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.

​If a rabbit does not wish to be held and cuddled it will fight, no matter how often it is held, picked up and handled. These scratches are from a 4 month old Mini Lop who is super sweet and is always at the cage wanting treats and pets. And yes, he has been handled daily as all juniors are since birth. He just was not feeling it today. This is one example as to why rabbits, no matter how docile, or small rabbits are NOT recommended as pets for small children!

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! ​