What breed would you reccommend for children?

[BarredRockMomma]

I have been hired to create a curriculum for a preschool and to manage the animals on the farm. The preschool is on a farm and the farmer wants to incorporate animals into the preschool. We will have goats, sheep, rabbits, and chickens. What we want to know is which breed would you recommend in this set up? We need a breed that makes financial since for a farm, he wants to use the rabbits for meet, but also that are gentle so that preschool age kids 3-5 can be around them on a regular basis.

 

[P.O. in MO]

I have only been raising rabbits for a year so I hope you get more input from other breeders with more experience in different breeds. I raise New Zealand White rabbits. I have read that more NZW rabbits are raised for meat than any other breed and are known for their docile nature. I have 6 adult rabbits and 3 of them have bitten me at one time or another. I think a lot of a rabbits temperament comes from how much they were handled when they were young. I don't think you can go out and buy a rabbit that has been raised by a breeder who doesn't spend a lot of time handling his rabbits and expect to get one that likes to be picked up and handled. This is just my experience and like I said, I am fairly new at this. I hope you get some more input on this as there are a lot of different breed represented on this board and I am sure there are other breeders out there with a great deal more experience than me.

 

[Hens and Roos]

We have Californian breed and they are a meat breed- the babies are fairly mild but as they get older/bigger their personalities can change. We also have a pair of French Angora's for fiber. In both breeds the bucks are more friendly compared to the does. Our French Angora buck is like a small puppy dog.

I agree about getting the rabbits at a young age- they seem to adjust so much better than getting an adult. We have seen this with 2 of our rabbits that were brought in as adults= not as friendly compared to the 6 we either raised from kits or brought in at 8 weeks.

 

[Bunnylady]

I'm afraid my experience doesn't really support preschoolers and rabbits interacting, not intimately, at any rate. Rabbits tend to kick violently, so a small child trying to pick one up can really get lacerated. This can result in the rabbit getting dropped, and that can break the rabbit's back. Also, small children tend to move fast and make loud noises, things that tend to frighten rabbits. That said, my kids grew up with rabbits, so I certainly know that with appropriate guidance and supervision, it can be a positive experience all ways 'round.

As to which breed, my experience is that the breeder is more important that the breed. I have had Netherland Dwarfs that were nothing short of vicious, and others that were love bugs - both born in my rabbitry! While handling certainly helps a lot, a certain amount of temperament is inherited from the parents. If you are dealing with a breeder who includes temperament in the things they look for in a rabbit, you will probably get an animal that is at least docile. If production is the only thing that matters to the breeder, you may get animals that mature to be real stinkers, no matter how much you handle them as babies. I have watched rabbit personalities shift wildly when adolescence hits; there have been a few rabbits that I held onto for breeders that I then decided I wouldn't breed because I didn't want to see any more of that attitude!

 

[VickieB]

Are you planning on letting the preschool children handle the rabbits? I have very sweet meat rabbits, but I wouldn't let my young grandchildren handle them. I do take out some of the babies and will let the children hold those in their laps if they are sitting and supervised.

 

[animalmom]

I agree with VickieB regarding letting children handle rabbits, especially little children.

Bunnylady had some good points regarding children moving quickly, loudly and how that doesn't set well with the rabbits.

BRM, you can have children around rabbits, but since the primary function of the rabbits is suppose to be meat production, then treat the rabbits live other livestock. Supervision, supervision, supervision will leave everyone happier.

Good luck with your venture. I think it is important for children to grow up with animals and understand the animals are not stuffed toys. Little children don't understand that smaller creatures can find the children frightening.

 

[HeatherL]

We would have special animal "guests" at our preschool. The kids weren't allowed to handle the animals except during circle time. They had to sit in a circle and couldn't pick any animal up, but they could pet them as they came around the circle.

I could see teaching the children to feed and water a rabbit without handling it. I raised many different breeds and my favorite meat breed was my Californians.

 

[Southern by choice]

Not to be a downer because I am a big believer in children learning about their food and where it comes from as well as husbandry etc, however.... because this is a preschool /daycare you will need to check on a few things for legal purposes. Also insurance requirements.

The NC State fair several years in a row had children get sick from petting the animals at the petting zoo. E-Coli. One child died I believe and others were hospitalized. This year all animals were tested I think and no issues as far as I know.

Children's immune systems are very sensitive and unless they are growing up on a farm where exposure builds immunity this could pose a problem. There are many zoonotic illnesses.

I love your idea! There are so many state regulations as far as daycares and it could prove to be more red-tape and expensive than ever anticipated.

 

[20kidsonhill]

I have a daycare and raise silver Fox rabbits for meat. they are a very calm breed. Good practice for them to do light weight chores. But rabbits that are not handled on a regular basis can be tricky to handle even at 2 or 3 weeks of age.

 

[BarredRockMomma]

The plan at this point is that before the kids get to go outside to the animals there will be a lesson in how to behaive around the animals, sitting still, being quiet ect. Only the animals with the right tempterment would be handled and any questions about the anmial then the kids would not handle them. The farmer has a 14 yr old son and he would handle the day to day care of the rabbits.

My mom ran a daycare 15 years ago so we have the libility issues in the forfront of all the planning that we are doing. With the mentality of if in doubut then don't do it. We are in the planning stage with implemention coming soon.