What is a reasonable amount to pay for a stud service

[jimmywalt]

We have a double mane white 2 year old lionhead doe that we would like to breed. We are wondering what the going rate is to use someone else's buck to do the deed?

Also how do you find someone close by that has a buck? My only thought was posting on Craigslist and seeing if anyone replies.

Thank you.

 

[akane]

Stud services are not standard so there is no average rate. It's too much of a health risk to the buck and the herd. Most will not do it. If they do they will probably charge about what it would cost to buy an equivalent quality buck. You could get a son of the rabbit you are interested in easier. There is also such a high chance of the doe not taking that having a buck you can breed to repeatedly is very useful. There's a minor chance that if you took the doe to a show someone with a buck would agree to breed since they are already exposed to all the same things at the show but there are usually rules in place against mating rabbits in the show building and one rabbit might be too stressed or overwhelmed by new things to concentrate on mating. You can always sell a buck off for at least part of what you paid for it after you get a litter.

 

[Kyle@theWintertime]

Everything Akane said x2. It's just NOT worth the risk...

 

[katiebear]

I had this issue come up last month. A woman had bought two does from me, She claimed to have a herd of S.F But bought my Flemish mixes for size. She wanted to breed them to my Flemish mix buck. :? I got rid of her I think... by telling her that the buck would most likely be heat sterile and there was no way I could promise a pregnancy In fact the chances were not likely. She is in the northern part of the state and said it was still cool there and had snowed the week prior. :roll: so I told her to find a buck closer to her...Haven't heard from her sense. :lol: .I do agree though, it's just not safe to have someone bring a strange rabbit into your heard. After reading about rabbit S.T.D.'s there is just no way I would want to risk it....Just buy a buck quarantine for a month and go from there....if you own the buck you can have more kitts later too...

 

[jimmywalt]

Thank you for all this information everyone, yet I'm not positive I understand.

So it's risky to take my doe to another place and have her bred? Why would that be? People with dogs do it all the time.

I guess I just don't understand. We are new to this and need some guidance.

Thank you.

 

[akane]

Dogs are vaccinated, vetted, and insanely expensive to breed or buy and keep several good studs. Rabbits are not vaccinated in the US and most things don't even have a vaccine. Even things that are treatable like rabbit syphilis most don't want to deal with. There are often dozens if not hundreds to treat, a potential loss of kits, a delay in breeding and showing while waiting for rabbits to get healthy.... Unlike animals such as dogs and horses the rabbit breeders rely on breeding for healthy animals and minimizing exposure so vaccines and meds are not necessary.

 

[katiebear]

The main issue is that rabbits are much more delicate then dogs..especially when it comes to viruses.
Pasturella,Bordella ,and "snuffels" respiratory illnesses that will rage through your heard and kill everyone.Also S.T.D.'s that the breeder may not know about.
If you only have one rabbit, maybe you can get ahold of the breeder you got her from see if they have a suitable mate or are willing to breed her?
Not everyone is as afraid of disease ,I breed for meat so I don't want to have to use antibiotics that may or may not work.and kind of defeats the purpose.,

 

[dangerbunny]

There are several rabbit diseases that aren't easily noticeable, rabbits (as prey animals) are very good at hiding illness. Some rabbit illnesses aren't curable. I have a very strict quarantine on new rabbits or rabbits returning from a show, no way would I offer stud service and put my herd at risk.

Dogs are different, you don't need much extra space for a buck and a good one isn't going to be outrageously expensive.

 

[Zass]

All that being said, I did have stud service for my velveteen. The cost was their pick of the litter.
I posted an add in my local classifieds to find a someone who owns buck.

Basically, no one I could find within several hours drive had a buck or buckling for sale, and my doe was already too old for me to really want to wait and grow out a baby.

Hmmm, I guess, I also didn't want to house another permanent buck at the time, because I wasn't convinced yet I wanted to work with velveteens. I just wanted one litter to see if it corrected a hormonal issue, pulling fur for no reason.

So yeah, some people do stud service, although it isn't preferred.

 

[ladysown]

Stud service here.... cost of what a kit would be at prime selling time.

If I do stud service I have requirements.

1. thorough health check
2. used only with my "throw away" buck who is already in quarantine.
3. No paperwork until I get the kit back.
4. only breed to breed. I don't breed for cross breds among the generic pet public. If breeders ask me, it's generally someone I already know.

so you could ask someone who has a retired breeding buck if you could use him.

 

[Schipperkesue]

So it's risky to take my doe to another place and have her bred? Why would that be?
Thank you.

Simply put, the owner of the buck may be unwilling to have your rabbit come to their rabbitry due to the possibility that your doe may bring in a disease.

You, yourself should be cautious to visit another rabbitry with your doe due to the possibility of bringing home a disease.

 

[Kyle@theWintertime]

Rabbits are delicate. Even the hardiest bun is like a critter made of blown glass; I'd refuse to allow some strange rabbit anywhere near mine. The exception is at a show...where I run the risk of killing my whole herd every single time I attend one. :/ It's a risk I feel I must take...but it isn't one I take lightly.

Your doe could be infected with any number of problems by an outside buck. Remember, stress drops the immune system and rabbits stress out whenever they go anywhere, so taking your doe to be bred could cause her to be less capable of fighting pathogens. Plus the stress means she likely won't conceive well. You could end up killing her or nearly so, and NOT even get a litter out of the deal. When a good buck probably won't cost THAT MUCH to acquire and quarantine, why not buy a buck?

Owning your own buck is one of the best ways to go IMO. I bought a buck for my special favorite doe...took me a long time to get her pregnant due to some conception issues (she kept reabsorbing the litters or having stillborns) and it finally worked out! If I had to pay to have a stud "service" her, I'd have had to lug her over there dozens of times.

Plus, many people breed a doe two or three times. Does are "induced ovulators" so the first mating usually causes the eggs to be released...then between 5 and 10 hours later, most breeders re-breed the doe, to fertilize the eggs. My doe with conception issues, I had to have her in with the buck every hour ON THE HOUR for almost a 24 hour period before she gave me her first litter; this last time, I bred her on four occasions within a 24 hour period, with at least three successful mountings from the buck. No way do I want to haul her over to a buck's place four times!!!!

Plus, your doe may be carrying some pathogen to which the buck at stud has no defense against (many isolated herds have great immunity against their own "bugs" but totally lack defenses when it comes to outside strains!) and even though it won't harm HER, that buck could be infected and die...and possibly kill the buck's owner's whole herd as well, if they don't quarantine.

There are so many reasons not to allow contact with an outside rabbit. Consider buying a very nice buck of your own.

 

[Marinea]

I am also in the "get a buck of your own" camp. Just wanted to add a couple things- first, make sure you quarantine any new bun for at least a month before breeding, just to make sure everybunny is healthy. Second, remember that during the heat of the summer, the buck may go sterile, and you might not get kits until a fall breeding.

One last point, if your doe is two years old, make sure she has been bred before. I would probably not ever breed a two year old for the first time, as there are many complications that can happen, many of which could result in losing your doe.

 

[Miss M]

One last point, if your doe is two years old, make sure she has been bred before. I would probably not ever breed a two year old for the first time, as there are many complications that can happen, many of which could result in losing your doe.

Mileage may vary, though. There are members who have bred older does for the first time, and they've been fine.

 

[akane]

I've lost more young first time does than 2-3year olds. We started with several mini Rex does that had just been shown for a couple years without breeding. There was one doe that got badly swollen and needed some painkillers but that's it.

 

[Peach]

My rabbits are worth too much to stud them out. If I brought in something,especially from a novice breeder who means well, and it wiped out my animals,I would be crap out of luck. Have expensive rabbits in my rabbitry that can not easily be replaced (cost a pretty penny, bonus, transporting them across the us). I've done breedings only for does I have sold directly from my rabbitry, and haven't had many good things come out of it. Just won't do it. Especially when a youth had to be the final straw.

Both ends could be risky. If there is no written agreement, then anything between the two parties essentially didn't happen.

Not all breeders are not created equal, so you could potentially expose your own doe to rabbit STDs or other sicknesses without knowing.( there are some breeders that play the part as a rabbit "expert" and aren't really all that knowledgable at all) In turn, you could risk their herd.

Deals can go sour. They might want to charge more for pedigrees later, may not allow a rebreeding of your doe misses,or not know much of how to breed and know when the deed is done....

Id recommend just making a purchase and getting the best quality you can afford and go from there. No strings attached!

 

[ckcs]

I'd have no problems with having a stud buck that was used specifically for that. If I could keep him separated from my herd and inspect the other persons does carefully, I feel the risk would fairly minimal. I just base that on my personal experience of disease transmission from other rabbits or new rabbits. Which for me has be zero incidents. That being said I could never see it working for me. It would have to be something that occurred on a regular basis to make it worth while and the market just isn't there for me. I breed strictly for the pet market and wouldn't want another breeder having access to my line that quickly and with such ease. They can work for it and raise a baby buck to maturity. Others seem to think it is a great idea to have competition. I'd rather have the market to myself with a particular breed for as long as possible. I do know someone that breeds meat rabbits and they offer stud service and have had no problems.

 

[bantambunnies]

As others have said, I would take into consideration the age of your doe. I try to breed does before one year. My mother lost a 3-year-old pet doe that was bred for the first time. That made a big impression on me and I've been careful to avoid that.
However, it's possible that a 2-year-old would still be able to be bred; just be aware of the risks.

 

[akane]

I've lost 3 first time young does and none bred for the first time after 2 years old. My first meat breed does I lost the younger one having her first litter to a prolapsed uterus at 9months and her sister had a litter at 12 months successfully. I lost a 6month mini rex to a stuck giant kit overnight. I'm not sure what happened to the last one. There were stillborns about and a dead doe with no sign of predator damage. Like I said the only problem we had with older does was one that came out a bit swollen and recovered fine with 2 doses of painkillers. I can't say the risk is that much higher with an older doe. Sure they die sometimes but so do the young ones. 1 death is not really an argument. It's a risk to breed any animal and in particularly with the more expensive animals like well bred, registered horses it is suggested to breed by about 4-6years old and then start competing so when they retire to be a broodmare they've already had a foal. It's not a huge difference though and many people do wait because of how their sport is set up. It's quite common not to breed many species until they've proven themselves because you can't afford offspring that won't sell well or further your breeding program. The increased risk of losing elasticity in the tendons and ligaments of the pelvis is not great enough to force most animals to be bred before competing if you want to compete with them. Rabbits are no different. Breeding early is more of a situation where you don't plan to do anything else with them so you might as well reduce the risk as much as possible, start producing useful litters as soon as possible, and the bigger problem with breeding late is that older does can be harder to get pregnant. Fat accumulation and possibly lowered hormones make them not eager to breed and/or not take when they do breed. This is a much more common problem than birthing difficulties. I've gotten a few does for really cheap or free because the person waited to breed and then couldn't get them bred. Leaving them with a buck 24/7 for a couple weeks usually proves successful and then just rebreed immediately after a litter for a couple litters if the doe can handle it. Seems to get them out of the rut.