Dutch

Hello, I have been raising dutch for the past year. I have not really done well in the show ring. I know it's not about the shows but the the friends you make but I want to raise competitive dutch but in PA it's nearly impossible with the state home to the current sweepstakes # 1 & 2 youth breeders. I currently raise three varieties Black,Blue and Tortoise. I am wondering if I should downsize to two varieties only to focus on my quality of my rabbits. Any Advice?

How have your rabbits placed in shows? Are there serious faults that might be improved by bringing in stock from those #1 & 2 breeders?

Are those three varieties compatible in Dutch? Or should you avoid mixing dilutes into your torts? If so, you may want to choose between tort or blues (because black can work with either).

You say you have been raising Dutch for a year. How long have those other youth breeders been raising Dutch? There is nothing wrong with wanting to be competitive, but I continually tell my kids it takes time to develop your own competitive lines. Most breeders generally do not sell you the best in their barn nor would I expect them to (they keep those for themselves), but a reputable breeder will sell you quality rabbits that you can use to build a line yourself. It takes patience and understanding of breeding and culling to do so, however.

This past weekend we had two homegrown juniors take Best Opposite of Breed in a small local show and the kids were so excited. We have a friend that is one of the top youth Netherland breeders that we show against; we know the chances of beating his rabbits are very slim because he has some great animals, but he has been raising rabbits a long time and his dad has been doing it even longer! Instead of being envious, we made friends and learn as much as we can from them - and sincerely celebrate their successes with them, too. They are super nice people. I actually see the tough competition as a challenge to keep our own standards high. It helps when we start talking about what to cull and what to keep to see the quality we are shooting for in the rabbits that are placing above ours.

My advice, set you goals and then figure out what it is going to take to get there. It may benefit you to narrow your focus or if it is more important to have more of a variety realize it may take longer to get there. Is it more important to you to keep as many animals as you can or do you have the eye and will to cull hard? Only you can answer those questions.

Also, consider finding a mentor that will help you develop your eye and be truthful with you when you get a little "barn blind". Finding an experienced breeder that will tell us the truth about our animals has been one of the most helpful things in helping move things forward.

I think I am going to keep all three. I love both blues and torts and cannot force myself to decide between the two. My blue/black line is from the #2 breeder who is also my mentor in the breed. She's truly a lifesaver answers my stupid questions. My torts are from a nationally winning line and he is also super helpful. All my animals are well typed though that's a start. Although I do have a promising junior in the barn who will be hitting the tables in the fall. The rest of the litter is bad though not on type but on markings. They will be pets. It only takes one to win.

If you've got the correct body type then there is not much you can do about poor markings except produce in mass quantities until "the one" with a proper pattern is born and mix and match bucks and does so see which pairing is most compatable and tends to produce kits with a showable pattern :shrug:

Cutting back on a colour would actually be counter productive (unless your getting blue torts which are not an approved variety )

Because Dutch are a marked breed, you are somewhat left to chance. It sounds like you have a good start in your breed, now it's just up to the rabbits to produce some nicely marked offspring.

I ended up with a Dutch marked kit in my Dutch X Mini Lop litter.
I didn't think it was possible to get Dutch markings unless both parents were Dutch, but it's a cute little thing.