The woes of rabbit searching

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rockyhillrabbits

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5 years ago, when I started with rabbits, it was easier to find decent rabbits. Now that we are starting our rabbitry again I am having the hardest time finding quality, pedigreed stock. I insist on pedigreed stock because my goal is to produce the best rabbits I can, not just any ol' rabbits. I do not have facebook and will not go back to facebook. Other than this forum I am not a part of any social media so I have been looking on the ARBA breeder's directory, specific breed registries, google searches, and even stooped down to Craigslist.
My sweet, awesome husband has also been looking and found a Rex breeder in Texas, on Craigslist. The ad said they were pedigreed, and he called the lady. I was also on the phone with them so I could ask questions. I don't even remember what color this particular rabbit was but she sent me his pedigree. Not a single weight, the only info on it was the names of his parents, grandparents, etc and their color and just about every variety of Rex was on that pedigree. Hubby still thought it would be a good addition to our rabbitry but I firmly told him no.
Looking for quality Flemish is also looking like an impossible task. People on craigslist and other ads post a rabbit, we'll say Flemish, that are supposed to be purebred and the dang rabbit isn't even a recognized Flemish color.:rolleyes: And these people are supposedly breeders. I think my husband thinks I'm a rabbit snob, but I told him the whole point of breeding pedigreed stock is to keep to the breed's standard and that pedigree should act as a road map of sorts. You should be able to look at the pedigree and the colors behind a rabbit and know pretty well what it will produce when bred to another color. If the rabbit isn't bred color-correct, there's no predictability and you can get babies with wonky coloring, which is fine for meat and pets, but that's not our primary goal.
And the price has gone up, which is understandable since everything else has gone up. In a couple weeks we are taking a road trip to Texas to get a beautiful junior Rex buck and we are paying more for him than I paid for my pedigreed junior Flemish buck a few years ago. :oops:
I have emailed about a dozen people I found on rabbitbreeders.us and ARBA and most of the time I never get a reply back or the email address is no longer valid lol.
 
Rabbitsofthecreek, I'm going to have pedigreed, show quality Rex and Flemish. I want New Zealand and New Zealand x Flemish for meat rabbits and hubby got me a lop of some kind for my birthday so he will probably get to breed New Zealands and he might get a lop girlfriend for pretty pets every so often.
 
Rabbitsofthecreek, I'm going to have pedigreed, show quality Rex and Flemish. I want New Zealand and New Zealand x Flemish for meat rabbits and hubby got me a lop of some kind for my birthday so he will probably get to breed New Zealands and he might get a lop girlfriend for pretty pets every so often.
Alright. If you're not able to find a Lop, I have a Netherland Dwarf Doe (She is bred however, due I believe sometime next month. But, it is her first litter)
 
Unfortunately, the best way to spread the word to a large group of people, within a hobby group, is on Facebook. I use Facebook for groups, and almost for nothing else. For groups it is unbeatably good, especially groups in your local area or for a particular breed.

You might talk to 4H leaders in your area, and local feed stores. You could likely get a lead there. Or contact national rabbit breed clubs, where you might be able to find a local New Zealand or Flemish breeder.
 
Unfortunately, the best way to spread the word to a large group of people, within a hobby group, is on Facebook. I use Facebook for groups, and almost for nothing else. For groups it is unbeatably good, especially groups in your local area or for a particular breed.

You might talk to 4H leaders in your area, and local feed stores. You could likely get a lead there. Or contact national rabbit breed clubs, where you might be able to find a local New Zealand or Flemish breeder.
I have contacted several breeders from the national breed clubs, plus I have checked ARBA's breeder directory. It seems more people are getting out of breeding Flemish than are breeding them. I am going to try to contact people who purchased rabbits from me before and see if they still have Rex.
 
There's a Flemish breeder on Oahu who is breeding to ARBA standards, but you'd have to ship it over from Hawaii.

We have the same problem in finding breedstock. Being on an island, there's very few breeders here. Perhaps you can find enough stock that you'll be able to have a closed herd? We've been going along since 2009 pretty much with the offspring of the original three pairs plus a very few additions over the years. Most of the additions were our stock bred to an outside line and we got the offspring from that. Not all of them were pedigreed, but it did knock the level of inbreeding down.

I think everyone should keep pedigrees on their stock, just so we would have a hope of figuring out what it is, should we run across their rabbits. Even an incomplete pedigree is better than nothing, but it's not the optimum, of course.
 
I would suggest looking for ARBA shows and attending those to find the kind of breeders you are looking for. Not that I am any kind of show rabbit expert but I do know a lot about networking. I have a map that I have been making for a while but most of the contact info is Facebook links. Groups for rabbits and such is pretty much the main reason I am still on there. I am not sure if it would be okay to post my map here. I have one pair of pedigreed Rex and wouldn't mind posting something for you on a couple of Rex groups if you like.
 
Are you interested in pedigreed American Chinchillas? I am in New Hampshire.
 
I have pedigreed bucks and does from several different herds. It was difficult to get them, but worth it!
 
I would suggest looking for ARBA shows and attending those to find the kind of breeders you are looking for. Not that I am any kind of show rabbit expert but I do know a lot about networking. I have a map that I have been making for a while but most of the contact info is Facebook links. Groups for rabbits and such is pretty much the main reason I am still on there. I am not sure if it would be okay to post my map here. I have one pair of pedigreed Rex and wouldn't mind posting something for you on a couple of Rex groups if you like.
Yeah my plan is to show also, but our local rabbit club won't have a show until spring of next year and the next closest ones are in southwest Missouri and somewhere in Kentucky but I'm hoping to be able to go just to get an idea.
 
Yeah my plan is to show also, but our local rabbit club won't have a show until spring of next year and the next closest ones are in southwest Missouri and somewhere in Kentucky but I'm hoping to be able to go just to get an idea.
You might try just asking the people who run the club. They ought to be able to connect you with the leading local folks for the breed.
 
I quarantine all new stock and do a thorough look-over before they come home and try to avoid buying in those areas. So far Arkansas doesn't have any cases, but I believe they have it in TX, MS, and maybe TN.
I'm in Texas. I wouldn't knock out whole states over that virus. What I would do is look up the current outbreaks and stay away from those specific areas. Pretty sure there is a website but i don't have it handy.
 

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