Whether you see rabbits as soft and cuddly pets or a business opportunity, the rabbit project is flexible for your interest.  Beginning level rabbits activities include selection, handling, breeds, parts, management, equipment, feeding, health, breeding and kindling. At the intermediate level through hands-on activities, you will learn how to select, judge, give oral reasons, show rabbits, tattoo, keep records and detect diseases. In the advanced level of the rabbits project, you will learn more about breeding, genetics, culling, determining pregnancy, designing a rabbitry, anatomy, teaching others, registering a rabbit and marketing your product.

Beginner

• Learn the different breeds, varieties and ideal weights
• Determine the use of your rabbit projects
• Develop a rabbit care management plan
• Identify rabbit equipment and its uses
• Locate and name parts of a rabbit
  

Intermediate

• Learn to judge rabbits and give oral reasons
• Discover the difference between 4 class and 6 class
• Explore the different rabbit body types and their function
• Design a plan for preparing rabbits for show
• Learn proper grooming techniques
  

Advanced

• Learn about rabbit breeding programs and genetics
• Manage your rabbitry
• Determine pregnancy and palpation techniques
• Design a rabbitry
• Identify bones on a skeleton
• Evaluate rabbit health
• Develop and maintain a rabbit pedigree system
  

Applying Project Skills to Life

Enhance Your Communication Skills

• Write an educational article about some aspect of rabbit production for your newspaper
• Design a poster on parts of the animal
• Explain the use of rabbits for meat production
• Find a rabbit pen pal and write letters to them about your rabbit experiences

Get Involved in Citizenship and Service

• Volunteer your rabbit(s) for a community activity (i.e., nursing home, ag activity, etc.)
• Volunteer to help at the county fair rabbit show
• Give a talk at your local library about what do to with rabbits found in the wild

Learn about Leadership

• Invite other 4-H members to tour your farm
• Teach others how to safely handle rabbits
• Lead a rabbit selection and feeding clinic
• Lead a tattoo clinic and project workshops

Showing What You’ve Learned

• Show your rabbit
• Make a poster on the economic value of a rabbit
• Prepare an emergency medical kit
• Display genetic variations and line-breeding
• Make a poster on feeding rations
• Do a display on preventative vaccinations
• Make a notebook showing different breeds
• Create a calendar of the daily routine in caring for animals
• Display grooming techniques
• Video interview with a rabbit producer
• Make a poster showing best care techniques for newborns
• Construct a nest box
• Make a poster on how to properly tattoo a rabbit
• Design a rabbit habitat
• Create a rabbit resource notebook