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RoosterMania

RoosterMania

Well-known member
Joined
May 21, 2011
Messages
46
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12
Location
Georgia
I'm wanting to start a small rabbit herd to supplement meat for my family of 8. I've had a breeder offer me a breeding trio of pedigreed American blues for $250. I understand they are a rare breed, which I read as in low demand, but that price seems high to me a newbie considering I can find pedigreed NZWs or Cali's, which are better producers, for much less. So is this a reasonable price? Is it common to negotiate prices or is it pretty much take it or leave it? Thanks in advance.
 
:x Don't bend over around that dude!!! :x

You're new, you said so yourself. Find some inexpensive meat rabbits
to cut your "Rabbit-Raising" teeth on. You're gonna make some mistakes.
Make those mistakes with "Cheap" rabbits.

""Breeding-Trio"".......could mean many different things. Most of them not good.
My advice to anyone beginning rabbits is to realize with a meat rabbit operation,
the cheapest items in the whole package.......are the rabbits. You can find
some dandy rabbits and not lose a portion of your left arm obtaining them.

Youngsters are the best way to go. Allow them to mature in your system
while you're learning how to maintain them. Don't overfeed....that's the
biggest, most common, mistake folks make. I've got a commercial rabbitry
and the youngsters out of my best stock sells for $15-$20 per head at
10 to 12 weeks old.

I'll tell you a little secret:: If someone sells you a breeding trio out of their stock, they AIN'T gonna be anywhere's near the top of their producers.
More than likely, they're on the downhill side of their production life. Or,
worse yet, complete duds to begin with.

grumpy.
 
:yeahthat: Even if they are excellent rabbits, don't buy them for what you have in mind. Most meat stock Americans sell for $25-$30 around here.
Those ones sound like show stock, not always the best for filling your freezer.

Get the less expensive rabbits to start with. There is a learning curve with rabbits, and even if you do things by the books there is a LOT that can go wrong.

If you really want the pricy Americans, eat your cheap rabbits and fill the cages with the fancy ones after a year or so of learning how to troubleshoot rabbit problems.

As far as talking the down, that's kind of an individual thing. Depends on how bad they want to sell those particular rabbits.
 
Yep, exactly what they said! Make your mistakes on some cheap rabbits. You can still get good stock for $25 - $35 per rabbit... but you do have to take the breeder's word that they are being straight with you.

American Blues, like some other breeds, are rare breeds because they were almost replaced by commercial breeds like the Californian and New Zealand White. Rabbitries looking for faster growout rates on less feed switched to the commercial breeds, and let their heritage breeds go. I'm figuring the heritage rabbits became dinner, and the commercial rabbits got their cages. That's how they became rare. If not for a few holdouts here and there, raising breeds like American Blues and other heritage breeds, they might have been lost. These heritage breeds are slowly becoming more popular with small rabbitries. Occasionally, someone will organize a "drift", which is a relay with the purpose of distributing bloodlines of the breed to other places, to help keep the vigor of the breed.

grumpy":t9qgrihm said:
:x Don't bend over around that dude!!! :x
Click to expand...
:rotfl:

Zass":t9qgrihm said:
Those ones sound like show stock, not always the best for filling your freezer.
Click to expand...
That was my first thought, too!

Show stock MIGHT be good meat stock, but sometimes not. They are selecting for different characteristics. Even show Californians are different from meat Californians. For meat, you select for large litters, good growout, good milking ability on the doe, stocky shoulders and hindquarters, etc. For show, you select for shape, color, fur type, stuff like that.
 
Wow. She got mad and snarky when I respectfully declined her offer and explained again that I am only looking for meat rabbits. Is this the normal attitude among rabbit breeders? I've only dealt with chicken breeders up to now, and I must say I've never been treated so unkind by someone wanting to sell me something. :(
 
RoosterMania":3mmg0e61 said:
Wow. She got mad and snarky when I respectfully declined her offer and explained again that I am only looking for meat rabbits. Is this the normal attitude among rabbit breeders? I've only dealt with chicken breeders up to now, and I must say I've never been treated so unkind by someone wanting to sell me something. :(
Click to expand...

NOPE!!! You're just "the-one" that got away.....that's all. Don't pay her no
mind whatsoever. She saw an "opportunity" to make some fast cash off of
an unsuspecting beginner. Her intent is obvious by her behavior.

Nuff said....move on and find some reasonably priced meat rabbits.
Have fun with your new endeavor.

grumpy.
 
grumpy":378l7tb9 said:
RoosterMania":378l7tb9 said:
Wow. She got mad and snarky when I respectfully declined her offer and explained again that I am only looking for meat rabbits. Is this the normal attitude among rabbit breeders? I've only dealt with chicken breeders up to now, and I must say I've never been treated so unkind by someone wanting to sell me something. :(
Click to expand...

NOPE!!! You're just "the-one" that got away.....that's all. Don't pay her no
mind whatsoever. She saw an "opportunity" to make some fast cash off of
an unsuspecting beginner. Her intent is obvious by her behavior.

Nuff said....move on and find some reasonably priced meat rabbits.
Have fun with your new endeavor.

grumpy.
Click to expand...

My thoughts and sentiments, as well. The gal thought she had you by the gill flexors, only to find out that she was reeling in a treetop crappie!!
 
If she's being snarky, she obviously doesn't want to sell them that bad. :roll: Remember, YOU were the one who was going to do HER a favor by buying her rabbits. YOU are the customer. If she wants business, she should treat her customers well... even if they don't buy. By her being snarky, not only will you likely not reconsider her offer, you will probably warn others against her if anyone asks.

Don't feel bad. You were respectful. She's the problem here.

And no, she's not the norm. But you do find all kinds among rabbit breeders... most of them, I think, would not act like this woman, though. :)
 
Over priced rabbits do often come from snotty, self entitled people. Not always since some people have tried hard to make a name for themselves and breed all good quality rabbits. Most good breeders though will offer inexpensive stock to beginners. They are usually from good lines but may be older or haven't produced yet. Possibly a minor type or color problem that makes them fine for meat but bad for show. Lots of my first round of rabbits were $10 or even free from breeders that had plenty of excess stock and wanted to help a new person. Once you have your own system and you know how to judge the type and production capabilities of a rabbit then you can upgrade to more expensive stock.
 
I started my breeding stock with the most expensive rabbit I could buy. My champagne d'argent female. She was either $40 or $50 I can't remember now. But she's been an amazing rabbit for me. I have others, but she is the ONE I won't part with for any money.

I would recommend thinking about what kind of rabbit you like looking at and get a purebred from that breed if that's what you like, then a couple mutts to make up a trio and breed for a while and see what you like/don't like about each one. And then build up/on from there. That's what I'm doing and have three bucks because of it! Only 1 buck is being used a 3/4 champagne. My other two bucks are retired pets for my parrots in their aviaries. lol
 
$40 is pretty standard if not a little low for a pure champagne. That's not really an expensive rabbit. After the low cost and free rabbits I messed around with I haven't spent less than $40 on a purebred. All my argents were $40 except he just threw in a champagne doe for free that wasn't growing fast enough. She prolapsed her entire uterus the first litter and nothing survived. Most of the ND are $45-$50 unless they have a fault that could be spread to the offspring besides max factor and peanuts. Everyone seems to just accept max factor and peanuts as a part of the breed instead of getting rid of the problems.
 
Just to update: I found a breeder about 2 hrs away from me with some NZs and Florida Whites. She is offering a starter package consisting of 1 buck and 2 does with a four hole cage included for $150. I've seen pics and plan on going Saturday to get some. Thanks to everyone for all the encouragement and advise.
 
I will add that the quality of rabbits you buy are going to determine the quality and amount of meat their offspring will produce. There are culls in most any litter you'll ever encounter, but that is not to say that they will never produce any good future breeders, either. While those culls may never amount to anything in a showroom, they will most likely throw a few very nice brood rabbits along the way.

Nearly 4 years ago when I decided to get back into showing satins, the best rabbits I bought set me back all of $25 each. Two became grand champions. Let that sink in for a minute. While most of my showroom opposition paid easily 4-6X that amount on the rabbits they started with, I was doing well with rabbits that cost me far more in gas to go to the breeder's house and back than the breeder charged me for the rabbits themselves.

You mentioned Cals and NZ. You're going to get better meat production out of them rabbit for rabbit than you would likely have gotten from the Americans you were quoted money for. The reason mainly has to do with meat-to-bone ratios. Satins are usually even better in that department than Cals and NZ, and satin breeders will gladly sell rabbits they don't intend to keep to someone who is trying to raise rabbits with which to feed their families. I know I would, and would do so right now if I lived any closer to GA.
 
A starter trio and a four-hole cage for $150 is an excellent deal! :)

I imagine these would be young rabbits, that you will be growing out into breeders. This is a long wait, but generally for the best. There are experienced breeders on here who would much rather buy 8 - 12 week-olds than breeding-age stock. They say they settle in better, get used to you much more easily, and end up producing better. Just try to make sure that the stock you are buying is out of the breeder's best rabbits.

The cages could be on the small side (one breeder a couple hours from me said that New Zealand does didn't need more than 24"x24"), but you can get more cages and modify these cages later.

Florida Whites are supposed to be a nice, smaller, solid meat brick of a breed.

For guides on what to look for when buying, try these posts:
post140554.html#p140554
post139175.html#p139175
post115729.html#p115729
post56087.html#p56087
 
I think $250 for a trio of meat rabbits is ridiculous. I think American Blues are very cool rabbits and I rarely see them, however when I have seen them they were $25 each. If I were getting into meat rabbits I'd look into New Zealands or Calis they seem to be the go to meat rabbits around here. I've be looking to pay $15-25 tops. I may pay a little more for older rabbits of say 6-8 month, like $5-10 more as that will save me a lot of time and feed. Unless I knew the breeder personally I wouldn't pay any more for any claims that their rabbits were the greatest. Even if the rabbit was great looking and the right size for their age there is no guarantee that they will produce big litters or be good parents. So called proven breeder rabbits raise my eyebrows too. I bought a trio of French Angoras a few months ago and the wait for them to reach breeding age is killing me lol. I want fluffy bunnies now !!!! I'm not sure how others feel about this but I'd love to start with 2 does and 2 bucks. I'd hate to wait 6 months and find out my buck didn't work or dies. You can always eat the extra one later. I would have gotten a second FA buck but since all my rabbit are inside my home, I didn't have the space to house another.
 
Florida Whites are a great breed for a small producer. They are thrifty, prolific, and normally excellant mothers right from the first litter. They continue to produce if not overbred, I have a 5 year old doe that her last litter two months ago was 7. They gain weight and keep it on, even in the worst winters. They really are little meat bricks, dress out is excellant for a smaller breed. They will always be one of my favourite breeds.
 
I've seen American Blues on Craigslist here in Houston for ~$25 - $40 each(Couple different breeders). Thing is , None I've seen have the proper body type. They have more of a commercial meat brick shape than the semi-arched or mandolin shape the breed standard calls for. I seriously doubt that they are pure American's.


I paid $100 for my first trio of Rex which are just as rare than the Americans.
 

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