Why do you breed!

[Dwarf_Angel04]

bunnylover134 wrote:

In my opinion i think its wrong. I dont agree with it. Yourmaking them go through pain just to have more bunnies. If they wantedto have their own babies i think they would do that. But breeding isjust forcing them to no matter what they are feeling.

I breed my does for show and only breed ones that can handle beingbred. If the rabbit is out of condition then it doesn't getbred.
Humans breed and are overpopulating this world more then rabbits. Thereare more orphans and children up for adoption then there are rabbits ina shelter. Maybe we should take a step back and look at our ownspecies.

A responsible breeder doesn't have their rabbits housed together.Therefore does don't have a big choice over when they are bred and whenthey aren't. Now I have does that tell me when they wantbred. Trust me, when a doe doesnt' want bred she will let youknow! So they do have feelings when they are being bred. If I have adoe that is bad mother and doesn't care for her litters then shedoesn't get bred anymore. I only breed the does that seem to 'enjoy'their babies and love them. Which in my case thats all of the does wholove thier babies.

 

[rabbitgirl]

gypsy wrote:

Ididnt intentionally breed any of therabbits i have andi have 14

That's because you got blessed with that record litter, thanks to yourlittle one!!I absolutely loved that post about the babies.

Rose

 

[pamnock]

Dwarf_Angel04 wrote:

There are moreorphans and children up for adoption then there are rabbits in ashelter. Maybe we should take a step back and look at our own species.

Wow -- certainly a thought provoking point.

Pam

 

[pamnock]

Bo B Bunny wrote:

I was an impulse buyer with Bo, however, I knew I was beingimpulsive. I know that if I get an animal it's mine and I amgoing to care for it, etc., for the rest of its life unless somethingtragic happens that prevents me from it. (Not that I wouldn't with Bo,I'm just sayin..... ) .. I know a lot of people aren't "dedicated?" toanimals that way.

Good point -- "impulse" pet buying doesn'tequate to"irresponsible" pet ownership in all cases. And conversely,not all pet buyers who do extensive research turn out to be the bestpet owners.

I think the focus should be on personal accountability, whether breeder or pet owner.

Pam

 

[MyBabyBunnies]

Dwarf_Angel04 wrote:

There are more orphansand children up for adoption then there are rabbits in a shelter. Maybewe should take a step back and look at our own species.

That's because of the stage that certain countries are in on theDemographic transition model. If they are in stages2 or theearly parts of 3, the death rates are much lower than the birth ratesso populations explode. The older people die and that leaves kids withno where to go.

But some countries are not even reaching the replacement rate anymore,that is, they are not having enough kids to replace the people dying ofold age. An example of that is Italy.

So far very few countries have reached that stage in developement toknow ifthere is a patternbut if all the countriesshow the same pattern in the future, the world's population will startto decrease with an increase in developed nations.

 

[rabbitgirl]

pamnock wrote:

Are you aware thatyou cannot"force" a doe to breed. If they don't "feel" like it -- they won't.

Watching my 7-lb. buck chase an 11-lb. doe around, trying to convinceher he was the perfect match for her....It sure can't beforced! She could have sat on him if she wanted. I saw how frustratedhe got when she wasn't "in the mood".

One thing about does and litters--it certainly can be no fun. That11-lb. doe raised two healthy litters, but she was not a happy camperthrough the pregnancy and birth and nursing. She blew up to the size ofa basketball, was way overdue, could hardly stand,had ninebabies in one litter, overproduced milk and then weaned at 3 wks.because her nipples were raw and bit up fromsharp babyteeth....too bad about that stork idea not working!

That said, I breed(once in a blue moon) for two reasons: tocontinue a good line, and to ensure a rare breed doesn't die out or getweaker from excessive inbreeding due to lack of stock. If I had moneyand space, I'd do it more extensively, but that will have to wait fornow. Meanwhile, I put up with an aggravating young buck who thinks I'mhis girlfriend.:X

Rose

 

[bunnylover134]

eeem,
your right about the whole instictthing...i think its just something personal for me.i cant imagine anyof my babies being in pain. but baby bunnies sure are CUTE! and besidesim only 19, im too young to be a grandma rt now! LOL

 

NO ~!!! Rabbit Girl thats 14 adults not countingthe 12 from one litter and the 13 from 2 other Doe's lol luckly all BUTthe 12 so far are spoken for and and the calls keep coming in lol imsure as soon as these 12 are ready to go people wll line my doorwaywaiting for pick of the litter

 

[Bo B Bunny]

pamnock wrote:

Goodpoint -- "impulse" pet buying doesn'tequate to"irresponsible" pet ownership in all cases. And conversely,not all pet buyers who do extensive research turn out to be the bestpet owners.

I think the focus should be on personal accountability, whether breeder or pet owner.

Pam

Wow! Thanks Pam, I didn't actually realize I had a good point tuckedinto my own personal experience! I'm glad you found andelaberated on it!

 

[pamnock]

I felt your post balanced mine out, where Iinadvertently implied that *any* bunny purchased onimpulsewould be sentenced to a life of neglect --I was generalizing as this iscertainly not true

Pam

 

[Bo B Bunny]

Ahh, I didn't take it that way at all. I knew what you meant

I have to really be careful not tobe impulsiveaboutanimals. It's so hard for me! I wanted to"rescue" all the 30 some odd bunnies we saw in feed stores last weekend

 

[rabbitgirl]

gypsy wrote:

NO~!!! Rabbit Girl thats 14 adults not counting the 12 from one litterand the 13 from 2 other Doe's lol luckly all BUT the 12 so far arespoken for and and the calls keep coming in lol im sure as soon asthese 12 are ready to go people wll line my doorway waiting for pick ofthe litter

My WORD!!! You have your hands...and arms...and house full!!

Can't believe you've got owners already--way to go!!!!

Rose

 

[SLRabbits]

I breed for show purposes. My goal, like manyother breeders, is to create that "perfect Holland". My biggest goal isto get the "colored" Hollands to better on the show table by selectivebreeding, as their types haven't been worked with much.

Out of my 3 current litter, just about every rabbit is already spokenfor. What isn't already wanted as a pet, or that isn't sold at shows tofellow breeders will go to members of my 4-H who are wanting to startworking with rabbits as their projects. It's my responsiblity to makesure they have homes before I breed anymore, and that is exactly what Iwill do.

I have a huge problem with people breeding mix breeds unless it is formeat purposes. There is no reason to be breeding them "just to havethem". That is one of my biggest pet peeves. I know there areaccidental breedings, and ok, things happen. But to breed an animal(any animal, not just rabbits) because you want to is not the rightthing to do. That's where all your shelter animals come from, not frombreeders.

~Nichole