Rabbit Rhythms of August
What Breed is my Rabbit?
Do you own a mystery rabbit? If you could, would you love to know its breed?
No prob - we’ve just created an e-book tool that will help you figure it out.
Or...
Do you have your favorite rabbit breeds, but would like to know more about all the other breeds of rabbits?
Great, me too.
One of the fascinating things about rabbits is the huge variety between breeds, even though they all stem from a single genus and species, Oryctolagus cuniculus (the European wild rabbit).
The more I learn about the different breeds, the more fascinated I become.
Seriously, there are like 170 different breeds around the globe, many of which are highly distinctive, and some which are similar, of course.
I've been collecting lots of info about these various breeds, as well as a ton of photos from various rabbit shows.
With this information, we recently published our newest World of Raising Rabbits e-book, titled...
Domestic Rabbit Breeds:
A Kaleidoscope of Variety
Perhaps you'll find your own mystery rabbit pictured here!
With the specifics of each breed spelled out in detail, along with multiple large photos, you’re likely to find a rabbit breed that closely resembles your rabbit.
And if not, there is a whole section in this e-book that will walk you through the process of identifying your rabbit’s traits.
You can then match those traits to the breeds most likely to have contributed their genetics to your rabbit.
Domestic Rabbit Breeds explores the qualities and history of 50 rabbit breeds known in the USA. Most of these breeds are also known and accepted in the UK, so we also included the British parameters for the breed.
Most pages have one or more large photos. I am visual – and photos help give understanding of the value of a breed, especially if those photos are big enough that they don’t send you searching for a magnifying glass.
Free Rabbit Breed Information in Digest Form
Yeah, this e-book will cost a little bit of green (to help us buy the beans and rice), but Raising-Rabbits is still all about ‘free.’ There’s still lots of free rabbit breed information linked at the Rabbit Breeds page, and we will be posting “digest” versions of breed information for a few more breeds.
The information page for Domestic Rabbit Breeds is at:
www.raising-rabbits.com/breeds-of-rabbits.html.
Check it out!
PS:
Do you recognize the 4 breeds of rabbits pictured with this story? If yes, feel free to post your answer(s) to the Raising-Rabbits Facebook page!
Healthy Rabbits
Scarred Cornea vs Cataract
A Raising-Rabbits website visitor asked:
"One of our 4 week old satin baby's eyes have become completely clouded over and blue. It looks like it may be cataracts as you can no longer see a pupil at all. Is this an infection that can be treated or is my lil bun going to be blind now? I use Vetericyn to treat eye infections and irritations in my other rabbits, will this help her?"
Our Response:
Cataracts form inside the eyeball, and therefore are only visible through the pupil, that black part of the eye that the animal sees through. Cataracts are opaque, and turn the black a milky white, rendering the rabbit blind in the affected eye.
Given the age of your rabbit -
4 weeks - it is much more likely that a scratch on the cornea, or a
case of nestbox eye, has progressed into an eye infection which has scarred the cornea.
Eye infections are on the outside of the eye. An infected cornea can turn milky white in its entirety, obscuring not only the black pupil, but also the entire colored portion of the eye.
If this infection is not treated with antibiotics in time to minimize the scarring, the cornea will remain opaque, rendering the rabbit blind in that eye.
Get a vet's opinion right away.
Vetericyn is fine for eye irritations, but for serious infections, antibiotics are necessary.
Rabbits in the News
Florida Farm Provides Rabbits for the Dinner Table
Seely’s Ark is a large rabbit farm located in Florida, which we learned about through the linked article. This "large" commercial operation raises and butchers rabbits, and to “hedge against the vicissitudes of the rabbit market,” they also added chickens.
Rabbit breeders interested in possibly moving their hobby rabbitry in the direction of commercial production will find this article instructive.
Find more examples of rabbit farms here
Like this newsletter?
Maybe your friends would too...
Your friends at Raising-Rabbits.com wish you a wonderful August, 2014.
Happy summer, and enjoy your rabbits!
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