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How to Raise Rabbit by Samantha & Daniel Johnson
Rabbits are a wonderful animal to raise as a pet or as
part of the livestock on a farm. They are a great starter animal for
children who participate in 4-H or other rabbit shows. This book will
detail information on raising animals in both urban and rural
situations, breed types, housing and food requirements, and general
health care for the rabbit. The book will help you determine what rabbit
breed will best suit your needs and inform you of what you need to know
to keep your rabbit happy and healthy. Advice on showing your rabbit
will also be included.
Book News Annotation:
The Johnsons are engaged with raising and showing horses as well as
rabbits from their home in Wisconsin. Here they write specifically for
youngsters, and their treatment has been reviewed and approved by a
scholar of youth development and agricultural education at Purdue
University. The chapters include establishing a rabbitry; feeding;
raising rabbits for meat, fur, or fancy; the pet rabbit; kindling, kits,
and care; and showing rabbits. High quality color photographs adorn most
pages. Annotation ©2009 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
About the Author
Samantha Johnson has been raising rabbits since she was 11 years old. A
freelance writer who is a certified horse judge and works on the family
horse breeding farm, Samantha wrote the books The Field Guide to Rabbits
and How To Raise Horses.
Daniel Johnson specializes in equine photography, but he also enjoys
photographing many other subjects, such as dogs, farm animals, gardens,
and rural life. His images are found in magazines, books, greeting
cards, and calendars nationwide. Dan also manages the family owned horse
farm and oversees the breeding, training, and showing of their horses.
Two of his books include The World's Greatest Horse Poster Book and How
To Raise Horses. Daniel lives near Phelps, Wisconsin.
This excerpt of the new book, How to Raise Rabbits, offers advice on
choosing your first rabbits:
Decision-making can seem a little daunting when you first start off with
the intention of raising rabbits. Your initial choices can have a
profound and long-lasting effect on the success or failure of your
venture, so you will obviously want to make sure that you choose
carefully when selecting breeding stock. It's easy to buy rabbits. All
you have to do is head down to your nearest pet shop, and you'll
undoubtedly find plenty to choose from. Delightful as they may be, they
are probably only "pet quality" rather than "breeding
quality" rabbits. Beginning breeders often make the common mistake
of rushing into their purchases. Once the decision to raise rabbits has
been made, they want the rabbits immediately. They have made plans, and
they want to put the plans into action, now. Hasty purchases are often
made in an effort to get their hands on any furry animal with long ears
and an affinity for carrots, regardless of quality, type, or pedigree.
That's why it's important to remember that having ten mediocre rabbits
is not better than having three top-quality rabbits. It is an oft-quoted
saying, but it bears repeating: focus on quality, not quantity. If you
channel your energy into striving to produce rabbits of the highest
quality, your breeding program will be so much the better because of it.
This is not to say that a person cannot produce quality and quantity, as
that can and does happen. But for a beginner breeder just starting out,
the tendency can be to get started quickly with "a bunch of
rabbits" in order to establish themselves as a viable breeder,
without really considering the long term effects of their choices. It is
much better to focus on achieving quality with whatever number of
rabbits you have, instead of focusing on producing vast numbers of
rabbits without really considering their type and quality. Another
aspect to consider is how quickly your number of rabbits can increase.
It's not necessary to start out with a dozen rabbits. A trio (one buck,
two does) is an ample number to get you started on the road to raising
rabbits. Their subsequent litters will allow you to quickly increase
your number of rabbits with only selective additions of purchased
rabbits later on. Let's say that you have set out to find the trio of
rabbits that will establish your rabbitry and jump-start your dreams of
raising rabbits. What characteristics should you look for? What's vital
and what's not? How can you choose the best rabbits, and where do you
start looking? Although it may be an obvious statement, the most
important qualification is that the rabbits you purchase should be
healthy. This means that they should be free of any type of congenital
or contagious diseases. You will only want to purchase rabbits that are
absolutely and entirely the picture of perfect health. This also means
that they should be free of any type of disqualifying defect, such as
malocclusion of the teeth, blindness, missing toenails, or a torn ear.
Never compromise in these areas, as they are vitally important to the
future welfare of your rabbitry, and you want your foundation stock to
be as nearly perfect as you can find.