So You've Decided to Become a Rabbit Breeder........
More often than not, you'll find yourself hooked on showing rabbits just
after a few shows! Soon after that, you'll start thinking that it
would be neat to develop
your own line of show rabbits instead of showing rabbits someone else
produced. You want to become a rabbit breeder!
This sounds pretty straight-forward but it isn't - producing your own line of quality rabbits is not an immediate success story, it can take a long time, even several years! Here are some tips to help you along the way:
Know Your Breed
Learn as much about your breed as you can, before you start breeding. Knowing what conformation is important to your breed, what faults are common, and how to recognize each, will make tasks such as culling, buying new stock and selecting breeding pairs, much more successful for you. You can learn a lot of this over time simply by competing at rabbit shows.
Start Your Breeding Program With Quality Rabbits
Many exhibitors' first litters come from pairing up the same rabbits they've been showing. This can work for you, as long as your rabbits are good representatives of their breed to begin with. Breeding poor or severely faulted rabbits together is often disastrous, creating pet quality bunnies that you can't show.
You've been showing your rabbits for a while - how have they been doing? If they've been finishing in the top half of the class consistently, then you probably have some decent starter rabbits. If they've been finishing near the bottom of their class most of the time, you may want to invest in some new rabbits to start your line with.
Learn To Cull
As you produce rabbits, your goal will be to select the quality rabbits from your litters and cull the rest. There is that dreaded word 'cull', which so many think means 'kill'. Culling means removing rabbits from your herd, often by way of sales or other means. Usually, the new breeder's first several litters are all 'so cute' to them that it is difficult to cull any! As hard as it is, you must must learn to cull effectively or you will end up with a barn full of pet quality rabbits!
Each rabbit breed develops along its own unique timeline: and in some, conformation and faults are clear at a young age, but other breeds must mature before these become apparent. Try to find an experienced breeder to help you with your first few litters - when to cull and what to look for, and how to market your saleable cull rabbits.
Improving Your Line-- Learn To Identify And Eliminate Faults
As a breeder, you must learn to identify faults in your herd and strive to correct or eliminate those faults in future litters. You might have to produce several litters with different mates in order to find the gene combinations that will produce rabbit with the fewest faults. If your rabbits continue to produce rabbits with significant or persistent faults, you will most likely have to buy new breeding rabbit(s) to improve your herd.
Choose new rabbits that have a strong correction of the fault you are trying to eliminate.
While you are working to eliminate faults, you should also be strengthening the good points in your line - make the good stuff even better, this is what creates those exceptional animals. Without really knowing it, you will be constantly trying to improve your line all the time, basically forever, since there are no perfect rabbits!
Stay Focused On Producing What YOU Think Is A Good Rabbit
As you continue breeding and showing, you will form a picture in your head of what your ideal rabbit looks like - what you think is a good representative of the breed.
Each rabbit you produce will be a stepping stone towards this goal - with each litter getting better and better as you work to correct faults. Oh, you might have a few setbacks here and there, but if you stay focused on your goals, your setbacks will not overshadow your whole plan! Even if you slightly change or modify your 'perfect rabbit' as you go, always have your goal clear in your head!!
Ruts......
Every breeder gets into a rut now and then.
Rough spots do happen- poor rabbit conception and lack of litters, illness (both rabbit and/or yourself!), a stretch of nasty weather, persistent faults and more. Expect this occasionally and don't let it get to you. Usually ruts resolve themselves in short time, but if you are having trouble with a particular issue and can't seem to overcome it, by all means, talk to an experienced breeder or two for some advice on how to get back on track!
Showing
Most breeders are anxious to show the rabbits they've been producing, but become deeply disappointed when their rabbits don't do well at the show table. You have to back up a bit here- the rabbits you are showing are the 'stepping stones' of your breeding program, remember? Most likely the rabbits you are showing ARE faulted but each one is an improvement over the last one, and each one brings you closer to your goal of your ideal rabbit.
Learn to take judging comments with a grain of salt and to use them towards achieving your goal. Turn the negative comments into positive improvements. Don't let poor showing results sidetrack your goal and all the work you've accomplished so far!
One day, it will occur to you that going to rabbit shows means more than just winning or points - the friendships and networking with other breeders that develop over time, make showing both fun and satisfying. Not only do you now have others for support and advice, you even find yourself offering the same to new breeders!
As your herd improves, you should also see better show placements. Eventually, you may even have your day as Best of Breed winner! Nothing is sweeter than such a win with a rabbit you bred yourself!
Developing your own winning herd of rabbits takes time and perseverance on your part. Your success will come quicker if you learn to recognize and choose good stock, cull effectively and don't allow disappointment to overshadow your progress! Good luck with your new project!