01/12/2025
BEWARE, VERY LONG POST AHEAD…
Be CAREFUL who you buy from!
QUALITY FOR SHOW!
I have seen and talked too several people looking for rabbits on a ton of groups and many that have reached out to me personally looking for QUALITY, that are new to this and looking for 4-H/youth and even Open, and I’m appalled by how many try or do push a poor quality rabbit onto people by stating they are QUALITY FOR SHOW/SHOW QUALITY. If anyone comes at you and says SHOW QUALITY, take a second to make sure of the quality… or walk away… any rabbit can be show quality… QUALITY FOR SHOW is what you want and that means that rabbit has the QUALITIES it takes to hit the show tables.
This is also part of building a better rabbit when you start breeding. You better them, which is the whole point. DON’T BREED JUST TO BREED… we have WAY TOO MANY BACKYARD BREEDERS AND THEY ARE DESTROYING THE VERY THING WE LOVE AND ENJOY!
RESEARCH! When I started, I done my research on the breeds I had my heart set on before I went looking to buy anything. Once I was sure, I made a post looking for the breeds that my heart was set on. Research is #1 before you ever just go out and buy any rabbit. Make sure that breed is for you!
MENTORS! You can honestly never have too many Mentors. Each person has their own perspective on showing and raising quality rabbits, so always take everything each mentor has said and put your own pieces together. Never hesitate to ask as MANY QUESTIONS as you want, I promise you will feel like you are annoying the heck out of them, but I promise you aren’t. We all have to start somewhere and you don’t just get the knowledge from a book and learn overnight! I am more of a hands on and physically seeing what is in front of me when learning something new.
BREEDERS! Do your research on breeders, Dig into them, look up the State Clubs where they reside and look up the National Clubs for the specific breed, see if they have been showing, look at the SWEEPSTAKES POINTS, look at the pictures they share! Are they sharing pictures while attending shows, are they sharing pictures of wins? If not, they may not know what they are doing! I’m not saying to breed and raise quality rabbits you have to “show” them, but make sure that they know what they are doing and talking about! Look at all of their old posts and all of their pictures of their rabbits. You will be able to tell a good one from a bad one. If you are talking with someone about rabbits they are offering up, but something is just not setting well with you about this breeder or even about said rabbits, run fast! Nobody expects anyone new to know what to look for immediately, trust me. Don’t think for a second I still don’t hit my mentors up and ask them questions, because I do. Any great breeders will tell you, they are still learning everyday as well, some that’s been in it for 40yrs are still learning everyday. Send your mentors pictures of the rabbits you are interested in and ask other opinions. They may see something that you don’t right off the bat. Don’t expect to get a quality rabbit for Pennie’s on the dollar. Quality rabbits cost money! If you have been suckered in to some Poor Quality Rabbits, move them on and start over! I know that is tough, but you will never reach your goal with bad rabbits. It will cause you so much heartache and many just give up on their dream with them and pull out of it completely. I was fortunate to start with all GREAT QUALITY rabbits to get me started but again, I done my RESEARCH and I listened to my Mentors!
Even if you have no intentions to SHOW, but want to raise QUALITY and to help continue keeping your breed to the best of their standard, make sure you are doing it the RIGHT way! Have Passion for it! Raising quality rabbits is not a way to get rich, it won’t happen 😊
BROOD!
You don’t have to have QUALITY Show Rabbits to make quality babies either! Good Brood stock is what makes some of the best! You will learn as you go, what parts you need to help improve your lines! So don’t turn your nose up to some of them ugly broody does. Now that doesn’t mean, severe slipped crowns, thin bone, pinched hindquarters and super thin long folded ears. I wouldn’t have that in my barn. Make sure of good bone, width and a nice top line! You can fix a slightly slipped crown, and long ears. Just stay away from something that will hinder you!
VARIETIES (colors) make sure the varieties are accepted in your breed! As for Hollands, Fox, Silver Martin, Magpies and Harlequins are not Showable, among with some other crazy colors that pop out. It happens from time to time and breeders will scratch their heads 🤣…Hopefully in a few years Fox and Martins will be passed. But for now they are not. If you want to raise them, do a side project. That don’t hurt anything, but keep them separate from your main herd and if you breed anything that creates a fox to pop out, be honest with a buyer that this is in the genetics. HONESTY IS KEY!
Join ARBA, get the SOP (Standard of Perfection) book, join your local Clubs and your National Clubs for your breeds. National Clubs will send amazing books about your breed, that will also help you along the way!
PEDIGREES: Let’s talk about Pedigrees for a moment… a Pedigree does not make a quality rabbit! It’s a piece of paper. Are they preferred? Yes, especially if you want to Register them and be able to get them Granded. But, in order to do that, Pedigree must be at least 3 generations, all Names, Id’s (tattoos) and varieties (colors) and weights have to be on each rabbit. And all rabbits on the pedigree must be of the same breed!
Pedigrees show the past generations which help you understand what lines are in the backgrounds, and the varieties (colors). But, again, still don’t make that rabbit “quality”. So for anyone trying to push a rabbit on you by using the “it’s Pedigreed”…step back! They are more than likely a backyard breeder and throwing anything and everything together and only want to make a sell.
Next thing is CONDITIONING. You can buy the best rabbit out there and it can be a best in show rabbit that the previous owner/breeder got with that rabbit and you can make a great rabbit not so great. It is up to you how well your rabbits stay conditioned, it’s not the breeders fault if you don’t do your part once it is in your care.
GIVE CREDIT WHERE IT IS DESERVED!
Don’t take credit for a rabbit that you didn’t breed! Make sure to mention the breeders in your posts or when you are talking to someone. It takes a lot of hard work, pride and heartache for breeders to get them absolute beautiful lines going. So make sure you are not forgetting about the ones that sold you these amazing rabbits to help you start your own lines or even get your feet wet in Showing! They deserve credit and It’s disrespectful not too!
BUYING QUALITY!
Understand that a Good Breeder will not let go of their best rabbits. They also won’t let go of young stock until they have had time to grow more and see what they may become. If they did, they would not be able to continue to better their herd. That being said, most good breeders will do their best to help you get a good start if the have something they are able or willing to let go of, and will sell you a quality rabbit and or a Trio (2 does & a buck). Good breeders don’t sell just to sell. Good breeders will let go of some good rabbits when they need the space for upcoming litters, if they have held back some babies out of the dam or sire and are ready to let go of their older brood stock and allow those rabbits to help better someone else’s herd. A good breeder will also not sell any rabbit that they wouldn’t show their self as a “show prospect” especially if the rabbit is a very young Jr. A good breeder will point out the faults they see in said rabbit and will help guide you to pair with another rabbit to get the best parts of both to help make GOOD babies. Hands on is always best when looking to buy a rabbit! Pictures can be deceiving and sadly some have learned how to EDIT their pictures to make them look better! Ask for a video if you are unable to be hands on or if you are unsure of a breeder! Also go to local shows and meet breeders and build a friendship! Good breeders will also not GUARANTEE how well a rabbit may do on a show table or in a breeding program. So keep that in mind 😉
A Good Breeder CULLS. There are 2 options with culling. A soft cull (petting out) and hard cull (disposing of the said rabbit). Some will think it’s cruel but it is not! If you don’t cull hard the world would be full of terrible rabbits not only with terrible quality but with nasty attitudes and deformities. When a good breeder does a soft cull (which is very seldom) don’t expect to get a pedigree with the rabbit. In my case I might pet out a rabbit whether it be a young jr or an older sr. and with the reason of this rabbit may not have the qualities for show but it’s not a hard cull rabbit. But, breeders will be picky whom their soft culls go to for a pet home.
Showing and raising Quality Rabbits is not for the faint of heart! So be prepared for lots of ups and downs!
I know this was very long and I hope this helps someone else a long the way, as this is some of the best advice I have learned 😉
Emily Kimberling
Homestead Holler Rabbitry
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