Legal Requirements - minimum age for selling rabbits

DevonW":12muncp9 said:

It happens all the time. People want cute little dawrfs for pets, but big rabbits pop out more babies per litter so if you sold them young enough people wouldn't be able to tell the difference. You could make more money then you could off an actual dwarf who only has 2-3 babies a litter. Those people make me sick, they shouldn't be anywhere near a living breathing animal.

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idk why, maybe I'm naive... but that just seems awful to me. When I dove head first into this, i had no idea that such fraud even existed. I feel sometimes like i should shout it from the roof tops!

Our first litters are due pretty soon, and we have a co-owned doe who was due yesterday. I, personally, will not be selling kits until 8 weeks of age. I will be weaning at 6.

the law here is 8 weeks on chicks duck and rabbits if sold as a pet. that is why TSC has a sign out that says that the Easter bunnies and chicks are for AG, that way they can sell them younger.

I can't seem to find any law for my area that says anything about age although their are some townships that have banned rabbit sales due to people who release then when they no longer want to care for the animal.
I personally like 7-8 weeks of age before being sold as a pet, I was sold a baby rabbit once that later I grilled the seller about the actual age as I felt I was lied to. Was told the rabbit was 5-6 weeks when I found out its birth date it was 3 weeks, tiny thing she grew up fast and then turned into the meanest bunny I've before or since dealt with.
So I let them grow up with their mom due to that experience.

In Virginia, other animals other than dogs or cats, need to be fully weaned or sold with mom. So as early as 4wks for rabbits.

I don't sell until the very least 8 weeks of age or more as I don't sell until the rabbit is ready to thrive, my tiny lions and netherlands can be 14 or 15 weeks before I'm comfortable for example. I know some that could do very well at 6 weeks in all likelihood but my personal comfort is 8. WV has no state requirements for public sale per say and if people want to sell 2 week olds they can. I've seen it and spoke up, but was told it was the buyers problem if they died not the seller as the buyer takes over responsibility for their care and life. Don't like it for multiple reasons...rabbit is very likely to die and all but one other is when 1 person gets tagged in an area as a person that's selling bad rabbits then it that gets pasted onto every one being as bad and evil in the given area or by knowing that person even if they aren't bad and evil. Its not as bad as it used to be even though I know it is bad period to for those that are too young to be sold, but two years ago I can remember seeing kids with their eyes just open being sold for 15.00 to 25.00 each. I think the price of feed has pretty much made a quick buck on them impossible though which got rid of those sellers...feed's at about 15.00 to 20.00 per 50 lb bag by the time you get it with tax (not counting fuel or time to get it).

When I raised Harlequins I had a very strong pet market for them. A local pet store with knowledgable employees and managers bought nearly every rabbit that I didn't want to keep for myself. Keep in mind that this is the dream hook-up and not every pet store is as intelligent in educating their customers and employees.

The only problem was that, for whatever reason (corporates?) they were not allowed to buy rabbits over the age of five weeks. If you've ever met a Harlequin, you can tell a gangly eight week old from a little chubby five week old. I did sell babies at six weeks old because they still could pass for a baby, because they were, but they were eating solid food fine. If I didn't trust the employees with educating the customers, I never would have sold them babies that small.

I've been told that the legal age to sell a rabbit in Michigan is eight weeks. Whether that is true or not I'm not certain because I've never seen the actual law in print.

Technically PA is 8 weeks for dogs and cats, no real mention of rabbits buts thats the guidelines that I follow. Since I make the first cut(whose staying whose going) at 8 weeks it does work for me, and most Pet Shops follow the 8 weeks guideline. Which is what it really is with rabbits in PA, I used to think it was the law until I took the time to read the language, which doesn't really include rabbits, or cavies or any rodents. Or chickens for that matter, which by the way the USDA considers rabbits 'Poultry'. Haven't figured that one out yet. There are ways of telling their age, body appearance of course, but the biggest one is coat, particularly with a chinchilla colored rabbit. They start to change out of their baby coat, and you can tell by the emergence of the new coat roughly how old they are. Works well with fryers, and older juniors. If all they have is baby coat and a baby looking body you can hazard a guess on age as well. White is harder to do this with. I've sold rabbits as young as 6 weeks or so, PA used to be 7 weeks until the law changed 3 years ago. I don't do younger because I have a good working relationship with the places I sell to, and dead bunnies is bad for business. Better to hold them a bit and make certain their ready to go.

But what about selling to 4H kids for meat pens? Many 4H kids buy their meat pens at a young age and then raise them for the fair, wonder how these laws would influence that situation. Think their supposed to have the kits by 4-5 weeks and raise them to 10 weeks for competition. I'll have to check into that.

I personally sell mine between 8 and 12 weeks old, for pets, brood, or show stock.
I wean at 8 weeks. No reason to rush things, after all, the does don't mind sharing the hutch space that long. Later is better for me, gives me a chance to see how they are developing, and tame them down well. I also like to think they have a higher survival rate that way.

Tis the season for zombie threads.

ottersatin said:

In New York State the Ag and marketing Law states:
Rabbits must be at least eight weeks old [Two Months]
before they are sold. Unless sold in lots of six or more.
I will not sell a rabbit under two months old, in fact
I prefer to sell them at at least three months of age.
I know that the Petshops prefer to purchase their rabbits
as young as possible four weeks is not too young for them.
The problem with selling a Kit that young unless to a knowledgeable breeder is:
you are most likely sending a number of those sold to their imminent DEATH!
Rabbit/kits that young are not yet developed enough to contend with
the many problems they will be facing in their new environment,
especially if being placed into the care of the those not yet equip-ed to handle
the problems which may arise in/for young rabbits.
As always, JMPO. we each must do what we feel is best for the members of our herd.
Dennis, C.V.R. :band:

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I know this is an old discussion, but I was looking up the same info and ran across the "unless sold in lots of 6 or more" in a number of places. What the heck?! Misery loves company? Safety in numbers? You can't sell one young rabbit, but if you add 5 more, you can!! LOL

Maybe it's too stressful to be separated and alone in a strange setting but less stress if you are still with your litter mates.

That makes sense to me

I bet it's a stress thing too. They are such communal creatures and need each other when they are babies...and adults imo.

I let the mum bun decide when to wean them, that can be around four weeks old but she knows better than me. They're still way too fragile to be sold at that age, though, IMHO. I'll usually wait until a minimum of eight weeks if not ten to twelve weeks. Baby buns stay cute for months so there's no real rush.

The other thing with selling them so young is how do you know which are the best ones to keep for further breeding? I"ll generally do a rough sorting of 'possible keepers' and keep those for up to about four to six months old before deciding if they should be sold or not.

I had a doe once who kept nursing for about 3 months. She would leave the cage in the mornings but she kept coming back at night. Most of my does don't stop nursing after just 4 weeks.

I have a litter that are 8 weeks old, and 2 of them were nursing today when I was there. I was surprised, I didn't think they still were. I wonder if they're like cats, they nurse their kittens forever. Until they are as big as the mother!! lol

Pearl is getting her own cage today(its early morning for me)

cereshill said:

and how would someone know---you could post they are 12 weeks and the rabbit wouldn't tell on ya!
rediculous.

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Because they will likely die from Enteritis, that's how they would know. Selling Rabbits to die is cruel.