Rabbits

What is it all about?

Whether you see rabbits as soft and cuddly pets or as a business opportunity, the Rabbit project is flexible for your interest. Through hands-on activities, learn about selection, care, breeding, and more.

Grow in Your Project

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

Member Resources

Rabbit curriculum cover

Rabbit Project Curriculum
3 levels (grades 3-12)

Free Downloads

Project Leader Resources

Rabbit curriculum cover

Rabbit Project Helper’s Guide
3 levels (grades 3-12)

PYD Media Collection

Many educational resources, including a learning lab kit.

Take Your Project Further!

  • Tour a rabbit producer’s farm
  • Attend a rabbit show and observe the judge and their techniques
  • Design a business card or marketing brochure for your farm
  • Host a rabbit skill-a-thon for your club or county
  • Organize a rabbit showmanship contest
  • Attend a national rabbit conference
  • Learn about the different uses for rabbits; meat vs. non-meat production

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

Adapted with permission from Wyoming State 4-H, Project Information Sheet, Rabbits. Retrieved from: https://www.uwyo.edu/4-h/projects/animal-science/rabbits.html.

This page is optimized for printing
Support Extension