I can has bunnies!!!??????

[DutchBunny03]

Forced matings don't work every time. It is a bit odd that she will not breed. Most rabbits will. She may be experiencing a false pregnancy, or just does not want to breed. Your Satin is very nice. If she had a pedigree, you could definately show her. I looked at Satins for a while before deciding on Dutch.

 

[Bunnylady]

I am just gonna build trust between she and I... I actually did try a "forced mating" and she would. not. have. it.

I think I will try to breed them sometime soon though. I hope to get a litter kindling before cold weather REALLY sets in. If she'll let me of course
Is she a nice looking girl? I thought so, but i really have no idea what to look for in a satin... she was kinda a last minute decision

I'd be curious to know how many of the people who talk about forced matings actually attempt them; a lot of the folks who try it have the same result you did. The doe puts up a fight, the owner gets scratched up, the doe might even get injured. Then, when they finally get the doe positioned, maybe the buck loses interest (bucks may not care for all the drama and interference, too). This was the reason that this study was done - everybody knows about it, but is it really a useful skill for the ARBA's "registered breeders" (most of which are backyard breeders, by the way) to learn?

The people doing the study were commercial breeders; they were keeping records anyway. They just had to track a couple more types of data; if the rabbits bred naturally, they noted it down, and if they didn't, they were force bred. The does were then palpated, etc, as usual. When the results were compared, the difference was startling. When the rabbits bred naturally, they had an 80% or better conception rate, when they were force bred, they had an 80% or more failure rate. So there's the question - when even pro's who know what they are doing are failing to get the desired result 4 out of 5 times, is it really worth the hassle? I know when I read the article, my thought was, "well, nice to know that my decision to not risk getting all scratched up probably hasn't cost me a significant number of litters."

TroyerGal, your Satin is a pretty color, and she has a nice coat; but more than that is very difficult to say just from a picture. You can get a rough idea, but to truly evaluate a rabbit, you really need to get your hands on it. Pictures can distort things so many ways; just how the rabbit is posed can really change how it looks. I remember seeing an article in Domestic Rabbit a number of years ago that was written by a judge, which included 3 photographs, and you were supposed to score the rabbits in the pictures according to the breed standard and place them in an imaginary class. It was a trick - the pictures were all of the same rabbit, it was just posed slightly differently in each picture. A good haunch can look chopped off if the feet are positioned slightly forward of the ideal point, a back can look long and flat if the feet are too far back, etc. Even with the more active breeds that are supposed to be allowed to move around on the show table, the judge spends some time with his hands on them because there are some things you just can't see, you have to feel.

 

[TroyerGal]

I'm doing 4H in October... Hopefully I can show her next fair. Would you say she's a red satin? or a copper satin? i (foolishly) didn't get much info from the breeder!

 

[Bunnylady]

Let's see . . . .
.
Red - color is a bright orange-red, spread evenly over the entire body. Eye circles and jaw line creamy colored. Belly color reddish orange to dark cream, underside of tail and crotch area light ivory color. Lap spots (between belly and crotch) deep orange-red. Undercolor on back and sides is to be orange.

Faults - lacing on ears or body smut

Disqualification - white undercolor

Copper - Undercolor slate blue. Intermediate ring color clearly defined and bright coppery orange. Surface color is combination of black and coppery orange. Body surface color should extend down the sides and over the rump as far as possible.Head, chest, feet, outer leg color to match body color. Neck and jaw line fur slightly lighter than body color. Eye circles light creamy orange. Top of tail black, underside of tail cream. Belly undercolor slate blue or white, belly surface color orange or cream.

Faults - faded undercolor, lack of bright coppery orange ring color

Disqualify - extremely dark or light surface color, lack of slate blue undercolor on back and sides. absence of ring color.



Looks like a Red to me.

 

[TroyerGal]

Yeah, seems like it to me too

 

[DutchBunny03]

4-H showing is fun, but they only judge showmanship(how you handle the rabbit) and not the rabbit itself

. I wish 4-H would do a show that included both the exibitors performance AND the rabbits quality as compared to the breed standard.

 

[TroyerGal]

Yeah, that would be more fun/challenging... Do you have a good website that has standard of perfection for rabbits?

 

[DutchBunny03]

Sadly, no. You have to poke around a little. The easiest way would be to buy the Standard of Perfection from the ARBA store. Amazon has them sometimes, too. If you go to the ARBA website, go to "recognized breeds", and then go to the breed specialty club of the breed you want the standard for, you might find something, but I can't be sure.

 

[TroyerGal]

Okay, I'll check it out tomorrow... it's time for bed *yawn*.

 

[DutchBunny03]

http://www.asrba.org/breeds.htm#stvarieties Here is a link regarding color varieties, but you might not find much in the way of body type requirements.