How to pick them up?

GBov · #1 09/11/11, 09:49 AM

I have just volunteered to be rabbit leader at our 4H grounds. We are going to be breeding a few pet rabbits this year but the main project is getting the meat rabbit project up and running.

They are HUGE!!!

We have two bucks and three does and they make three of the pets.

Please, could someone tell me how to handle something larger and better armed then my cats? That really doesn't want to be touched or, more important, picked up!

They are really mellow, not growling or charging but when I reach into the cage they just run in circles to get out from under my hand.

Californians, if that makes any difference to the handling.

jandersen · #2 09/11/11, 08:57 PM

I hold my Bunnys like a football with their eyes under my arm to keep them calm. My californian doe will let me carry her however I want she's a sweetheart. My nzw buck does not like picked up so I cover his eyes with my arm. As for running away I give healthy treats like some mellon or stale bread when go to the cages. It didn't take long for them to come to me.

scpankow · #3 09/13/11, 11:13 PM

The easiest way with animals that don't want to be taken out of the cage is to "scruff" or hold by the skin/fur on top of the shoulders, lift the rabbit up and put your free hand under their hindquarters to support. Lift the rabbit out of the cage and if they don't struggle, pull them to your body and cradle with their head tucked into your elbow. If they struggle, lower them quickly to the ground or other firm surface so you don't get scratched up. It may take them a little bit of time to trust you, so I would wear long sleeves and maybe gloves to protect from their hind claws. They can scratch up the back of your hand in no time flat, even when you have them scruffed. Good luck!
Shannon

Quote:

Originally Posted by GBov

I have just volunteered to be rabbit leader at our 4H grounds. We are going to be breeding a few pet rabbits this year but the main project is getting the meat rabbit project up and running.

They are HUGE!!!

We have two bucks and three does and they make three of the pets.

Please, could someone tell me how to handle something larger and better armed then my cats? That really doesn't want to be touched or, more important, picked up!

They are really mellow, not growling or charging but when I reach into the cage they just run in circles to get out from under my hand.

Californians, if that makes any difference to the handling.

oregon woodsmok · #4 09/14/11, 03:26 AM

My tame rabbits get picked up with one hand behind their elbows (under the chest) and the other hand supporting their rump. Then they get carried like a football.

They don't seem to like dangling, so the more support you give them, the more secure they will feel, and the better they take to being picked up and carried.

I've got one mostly grown rabbit that had the misfortune to be purchased as a pet for out-of-control young children and that one apparently can't be picked up safely by any method. I'm considering a harness and crane to move her around. Or welding gloves.

Zeet_Cranberry · #5 09/14/11, 12:24 PM

Don't pick them up like a suitcase by the scruff of the neck. In fact in the youth contests at ARBA participants lose points if they don't handle their rabbit correctly...and "scruff" is high on the don't do list. Put your hand under their belly and lift them, then get your hands/arm under their feet to support as quickly as possible. The football hold with the head under your arm is right. Cali's aren't really huge....they're smaller than Flemish or French Lops. Just be firm and gentle and keep them supported.

scpankow · #6 09/14/11, 02:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zeet_Cranberry

Don't pick them up like a suitcase by the scruff of the neck. In fact in the youth contests at ARBA participants lose points if they don't handle their rabbit correctly...and "scruff" is high on the don't do list. Put your hand under their belly and lift them, then get your hands/arm under their feet to support as quickly as possible. The football hold with the head under your arm is right. Cali's aren't really huge....they're smaller than Flemish or French Lops. Just be firm and gentle and keep them supported.

I usually pick my rabbits up with one hand under the belly and one hand under the hindquarters, but it isn't always possible to pick them up from under their belly. If they are struggling, you will all scratched up. This is what the OP was describing. I was giving them a safe way to get the rabbit out of the cage with no one hurt. There is nothing wrong with scruffing a rabbit, as long as you support their hindquarters as well.

GBov · #7 09/14/11, 04:32 PM

Having tried again today to pick one up (will be breeding them soon) I have another problem. The club made the cages with small rabbits in mind so the doors are small. I can just about get both my arms in but they and the rabbit wont fit back out.

Am doing major remodeling of hte cages just to give the does the right amount of room to breed in but it seems I need to re due the doors too.

My cats are smaller by far than these huge pink eyed white hulks. I got one buck moved by putting a small pet carrier in the cage - its a soft side so it squeezed through the door - and then pushing the buck into it. Even then it took ages - they double back really well - adn I was bleeding freely from wire scratches on both arms.

I WILL master the better way! Just wish I had someone to show me instead of reading the directions and having a try.

oregon woodsmok · #8 09/14/11, 05:44 PM

Oh, yeah. Door too small problem. That makes it very difficult to pick the rabbits up.

Can you buy some more wire and cut the doorways bigger and make new doors?

I've got a home made hutch with a huge door. I though it was way too big but, golly, is it ever nice to work with the rabbits in that cage. So, I am building some new cages and I am going to put the huge doors in them. I can get both arms in there and get the rabbits into a comfortable hold and lift them out that way. Very nice and easy.

Honeytree · #9 09/16/11, 12:52 AM

GBov, I have been doing YouTube searches for weeks to be able to see this! It seems like there are plenty of videos on how to pick up a rabbit when you're standing over it, but the cages aren't designed like that! Seems like the height of the cage would be a factor, too?

Also, I just read tonight in Storey's Backyard Homestead Guide to Raising Farm Animals that picking up by the scruff can damage the fur and skin along their back, which can affect how well the animal shows. I had never heard that before, and I've seen people do it, but this author discouraged it.

Dirk · #10 09/16/11, 01:36 AM

I use the one hand under the chest and other hand under the feet (football) method but i still get scratched up if I carried them more than just a couple yards.

Now I use an old rectangular plastic clothes basket to carry them any distance, like to their play yard. It works very very well. They get to have all four feet on the "ground", no one is invading their "personal space", they like to look through the holes to see where we are going and best yet most of my scratches have almost completely healed.

I cut an opening in the end of the clothes basket and flip it upside down in their play yard and they love to rest/hide inside it too. I keep the opening against my body when I'm carrying it so they can't escape. I got the idea from those doggy/kitty igloo thingys I couldn't afford to buy.

brandkelz · #11 09/16/11, 11:09 AM

We do something similar to that with a medium tupperware storage container. This way all we have to do is get them inside that then we can carry them where ever we need to. The rabbits seem to not mind that as much at all.

akane · #12 09/16/11, 05:19 PM

Every breeder I've seen scruffs them to some degree except himis since I was told any bruising in that area can lead to permanent smut. For my large rabbits I usually scruff to hold in place then put my other hand under the rabbit behind the front legs opposite of the pressure from my top hand and bring them to the front of the cage or closer to me. It avoids broken toenails on the cage wire to lift them a little but they aren't fully dangling by the scruff. Once I get them in easy reach I slide my hand that is scruffing them down around the shoulder and hold the front feet with the hindquarters pinned against me by my elbow and my other hand supporting the belly with possibly grabbing the hindfeet. So it eventually ends up like the football hold but with the feet pinned so they can't flail around tearing me up. Necessary for some of my meat rabbits in colony that haven't been handled since they were 2 weeks old. I had one batch I was busy moving house while they grew up and they didn't get handled at all. I looked like I got in a fight with a wood chipper by the time I got them all caught, inspected, and butchered. Even if lifted by the scruff they figured out how to swing their back legs up and slice my forearm. I had to lay on a couple until they calmed enough I could scoop them quickly in to a cage for transport. I try to catch them weekly now because in the end it leads to less wounds.

My small rabbits I just scoop from underneath them because I can get my fingers up their sides so they can't slip off of my hand before I get them fully off the ground.

GBov · #13 09/19/11, 09:00 AM

Thank you Thank you thankyouthankyouthankyou!!!!!

I now know I am not hte only person to scoop rabbits up into things to carry them lol!

My plan now is to take the partitions out of quite a few cages to make them into doe cages and use the wire from inside the cages to make the new BIGGER doors. I will then get some wire cage door covers (must have a look on line today!) to cover the doors and door ways. That way my wire carry cage (to be made ASAP) will fit inside the doors without my getting scratched up on the doors/doorways.

It might sound silly for a rabbit leader to not want to carry rabbits around but I really like petting them, NOT moving them! My colony buck comes right up for petting and scratching his back and thats great, we get some time together and he doesnt hurt me lol.

brandkelz · #14 09/19/11, 01:01 PM

I hate moving them too. Even our most gentle rabbits are not so "gentle" if you dont do the moves exactly right. Wife doesnt seem to have a problem, but me and my arms seem to be a chew toy or something if I have to do any moving....

GBov · #15 10/05/11, 05:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by brandkelz

I hate moving them too. Even our most gentle rabbits are not so "gentle" if you dont do the moves exactly right. Wife doesnt seem to have a problem, but me and my arms seem to be a chew toy or something if I have to do any moving....

Was gifted a silver blue female rabbit - I think she is an American but dont know for sure - and getting her out of her cage, into my carrier and then back out of it into her new cage here at home, well, it was a fight the entire way. She managed to scratch the back of my hand as she lunged growling at the carrier and then more growling when I was putting her in the new cage.

Got a little gentle hands on after feed and water went into the cage but I am NOT looking forward to trying to breed her!

houndlover · #16 10/05/11, 07:38 PM

double post

houndlover · #17 10/05/11, 07:41 PM

The national 4H book has good illustrations. You can also youtube 4H videos on rabbit handling.

I push the rabbit so it is facing left in front of me. I grab the scruff AND the ears with my right nad, push the rabbit into my armpit, and scoop the rest of the rabbit against my body, supporting its hind quarters. By hiding its head against your body, it will quiet the rabbit. If the rabbit is facing right, reverse the above procedure. Keep your hands away from the clawed feet, just let them dangle. Wear gloves on a growling rabbit - there are leather welding gloves in my rabbitry! It's actually easier to pull them out of a cage butt first, put them in head first. Keep your rabbits claws clipped and you'll get scratched less.

boundarybunnyco · #18 10/05/11, 07:59 PM

I also have trouble with this, but only with my flemish giants. they are so huge at seven months! It's a struggle to move them from one cage to another. I bought a cat carrier when they were small, now they are bigger than the carrier!
I have to practically lay on the buck to get a grip on him, then capture his back legs and try to get him in the "football" hold. he escaped once, and I baited him up to me with carrots. Hubby picked him up and the rabbit screamed, and so did hubby! lol hubby is 135 lbs soakin wet and the rabbit almost took him down.

lastfling · #19 10/06/11, 07:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by boundarybunnyco

Hubby picked him up and the rabbit screamed, and so did hubby! lol hubby is 135 lbs soakin wet and the rabbit almost took him down.

Now that's a mental image - almost spit my coffee when I read it.

GBov · #20 10/06/11, 08:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lastfling

Now that's a mental image - almost spit my coffee when I read it.

Me too