Glossary

BOB:  Best of Breed - judged to be the best Holland at that show.

BOS: Best Opposite Sex - judged to be the best Holland of the opposite sex of the BOB. If a buck is BOB, then a doe is chosen BOS and vice versa.

BOSV: Best Opposite Sex of Variety - judged to be the best broken (or solid) of the opposite sex of the BOV. Competes for the BOS but not BOB award.

BOV:  Best of Variety - judged to be either the best broken or best solid at that show. Competes for the BOB and BOS awards.

breed: A class of rabbits in which the rabbits have similar characteristics and those features are reproducible among members of the class

breeder: commonly used to mean a person who raises a certain variety of rabbits; can also be used to refer to a rabbit that is being used for breeding/reproduction

breeding certificate: A written certificate from the owner of a breeding buck that states the pedigree of the buck and the date he was bred to a specific doe

broken : A color in conjunction with white. With either a blanket or spotted pattern of the color on the body.

buck: A make rabbit that has not been castrated/neutered

castration: Removing both testicles from a buck to render him unable to reproduce

Class: Age group of the bunny. Either Junior, Intermediate or Senior

Charlie: A rabbit from a marked breed or broken group that has extremely light markings\

condition: The overall state of an animal

Convention:  the national rabbit show held by ARBA and sponsored by a local club for all breeds. Held in the fall. Many states hold conventions as well

Crown:  the part of a rabbits head between the ears and behind the brow

Cull: a breeder goes through a litter selectin ones he/she wishes to keep. The rest are sold (or eaten, if they're a meat breed).

Dam - female rabbit that produced an offspring. A rabbit's dam is its mother.

doe: A female rabbit

dewlap: An extra roll of skin and fur under the chin sometimes seen in does

disqualification: When a rabbit is ineligible for competition because it has a certain defect(s)

Finish: A coat of a bunny that either lacks finish (poor condition, molting, etc) or has a good finish (well groomed, not molting) could mean the difference between winning and losing.

fault: An imperfection, not so substantial as to disqualify a rabbit fro show

gestation: The length of pregnancy, beginning at conception and ending with kindling

inbreeding: Breeding closely related rabbits together

junior: A rabbit under six months old

Leg: a leg is earned by winning in an ARBA-sanctioned show as long as there are three exhibitors and five rabbits competing for the win. For example, first place in a class of five or more bunnies showed by three or more different exhibitors would earn a leg. For classes without enough exhibitors and/or bunnies, it may be possible to earn a leg by winning BOSV (if there are sufficient numbers of the related sex in the variety), BOV (if there are sufficient numbers in the entire variety), BOS (if there are sufficient number in the related sex of the breed) or BOB (if there are sufficient numbers in the entire breed). A rabbit may only earn one leg per judging.

kindling: The process of a doe giving birth to kits

kit: A baby rabbit

lactate: To product milk to nurse the kits

linebreeding: An attempt to promote characteristics of related rabbits by breeding distantly related rabbits together, for example, rabbits from the same line

litter: A group of kits from the same doe

mite: A microscopic spider-like organism that can infest rabbirt's ears or fur and be transmitted to other rabbits

molt: The process of shedding fur

nest box: A box inside a cage or hutch where a doe kindles and where the kits live for the first three weeks of their life

outbreeding: Breeding unrelated rabbits of the same breed

Open: Usually refers to an all "adult show." Which means anyone of any age is allowed to enter, but it is usually adults competing with other adults. The will usually add the letters: A, B and C to the end of "Open Show" if they are having multiple shows.

pedigree: A chart of the ancestors of a particular rabbit

Peanut:  a bunny with two dwarf genes, which is a fatal combination

rabbitry: A place where rabbits are kept or raised

registrar: a person who, after taking a test and meeting other eligibility requirements, is certified by ARBA to evaluate rabbits and register them if they meet standards. ARBA sanctioned shows are required to have a registrar available.

registration:  registration is a process of bringing a rabbit before a registrar to verify that it meets standards for the breed, supplying pedigree information and paying a registration fee in order to obtain a registration number, tattoo and certificate.

Soild: A color of a bunny that is covering the entire body

senior: For the purposes of show, a rabbit that is at least six months of age

spraying: Expressing small amounts of urine for the purpose of marking territory

tattoo: A permanent ear marking to identify the rabbit

ticking: Dispersed guard hairs of a different color than the rest of the fur

variety: A subdivision of a recognized breed

weaning: The process of transferring kits from nursing on their mothers to solid food

Youth:  exhibitors under age 19