I am so indecisive...

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I can't decide what direction I want to go with my rabbits. I know I need to pare down (for my sake). Ideally a trio, max 5 rabbits. I currently am feeding 11 at breeding age and 7 growouts. 4 of the 11 are ones that were for sale and either didn't sell, or the person left me hanging. Of course it's 3 bucks and a doe :roll: . 2 of the bucks we just didn't get to last processing day before we ran out of day lights - not looking forward to skinning those guys. Anyway... I have 1 NZW/REW buck and 2 does (proven), a Creme d'Argent doe (the one ODS picked out and paid for, proven), 2 chinchillas (buck and doe) (proven), and a harlequin dutch (proven, though rough getting to a litter, and it was only 3). I got the dutch thinking I would start transitioning to them for a smaller breed, but still meaty. Evidently they aren't a popular breed in our area :roll: and not easy to find. So now I am stumped. I love seeing color, but then again, that makes it easier to get attached to the kits. When they are all white they aren't as easy to single out or want to keep based on color alone. Dutch would be neat since they aren't as popular here, they are smaller, eat less, etc.

Help me?!?! :oops: :lol:

Pros? Cons? Curious what would you do? Stick with simple, go small and colorful? :roll: :lol: The chinchillas are beautiful, so maybe steer more toward them over the REWs - still simple, uniform color... but... different. I know I will keep my REW buck - he is a sweetheart and will be a pet when his breeding days are over.
 
Lol I'm not much help. I actually have a few more cages then the number of rabbits I actually try to keep. My goal is 8 breeding does but I have 11 including those almost ready to breed. I generally keep back several that are fast growing, then narrow things down from there as they grow. Temperament, color, type, temperament, fur quality, all play a part in who I eventually keep but I often don't decide until they are almost grown or even have litters.
 
Dutch were my first breeders. They sold well. I didn't see a lot of breeders around these parts.

Benefits: a bit less feed, easier to handle, uncommon, colors!
Drawbacks: smaller litters, not easy to sell as a meat breed

I switched to NZ...but colored NZ.

Benefits: larger litters, colors!, easy to sell as meat breed
Drawbacks: eat more, more common

Only you can decide what you want. For me, I want to be able to sell enough kits each year to pay for the rabbits food bill for the year. I have found that much easier to do with the NZ. If that was not an issue, and I had good producing Dutch, I might stay with them as I would only be feeding my hubby and myself and the smaller Dutch would work, while still giving me the colors I crave.
 
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