My brother and I first began with two little Dutch rabbits named Willow and Denali. They were both girls and we intended to have them live together in a HUGE hutch that we built, as pets and 4-H animals. Later, a month before the first 4-H meeting, we found out that the "girls" were getting a little too friendly with each other. We thought maybe they were in heat because a "very experienced darn good rabbit raiser" sexed them for us. NO. This was not the case. Willow was a girl, Denali was a boy, and neither rabbit had the amazing markings their breeder so proudly claimed they had. So we sold our two little Dutchies (I wanted to keep them as pets, but we had no cage space if we wanted to do 4-H) and got into a new breed.
For me, that was the Silver Fox. I thought they looked like big giant bears, so snuggly and soft. It was love at first sight when I got my first pair, Softfall and Lovey. Softfall was from beautiful lines, threw BEAUTIFUL kits. Lovey was from slightly better lines but was blue. Half of my kits were black and half blue most of the time because Softfall carried a blue gene too. I was so happy with my kits and with their daddy and mommy(although Lovey was kinda snotty). So when I decided to take three kits to the fair I was excited with how they would do. Guess what they placed? Dead last. Why?
Because it turned out that on Lovey's side, the person I got them from had been lied to about Lovey's lines. Lovey had New Zealand ancestors. I found this out when a judge told me, hey your rabbits have odd white spots on the cheeks (being new I thought it was a birthmark they would grow out of) and I can tell they aren't pure sf. WHAT?! So I got a second opinion, and a third, and a fourth. They all thought my rabbit was mixed breed. Well, I found out from the fourth judge that she knew the person who sold those lines as purebred and they weren't. He was kinda new and thought it wouldn't matter down the road as long as the rabbits LOOKED purebred. Maybe, except for the white spots. So, the lady I got my SFs from ended up culling about 30 of her buns.
So because of this whole ordeal, I decided that because of my extremely limited cage space I would just get out of silver fox rather than get new rabbits or try to breed out the problem. The breed I chose was Mini Lops.
I liked the Mini Lops more than any rabbits I'd ever seen. I sincerely did not know that such a rabbit existed. I mean, really, a ball of fluff the just melts in your arms, complete with a face so cute that even if you were planning for them to go to the stew pot you decide to keep them(oops)? It seemed too good to be true.
But it wasn't. Now I have a Broken Smoke Pearl buck named Mozart(Mo), a REW doe named Lily, and kits on the way. Mo is just beautiful, I didn't think that color even existed. The lines are great, Mo has lines from a rabbit judge, and came from a 4-H member. Lily came from my 4-H leader, she has good lines also. Plus, their problems offset each other. Lily could be more filled out and has long shoulders. Mo is built like a brick with a great head and coat, but has a poor rise. So I'm really excited about how the kits will turn out(and what colors I'll get!).
Well, that's my story. I found all the stories really interesting and decided to add my own.
