The Homestead Rabbitry was first established in 1948 by the Kloos family at North Branch Station, NJ, and continued until 1964. During that time, the principal breeds raised were Champagne D'Argents and Standard and American Chinchillas. The rabbits were shown and won awards at local, state, regional and national conventions. Kloos was an ARBA judge and registrar in the 1950's - 1960's, but retire
d upon entry into the US Army Medical Service Corps. Upon retiring after 40 years as a professor in the Genetics Department at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, NC, Wes re-established the rabbitry in 2010 in Horse Shoe, NC in the beautiful mountains near Asheville. Deborah retired in 2014 from medical device regulatory affairs, and together they now enjoy raising their bunnies, chickens, and lots of flowers. Following the Western North Carolina tradition of sustainable agriculture, The Homestead Rabbitry continues to produce breeding stock for both show rabbits and meat production. Our new Homestead Rabbitry stock descends from lines of Ed Hildebrand, Ray List, Bobby Crosby, Nathan Persinger and Jerry Fisher, and many of those lines originated from the stock of early Champagne breeders such as Oren Reynolds and Wayne Cleer.
