LOCK? DELETE? OLD Rabbit Owners- NEW LINK INSIDE

[Daisywolf14]

He is so adorable! I love otters! So I just got another Dutch yesterday. Otters are pretty cool thunder but I'm geussing you have not seen a broken sable point those are beautiful!

Cute! ^3^

I'm actually been considering getting rid of my hotots and getting dutch... we've not had much luck with the dwarf hotots, we've bought two hotots now from people that can't breed. The person we got the buck from KNEW we wanted them for breeding but yet we can't get a single baby from him, he seems to be infertile, and he's the most disgusting rabbit I've ever seen, he's a sweet boy but he's so gross and with getting no babies we pretty much wasted $50. Same with the doe, but at least she was only $20 and she isn't gross like the buck. Our other hotot buck didn't end up being good quality when he got older, and now we can't find anybody to buy him so it was pretty much another waste of $50 because if I'm going to show I want good show quality. The only hotot that wasn't a waste was my Veronica, she's nice for show, she's a good mom, a sweet rabbit. By far the best hotot I've bought, and we can't find another hotot buck that's decent anywhere. They're all like $150 $200 $300 dollars. Like I can't afford that. You can get a Best of Breed winner for $50 in Polish, they're so much better... I've loved Hotots all my life but to actually own them is proving to be more trouble then it's worth. =/

Sorry for my little rant there. Didn't mean for that to turn into one. xD

dang that sucks! Mabye try dutch, from what i have heard i don't think they are much better breeding wise. No luck within my 4-H group with them at all.

[Sleipnir]

Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed genetics in college (I have a biology degree) but breeding for colors has just never sat well with me; I feel like there's no reason for it beyond 'because I want to'. And, I don't mean that to be offensive - it's just that as a biologist, the idea of breeding animals purely to make certain colors or to adhere to bizarrely picky breed standards (and showing in general) just does not interest me and never will. Of course, I still admire the variety of color in domesticated animals but it doesn't really mean anything to me beyond a historical, cultural, and artificial selection standpoint. To be brief, let me just say that I've also had too much personal experience with people who negatively affected my view and left a bad taste in my mouth, if that makes sense. I have no patience for deliberate ignorance and laziness.

Anyway, I'd never be well suited for breeding anything; I may be a wildlife biologist but I don't need a zoo or farm at home, especially as I like to travel and my boyfriend is in the military out of state. If I ever bred rabbits it'd be for meat; boyfriend has indicated he's up for it but it's still unlikely to ever happen. I adore baby bunnies and raised some ten years ago, but I've been hopping around apartments for the last 8 years. I may have peers buying houses but I'm not financially at that point yet so I wouldn't have the space.

So that's me in a nutshell; biologist with a single bunny and likin' it that way. xD An old fart compared to most of the CS population who's not easily impressed or offended.

yeah i completely understand where you are coming from. I don't think breeding to the point of health problems is good at all. Breeding is not for everyone and not everyone will agree with breeding i respect that. I just have no respect for people that go "every time you buy a dog from a breeder you are killing a shelter dog" which is completely false and that offends me. (you are definitely not one of those lol)

Yeah, I see where you both come from... As a breeder, though, I can assure you breeding to the point of health problems - not much of a thing for rabbits. Unhealthy rabbits are, to put it bluntly, dead rabbits. Colds? Culled. Malocclusion? Culled, for the rabbit's sake. Can't give birth naturally? Culled. Pneumonia? No cigar. So they don't get to the same place the pugs and the Persians are. If the breed was to get too bad, they'd either no longer exist or the problem would get bred out.

As for the shelter-breeder thing... Ohhhh, I could say a few words on some of those operations. I'll take Matt Theissen's advice, though, and Bite My Tongue.

But yeah... We do it for the challenge. It's a "prettiest rabbit" contest and it's just satisfying to win. Some aren't so simple - improving the wool on angoras? That's a thing. The meat breeds? Improve the quality of the rabbit for eating - that's a necessity. Either way, it's all a matter of personal preference.

[Gryffindor's Sword]

Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed genetics in college (I have a biology degree) but breeding for colors has just never sat well with me; I feel like there's no reason for it beyond 'because I want to'. And, I don't mean that to be offensive - it's just that as a biologist, the idea of breeding animals purely to make certain colors or to adhere to bizarrely picky breed standards (and showing in general) just does not interest me and never will. Of course, I still admire the variety of color in domesticated animals but it doesn't really mean anything to me beyond a historical, cultural, and artificial selection standpoint. To be brief, let me just say that I've also had too much personal experience with people who negatively affected my view and left a bad taste in my mouth, if that makes sense. I have no patience for deliberate ignorance and laziness.

Anyway, I'd never be well suited for breeding anything; I may be a wildlife biologist but I don't need a zoo or farm at home, especially as I like to travel and my boyfriend is in the military out of state. If I ever bred rabbits it'd be for meat; boyfriend has indicated he's up for it but it's still unlikely to ever happen. I adore baby bunnies and raised some ten years ago, but I've been hopping around apartments for the last 8 years. I may have peers buying houses but I'm not financially at that point yet so I wouldn't have the space.

So that's me in a nutshell; biologist with a single bunny and likin' it that way. xD An old fart compared to most of the CS population who's not easily impressed or offended.

yeah i completely understand where you are coming from. I don't think breeding to the point of health problems is good at all. Breeding is not for everyone and not everyone will agree with breeding i respect that. I just have no respect for people that go "every time you buy a dog from a breeder you are killing a shelter dog" which is completely false and that offends me. (you are definitely not one of those lol)

Yeah, I see where you both come from... As a breeder, though, I can assure you breeding to the point of health problems - not much of a thing for rabbits. Unhealthy rabbits are, to put it bluntly, dead rabbits. Colds? Culled. Malocclusion? Culled, for the rabbit's sake. Can't give birth naturally? Culled. Pneumonia? No cigar. So they don't get to the same place the pugs and the Persians are. If the breed was to get too bad, they'd either no longer exist or the problem would get bred out.

As for the shelter-breeder thing... Ohhhh, I could say a few words on some of those operations. I'll take Matt Theissen's advice, though, and Bite My Tongue.

But yeah... We do it for the challenge. It's a "prettiest rabbit" contest and it's just satisfying to win. Some aren't so simple - improving the wool on angoras? That's a thing. The meat breeds? Improve the quality of the rabbit for eating - that's a necessity. Either way, it's all a matter of personal preference.

So rabbit breeders cull a lot? I breed guinea pigs so I know little about rabbits. If a guinea pig shows health problems, I just stop breeding from that line and breed more from another line. No culling involved, they always go to pet homes. Although I've never experienced anything serious, because I wouldn't know what I'd do if something happened.

[PeachFuzz]

I understand putting the rabbit down if it's ill and it's what's best for the rabbit's sake, but culling it if it can't give birth naturally? That seems like too much to me. Why not find it a home as a pet?

[Daisywolf14]

I understand putting the rabbit down if it's ill and it's what's best for the rabbit's sake, but culling it if it can't give birth naturally? That seems like too much to me. Why not find it a home as a pet?

That's what they ment by cull is find a new home that's what most breeders do.
For any rabbit that is culled.

[PeachFuzz]

I understand putting the rabbit down if it's ill and it's what's best for the rabbit's sake, but culling it if it can't give birth naturally? That seems like too much to me. Why not find it a home as a pet?

That's what they ment by cull is find a new home that's what most breeders do.
For any rabbit that is culled.

Ah. That makes more sense! I usually take cull to mean kill.

[Baby bunnies!]

I understand putting the rabbit down if it's ill and it's what's best for the rabbit's sake, but culling it if it can't give birth naturally? That seems like too much to me. Why not find it a home as a pet?

That's what they ment by cull is find a new home that's what most breeders do.
For any rabbit that is culled.

Ah. That makes more sense! I usually take cull to mean kill.

Yeah, a lot of people mistaken cull for kill. Cull basically means, ' to take out of the breeding program' . You can keep the rabbit as a pet, sell it, or whatever is best for you. However the reason to remove them from breeding is for their health and the health of other rabbits as well as the future generations.

[thunderofthedrum]

I understand putting the rabbit down if it's ill and it's what's best for the rabbit's sake, but culling it if it can't give birth naturally? That seems like too much to me. Why not find it a home as a pet?

That's what they ment by cull is find a new home that's what most breeders do.
For any rabbit that is culled.

Ah. That makes more sense! I usually take cull to mean kill.

Yeah, a lot of people mistaken cull for kill. Cull basically means, ' to take out of the breeding program' . You can keep the rabbit as a pet, sell it, or whatever is best for you. However the reason to remove them from breeding is for their health and the health of other rabbits as well as the future generations.

It can mean both - for example, in my field when people say cull, they definitely mean kill. That's because it's wildlife and there isn't really any other option to less the numbers, remove selective individuals, etc. Applied to other situations, it may simply mean to remove some from the group. It really does mean either.

[The Mean Kitty]

dang that sucks! Mabye try dutch, from what i have heard i don't think they are much better breeding wise. No luck within my 4-H group with them at all.

Yeah, I'll have to see if I can get/find any decent hotots because all I need is a buck, if not guess I'll be getting rid of most my hotots but maybe one to keep as a pet. =/

Also around here culling means to put down, or most the time at least. The harlequin breeders cull babies that aren't marked well enough to show when they're born, especially if the litter had more then 8 babies. xc

Also turns out Gwen is bred, she's due today so looking forward to some more polish kits! For awhile I thought she wouldn't be having any, I've felt all around on her and nothing, but just now I just barely put my hand on her belly and bam baby. Not sure where it was hiding all this time. xD I suspect it'll be a small litter, 2 or 3 babies.

[Daisywolf14]

dang that sucks! Mabye try dutch, from what i have heard i don't think they are much better breeding wise. No luck within my 4-H group with them at all.

Yeah, I'll have to see if I can get/find any decent hotots because all I need is a buck, if not guess I'll be getting rid of most my hotots but maybe one to keep as a pet. =/

Also around here culling means to put down, or most the time at least. The harlequin breeders cull babies that aren't marked well enough to show when they're born, especially if the litter had more then 8 babies. xc

Also turns out Gwen is bred, she's due today so looking forward to some more polish kits! For awhile I thought she wouldn't be having any, I've felt all around on her and nothing, but just now I just barely put my hand on her belly and bam baby. Not sure where it was hiding all this time. xD I suspect it'll be a small litter, 2 or 3 babies.

i here some dutch breeders do that also, i hate it and don't see the reason