wendymac
Well-Known Member
First of all, I posted my comments in the Rabbitry & Show Room section. Which is for breeders to discuss, well, breeding and showing (along with "what color", "what breed" threads). Is this correct, or is the discussion of breeding taboo?
For those that may not be aware, a rabbit has a time frame in which they can safely have their first litter, which (for my breeds) is around the 10 month mark. Whether a doe is only EVER going to have one litter, or she may be a brood doe, they have to be bred before a year old. So when you keep 3 does from your litter, and they get to that "breed now or never stage", they have to be bred. Breeders breed to improve their stock. You can't improve what you have without breeding.
Now, for those concerned because I'm going to breed 7 does from now until the end of the year, take a deep breath. I currently have a waiting list of people that want French Lops. Heck, Rosa sold without me even advertising her, and she'll leave when her babies are weaned. I'm not going to dump all those rabbits at shelters.
When I said I had no open holes, that's what I meant. But, like every time I've had a litter born, I had no holes. My solution? Buy more cages. Again, there's no way to improve your animals if you sell them off right at the 8 week mark. I want to hang on to every single one that appears to be what I need. And that means more cages. It doesn't mean dropping them off at a shelter.
Right now we have 20 Californian babies, all around 5 weeks old. 6 of those will be for my daughter's 4-H meat pen project. They will then be put up on the auction block at the livestock sale. However, because we're picking the 6 BEST babies, we'll be buying them back (paying just the commission to the fair board). The rest of those babies will be offered for sale...first as show and brood stock (they have some of the best bloodlines on the East Coast), then pets. Again, they will not be dumped at a local rescue.
I hope this clarifies things a bit. I also hope that pet owners realize that breeders don't breed just to sell babies (it would take quite a few years to recoup just a fraction of the $5k I've sunk into this hobby, from October until now!). And that good breeders don't take their culls to the local animal shelter.
We are allowed to talk about breeding in this part of the forum, aren't we??
For those that may not be aware, a rabbit has a time frame in which they can safely have their first litter, which (for my breeds) is around the 10 month mark. Whether a doe is only EVER going to have one litter, or she may be a brood doe, they have to be bred before a year old. So when you keep 3 does from your litter, and they get to that "breed now or never stage", they have to be bred. Breeders breed to improve their stock. You can't improve what you have without breeding.
Now, for those concerned because I'm going to breed 7 does from now until the end of the year, take a deep breath. I currently have a waiting list of people that want French Lops. Heck, Rosa sold without me even advertising her, and she'll leave when her babies are weaned. I'm not going to dump all those rabbits at shelters.
When I said I had no open holes, that's what I meant. But, like every time I've had a litter born, I had no holes. My solution? Buy more cages. Again, there's no way to improve your animals if you sell them off right at the 8 week mark. I want to hang on to every single one that appears to be what I need. And that means more cages. It doesn't mean dropping them off at a shelter.
Right now we have 20 Californian babies, all around 5 weeks old. 6 of those will be for my daughter's 4-H meat pen project. They will then be put up on the auction block at the livestock sale. However, because we're picking the 6 BEST babies, we'll be buying them back (paying just the commission to the fair board). The rest of those babies will be offered for sale...first as show and brood stock (they have some of the best bloodlines on the East Coast), then pets. Again, they will not be dumped at a local rescue.
I hope this clarifies things a bit. I also hope that pet owners realize that breeders don't breed just to sell babies (it would take quite a few years to recoup just a fraction of the $5k I've sunk into this hobby, from October until now!). And that good breeders don't take their culls to the local animal shelter.
We are allowed to talk about breeding in this part of the forum, aren't we??
