Glossary

This is a glossary of rabbit terminology used at shows and by breeders.
The original list comes from Ringenbach Rabbitry - Meridianville, Alabama.
Used with permission and many thanks!

Note: I have rearranged some of the list from the original and added a few things of my own. I encourage you to visit the original page. Some of the explanations are a bit different and you may find one easier to understand than the other.

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. It is common to run multiple shows on the same day at the same time. In that case, they will usually add the letters: A, B and C to the end of “Open Show”.

Youth – An all youth only show. Only those 18 and under are allowed to enter these shows. Youth breeders must put their own rabbits on the judging table.

Rabbits are grouped for showing according to sex, age, and colour (variety).

Buck – A male rabbit.

Doe – A female rabbit.

Class – Age group of the rabbit. Either Junior, Intermediate or Senior.

Junior – A rabbit under 6 months of age.

Senior – A rabbit over 6 months of age.

Intermediate or 6/8 – A rabbit between 6-8 months of age. This classification is only applied to the largest breeds of rabbit.

Variety – Color of a rabbit

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

Solid – A color of a rabbit that is covering the entire body

Agouti – A type of color that has bands and ticking. Most common colors are Chestnut and Chinchilla

Shaded – Refers to colors like Sable Point. These colors have darker colors on the nose, ears, and other parts of the body, while the whole of the body is one solid lighter color.

These are words often used when describing a rabbit's confirmation.

Molt – A coat that is shedding and out of condition.

Finish – A coat of a rabbit 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.

Flesh condition – Just like it sounds. If a rabbit is “rough” in flesh it means the skin over the backbone is very loose and thin. Bones are easily felt. Most common in rabbits suffering from some illness, not being fed enough, or does coming off weaning litters.

These are words associated with official record-keeping.

Pedigree – A piece of paper charting 3 generations of the rabbit with ancestory history.

Registration – A piece of paper also charting 3 generations of the rabbit with ancestory history. This paper however states (for the rabbit it is issued to) that it has free of disqualifications and has been deamed an acceptable representation of said breed. The rabbit also recieves a registration number unqiue to that rabbit.

Ear Number / Tattoo – A series of numbers and/or letters tattooed into the rabbits left ear. Usually no more then 5 are in the ear. A circled R may be tattooed in the left ear if the rabbit has been registered.

These are words associated with competition at rabbit shows.

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. Legs can be won at any level of competition (in a class, variety, breed, over-all show). A leg is earned when a rabbit is wins at a level over at least 4 other rabbits (directly*) and if those rabbits are owned by at least two other people (besides you). A rabbit may only earn one leg per show. *Example 1: If a rabbit wins Best of Breed and there were at least 5 rabbits shown in the breed owned by at least 3 different exhibitors, then it will earn a leg. However, if there are only 2 exhibitors, it will not earn a leg, even if there were 20 rabbits in the class. *Example 2: Suppose there are 8 bucks and 3 does in a breed, shown by 6 different people. In that case, the Best of Breed (BOB) rabbit would earn a leg because it 'beat' 10 rabbits for the win, but the Best of Breed Opposite Sex (BOS) would ONLY earn a leg if it was the buck, because it beat 7 other bucks. If the doe won BOS, then she would NOT earn a leg because she only beat 2 other rabbits.

BOB – Best of Breed

BOS or BOSB – Best Opposite Sex of Breed (ie. If the BOB rabbit is a buck, BOS winner must be a doe. Which is why it’s called Opposite Sex.

BOV – Best of Varierty

BOSV – Best Opposite Sex of Varierty (ie. If the BOV rabbit is a buck, BOSV winner must be a doe. Which is why it’s called Opposite Sex

BOV and BOSV winners go on to compete for BOB and BOS

BIS – Best in Show (this is big. To win it, your rabbit must get BOB. At the end of the show, all of the breeds who had a BOB winner compete to see who is the best of the best.)

1st Runner Up / Reserve to BIS – This is the 2nd place rabbit to who won BIS

2nd Runner Up – This is the 3rd place rabbit to who won BIS

BOBO - Best of the Best Opposites. Not all shows offer this win.

DQ – Disqualification. A rabbit can be disqualified for many reasons. Most common is over the weight limit, bad teeth, or illness present.

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

Kindling – Term used to mean giving birth to baby rabbits.

Kits – Term describing baby rabbits.

Cavy / Cavies – These are not rabbits. They are shown sometimes at rabbit shows. They are basically guinea pigs.