# Need help w/sexing 8-week old kits



## savingdogs (Aug 24, 2011)

Okay, here is the deal.

I have no trouble determining the sex of an adult rabbit. 

But these kits! I need to sell the males and keep the females from a group my doe just produced for me, and I seem to be having trouble distinguishing. At this point, all four look remotely alike, kind of a slit in a bump when I pull back the hair. With them wiggling about and not really enjoying my examination, I'm having a hard time being certain. 

Anyone have any tips for me? I need to offer the males up for sale so I don't want to get it WRONG.


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## chickenrunnin (Aug 24, 2011)

How old are they?

Both males and females pop up.. The girls have more of a triangle shape with a slit to the back side. The boys are cone shaped with a circular opening at the top. Let me know if I can be of more help to you.

I have a pretty high sucess rate at about a month old, but I raise Flemish Giants too...


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## manybirds (Aug 24, 2011)

savingdogs said:
			
		

> Okay, here is the deal.
> 
> I have no trouble determining the sex of an adult rabbit.
> 
> ...


The males have a explamation point. the females have a half donut


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## chickenrunnin (Aug 24, 2011)

Many Birds it just the opposite..I went out and took pictures for you of my 3 month olds. As soon as I get it uploaded I will publish them for you too see...

The females have the slits so its easier for the penis to be inserted as it is round. 

In the pictures the female is the brown rabbit and the male is the gray rabbit.


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## savingdogs (Aug 24, 2011)

chickenrunnin said:
			
		

> How old are they?
> 
> Both males and females pop up.. The girls have more of a triangle shape with a slit to the back side. The boys are cone shaped with a circular opening at the top. Let me know if I can be of more help to you.
> 
> I have a pretty high sucess rate at about a month old, but I raise Flemish Giants too...


eight weeks. I think I might have four males, but I need to look at them again in the bright light with your guy's descriptions. I don't think I had any triangle shapes or half donuts. Some just popped out more than others. It seems odd to me that you don't see more....penis on the baby boys like on the adult bucks. Does that happen at sexual maturity?


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## chickenrunnin (Aug 24, 2011)

Can I email these to you?  Can I have your email


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## chickenrunnin (Aug 24, 2011)

Once you figure it out, its really easy to see the difference. My Flemish Giants start showing their testicle at 4 months and are definately larger and more distinguished..if it helps I can take a picture of my adult males to help out. Let me know..


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## manybirds (Aug 24, 2011)

chickenrunnin said:
			
		

> Many Birds it just the opposite..I went out and took pictures for you of my 3 month olds. As soon as I get it uploaded I will publish them for you too see...
> 
> The females have the slits so its easier for the penis to be inserted as it is round.
> 
> In the pictures the female is the brown rabbit and the male is the gray rabbit.


Well in babies that age the males do have a little exclamation point. like a penis but the end is flared out. the females have a kind of half oval


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## savingdogs (Aug 24, 2011)

I am starting to get the sinking feeling I have four males.   I'm trying to increase my doe numbers in my meat rabbit herd. I bought a pair but one doe isn't producing, so I was going to keep the females from the doe that is producing. So far she had a lovely female kit last time around but we accidentally broke its leg so we lost her, so if all four of these are males I'm not going to be a happy camper. 

I'll have to take out your descriptions with me when I check them again.

I don't have any trouble telling adult males and females apart, just these babies. .


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## dewey (Aug 24, 2011)

So true...breed and age can make a difference in sexing...even larger breeds can still have errors at 6 weeks.

After the bun is flipped over and held belly-up cradled in one arm (there's a couple of hold techniques to control any wiggle factor) applying gentle pressure straight downward on each side of the area with the other hand will expose the genitals, instead of just parting the fur without pressure.  If a circular "tube" pops up it's male, if no "tube" up it's female....also google for good pics of male & female...I'd post links but can't access right now.  

Even most very experienced breeders won't guarantee sex at 5-6 weeks old but they will surely offer an exchange if they were wrong and sex was guaranteed.


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## chickenrunnin (Aug 24, 2011)

Deweys explaination is correct. It is hard to sex at an early age...I find mine easiest to sex while they are on a flat surface. I cant figure out how to upload the pictures on here, so I need an email address to send them too.. I just went out and took them, they are on the computer waiting for a destination.


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## dewey (Aug 24, 2011)

chickenrunnin said:
			
		

> Deweys explaination is correct. It is hard to sex at an early age...I find mine easiest to sex while they are on a flat surface. I cant figure out how to upload the pictures on here, so I need an email address to send them too.. I just went out and took them, they are on the computer waiting for a destination.


Thanks much.  I love pics.   You went to that effort just now for pics to help everyone...there's quicker ways but one way is to go to to tinypics.com, then for each pic you want to post....

*click upload image
*select the image from the options on your computer
*where the "resize" option is offered on the tinypic page dropdown menu, select "message board" then click upload
*right click on "IMG Code for Forums & Message Boards" (which is the 2nd option in the drop down menu on tinypic)
*open a reply to post in this thread here on BYH's, and then in that message body just right click, then click "paste"...your code for the pic will appear.  Do that for each pic you want to post...when you click preview post it will show your actual real life photos.


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## chickenrunnin (Aug 24, 2011)

That link does not work....


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## dewey (Aug 25, 2011)

You can just type tinypic.com into your browser window then click enter or go.


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## aggieterpkatie (Aug 25, 2011)

I find it easiest to upload the pics to photobucket and then just copy and paste the IMG link.  I would LOVE to see the pictures!!!  (ok, sounds weird, but I really would like to learn this)


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## Dreaming Of Goats (Aug 25, 2011)

Here's a great link I found: http://www.rabbitnetwork.org/articles/sexing.shtml
At the end of the article, it says something like boy or girl. Click on either one to see close-ups.


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## vkalvacev (Aug 25, 2011)

I didnt want to comment, since I am interested myself, but I've had two litters and did as much research as possible to know boy from girl. The BOY has the hole, and the girl has the slit. It doesnt matter if they are babies, it will maintain that shape when theyre older so please check your information so no one gets confused. (Not trying to be mean, I promise, but newbies like me get confused and then give out false info to new owners.)


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## Ms. Research (Aug 25, 2011)

Dreaming Of Goats said:
			
		

> Here's a great link I found: http://www.rabbitnetwork.org/articles/sexing.shtml
> At the end of the article, it says something like boy or girl. Click on either one to see close-ups.


Thanks Dreaming of Goats for posting that link.  It is a great link and explains exactly what you need to look for.  I've bookmarked it when it's my time to try and sex my kits.   I appreciate the time you took to help a newbie like me.


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## manybirds (Aug 26, 2011)

I have raised rabbits 9 years. The females have a half donut kind of (like i said before a half oval more like) they keep this there whole lives. The males have a little 'exclamation point' the slit dosn't go all the way. it is smooth all the way around except for at the top where in young bucks it flares into a little circle. when the buck reaches sexual maturity the 'flare' will come together so it is smooth to a point on the end.


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## savingdogs (Aug 26, 2011)

Well I have three that I think are females because they look like little doughnuts. And one has a hole in the middle, but a cone-shaped thing. So I think he is male. One of the possible "females" has a narrower doughnut so I'm not really sure about that one. I need a second person to hold it down to check (I'm all scratched up).
I may take photos for you guys as I really need to figure this out. I think I have two for sure females and I need to figure out how many cages I need for them, so I'm counting it as "two" so far.


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## Dreaming Of Goats (Aug 26, 2011)

The link i have is very reliable, and it explains how to hold them so they may be calmer.... The whole doughnut thing really messes me up.

MALE:  1. Looks like a cylinder going straight up or 2. Is just a stick that pokes up.

FEMALE: 1. Looks like a pyramid with a slit on one end. 

The link has photos...


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## savingdogs (Aug 26, 2011)

Your description makes me think I have just one male. Where is that link?


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## dewey (Aug 26, 2011)

http://www.raising-rabbits.com/sexing-rabbits.html  <------- For sexing kits that link has 11 excellent up-close photos, also for sexing adults...and there's pics at different angles.


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## Dreaming Of Goats (Aug 26, 2011)

Here's my link: http://www.rabbitnetwork.org/articles/sexing.shtml

Both links are correct...


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## DianeS (Aug 27, 2011)

dewey said:
			
		

> http://www.raising-rabbits.com/sexing-rabbits.html  <------- For sexing kits that link has 11 excellent up-close photos, also for sexing adults...and there's pics at different angles.


This is the one I used to learn, too. Good photos!


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