Florida 4-H
4-H Rabbit Project
Get ready to dive into an interactive experience designed to help you successfully complete your rabbit project—from start to finish. Along the way, you'll find helpful videos, expert tips, and extra resources to guide you every step of the way. Let’s hop to it!
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Getting Started with Rabbits
Starting a rabbit project can be a fun and exiting experience, but as you would find in any animal project there are a lot of responsibilities. The activities throughout this project will help to make sure that you are well prepared to care for a rabbit. At the top of this page, you will find a document that explains how to properly handle a rabbit. Be sure to read this information before attempting to handle rabbits in this project.
Ready to begin? Let’s find the perfect rabbit project for you!
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Pet Rabbit
Pet rabbits are calm, friendly, and easy to care for - making them great companions. In this project, you'll learn how to choose a healthy rabbit, handle it safely, and provide proper care.
Choose a rabbit (or more!) that fits your lifestyle - you’ll be responsible for housing, feeding, and daily care.
To complete the project, you'll need to finish eight required activities. Click each one below to get started. Each pdf includes instructions and a fun, hands-on task. There’s also one optional activity if you want to dive deeper!
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Show Rabbit
Ready to step into the show ring? This project teaches you how to prepare and show rabbits following American Rabbit Breeders Association (ARBA) guidelines. You’ll build showmanship skills, learn to evaluate rabbits using the Standards of Perfection, and identify traits for strong breeding stock.
To participate, your rabbit must be tattooed and attend at least one rabbit show. If you’re working with a rescue rabbit, we recommend the Pet Rabbit Project instead.
To complete this project, finish nine required activities. Each one includes instructions and hands-on learning. There are also two optional activities for deeper exploration.
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Market Rabbit
The Market Rabbit project focuses on establishing a rabbit-related business and aiming to make
a profit from this endeavor. In order to undertake a successful business, you must first determine
the demand in your community and then find a rabbit option that meets this demand. The Market
Rabbit project investigates four different options within the rabbit industry. The option you choose
will depend on your rabbit’s breed and its production potential, as well as which option interests
you. Using creativity and ingenuity you will be able to use your market option to meet the
demand in your area while making a profit.Four Rabbit Options for the Market Rabbit Project
Rabbit production: The final products for this option are the rabbits themselves, without any further processing. Rabbits are produced for sale as pets, breeding stock, or show quality animals. These rabbits have to possess certain characteristics depending on its planned use.
Fiber production: Textile production uses Angora-type rabbit breeds to produce wool. Using various methods, depending on the rabbit’s breed, the wool is collected from the rabbit several times throughout the year. This wool can be sold raw, without any further processing, or can be spun into yarn.
Fur production: Within this option, the rabbit’s coat is harvested to produce quality pelts that are used in the textile industry. While the Satin and the Silver Fox breed are used, the most commonly used breed is the Rex.
Fur production: Within this option, the rabbit’s coat is harvested to produce quality pelts that are used in the textile industry. While the Satin and the Silver Fox breed are used, the most commonly used breed is the Rex.
Meat production: This option processes the meat of a rabbit that has reached the appropriate age and weight, becoming either fryers or broilers. Breeds of Commercial and Standard body type are used in this production. The most prominent breeds in the United States are the New Zealand and the Californian.
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