About

Black Spruce's Falco and Popcorn, guess which one's the boss?

Our philosophy is to breed a well rounded Mini Rex. We strive to breed towards the ARBA Standard of Perfection body while maintaining the friendly and social disposition that make this breed an absolute joy to have as a pet. We breed very selectively in order to meet our goals so that we can maintain a good quality of life for all of our animals. While we occasionally offer some of our rabbits to pet homes, we do not mass breed for the pet market. Each of our pairings is specifically chosen to help further our breeding goals.

R. G.Ch. Family Pride's Truffle staying cool on a hot day

Our rabbitry foundations go back to Family Pride (Beth Collins, Ontario),  Dream Maker (Ashley Camci, Ontario), Black Spruce (Susanna Allan, Ontario), Berlena's (Berlena Reynolds, California), Timber Oaks (Sami Olson, Minnesota), FFR (Rebecca Brown, Illinois), and McCabe's (Adam McCabe, Wisconsin) and include many Registered as well as Grand Champion rabbits. 

But other than these excellent genetics, what are you paying for when you purchase one of our rabbits? The time, effort, and love that goes into raising them! Our rabbits are bred and raised so that they grow up into the sort of adults that are a joy to handle and have around. 

TV night with the family

Each of our babies is handled on a daily basis from the time they are born. Starting on day one, every baby has their weight checked and recorded every day to ensure they are healthy and growing. Baby bunnies grow like weeds some times even doubling in size from one day to the next! Any disruption in that trend is the first hint of possible health troubles. During their first week of life, the handling is kept to a minimum health checks. Baby rabbits are born naked and need to remain warm in order to survive. At a week old, the baby buns begin taking field trips as a group in their nesting basket so that they can be gradually exposed to sounds such as the TV or dinner time conversations. 

2 wk old baby learning to walk amidst the grass jungle

At this time they also begin to be handled by different family members to get used to the way different humans smell and feel before their other senses fully develop. The bedding in their nest gets a change over around a week after birth to make sure they aren't opening their eyes in a soiled mess. This helps prevent possible eye infections. By the time they open their eyes around 10 days old, they are fairly used to being handled. Around the age of 2wks, baby bunnies begin to leave their nest. It's usually a rather ungraceful but determined flopping out. This is when they very quickly turn form cute little nuggets to unruly trouble makers. 

Babies meeting the dogs while they are still naive and fearless

It becomes normal to find them sleeping inside mom's food dish or hanging out inside the water bowl without a care (yes, while there is water inside). As soon as they are able to crawl out of their nest, they begin nibbling on solid foods. They quickly discover they don't have to crawl but can hop and leap. Within a week's time they are doing zoomies back and forth for no good reason other than because they can. Their moms begins to seek shelter away from them right around this time. Our girls always have high perches available to them where they can get away from their kids if they want to. 

Mom enjoys her peace while the babies have fun playing

The babies continue to be handled on a daily basis with the amount of handling intensifying. They are gradually exposed to gentle restraints and having their feet held as if they were having their nails trimmed. At around 4 weeks old the babies are still nursing occasionally but are also eating solid foods which include pellets, hay cubes, grains, and some fresh greens. By around 5wks of age, moms are done allowing nursing and the babies are almost exclusively eating solid foods and drinking water for hydration. By this time their little nails will have been clipped at least once as they turn into sharp little talons otherwise. 

The tunnels are always a hit

Weather permitting, our bunnies enjoy outdoor time in our bunny park enclosure where they can practice their natural bunny behaviours. Running on grass, nibbling on clover patches, searching for specks of oatmeal, hiding in brush hides and tunnels, chewing bark off branches, and digging in a mini sand box. It makes us happy to see our bunnies happy!