Hello,
well, I've always wanted a siamese netherland dwarf rabbit. They are really really rare in France (strangely enough, there are lots of siamese lops and angora but just not plain netherland dwarfs). I've even toyed with the idea of breeding some myself, as I am interested in breeding but I don't want to breed rabbits you can find easily as there are lots of them in shelters already in my country.
So, that's where my question comes in. I've actually found ONE breeder who does siamese netherland dwarfs in France some years ago. She had maybe a dozen of rabbits at the time and did show them, which is pretty rare in France (we are still considering mostly rabbits as something to eat and things like rabbit showing or agility aren't taken seriously at all - I still have to deal with people asking me if my rabbits are for dinner when I take them to the vet... :/).
At the time, I couldn't think about breeding or anything because I lived in Paris in a flat. I've recently moved to a house with a garden and looked up the breeder again. And er... she expanded. A lot. She is still the only person in France breeding siamese netherland dwarfs, but she is now doing lots of other breeds. And guinea pigs. And german shepherds. Her rabbits seem to have a good type, as far as I can tell and one of her rabbits won the French national championship (but I don't think many breeders enter that). But, according to her website, she has 200 rabbits. That sounds crazy to me. Is that normal ? On her website, she says that it sounds like a lot but that she does it professionally so it's not that much because she take care of them full time.
So, yeah... I'm not sure about buying from a rabbitry which has that many animals. I'm a bit concerned about diseases and the lack of sociabilisation. What do you think? Do you know rabbitries that big? All the breeders I've ever met had 30 to 40 rabbits at the most... The breeder I got Tybalt from only had a dozen of rabbits.
I've studied the genetics behind the siamese and it seems I could recreate it from black and REW netherland dwarfs. I'm beginning to think it might be the best solution even if it will be more difficult and a longer process.
I don't know... I think breeding is really interesting but with hundreds of animals it sounds like a rabbit factory to me.
Thoughts?
well, I've always wanted a siamese netherland dwarf rabbit. They are really really rare in France (strangely enough, there are lots of siamese lops and angora but just not plain netherland dwarfs). I've even toyed with the idea of breeding some myself, as I am interested in breeding but I don't want to breed rabbits you can find easily as there are lots of them in shelters already in my country.
So, that's where my question comes in. I've actually found ONE breeder who does siamese netherland dwarfs in France some years ago. She had maybe a dozen of rabbits at the time and did show them, which is pretty rare in France (we are still considering mostly rabbits as something to eat and things like rabbit showing or agility aren't taken seriously at all - I still have to deal with people asking me if my rabbits are for dinner when I take them to the vet... :/).
At the time, I couldn't think about breeding or anything because I lived in Paris in a flat. I've recently moved to a house with a garden and looked up the breeder again. And er... she expanded. A lot. She is still the only person in France breeding siamese netherland dwarfs, but she is now doing lots of other breeds. And guinea pigs. And german shepherds. Her rabbits seem to have a good type, as far as I can tell and one of her rabbits won the French national championship (but I don't think many breeders enter that). But, according to her website, she has 200 rabbits. That sounds crazy to me. Is that normal ? On her website, she says that it sounds like a lot but that she does it professionally so it's not that much because she take care of them full time.
So, yeah... I'm not sure about buying from a rabbitry which has that many animals. I'm a bit concerned about diseases and the lack of sociabilisation. What do you think? Do you know rabbitries that big? All the breeders I've ever met had 30 to 40 rabbits at the most... The breeder I got Tybalt from only had a dozen of rabbits.
I've studied the genetics behind the siamese and it seems I could recreate it from black and REW netherland dwarfs. I'm beginning to think it might be the best solution even if it will be more difficult and a longer process.
I don't know... I think breeding is really interesting but with hundreds of animals it sounds like a rabbit factory to me.
Thoughts?