Line breeding, how much is to much?

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Meat and dwarf breeds are plentiful here but they are freely bred with no records or tattoos. At first I was after 1 pair to be pets and have 2 litters a year to sell as pets but I caught the bug with my 1st lop pair that I bought the end of Feb. Now I want to show and I like my breed too. I would do harle & tri mini rex too if I had room and could find pedigreed stock locally.
 
skysthelimit":2gpiry8o said:
rittert3":2gpiry8o said:
Hmm all this has me thinking... I would much rather pay less however from the 3 national competing breeders in my area they've all told me that anything with quality will run atleast $75-$100. Is it possible that my breed of choice has a little higher asking prices all around? I think I will keep talking to the breeders and stick with what I have until nationals. I may find something from out of state that I want there.


Sometimes. Some breeds and colors are hard to find. I'd say red NZ are a bit hard to find. There are only ten rex breeders that I know of for show in Ohio. Still, you just gotta count the cost.
This is sooooooooo true. YOu have to look at the breed you are doing. Is there lots around. Just remember to. If there is lots of them. There is more competition on that breed on the table. Rare colors do cost more. Just not a arm and a leg. lol.
 
Personally, I would look at the rabbits in the $75- $100 range. If there is a lot of competition in the breed I would think the price goes up for good stock. Waiting for the Nationals is a good idea since you will have a lot more animals to choose from.

As in all animals in the highly bred show lines sometimes the emphasis is so heavy for type that other characteristics suffer. I would ask about herd health and reproductive ability- are the does easy to get pregnant, and good mothers that give birth easily and produce enough milk? Do the bucks produce well? How susceptible are they to heat sterility and how quickly do they recover from it when the weather cools? Do they routinely medicate their stock, or do they cull for a strong immune system and robust growth? Also ask about temperament- that is another area that sometimes gets overlooked. Lunging, biting rabbits would not be much fun to care for daily, no matter how many ribbons and trophies they have won!
 
What I know about the heard is... They had alot and quit doing Ice bottles so they're naturally selected to be more heat tolerant, I've been told by 6 people that they're in the top 5% nationally for show mini lops, and they were selected to have 5-7 per litter be able to raise them to 8 weeks. They were always bred on a table vs. the bucks cage and I adopted the method. It works well and no damage occures to either rabbit (with the exception of the buck pulling a mouthfull of hair), ever.
 
First off Mini Lops are one of the easiest breeds to breed, high fertility, good mothers, and they have the size and ability to raise 7-8 kits a litter and often do. Very easy breed, very very easy. Tend to be tough, many have poor temperaments due to popularity and breeding for type only. They are also one of the Big Five, number 5 I think, thats a reason right there to avoid them, competition is very stiff. Old saying the more you pay the quicker they die, very true in rabbits, and they are very fragile, no way I'd pay $400 for a rabbit and extra for a pedigree, thats a rip off. Also in Mini Lops color means nothing, and they have only two varieties, solids and brokens, if you don't have exceptional rabbits you go off the table very very quickly. Its not like Mini Rex where you have the hope of getting a leg in your variety, in ML all solid colors show against each other and all brokens show against each other. If your lucky you might get best Sr doe, buck, Jr doe buck, if your lucky. Torts, Chestnuts, Steels and Blacks seem to be most worked on and so are the best for the most part, a good Black can be hard to beat. Not a breed I'd recommend for someone just starting out, tends to be large numbers showing, you wait hours for your chance and then your rabbit comes off the table first because their so popular and there's always at least two or three big names at a show with them. Just something to think about.
 
rittert3":2rud13vu said:
It works well and no damage occures to either rabbit (with the exception of the buck pulling a mouthfull of hair), ever.


I have yet to have any damage to a breeding pair, not even a mouthful of hair. One damaging the other is rare as far as I can tell, and that animal would quickly find it's way into a pot or into someone else's house.
 
Both of my pedigrees are broke steel (doe is blue steel), Honorine, dose that give me a bit of a leg up? I want to atleast do them for the rest of this year, if they don't work out I will probably trade them off for mini rex.
 
One trick is to track the lines. It's how we got purebred dogs of the same level as the several $1000 imports for less than $1000. You take the biggest name kennels, find out who bought from them and breeds, contact them and ask who with related animals might be having litters soon, contact them, and move down the line until you find someone with a litter who is the same bloodlines and quality but since they breed only a handful and once or twice a year they sell for 1/10th the price. A friend of mine sells japanese line akitas at $500-$900 from a dog who's full brother sells pups at $1500 and a better imported female because the other is a big name show kennel and she breeds for the breed and keeps them as pets and working guard dogs instead of show. It can be done with rabbits if you watch the pedigrees and ask questions. You can get stock from the same line that produced a $400 rabbit and work with them from a small breeder who sells for $50 or $30 and get maybe just a little under the quality since a champion does not guarantee champions but throws all the genes in his background the same as his relatives. You just have to weed out the breeders who have bred down by not bringing in stock from other good sources to pair with them and keep the best once you get a breeding group established to try to replicate the same gene combination that made the national winner. The genes are all there in the relatives. They just have to be put together right.
 
This is what the pair that I have are, akane. The whole herd of 300 rabbit were all the same line and some how related. I got mine for $10 ea. before pedigrees ($40 after). I'll keep taking to breeders and whatch for good lines. I'd really like to get some does that carry a little bigger head which is really the only place my stock is lacking.
 
WOW! $30.00 for a Pedigree?
Every Rabbit that I sell comes with a Pedigree,
the pedigree is included in the price.
Maybe it's just me, but that sounds like a
tricky way to up the price of a
not so expensive Rabbit.
Ottersatin. :eek:ldtimer:
 
My breed is very competitive i would expect too pay about $250 for a buck with multiple legs.Netherland dwarfs.however someone with a small rabbitry might have good rabbits but they get less because they show less.
 
curlysue":36tk0pye said:
My breed is very competitive i would expect too pay about $250 for a buck with multiple legs.Netherland dwarfs.however someone with a small rabbitry might have good rabbits but they get less because they show less.


True. i love finding smaller breeders with quality lines who sell for less. I sell my pups and rabbits for less because I show less, but my dog is sired by the number 1 gsd sire- who is in turn sired by the Westminster group winning Dallas dog, and his dam's sire and grand sire are no slackers either. The pedigree is beyond solid, build to produce, but because I haven't finished him I don't sell $1000 plus puppies.

The bunnies I have now have a sister that placed BOS in a Rex show yesterday, at 6 mos old, and I believe got another leg at a second show. The breeder sold the mother to me and the kits for a high price (that one was the bunny back), but I'm selling for $25 until I make a name for myself. There will probably be a doe granded from the litter I got from her before I even get my first leg on a rabbit here.
 

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