# How to mark kits that are fostered



## Catalaya's Rabbitry (Dec 14, 2013)

Wondering what everyone does to keep track of the kits they've had to foster over to a new doe? We have used a sharpie marker however those does are really good at cleaning their kits bless their hearts. So does anyone have any other ideas?


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## Hens and Roos (Dec 14, 2013)

be interested to hear this as well, we have yet to have to foster kits to other does.  would a small amount of tattoo ink work further in the ear?


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## Catalaya's Rabbitry (Dec 14, 2013)

Someone told me they use a needle and some tattoo ink and make 2 small dots then later they cover them with the ear tattoo. Someone else told me they use the right ear and put 3 dots in it


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## Bossroo (Dec 14, 2013)

Or one can just put a "V" notch at the tip of one ear .


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## Catalaya's Rabbitry (Dec 14, 2013)

That would cause a disqualification on the show table


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## animalmom (Dec 14, 2013)

I've used the wide tip sharpy and put a wide stripe down the back whoever is being marked.  This needs to be touched up every few days.

I don't worry about permanently marking the pelt because it just doesn't last all that long... as in permanently.

On older kits that are being marked for freezer duty I mark the top of the head instead of the back -- no fear of anything permanent in the pelt.


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## Hens and Roos (Dec 14, 2013)

Catalaya's Rabbitry said:


> That would cause a disqualification on the show table



Is this different for fair shows than?  Last year my DD showed for the first time and her sr. doe has a notch in her one  year- the doe has had it since she was a baby...that's how we knew which one she was.


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## peachick (Dec 14, 2013)

I knew a Rottie breeder  that used nail polish on her pups....  she  would  mark a different leg  per pup.  just  touch  it  up as  the baby grows.


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## Bunnylady (Dec 15, 2013)

Catalaya's Rabbitry said:


> Someone told me they use a needle and some tattoo ink and make 2 small dots then later they cover them with the ear tattoo. Someone else told me they use the right ear and put 3 dots in it


_Any_ marking in the right ear, other than that put there by a registrar (an "R" in a circle, looks like the trademark mark) is a DQ. A small nick in an ear is not a DQ, but the younger the rabbit was when the damage was done, the larger the missing piece will be as the rabbit grows.


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## Beekissed (Dec 15, 2013)

We always just used a sharpie mark inside the ear...they seemed to last for as long as we needed.


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## 20kidsonhill (Dec 16, 2013)

we use a sharpie marker and redo it a couple times week,  REd seems to work well.


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## jhough42 (Feb 2, 2014)

Fair shows typically don't follow ARBA show standards of disqualifications.  Unless it is a sanctioned show, the judges are generally more interested about helping the kids learn and will overlook things that disqualify in the sanctioned show ring.  How did your marking work?  What method did you use?  I would agree with tatooing a dot in the left ear that you can cover later, or simply sharpie-ing it up.  all that baby fur is going away eventually.  You're right about those mommas being good cleaners!  That's the prey instinct at work...no smells to attract predators to the nest, so the babies have to be spotless!


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## jhough42 (Feb 3, 2014)

I had a large and small litter of nzw this week, and wanted to blend them as a couple little ones in the large litter were pretty thin on day two. I want to keep a buck out of this batch to start my line breeding program, so it is important to me to know which litter they came from. I've always raised show prospects in the past and eaten my leftovers, but these guys are just for eating. So I got the nerve to ear notch...oh how it pained me to damage a little ear, ingrained as I am with show dq's and proper type.  But the deed is done! No going back! For anyone queasy about notching newborns, I used a pair of sharp toenail clippers on the tip of the left ear of two kits, making a small slit then meet it to make a v shaped notch. There was no blood and one of the two didn't even flinch. The other barely wiggled for the second cut. So it's pretty painless all around. I grew up raising pigs commercially (before the super farms put everyone out of business) and that is a much measure ordeal.


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