I would prefer pedigreed but nobody has them only purebred.
The problem with "purebred but not pedigreed" is that it can be difficult to be sure they actually
are purebred, especially if you're a beginner. I've found that a lot of people
think they know what they have, usually because that's what the person they bought the rabbits from told them, but the rabbits do not look anything like the breed they're supposed to be.
As many of us have mentioned here and elsewhere, having a pedigree doesn't necessarily tell you very much about the quality of the rabbit. A pedigree is simply a list of ancestors. However
... if the breeder has bothered to keep pedigrees, you know they have done at least the bare minimum to show they're serious about breeding good quality rabbits. Note that even if a pedigree records an ancestor that does not meet the breed standard - a chestnut New Zealand, for example, or a harlequin Rex - it does
not always mean that the rabbits are not purebred.
Keep in mind, too, that you are only three generations away from pedigreed rabbits if you start keeping track of them yourself. I bought my first trio of Satins without pedigrees. I knew they were good quality rabbits, and I couldn't afford the pedigrees at the time. (Around here, you're often given the choice of paying extra for pedigrees. For many people, for example those simply wanting to raise good-quality meat rabbits, pedigrees aren't really valuable.) But I knew that if I kept track of my breeding program - which I would do anyway - I'd have purebred pedigreed rabbits three generations down. The trick, though, is to be able to discern whether those "purebred but not pedigreed" rabbits are what they are supposed to be. The ideal way to do this is to find someone knowledgeable to come with you to look at the rabbits. Going to a show and talking with breeders there is another excellent way to learn what to look for. While it is not ideal, you can always post some photos here and people can give you their impressions and opinions.
But the Icing on top I found 2 places that raise creme d'argents ( my dream rabbits) and so I message them. One gets back with me immediately, theirs are pedigreed. I ask for prices, THEY ARE $150 DOLLARS. They are in my area though!!! Should I buy them,150 for does 130 for bucks? I could eventually make my money back. The other place, I know they have rabbits but they haven't responded!!!
I agree that $130-$150 is quite high for a rabbit. Yes, some people do buy and sell them for such prices and more, but I have never felt it appropriate to do so. I am willing to pay for quality, but I am not willing to
overpay. In fact, that is why we did not buy any Creme D'Argents, but are in the process of making them ourselves.
When my daughter started talking about paying similar prices for Cremes, here is what I told her: First, the fact of the matter is that, to put it bluntly, rabbits die. They frequently have a distinct tendency to die at the worst possible moment. They escape, dogs get them, they refuse to breed, they eat the feet off their babies, they try to rip your radial artery open when you go to feed them. Of course
most rabbits don't do any of that (well, they
do all die, eventually). But when I buy a nice new buck for $50 and he dies before I can get a single bunny out of him, that doesn't knock the wind out of me like it would if I'd paid $130 for him. These are the mental calculations I always make when debating the price I'm willing to pay for a rabbit: how much money am I willing to possibly have to bury in the yard? Especially if you are just starting out, there will be a learning curve that might not be particularly forgiving. I would counsel finding good quality rabbits at a more reasonable price to start out with. The Cremes probably aren't going anywhere, and with age and experience a lot more opportunities will be available to you.
Second, Cremes are not likely to be of the quality you would see in a similarly priced Californian, New Zealand, Satin, Rex or even Champagne D'Argent. Those breeds have hundreds, if not thousands, of breeders working to improve them. Being a rare breed, in my experience and those of many judges I've talked with, Cremes leave a bit to be desired in type. The breeder you talked to may have wonderful rabbits, but Cremes do not generally take Best in Show unless it's a Creme D'Argent Specialty show. Rather than being priced for their over-the-top quality, what I've found is that Cremes are priced high simply because they're rare.
So then you have to ask yourself, why are they rare? Why are there so few Creme breeders? Even if you can't answer that question, it should make you wonder if you could actually make your money back. My friend paid many hundreds of dollars to get a trio of Blanc De Hotos up here, then found out the does could only manage to have a single litter each season. Blancs are gorgeous, but she had very few bunnies to sell, and very few takers for her sale rabbits even when she lowered the price to a fraction of what she'd paid.
Unless your area is very different from other places I've lived, you may not be able to sell many bunnies at a price anywhere near what you paid for them, but they'll cost just as much to keep and breed as any other rabbit. In my experience, people looking for rabbits are not nearly as willing to pay high prices for pedigreed stock as people looking for goats, sheep, horses or dogs, for example. And those that
are willing, tend to be successful breeders themselves, looking for stock from other successful show breeders.
Breeds that are well-known for their meat qualities (Cals, NZs), and breeds that come in a wide variety of colors and unusual coat types (Rex, Satins), will make your potential market a lot wider. They are common enough that you should be able to find very nice stock for reasonable prices.
One suggestion I have is to contact your state rabbit club and FFA/4H/Extension office for referrals to rabbit breeders who are interested in helping youth get started. Lots of us older breeders really love to help kids get going, and will offer not only advice but sometimes also very nice rabbits for a reduced rate. Last fall I sold two Satin does to a 4Her (for $40 and $50 each), which have brought home three Open Best in Shows for her so far. To me, that's more exciting than owning the winning rabbits. And she is now hooked on Satins!
The NC Rabbit Breeders Association is here:
https://www.facebook.com/ncrba/
Here's a website where you can find contact information about the NC State Extension office:
https://www.ces.ncsu.edu/
There was a rabbit project in Piedmont in 2022. I can't tell if it's still going, but this is who you might ask about a program near you:
Laura Elmore Extension Agent, Agriculture - Livestock and Field Crops N.C. Cooperative Extension, Iredell County Center
And this is from north-central NC; you could contact them to ask for references to an agent in your section of NC who could help you find a breeder interested in helping you:
https://forsyth.ces.ncsu.edu/north-central-district-4-h-poultry-and-rabbit-show/
