Looking to get in to a new breed

[redthunderrabbits]

Hello,

I am looking in to starting a new breed in my rabbitry, I tried mini satins but the doe I bought wasn't show quality and her mom was 4ibs and her dad was 9ibs so Ive decided to ask on here I already raise dutch, American fuzzy lops and Holland's I also have some Mini Rex and ND that I show.

 

[wooly_queen]

Honestly... I don't think you need another one. :embarrassed:

It sounds like you have your hands full as it is. That's a lot of breeds. (Plus the mini rex, hollands and netherlands are all VERY competitive breeds when showing). Trust me, if you want your rabbits to show really well and you want to improve their quality, then the less breeds the better. It's SO SO SO much easier to improve the breeds in your herd when there are less of them. Why? Because then they can all get more attention! It's a lot easier to focus on improving them when you have less to worry about and don't have to pick and choose which one breed you want to improve while the others are just "sitting around" and not improving and taking up space.

I used to have about 4 or 5 breeds I was working in small herds, but it got really frustrating quickly. I wanted to work with them all, but I learned that it wasn't getting me anywhere good. So I went down to one for a while (a year) and improved my herd. I got to a really good point and started a small herd of another breed. Now I have 3 breeds going. That's my limit! It even gets hard with just 3 (with the number of rabbits and quality and colors), so can't imagine adding more to my work load. XD But I've worked hard on these breeds and my herd has improved so much! I'm excited about the rabbits again and they are showing really well now.

Sorry about the novel! Hahaha!

 

[GorbyJobRabbits]

I agree with the above.

To actually improve the breed and compete you need space and the ability to devote time to the cause.


but if you are still wanting another breed, you n eed to think of the purposes that make the breed worth while to you. Do you need to make money, or is it a hobby that you can just continuously throw money into and it not matter? what are you going to do with left over kits that no one wants to buy and that you dont want to keep? meat or fur production? how large of an area do you have to keep them?

 

[BlueCamasRabbitry]

I agree with both the above posters.

Working with as many breeds you have now has got to be a task in itself. I currently have one breed, getting another, and although I will then have Mini Rex & Standard Rex, I know that having two breeds to improve and get competitive will be a tough task.

Stick with the breeds you have, or maybe sell out of a few, and then you can get a breed you are interested in. I'd keep the different numbers of breeds small though...perhaps 2 or 3 different breeds.

Emily

 

[Blaze_Amita]

While I can't say much about the nubmer of breeds, as i have quite a few my self. I have learned to keep it down to a few. i've got my main three breeds(Dutch, Mini Rex and Velveteen Lop) I'm just hobby working with English Spot and I'm keeping my numbers super low with Holland lops(3 bucks, 1 old doe that doesn't breed anymore) as they die out they haven't been getting replaced. the new zealands are for meat production. I would follow the above poster's suggestions and keep it down to a few. deffinently easier to work on quality.
I know had thought about expanding the breed selection, but i realized how hard that is going to be to show. bad enough my october show is going to be a zoo with 3 breeds going(dutch, holland and mini rex) I'm not looking forward to the show after that when i have vlops and spots that will go as well. run around like a looney without a helper.

 

[redthunderrabbits]

Well there are three breeders in my barn I personally only breed holland lops but I've decided to cut my heard down im getting out of netherlands