TinysMom
Well-Known Member
I just want to add to what MBH has said because I think it is important for me to share this.
I did a lot of research before I started breeding. I had no one near meto help me and I wasn't sure if I would be doing the right thing bybreeding. To be very honest with you - even now I question myselfsometimes and I'm cutting way back on my breeding....way way back.
Here are some things I've learned the hard way and some things I've observed from yuor posts:
a. Breeding is expensive. I'll never break even - letalone make money...well....at east not this year! I have over 100rabbits - partly because I had some litters where people didn't wantthem. It was either the wrong time of the year and folks werevacationing (who wants to add a rabbit then?) or various other things.
So now I have rabbits to feed....and unfortunately, they are in colors that don't go well here.
Mind you - I'm the only breeder within about 300 miles who isregistered with the lionhead club - so I get exposure that way andthrough my website.
But I still have an overabundance of rabbits. BIG MISTAKE on my part for planning.
I've rehomed rabbits a number of times - I always interview people andtalk to them before I do it and I have turned people down.
My feed alone is over $100 every two weeks.
Now I know - you're saying, "I'm only going to have X holes..". I'veseen it happen so many times....breeders are only going to have 10holes...then it goes to 12...then 15...then 20...then they add anotherbreed or another color.
Then - within a year or two - they quit and sell out.
No matter what you start with - it won't be what you end up with....you can trust me on that.
b. If your parents won't take your rabbits to the vet whenthey're your pets - they're certainly not going to take them to the vetif you're breeding them. And trust me - any problems that any onemember on this board has a chance of getting - I have around 50 - 100times the chance of getting that problem - because I have 100rabbits.
So let's say in your first litter - you get coccidia. A breeder friendof mine got it with a new rabbit she got...it infected her herd. Thelast time I talked to her she'd just paid $100+ for medicine....andthat was her second or third time buying it. That isnt' counting thevet visit to take ONE rabbit in to diagnose it...(then she had to treatthe whole herd). Treating one rabbit isn't expensive - but get a bunchyou have to treat - and it adds up quickly.
Or let's talk about wry neck....to have the medications on hand in casea rabbit gets wry neck - costs me $20 - $40 depending upon the courseof treatment and how long I have to treat that rabbit. I might not usemuch of that medicine - but I can't go in to the feed store and say,"Can I buy 8 drops of piperazine for my 2 pound rabbit?". No - I haveto buy the whole bottle.
c. (Another potential issue with breeding now) Then we getto birthing problems. Maybe your first litter went fine - but inyour second litter or your fifth litter or your twenty-fifth litter -you get a stuck kit. Guess what...time for a vet visit andshots...'cause what if the doe retains something?
My point?
Breeding isn't cheap and it isn't always fun. You can't always findhomes for your rabbits - even when they're pedigreed and a fairlypopular breed. Your "pet market" will be tapped out in just a fewlitters ... then you're going to get stuck with extra rabbits to feedand maintain.
I have purebred rabbits- with pedigrees. I have a website. I have clubmemberships with the right clubs. I show at the big shows in my areathat matter. I have business cards and I have done advertising locallywhen I have pets for sale.
And guess what? I still don't make enough to cover the feed - let alone any additional expenses for medications, etc.
I know that you're probably going to go ahead and do whatever you want. Fine.
But the thing is - as much as you might think this forum is here forthe people - and we are here for people -we're here for therabbits. That means - sometimes some of us whoreally care are going to say tough things. Not because we don'tcare about you - but because we care about your rabbits.
So if you come here and ask us for advice - even if it is naming a newrabbit - be prepared to hear comments that you might not like.
Several of us are concerned about the way you care for / don't carefor your rabbits. We're concerned about the fact that yourparents do not help you or understand the need for rabbits to see a vetwhen they are ill. We think (and I'm speaking very generally here basedupon things I've seen) that to bring ANOTHER rabbit into a situationlike this isn't wise.
Peg
who has to get back to packing for the show!
MyBoyHarper wrote:
I did a lot of research before I started breeding. I had no one near meto help me and I wasn't sure if I would be doing the right thing bybreeding. To be very honest with you - even now I question myselfsometimes and I'm cutting way back on my breeding....way way back.
Here are some things I've learned the hard way and some things I've observed from yuor posts:
a. Breeding is expensive. I'll never break even - letalone make money...well....at east not this year! I have over 100rabbits - partly because I had some litters where people didn't wantthem. It was either the wrong time of the year and folks werevacationing (who wants to add a rabbit then?) or various other things.
So now I have rabbits to feed....and unfortunately, they are in colors that don't go well here.
Mind you - I'm the only breeder within about 300 miles who isregistered with the lionhead club - so I get exposure that way andthrough my website.
But I still have an overabundance of rabbits. BIG MISTAKE on my part for planning.
I've rehomed rabbits a number of times - I always interview people andtalk to them before I do it and I have turned people down.
My feed alone is over $100 every two weeks.
Now I know - you're saying, "I'm only going to have X holes..". I'veseen it happen so many times....breeders are only going to have 10holes...then it goes to 12...then 15...then 20...then they add anotherbreed or another color.
Then - within a year or two - they quit and sell out.
No matter what you start with - it won't be what you end up with....you can trust me on that.
b. If your parents won't take your rabbits to the vet whenthey're your pets - they're certainly not going to take them to the vetif you're breeding them. And trust me - any problems that any onemember on this board has a chance of getting - I have around 50 - 100times the chance of getting that problem - because I have 100rabbits.
So let's say in your first litter - you get coccidia. A breeder friendof mine got it with a new rabbit she got...it infected her herd. Thelast time I talked to her she'd just paid $100+ for medicine....andthat was her second or third time buying it. That isnt' counting thevet visit to take ONE rabbit in to diagnose it...(then she had to treatthe whole herd). Treating one rabbit isn't expensive - but get a bunchyou have to treat - and it adds up quickly.
Or let's talk about wry neck....to have the medications on hand in casea rabbit gets wry neck - costs me $20 - $40 depending upon the courseof treatment and how long I have to treat that rabbit. I might not usemuch of that medicine - but I can't go in to the feed store and say,"Can I buy 8 drops of piperazine for my 2 pound rabbit?". No - I haveto buy the whole bottle.
c. (Another potential issue with breeding now) Then we getto birthing problems. Maybe your first litter went fine - but inyour second litter or your fifth litter or your twenty-fifth litter -you get a stuck kit. Guess what...time for a vet visit andshots...'cause what if the doe retains something?
My point?
Breeding isn't cheap and it isn't always fun. You can't always findhomes for your rabbits - even when they're pedigreed and a fairlypopular breed. Your "pet market" will be tapped out in just a fewlitters ... then you're going to get stuck with extra rabbits to feedand maintain.
I have purebred rabbits- with pedigrees. I have a website. I have clubmemberships with the right clubs. I show at the big shows in my areathat matter. I have business cards and I have done advertising locallywhen I have pets for sale.
And guess what? I still don't make enough to cover the feed - let alone any additional expenses for medications, etc.
I know that you're probably going to go ahead and do whatever you want. Fine.
But the thing is - as much as you might think this forum is here forthe people - and we are here for people -we're here for therabbits. That means - sometimes some of us whoreally care are going to say tough things. Not because we don'tcare about you - but because we care about your rabbits.
So if you come here and ask us for advice - even if it is naming a newrabbit - be prepared to hear comments that you might not like.
Several of us are concerned about the way you care for / don't carefor your rabbits. We're concerned about the fact that yourparents do not help you or understand the need for rabbits to see a vetwhen they are ill. We think (and I'm speaking very generally here basedupon things I've seen) that to bring ANOTHER rabbit into a situationlike this isn't wise.
Peg
who has to get back to packing for the show!
MyBoyHarper wrote:
,sometimes. 
