How do I.....

[Olamina]

tell my rabbits apart? I have a Californian boy and girl and they look identical. I know who is who at the moment cause they are penned separately but when I go to breed them how do I know who to pull out of the cage? I googled but I got a lot of dumb answers like overfeed one so one is clearly fat and looks different. I also got some that seemed a bit extreme such as tattooing the rabbits. Is there a happy medium? Please help any and all help is much appreciated!

 

[GLENMAR]

Ear tattoos is the best way. You could just remember which crate the doe was in,
watch them while breeding, then immediately remove her.

 

[bcnewe2]

I'm only repeating what have seen done with other animals, I have not had to do this myself...

Put a little notch in one ear. It won't hurt long and its permanant . I've had my sheep rip an old ear tag out and they don't even flinch, but no experience with other ears.

Would be easier and IMO less hurtful than scraping for a tattoo.

 

[VickieB]

I have the same problem with my buck and 3 does. I solved the problem by throwing in a remote control...

 

[animalmom]

"Field and Stream" works well for me.

Of course some nice jewelry works well with the does as they always go for the bling-bling.

You can always flip one of the rabbits over to see if it has the testicles.

On a serious note: Your does develop a large ruff under their chin. You can easily see it on a 6 month old doe. Your bucks can also develop a ruff, but their ruff will be much, much smaller. Unless your males are overweight you can use the ruff to ID your does from the bucks.

Also does have a more pointed nose than the bucks, who usually have a square nose.

Never fear, as you get more time with your rabbits you will find the identification problem will go away. If you are really worried about who is who you can take a permanent magic marker and put a stripe down the buck's back before you put your doe in with the lucky guy. The strip will go away in a few days, but it lasts long enough for a couple breeding and is always renewable.

I strongly, strongly, strongly suggest, did I mention strongly enough times, that you do not let your animals get overweight. Fat rabbits do not breed and fat rabbits are not healthy.

Good luck with your buns! I hope you find raising rabbits as enjoyable as we all do. Let us know if you have any questions. Rabbit folks love to chat.

 

[secuono]

Tattooing is not extreme.
Notch an ear, that's more out there.
Use a sharpie and mark ears all the time.
Use food stain to color a dot on one of them.
Also, Californians do have different patterns of their points, just be more observant and you'll see it.

It's obvious who to remove when breeding, the buck will fall off, pull the doe out right then. You should NEVER leave the doe in with the buck, you need to stand there and watch, period.

 

[nawma]

Vickie I spewed coke all over my screen when I read your post!

 

[brentr]

Use a sharpie and mark ears all the time.
Use food stain to color a dot on one of them.
Also, Californians do have different patterns of their points, just be more observant and you'll see it.

X2. I keep a sharpie pen to mark ears for all sorts of reasons. It's temporary and fades in a matter of days.

 

[Moonshine]

On this might sound a little crazy (as most things I say) but couldn't you just look at their huevos or hoohoos? I know its a little out there and kind of crazy but it works for me. Also the Sharpie in the ear has worked before. We had a done that had her name written in her ear when we got her and it stayed for a long time. Personally huevos are pretty easy to spot since they are bald. I'm just saying that's pretty much a ring dinger its a boy.

 

[VickieB]

I love BYH! Everyone has such a good sense of humor, which is needed in this day and age!