Rabbit Vocabulary

Word/AKA    Meaning

Agouti
A color where the hair shaft has three bands of color

ARBA
American Rabbit Breeders Association. http://www.arba.net/ – If you are really serious about rabbits, join ARBA!

Bloodline/Strain    
A group of rabbits of the same family blood that reproduce with similar characteristics

Breed    
A class of domestic rabbits that reproduces itself with distinctive characteristics, such as type of fur, markings, shape, and size. Mini Rex and New Zealands each have characteristics specific to their breed

Breeder    
Someone who raises a certain breed or number of breeds seeking to match the to the Standard of Perfection for the given breed

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

Broken    
The broken variety consists of any recognized breed variety color with white. The eye color is to correspond with the color specified under the respective solid colored variety. White toe nails preferred but a colored nails is not a DQ. An evenly balanced pattern may garner more points than an unbalanced pattern.. (No preference given for a butterfly over nose spots)

Buck    
Boy Rabbit - An intact male rabbit

Butterfly    
A marking across a rabbit's nose that covers the whiskers and upper lip. Broken Mini Rex must have a butterfly or nose spots to be showable

Charlie    
A very lightly marked broken rabbit or rabbit of a marked breed

Condition    
The overall physical state of a rabbit in relation to health, cleanliness, fur, and grooming

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. Culling methods vary among rabbit breeders.

Dam    
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.

Gestation    
The time between conception and birth. Pregnancy. In rabbits, gestation is usually 28-35 days.

Kindling    
refers to the birth and raising of babies.

Kit    
The proper name for a baby rabbit.

Litter    
A group of young rabbits, or kits, born to a doe at the same time (siblings).

Molt/Molting    
The process of shedding hairs and getting a new coat of fur.

Nest Box    
A box in the doe's cage where the kits are born and live in for the first few weeks.

Pair    
A buck and a doe bought or sold together for breeding purposes.

Pedigree    
A written record (in chart form) of a rabbit's ancestry, including three (sometimes more) generations: the parents, grandparents, and great grandparents. Information on a pedigree usually includes 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.

Rabbitry    
A rabbit farm

Rex Fur    
A type of fur found only on Rex and Mini Rex rabbits.The velvet texture of Rex fur comes from the absence of guard hairs.

Sire    
The father of a rabbit

Snipey    
describes an elongated and narrow head. An undesirable appearance of extra leanness.

Solid     
Having the same uniform color over the entire rabbit. There are no markings or shadings. This is sometimes a judging classification within a breed

Sport    
A rabbit untrue to the characteristic markings of its breed

Standard of Perfection    
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. The breed standard is the goal of rabbit breeders.

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. A rabbitry usually chooses a specific method of numbering and lettering for all of their rabbits.

Trio    
1 buck and 2 does bought or sold together for breeding purposes.

Type    
refers 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    
The process of removing young rabbits from the doe for nourishment and care. Weaning age is between 6 - 8 weeks

 Here is a great website with even more of the frequently asked questions. She also has alot of other very useful information.

Rabbit FAQs
by The Nature Trail Rabbitry