What breed to raise for show?

[RubyRed]

I've been on and off with rabbits for the past year or two- I've kept several rabbits, still have my one pet and I took in a pregnant doe recently. (the last of her babies are leaving this week) Soon I'll be moving houses and left with just my pet rabbit and I want to start really sorting out all my rabbit ideas and plans so I can start building a small herd to breed and show.

I have tons of time to think this all through. But I thought I would start with looking at breeds and I was wondering if anyone could help!

I live in a suburban neighbourhood and have a pretty small, fenced yard, so I'd be looking at a small to medium sized breed that would do well in a stacker sort of setup. The breed should ideally be enough of pet-market-material that I can fairly easily sell my culls, but I've decided to stay away from breeds like Holland Lops and Mini Rexes, as I want a breed with competition but not so much competition that shows (and the market in general) are overrun with them.

Could you guys share some breeds you'd think could be worth a shot? Or just any breed you enjoy working with?

 

[RabbitsOfTheCreek]

Netherland Dwarfs are small and don't have huge litters, and when I go to shows they don't have as many of them as some other breeds

 

[ladysown]

dutch, mini satin, polish,

 

[RubyRed]

dutch, mini satin, polish,

I've heard that the markings on dutch are annoying to deal with when breeding for show. Do you know, if two dutch rabbits with correct markings are bred together, is it possible for a large portion of the litter to still have incorrect markings?

 

[ladysown]

Well I don't know, but for me marked breeds are fun. . Harlequins are tougher

 

[RubyRed]

I'm thinking maybe Polish or Havanas.
I've always liked Thriantas and I would love to start with them but they are very rare in my area.

 

[MnCanary]

Don't forget Silver Martens!

Go through the ARBA list of rabbit breeds--they have photos of each. Separate out the ones that are too large for your needs. Then pick a breed that you like the looks of. Size and general looks are the most important factors. If you like the way your rabbits look, you will do well with them.

My other recommendation is to pick just one breed, unless you have a lot of room for cages. Each young rabbit has to be kept around for several months before you can properly judge quality. That takes a lot of room. If you have two breeds, it can be impossible unless you have space.

https://arba.net/recognized-breeds/

 

[RubyRed]

Don't forget Silver Martens!

Go through the ARBA list of rabbit breeds--they have photos of each. Separate out the ones that are too large for your needs. Then pick a breed that you like the looks of. Size and general looks are the most important factors. If you like the way your rabbits look, you will do well with them.

My other recommendation is to pick just one breed, unless you have a lot of room for cages. Each young rabbit has to be kept around for several months before you can properly judge quality. That takes a lot of room. If you have two breeds, it can be impossible unless you have space.

https://arba.net/recognized-breeds/

I don't think I have a very good idea on the size of different rabbits! Is a 9 pound rabbit significantly larger than say a 4-5 pound rabbit? I'm thinking 30x36 cages for does with litters and maybe 24x30 for grow outs but I really don't know what sort of rabbit is the largest that I would want to keep in that size.

I'm drawn to the compact and commercial bodied breeds, mostly the rabbits that pose with their heads to the table, and I like the look of silver martens!
I have in fact been looking at that link and I'm eyeing silvers as well but they seem to be rarer.

 

[RubyRed]

Ohh and tans are gorgeous. (I have promised myself to stay away from running breeds though)
I don't know how I'll choose a breed!

 

[RabbitsOfTheCreek]

In shows there are two different main categories - 4-Class and 6-Class. 4-Class is smaller rabbits, and 6-Class is bigger rabbits.

 

[Keag]

RubyRed- I think there is a very real difference between 4 lbs & 9 lbs. Possibly narrow your search by your "cull" placement. Where you live will the "culls" be pets, meat, fur, 4 h projects etc... You also said you don't want a huge group to show in so go to your local shows & see what the entries are.
I narrowed my breed search to meat & pelt. I wanted a dual purpose rabbit since we live rural, more homesteading than suburbanites. So we have Satins & Rex. Learning experience with our first trio of "Satins"- non pedigreed & got them off a farmer that had purchased them to breed for meat & decided to nix that project. I was there to pick up chickens & since Satins we're on my list I picked them up as well. Unfortunately, they will be pets. They were to be standard sized Satins, 8 weeks old & all female. I believe they are "Mini", 2 bucks, 1 doe & at 6 months only weigh 4-5 lbs. Good news I went to a "pedigree" source of Satins & they are at least 1 lb heavier & 6 weeks younger. Our Rex are fantastic & love the fur on these guys.

Possibly look at Mini Satins, Polish, Himalayan, Havana, Dwarf Hotot & Lionheads. I guess also how far you want to travel to pick out pedigreed stock.

 

[eco2pia]

@Keag has got to the heart of the matter. No matter why you plan to breed rabbits, the very first step is to decide what you will do with the offspring your do not want. Meat breeders have that easy, but you mentioned at the beginning that you want to pet out your culls.

But how many people in your area keep house rabbits just for pets? For many people they may show or have pets but they also breed for some second purpose. If you can hit a good secondary use market that may help.

With that strategy in mind, do market research. What sells for a high price in your area? In mine, wool breeds are expensive. If I were breeding for show I'd consider a wool breed because hand spinners will take a nonshowable wooler off your hands for a high price, where pet rabbits in my area don't seem to go for much more than meat rabbits.

But if you hate grooming do not go that route!

Another option is to pick something so uncommon and striking that pet people will want it for the novelty or breeders for breeding stock. When you mentioned your requirements, Tans immediately came to mind, as did any rabbit with blue eyes.

I lucked out about 15 years ago by falling into broken NZ reds just as they got popular in my area. They were an uncommon color, so pet people wanted them, they were good meat rabbits both for my own use and to sell as breeders, and they had just become a showable color. It became more cost effective to sell stock and buy grocery store meat, than to eat my culls.

 

[RubyRed]

Where I live, there is a very large pet market and that makes it very easy to get rid of culls. Thank you both for weighing in, I went through a similar narrowing process and decided on mini lops. I picked up my first doe this week and I’m very happy with my choice so far! No peanuts but still a cute, friendly breed that sells well.

 

[Kwhairr]

I've been on and off with rabbits for the past year or two- I've kept several rabbits, still have my one pet and I took in a pregnant doe recently. (the last of her babies are leaving this week) Soon I'll be moving houses and left with just my pet rabbit and I want to start really sorting out all my rabbit ideas and plans so I can start building a small herd to breed and show.

I have tons of time to think this all through. But I thought I would start with looking at breeds and I was wondering if anyone could help!

I live in a suburban neighbourhood and have a pretty small, fenced yard, so I'd be looking at a small to medium sized breed that would do well in a stacker sort of setup. The breed should ideally be enough of pet-market-material that I can fairly easily sell my culls, but I've decided to stay away from breeds like Holland Lops and Mini Rexes, as I want a breed with competition but not so much competition that shows (and the market in general) are overrun with them.

Could you guys share some breeds you'd think could be worth a shot? Or just any breed you enjoy working with?

We raise dwarf Hotots : I’m trying to get a string together to show this fall /spring! I do not have any trouble selling my “pet quality” rabbits but have seen at the one show & heard that finding ENOUGH rabbits to qualify at a show is a problem. Maybe that’s just here in NC. I really love them though!

 

[RabbitsOfTheCreek]

We raise dwarf Hotots : I’m trying to get a string together to show this fall /spring! I do not have any trouble selling my “pet quality” rabbits but have seen at the one show & heard that finding ENOUGH rabbits to qualify at a show is a problem. Maybe that’s just here in NC. I really love them though!

Awww

 

[Keag]

We raise dwarf Hotots : I’m trying to get a string together to show this fall /spring! I do not have any trouble selling my “pet quality” rabbits but have seen at the one show & heard that finding ENOUGH rabbits to qualify at a show is a problem. Maybe that’s just here in NC. I really love them though!

We just moved from NC. I love the markings on the Dwarf Hotots. It would be a pet breed I would totally be interested in.