12/07/2023
Huge words of wisdom from Briony Smith:
“I had a great conversation this past weekend with a breeder friend about the importance of relationships in building a good herd. It distilled down to points like this:
🐰 First and most importantly, just be a nice, polite, rational person when looking for stock. This shouldn’t have to be said, but experienced breeders with demand all have stories about rude, entitled, pushy, shady, and/or flat-out crazy people trying to buy rabbits. Breeders talk, and bad behavior is a great way to get yourself on several black lists. Being reasonable and polite is a great way to get referrals to other breeders we like if we don’t have what you’re looking for.
🐰 Realize that every breeder is different. Some have larger herds, lots of availability and enjoy selling. Others have smaller herds and don’t much care if they ever sell a rabbit at all. Very few people make money from selling rabbits, so don’t treat breeders like supermarkets when they’re really operating studios. Nobody owes you a rabbit just because you want it.
🐰 Be upfront about what you’re looking for. If you’re looking for starter breeding stock, a piece for your herd, or something that can be shown and then transition to a brood animal, say so. If you tell us you just want “something ,” we know that’s either a name to put on a pedigree or you think any rabbit we have will magically transform your herd. If you tell us you want brood stock, don’t get upset when you show it and it doesn’t win.
🐰 If the rabbit(s) are for a youth breeder, you’ll often get farther and better quality if we can tell that this is truly a youth project. (We can. Fast.) Lots of people, many of them former youth breeders themselves, have no interest in selling rabbits to support what is clearly a parent-run herd shown on the youth tables. Many of us would rather give a rabbit to a kid who is doing their own work at an age- and ability-appropriate level than sell it to a parent showing in youth, no matter how demanding or how much money is offered. This hobby offers some great learning experiences to kids if they’re allowed to take advantage of them.
🐰 If you show a rabbit you purchased and it does well, always and without exception credit the breeder. Every. Single. Post. Yes, you’ve cared for and conditioned it, but they bred it and were gracious enough to sell it to you. If you seem to be taking credit for their work, you may not have that opportunity again. And again, it’s a small community and we talk!
🐰 If a rabbit you purchased is still producing well and you’ve decided to move it on, it’s courteous to offer it back to the breeder. They may not want it, but they may be able to connect you with a buyer who is on their radar.
🐰 Along those lines, don’t use someone’s name to sell poor quality rabbits. Cull the culls. A pedigree with “lines include…” and six different names isn’t really anyone’s “line,” it’s a mishmash of breeding. A rabbit you raised out of two you purchased isn’t “your line.” It’s of your breeding and will bear your name, but establishing a bloodline requires a few generations, some common ancestry, and some consistent traits.
🐰 If you purchase from a breeder and raise some good stock, be willing to trade or sell back to them. There’s a particular arc that we see frequently in the hobby: A newer breeder purchases a group of B-list rabbits from a good breeder, quickly produces something better and starts winning, and then plateaus in the next couple of generations and stops winning so much. Whether they push past that plateau and improve or don’t (and often get frustrated and out) often hinges on whether they’ve won graciously and developed good relationships or whether they’ve decided they’re the greatest breeder on earth and wins are owed to them. Choose wisely!”
