How To Tell A Rabbits Gender (Sexing A Rabbit)

We all know how cute our rabbits can be and we also know that they can multiply their cuteness extremely fast! That is why it is so important to learn how to tell the sex of a rabbit. Learning this will stop unwanted pregnancies in your young does keeping them safe. It’s also important to keep your adult male rabbit away from your does in those extremely hot months. Follow along as we share how it’s done. Skip to the sexing tutorial.

A Funny Story

I had a farm friend who were new into rabbits. They had two “bucks” for sale. I was thinking rabbits are fairly inexpensive let’s get both of them, see how they do and pick the best one and dispatch the other. When I got them and brought them home I wanted to double check the sex of the rabbit. I ended up checking both, I was fairly inexperienced at the time but still thought…..hey! One looked like a female and one looked like a male. I separated them just in case because I was not confident in my abilities yet to determine the gender of a rabbit.

Fast forward 30 days and BAM!! Baby bunnies! I’m really glad this happened because who doesn’t want adult female rabbits on their farm. I never told my farm friend that they were NOT two males because I just didn’t want to embarrass them, but it sure was funny! Another exciting thing is that I was right and now confident in my ability to determine the gender of the rabbit. 

When Do Young Rabbits Reach Sexual Maturity?

Young female rabbits can get pregnant as early as 12 weeks of age. However this does not mean they should be bred and this is usually not the case. A good practice is to wait to breed between 4-6 months of age even 9 month for larger breeds. Waiting until 6 months is better for the health of your rabbit especially for small breeds. One of the many major reasons you will want to know the gender of a young rabbit and separate the bucks from the does is so their reproductive system does not get damaged early on due to an accidental breeding. If you want to know if your rabbit is pregnant, click this post Is My Rabbit Pregnant? When Will She Start Nesting?

Sexually Maturity Of A Male Rabbit

Male Rabbits can breed at as early as 8-12 weeks old when the testicles start to drop. However, for the best results it is a good idea to wait to breed your bucks until they are at least 4-8 months of age. The older the better if you want a more consistent buck with better success, but do not wait too long or they can get lazy and fat. 

The Best Breeding Time In My Opinion

Do not hurt your animals by breeding too young. When a rabbit does reach the minimum age, look at their overall form, structure and weight. If they are healthy and strong, In my opinion, the younger the better. The younger the male is while breeding, the more drive he will have. If not used early, a buck can get lazy and set in his ways. He could also get fat and lose his stamina. This is similar in unspayed females as well. I waited until 6-7 months one season and they were not receptive and become aggressive to the bucks. They want to do what they want to do and are also set in their ways. I recently bred at around 5 months and the doe was more  receptive and allowed the buck to do the job. She was big enough and healthy enough to be bred.

The Best Way To Determine The Sex Of Your Rabbit

Sexing your rabbit can be done as early as six weeks. It can be quite difficult because the rabbit is just so small. Here is some simple steps to show you how to sex a rabbit along with some great pictures. I will be using an adult rabbit for these pictures so you can clearly see the difference in a rabbit’s gender. Then I will add some pictures of a younger rabbit to show you the difference between small rabbits and larger rabbits. here are the steps to 

1. The first thing is to pick up your rabbit by the scruff on the back of the neck

2. Position your rabbits on their hind ends in a seat position

3. Locate genital region in between the hind legs(male and female will not have much difference at first glance)

4. Put a gentle pressure on either side of the slit in the vent area. This pressure will make the slit bulge outward. If it does not bulge outward, it’s probably not enough pressure so try a firm pressure.

5. If it is a male, the rabbit’s penis will look like a cone or pink tube shape. If it’s a girl rabbit, you will see a vertical slit.

As you can see from the comparisons, the young rabbits don’t look much different from the adult rabbits. Obviously the older buck’s scrotum just screams male, but both the adult buck and young male have a very similar shape. This is a cool side by side comparison to give you so you can be confident during your rabbit gender reveal!

Processing Day Confirms Accuracy

I have had 100% success rate so far in determining the sex of my rabbits. One way I know for sure I got it correct is on the processing day! On processing day while butchering, I can see the sexual organs of both the male and female rabbits. The Sex organs of the female are located on the inside of her while the males scrotal sac is clearly seen from the outside. This will also depend on the age of the male at processing, The male rabbit’s testicles will drop around 8-12 weeks of age. Usually around 10 weeks old.  If the rabbit testicles have not dropped by the time I am butchering I can still find them, but not as easily. Still a really neat thing to see. If you are interested in butchering rabbits humanely click here. You can also make your own delicious rabbit burger here.

Are you new to rabbits? Do you have anything you want me to write about? Don’t forget to comment down below, we would love to hear from you.