In The Bunny Business
We are now raising pedigreed Mini Rex here on our growing little farm. Rabbits have been on our mind for some time. And when we came across a sell out of some beautiful rabbits, I decided we should go for it. Buying eight total. Two proven bucks, and six does of various ages.
Now our numbers have gone up swiftly with three successful litters, and one on the way.
The colors we have in our barn are broken blue, broken otter, and broken castor, chinchilla, opal, blue, and black. That’s not counting kits. So far we have blacks, broken black, broken otter including a charlie, and white. I’d like to focus more on solid otters, castors, opals, and harlequins. And now that I know that I’ve already got my next set of pairings planned out. The nerd in me is super excited.
You might be wondering what the proposed of these rabbits are. While we don’t have any plans to show (at least not anytime soon) I want to produce quality rabbits. These come from show stock. And any rabbits we sale will be of quality. Even to pet homes… they have a saying “breed the best, eat the rest” I’m sure that brings out a lot of mixed feelings. But no one would benefit from an excess of poorly bred rabbits. I don’t believe everything should be bred to show standards (speaking in broad terms here, not just rabbits) but YOU should have a standard that you have set. And will bred for.
Mellow easy to handle rabbits are important. Especially since mini rex are such a popular children’s breed. As well as holding to the standard in coat, and forum. As for color, that’s to my personal preferences.
And somewhere down the road we will bring in some larger does specifically for meat crosses. I’ve never had rabbit, but my husband likes it. And he will be chef processor. I’ve done chicken, but I’m not sure I’ve got what it takes for rabbits.
Eventually I’d like to raise some pedigreed large breeds. Although I haven’t got one picked out yet. I would like to focus on a rarer heritage breed. But we will have to see what comes of that. I do love the velvety softness and color options of the rex breeds. And even with all this talk of meat I do think they make wonderful pets. And I have my favorites – Lilly and Sweetie, whom I never plan to part with outside of natural causes.
Stay tuned for more on our rabbits, and everything else we are raising around here.