Miren's babies, Nibbler and Miren

Miren had just become pregnant when I bought her and they didn't know and I didn't know. They were a little embarrassed since they are hellbent on purebred bunnies (they have 2 breeds) and the one I got is a Gotland which is seen as a really rare breed that you should never cross with something else. And this was their fault.

So these are Gotland/Dutch.





And these are the adults:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2w_R_ZINJU



I also have to toss in a question. If I am to mate the female again (a planned thing this time!) how long should she wait between to be sure I don't wear her out? I feel I want new kits before the summer is over and then let her rest for a long while but maybe that is too soon?

This forum isn't really the best place for breeding advice, although we're top on rabbit welfare. There are a couple of breeders who post but the majority of us are against it and pro rescue (as there are over 30 thousand rabbits in rescue centres across the UK. Not sure if you're in the UK though). :wave:

But the babies are super cute.

What beautiful babies, SO cute!!

Yea I can understand that there are many unwanted bunnies out there and that is of course not good.

The situation with the Gotland rabbit is a little different though. People are actually queuing to get a purebred Gotland, and they are connected to a protection program to keep our oldest rabbit breeds from getting extinct. We have 2 different breeds near extinction one being Gotland and the other one is called Mellerud. Also very old type bovines and other farm animals like some chicken breeds are connected to the program.

I can understand wanting to preserve old breeds as they are part of our Swedish history.

It took me a long time finding my Gotland bunny since all the ones advertised were sold on the first day. I am glad that I have her though, and the seller hoped that I would at least let her have 2 purebred litters to keep the breed going. I never promised her anything but I know what she thinks.

hiya, the goatland rabbit its self is a mixture of rabbtis its self is it it originally? i know its not showable and can come in lots of colours and pattens? as for breeding i wouldnt breed her again for 4-6 months so she can recover and get used to her surrounding some people think back to back breeding is fine i think its really wrong, and if you do breed spring time is always best time really

Slightly off topic but I have spent two lovely holidays in Gotland

The Bunnies are very cute

leanne2525 said:

hiya, the goatland rabbit its self is a mixture of rabbtis its self is it it originally? i know its not showable and can come in lots of colours and pattens? as for breeding i wouldnt breed her again for 4-6 months so she can recover and get used to her surrounding some people think back to back breeding is fine i think its really wrong, and if you do breed spring time is always best time really

Click to expand...

Work is done to get it more of an official breed. I feel that in the future it will be showable.

The standard was set in the early 90s and since then they have to follow the bloodline and the rules for exterior and so on. The preservation started in the 70s.

It comes from the type of rabbits that were used on farms for several 100 years and the wanted type is the typical "meat" rabbit. The meat rabbits were quite similar around the country but in most places they died out when they stopped being popular as farm animal. A lot of animals make it on Gotland because it is a different environment, living on an island made people stick to the old ways more, with less contact with the mainland.

The Gotland breed was referred to the "farm rabbit" more than 100 years ago and the exterior much similar as today. The rabbits that followed were in that bloodline and not mixed with other rabbits because the island environment. That means they are by nature purebred (And go some 100 years back at least) but also because there was no real selective breeding, they didn't call it a specific breed back then, also other rabbits were probably not crossed with them, at least there is no documentation about that.

That makes for the big variety in color. What is more important is the body shape. The rabbit should be fine boned but muscular. The nose should be small and the face quite narrow (with prominent cheeks on males). The rabbit should be "bum heavy" and ears mid length and rounded.

The biggest difference compared to the old "farm rabbit" is that the patched patterns are more popular these days, so the agoutis have become a bit rarer. Also these days they breed them more selectively so size has increased somewhat.

The breed is now accepted by the Swedish "Jordbruksverket" which opened for the genetic protection program.

There seem to be a lot better chance to preserve the Gotland rabbit because they found quite many rabbits on Gotland. The Mellerud rabbit will face a lot more difficulties since they have a much smaller gene pool and all of them are quite closely related to each other.

The both breeds have very much in common. They are the same type of rabbit and were used for the same purposes in the past. The main difference is that the Gotland has a "fatter" bum and a narrower face. They are both very hardy and healthy.

Those 2 breeds are the only farm rabbit history we have in my country.

I completely understand that.
That's the situation in England anyway and I'm sure it's different in Sweden. I guess they are a part of your heritage in a way?

Yep, part of heritage. I like that attitude because a lot of local things have disappeared because for half of a century people here thought anything local was "dirty" and poor and everything from abroad was great. Now "we" have come to understand we have a few things worth protecting.

I don't push the breeding, I was only thinking if I have all the facts it is much easier to make a decision. I have not even decided if Miren should even have a new litter but I have to know about breeding before I can even make a decision. With this litter I didn't even know was going to happen, I had to crash course in bunny kit raising, and if I ever plan a new litter I want to have as much facts as possible.

Unfortunately to get monetary support and be registered at the genetics program, we have to produce 2 litters a year as a minimum. The seller thought that was quite doable with just one female rabbit, but to me it sounded too much.... So I am not going to do that even if everything I read says the Gotland is hardy enough to easily have several litters a year.

I seem quite lucky with the "unwanted" and unplanned kits. There are already 2 people who want 2 kits each and I haven't even advertised or anything and like I said they are of mixed breed so you wouldn't think they would be that popular (But maybe size helps, at least here the bigger bunnies sell easier and I don't see a lot of ads about those being sold because "the kids lost interest" as I see about the small breeds). So that leaves me with only one to try to rehome.

I'm sure the 4H farm where I volunteer would want the last one but... with the new rules they are facing they have to quarantine every animal they take in for 2 months and they cannot be quarantined on the premises. Oddly they can have non quarantined animals of other types so I think they just bypass the rules or something... It doesn't make sense.

When I went out to check on them, 4 of the 5 babies had fallen asleep in Mirens food bowl! They have a "house" but obviously it is cozier to sleep in a bowl......... :lol:

As far as I know many responsible breeders only mate their does once a year, but a doe can have two litters without too much stress. But breeders in here will sure be able to tell you better.

Why is it so hard getting good pics? Oh yea... moving targets!!! :lol: Also I have a bad camera but I am glad I have it at all, I never really had cameras in my life unless I borrowed one. This is mine miiiine!

Anyway I think I have somewhat better pics now.

The first ones look so angry!! :?

:shock: how cute are they!!

I've heard of them before, I believe they were used in creating the Elfin rabbit, a breed in Sweden which is supposed to be good at jumping (By the way, do you know anything about rabbit jumping?)

What makes them unique? They seem to come in a huge variety of colours and patterns, and they're all a very common shape, or is it simply a historical thing? Surely they would have to of been crossed with other breeds to get all the colours.

The babies are gorgeous by the way. You know your female best, if she had a big litter or doesn't seem to be coping very well I'd give her a very long rest. From reading a few American breeder sites I know some people remate rabbits very soon after giving birth, but personally I don't agree with it. I think you should leave it a while, and when she looks in good condition and appearing ready to breed you can try again

Sorry, rabbit jumping is really not my thing...

As for the colors, they are crossed with other local breeds of course, before people even started creating "breeds". The goal back then was to have a good farming rabbit.

You could argue that they are not special because they don't have the color of the Californian for example, but that does not mean they are not special to us. They were in the past bred for our conditions with food supply and temperature and things like that. And what is more, they link us to history as basically the only local breed left.

Sure, we could choose to stop having them, but we have already sacrificed most of our old Swedish traditions.

A big variety of colors can still be present in a breed. Take for instance Icelandic horse which probably have the most colors compared to any other horse breed. If they are a "better" breed because they are more different from other horses in other aspects, I'd like to also bring forward the European shorthair cat which has been a breed for a long time, even thought from the start it bred "itself" and was not bred selectively. Still that is a real breed today, and what makes them special is basically....... nothing. They just look like any cat.

So yea, that is the long answer to say, it is a historical thing.

The female look very happy and she seems to love having the kits, is not worn out at all and if she got to decide she would have a new litter pronto! She doesn't even raise them all by herself, they have become really independent and they spend as much time with the adult male who love them and they spend ages just cuddling up, he cleans them also.

But still as the human I think she should wait. But I have a feeling I will do this more to please my own conscience than anything.

The reason I wanted to know is that is much easier for us all to have a litter when we are at the summer house compared to later on. If I wait, I have to wait until next late spring/summer. But of course I could do that as well. I just don't want anymore born in my apartment... LOL. Have done nothing else than cleaning up after them I feel like...