doe or buck that you just cannot get rid of. Even if he/she is taking up cage space, no longer showing or part of your breeding program. I have seen where one breeder actually has a cute little outdoor community set up for her retired stock. They all live happily in a colony type setting that is fenced off with plenty of grass to graze and housing available.






Let's face it folks. Your not going to support your family on bunny sales, not each and every bunny is going to find that perfect forever home. Not each and every rabbit is going to be that show stopper that will eventuallty sell for 100s of dollars. You cannot continue to keep each and every retired rabbit....well you could, but is your barn big enough?


Before you breed, have a back up plan in place! ​

​Breeding rabbits seems simple enough. Right? Put a boy and a girl together and you will have babies in about 30 days! How Fun! But its not as simple as it sounds. Not if you want to do it right. Not if you breed according to a breed standard and want to breed to improve overall health and conformation. Just because you think your buck and doe will make the most adorable babies, and I am sure they would because what baby bunny is not adorable? It doesnt mean they should be bred together. Especially if your focus is on showing, and breeding quality animals.


We start planning our breedings during the winter months, since here in Montana, there are no shows and really no other bunny business to attend too. We have kept back several offspring from our fall liters to grow out over the winter in hopes that our next herd sire or top producing doe is in there.


First and foremost, the most imporant thing to learn about breeding is how your lines develop and how well they mesh together. Some lines develop slowly and some rather quickly. This is key information to know as when you hold back juniors to grow out, you really dont want to grow out an entire litter for two years. You also want to take note as to how lines mesh. Some lines excell in great offspring when crossed, or line bred. While others bomb horrifically. This in it's self is a learning process. So dont worry too much. After time, watching your litters grow and develop you will lean which lines mesh and which dont as well as how each line develops and matures. And of course this always changes when you bring in new stock, and breed new crossings.


To begin our planning we look back at our keepers from the previous breeding seasons. I personally breed in two sets, Spring and Fall. I do not breed for Easter Babies and I will even refuse to sell a rabbit around Easter unless I know you are a ARBA member and will be adding this animal to your current herd for breeding and/or showing. My spring breeders are usually those who I want to move on, holding out my best or previously used does for later litters in the fall. This way my best does do not loose their conditioning for the show season. Each animal is gone over carefully, noting faults and places of improvement as well as good and valuable qualities that I would like to continue. Once again, the standard is pulled out and studied to ensure that I am making the correct choices.


I first look at each and every pedigree, I note which crosses did well. What lines combined with what lines meshed perfectly and gave me a result I wanted. I look at how the offspring of certain parings matured and try to match up others the same. To be a buck in my barn, you cannot be mediorcore. Especially if you want to stay. On occasion, some bucks are moved on in the spring, only so I can keep part of that line, and improve the faults on the bucks themselves. Always striving to improve!


I take a look at each animal after noting each fault and good quality. I want to match up pairs such as: a doe with a narrow snipey head but great depth and balance to overall body to a buck that had good width to the head, a nice crown and also good overall balance to the body. By doing this, I hope to continue consistancy through the body, while at the same time improving the structure of the head set. In some cases this can easily be done by breeding back to the father or mother. Linebreeding can be done effectively to correct faults if done on occasion. I use the in and out method for linebreeding. Breed in on generation and out the next.




The next and final thing taken into consideration when matching up is color. I do have my favorite colors, colors I am hoping to produce, and colors that I hate and dont ever want to produce. Also, I look at those colors that are not showable. Of course, color is not a deal breaker for me. For example, I dislike REW and Opal with a passion and have also worked hard at removing the steel aspect from my breeding program. But alas, REW, Opal and even the occasional steel pops out. And yes, some are held back because type wise, they are the best out of the litter. On the other hand I have kept a couple that may not have been best type wise because they are the color I wish to produce.


The one thing I truely want to avoid is unrecgonized colors and unshowable colors.




Having several bucks to choose from makes choices easier and gives a bit more wiggle room when planning a litter.


So to summarize here is a look at the breakdown:


1st Body type
2nd Lineage
3rd Color


Last but not least, when you plan to do your litters dont breed all your first time mom's at the same time. Try to breed a mixture of experienced and first time moms. This way if you are in need of a foster doe, you have one. Also count on all your does taking...chances are one or two will miss, but I have had it happen where they all have took to the breeding. You do not want to overload yourself, as I have many times, with juniors and not having the proper cage space to grow out hopefuls. You want to be able to take your time to pick and choose which is the best. And you cant do this at 6 or 8 weeks of age. Its always best to grow until at least 12 weeks or 3 months and start making your choices there.