Do you need some help understanding the "rabbit words" we use on our web site? Hopefully you can find what you're looking for here!
| These are just a few rabbit words. To learn more of the "rabbit language", read our Rabbit Dictionary! It has a ton of cool rabbit words! |
For a more complete rabbit dictionary, consider purchasing the American Rabbit Breeders Association's Standard of Perfection at www.arba.net!
Rabbit words are listed on the left, next to the second column listing abbreviations or related words. More information about the rabbit clubs below can be found on our rabbit club links page.
| Rabbit Word | Also Known As | Definition | |
| AFNZRB | American Federation of New Zealand Rabbit Breeders. www.geocities.com/newzealandrba/ | ||
| Agouti | A color where the hair shaft has three bands of color. Only seen on Holland Lops in the M-n-M Barn. | ||
|
ARBA |
American Rabbit Breeders Association. www.arba.net | ||
| |||
| Baby Rabbit | Kit | See "Kit". | |
| Bloodline | Strain | A group of rabbits of the same family blood that reproduce with similar characteristics. | |
| Body Type | Type | See "Type". | |
| Boy Rabbit | Buck | See "Buck". | |
| Breed | A class of domestic rabbits that reproduces itself with distinctive characteristics, such as type of fur, markings, shape, and size. Mini Rex, Holland Lops, and New Zealands each have characteristics specific to their breed. | ||
| Breeder | Rabbit Breeder | Someone who raises a certain breed or number of breeds in an effort for the animals to conform to their Standard of Perfection. They are interested in improving the rabbit world with the work that they do. | |
| Breeding Certificate | A certificate written by the owner of a stud buck that includes its pedigree and the date of breeding to a certain doe. This is used as half of a pedigree for the anticipated offspring. | ||
| Buck | Boy Rabbit | An intact male rabbit. | |
| Butterfly | A marking across a rabbit's nose that covers the wiskers and upper lip. Holland Lops usually have butterflies. They are also visible on broken Mini Rex. | ||
| Charlie | A very lightly marked broken rabbit or rabbit of a marked breed. Found in Mini Rex and Hollands, charlies are named for their common Charlie Chaplin mustache like marking. | ||
| Condition | The overall physical state of a rabbit in relation to health, cleanliness, fur, and grooming. | ||
| Crown | In lops, this is the strong basal ridge of cartilage at the top of the head that forms the ear base. A good crown is a must to have a good lop show rabbit. | ||
| Culling | The process of picking the best rabbits in a litter for future show and breeding stock and getting rid of the lower quality animals in the litter. When rabbits are sold to make room in the barn. | ||
| Dam | Mother | The mother of a rabbit. | |
| Dewlap | A fold of loose skin that hangs from a doe's throat. Its only use is to pull fur from while making a nest. | ||
| Doe | Girl Rabbit | An unaltered female rabbit. | |
| Ear Number | Tattoo | See "Tattoo". | |
| Father | Sire | See "Sire". | |
| Gestation | The time between conception and birth. The carrying of babies or pregnancy. In rabbits, gestation is usually 28-35 days. | ||
| HLRSC | Holland Lop Rabbit Specialty Club. www.hlrsc.com | ||
| Illinois | IL | The state to the right of Missouri and home to the world headquarters of the ARBA (in Bloomington). | |
| IRBA | Illinois Rabbit Breeders Association. www.nordickrabbits.com/default.htm | ||
| Kindle | Kindling | A word used to refer to the birth and raising of babies. | |
| Kit | Baby Rabbit | The proper name for a baby rabbit. | |
| Lagomorph | The order that rabbits are classified under. Rabbits aren't rodents, they're lagomorphs, because they have two more incisor teeth than rodents do. | ||
| Litter | A group of young rabbits, or kits, born to a doe at the same time. Siblings. | ||
| Massive | Giving the impression of being large, bulky, heavy, and ponderous. Our New Zealands are often called massive. | ||
| Missouri | MO | A beautiful state and home to M-n-M Rabbits. | |
| Molt | Molting | Shedding hairs and changing into a new coat of fur. | |
| Mother | Dam | See "Dam". | |
| MSRPA | Missouri State Rabbit Producers Association. http://www.geocities.com/missouri_rpa/ | ||
| Nest Box | A box in the doe's cage where the kits are born and live in for the first few weeks. | ||
| NMRRC | National Mini Rex Rabbit Club. www.nmrrc.com | ||
| Pair | A buck and a doe bought or sold together for the purpose of breeding. | ||
| Pedigree | A written chart of a rabbit's ancestry, including three (sometimes more) generations: the parents, grandparents, and great grandparents. It includes information on the rabbits such as date of birth, color, weight, G.C. legs, winnings, registration number, and grand champion number. | ||
| Purebred | A rabbit that meets or closely resembles the standard for their breed and has done so for a number of generations. | ||
| Rabbit Breeder | Breeder | See "Breeder". | |
| Rabbitry |
Rabbit Farm Rabbit Ranch Bunny Barn |
The word used to refer to a rabbit farm. | |
| Rex Fur | A type of fur found only on Rex and Mini Rex rabbits. The fur began as a genetic mutation in France. The velvet texture of rex fur comes from the absence of guard hairs. | ||
| Sire | Father | The father of a rabbit. | |
| Slipped Crown | This is when the crown on a lop is too far forward or too far backward. This causes improper ear carriage. | ||
| Snipey | A word used to describe an elongated and narrow head. An undesirable appearance of extra leanness. | ||
| Solid | Solid-Colored | Having the same uniform color over the entire rabbit. There are no markings or shadings. This is sometimes a judging classification within a breed. In lops, this includes all non-broken rabbits. | |
| Sport | A rabbit untrue to the characteristic markings of its breed. | ||
| Standard of Perfection | THE BOOK. A book published every 5 years by the ARBA that contains the standard of perfection (a description of the theoretically perfect animal) for every recognized breed. This is the book that rabbit breeders strive to match. | ||
| Strain | Bloodline | See "Bloodline". | |
| Tattoo | Ear Number | A permanent method of identification in the rabbit's left ear. This is required for a rabbit to compete in an ARBA sanctioned show. Usually a rabbitry chooses a single method of numbering and lettering for all their rabbits. | |
| Trio | A buck and two does bought or sold together for the purpose of breeding. | ||
| Type | Body Type | A word used to refer to the body conformation of a rabbit. The general description of the physical makeup of the rabbit. | |
| Variety | A division of a breed determined by color. | ||
| Weaning | Wean | The process of making young rabbits independent from the doe for nourishment and care. This is done when the rabbits are between 6 and 8 weeks old. | |
| Please email mail@mnm-family.com or fill our our feedback form with additions or corrections to this page. We would like to make this dictionary as complete and accurate as possible! This page was written by Ryan Missey using the ARBA's Standard of Perfection as a reference. All original portions of this page are Copyright © 2004-07 Ryan Missey. Permission to print for educational use is granted. See our Terms of Usage page for more information. |
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