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How can you tell a rabbits age?

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3.5K views 4 replies 3 participants last post by  MaggieJ  
#1 ·
I've been buying rabbits from the local feed store. Some ot them I've been butchering and some I had planed to breed.
The owner of the store didn't tell me some of the rabbits were mini's or possibly even drwarf rabbits. Even after I repeatedly told him I want to breed for meat he sold me mini's. DH says he wanted the money more than he wanted a customer.
He mixes them up in the display cages and takes them in on consingment. So I don't think he could tell me what they are either.
I didn't realize they were mini's till one kindled. She's just a little bitty thing about 3-4 pounds if she's lucky.
Now I have all this mix of different sized rabbits and I am not sure which one's are going to grow up to be meat rabbits. And which ones may be near their full size already.
Any help is appreciated on figuring out how old these guys are. I'm getting to the point where I want to clear them all out and start over. Dh thinks he can market the mini's, but I don't want to mess with them. I wanted freezer meat for my efforts.
Please don't make fun or me, I kinda feel dumb right now.
 
#4 ·
You can tell a rabbit's age (roughly) by looking at the teeth. If the rabbit is very young, the teeth may be semi-transparent. A young adult would have white teeth and on an older adult, the teeth would be horn-coloured.
But even experts can't really predict a rabbit's age very accurately.
 
M
#5 ·
Young rabbits gain size and weight fairly quickly. If the ones you have now stay the same size for several weeks, they are probably pretty much full grown. A scale would be the most accurate way to tell.

I'd look for a new supplier. Feed stores up this way don't sell rabbits, but there are often bulletin boards for the use of customers. Try calling around to other feed stores fairly near and see if they know of anyone who has meat rabbits for sale.
 
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