Mini Rex Help?

[Whiskerz]

Since I couldn't keep Liam anymore, I am bunny-less ( you can read about it here: http://www.rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=61296&forum_id=1 )

Anyways,

I don't plan to get any bunnies anytime soon BUT I think I eventually want to breed them I LOVE mini rex and would like to breed them. I was thinking maybe just 5 or 6 of them, have like a buck or two and the others doe's.
But I would like to learn as much as I can here first about the breed and about breeding before I get any bunnies to breed.

So, any information on mini rex and breeding them would be very helpful

 

[wooly_queen]

If you want to show MR be willing to pay big bucks for quality stock to place well and win at shows. They are a VERY competitive breed and I don't think the world needs anymore. lol So only go the mini rex if you are willing to work hard on improving the breed. That would be my opinion...

 

[RAL Rabbitry]

And what other breed do you not have to work hard on? Mini-rex are very competetive and are a wonderful breed to raise and show. They are small, don't take up large amounts of room. They have good personalities and are good mothers. If you want quality animals to start with they cost no more than any other smaller fancy breed. Have you looked at the price of a good holland lately or a polish?

Quite frankly I find the statement "I don't think the world needs anymore" offensive.

 

[Shaded Night Rabbitry]

Mini Rex seem relatively cheap around here. You can get top quality, BOB winners for, oh, $150?

I drop that on a mid quality ND buck. XD If I had the $300 to drop on show stoppers, I would, but I just don't. >.>;

 

[Purple Mountain Rabbitry]

Mini Rex aren't too bad around here. Matter of fact I will be selling kits out of my Borken black BOB/RIS buck and a very nice well pedigreed show quality female for pretty cheap. The world should have more of them. cause they are so sweet and so lovable and have great personalities and they look pretty and are really soft. If you want to breed mini rex I'd say go for it. yeah they are competive but what breed isn't and yeah you want to work hard to improve them but you would want to do that with any other breed. I love my mini rex and wouldn't change my mind for the world.

 

[Whiskerz]

I really like the way they look, there fur, there size, and from what I have heard, there personalities
Thats the breed I want and thats that.

Thats why I asked for help on that specific breed. Thanks for the help so far, anything else I should know would be helpful. I am doiong my research and IF and WHEN I get my mini rex's I am not going to for just low quality pets, I will be looking for a GREAT breeder who breeds top of the line so I know what I will be getting and what kind of babies I will be getting.

 

[RAL Rabbitry]

There are several breeders in Texas with top quality mini-rex. Go to a few shows and don't be afraid to look at rabbits raised by youth. They usually can go head to head with open breeders.

 

[Purple Mountain Rabbitry]

many of the open shows around here are getting more and more youth. Mine went in the WIF and my broken black buck got second place broken variety mini rex buck. another girl is Rachel and she has good quality that competes really well. I think the funnest part is just going meeting new people and having fun. A win is just the cherry on top. lol

p.s. is there anything specific about mini rex that you would like to know?

Crystal

 

[wooly_queen]

RAL Rabbitry wrote:

And what other breed do you not have to work hard on? Mini-rex are very competetive and are a wonderful breed to raise and show. They are small, don't take up large amounts of room. They have good personalities and are good mothers. If you want quality animals to start with they cost no more than any other smaller fancy breed. Have you looked at the price of a good holland lately or a polish?

Quite frankly I find the statement "I don't think the world needs anymore" offensive.

I just think that only people who are really serious about them should breed them. Cuz you can't deny that the world is being overrun by mini rex. lolThere are a lot around that arebad quality that are bought by people who want to show and breed them and that helps nobody...they just make moreblah bunnies.So you have to start off well and no what your looking for,or you'll be left in the dust.This happens with all breeds I suppose, but the mini rex are huge in number. lol I didn't mean that they should be extinct! I started off with mini rex too, as do MANY others. A lot of people just need to breed more selectively.


Mini rex are pretty small and take up very little space. Cute, lots of colors, famous fur. :biggrin2:Just really know what to look for! I hate to see people start off with poor quality like I did. I know people who got out of them since they got so frustrated with them. I do love the wide variety of colors they come in...and you should have no problems find the breed around. lol

 

[RAL Rabbitry]

I live in New England and we are not overrun with them. Sometimes the only way that I get legs is to win BIS. I agree that people should try and find the best stock to start with. All too often they try and spend $35 on a rabbit and expect it to throw awesome babies bred to another $35 rabbit. Spend the money to get good stock to start with, do your homework and get lines that will work well together and breed very selectively. Once you have the type and fur that you want linebreed on it to set the type. The most confusing days in my barn are mother and father's day. I linebreed almost exclusively and very rarely bring an outside rabbit in for breeding. I run two lines in my barn so I can use one line to another when I feel that I need to outcross.

When I was at a fair show last Sunday a girl bought a castor MRbuck out of the pet barn. She came up to me and asked me what I thought and me being the sensitive person that I am told her he belonged in the pet barn and to bring him back. I spent the next hour showing her what to look for and how to tell type. Education is as important as buying the right stock and it's up to breeders with experience to help people starting out learn about the breed their interested in and get them started off right. If they don't know the difference between a good rabbit and a not so good rabbit then they will breed not so good rabbits and lose and then get frustrated and give up.

 

[Bunnymom,K]

Cuz you can't deny that the world is being overrun by mini rex.

I would have to disagree with this statement. I had to search very hard to find mini rex where I live. It could just as easily be said the world is overrun by domestic rabbits

I think that if you intend to breed any rabbit you need to do your research, make sure you have a plan for your breeding program (what is it you would like to accomplish by breeding this rabbit to that) be sure you have homes for any of the offspring you are not going to keep or else have other plans for them.

 

[Purple Mountain Rabbitry]

RAL Rabbitry wrote:

I live in New England and we are not overrun with them. Sometimes the only way that I get legs is to win BIS. I agree that people should try and find the best stock to start with. All too often they try and spend $35 on a rabbit and expect it to throw awesome babies bred to another $35 rabbit. Spend the money to get good stock to start with, do your homework and get lines that will work well together and breed very selectively. Once you have the type and fur that you want linebreed on it to set the type. The most confusing days in my barn are mother and father's day. I linebreed almost exclusively and very rarely bring an outside rabbit in for breeding. I run two lines in my barn so I can use one line to another when I feel that I need to outcross.

When I was at a fair show last Sunday a girl bought a castor MRbuck out of the pet barn. She came up to me and asked me what I thought and me being the sensitive person that I am told her he belonged in the pet barn and to bring him back. I spent the next hour showing her what to look for and how to tell type. Education is as important as buying the right stock and it's up to breeders with experience to help people starting out learn about the breed their interested in and get them started off right. If they don't know the difference between a good rabbit and a not so good rabbit then they will breed not so good rabbits and lose and then get frustrated and give up.

I agree education can make a big difference. I was looking at buying a MR doe from a girl I befriended. the judge had just finished judging for the day and asked him his opinion. He looked at her and said she was really good the only worry wa her coloring cause hse has alot of blue (she is a castor), but said to go ahead and buy and hopefully her color would change with time,so I decided to get her. Since then she has grown into the correct coloring with a little left to go. She is so nice and has bloomed since the fair. The judge really helped me out he told me what to look for in examiningand showed me how to check her coloring. I have had many people helping me out in all the different areas of showing and raising rabbits. I could not have done it with out the helps of others.

My thanks to:

Amanda Jo Hagler

My Mom

My Grandma

Judge: John Soper

Megan Buxton

Multiple others I have met and befriended but can not think of the names at the moment. Lol

So yes before you get a mini rex do your homework. Maybe even spend some time witha breeder and showers and talk to judges.

Crystal

 

[BlueCamasRabbitry]

The world is being overrun by MR?
Have you seen how many Dutch & Holland Lops are out there?

MR is a popular breed, but HL are more popular, I do believe.

Either way, all breeds are competitive, and all breeders should be focused and serious about any breed they raise.

Emily

 

[Purple Mountain Rabbitry]

That is true Hollands were one of the biggest groups at fair. for 4H FFA there weren't that many at either fair. Open there was alot more but there was only like 5 or 6 breeders. not alot. So I'm curious How the world can be over run by them?

Anyway you look at it anybreeder needs to be serious about the breed(s) he/she is breeding. and work to improve them to the best of your ability yes your gonna get pet quality at times but that is with any breed. I see alot of pet quality of every breed on the internet, in stores, Ect.

In my opinion the world is over run by rabbit but to me thats not a bad thing ot means there is more to love. what would happen if there were no rabbits well look at Idaho History. Idaho killed off alot of wolves then we were over run by rabbits. they killed off the rabits and were over run by something else. there is a cycle and if we break that cycle then bad things happen. Everything in this world has a job. even if that job is just being a loving loyal pet.

Crystal

 

[Whiskerz]

I am not going to be looking here in Texas for Mini Rex, I am moving to the east coast in about a month and will be looking there for some. I have been looking around at some breeders and have found a few that seams great, one in particular that I seam to like has ALL her bunnies ARBA registered and they are all beautiful! They have won legs, produced amazing award winning babies and they all come from wonderful lines from all over the country!
All this being said, they are going to cost me an arm and a leg but like most have been saying, breed top quality and improve the breed, dont breed "blah" quality.
SO, thats why I decided that's exactly what I am going to do no matter how much it costs me

I know I dont know a whole lot about breeding rabbits but all those experienced breeders where in the same boat as me at some point and they also didnt know much about breeding, thats why I am here to ask you guys for help in needing to know as much as I can about the breed and breeding them.

Thanks to those who have helped me out so far

 

[jujub793]

a little switch in the discussion about MR, as a breed, i do have to agree that in this area (michigan) they are very prolific, when i was looking for strictly a pet rabbit, i wanted a "standard" rex, and ALL i could find were mini's. It took me a very long time to find anyone around here who had anything OTHER than mini r's. Seems like that's all people want to breed now days is the mini's in ANY variety. but i have to say....any type of rex is tops by me!!! :love:

 

[lelanatty]

I am surprised no one has suggested it already, but there is lots of great info in our Lagomorph Library right here on the forum in Bunny Breeds 101.

Here is the topic about Mini Rexes

http://rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=13922&forum_id=18

 

[TinysMom]

If you're moving to the East Coast - I highly recommend Roger (RAL Rabbitry) - as he has AWESOME rabbits with the best personality.

(Sorry for the late response - just catching up on the rabbitry area).

 

[akane]

Not knowing your past rabbit history I don't know what you need but these have proven useful.

http://mr-colors.tripod.com/

http://www.devonglen.com/mreval.htm

http://cottonwoodfarms.tripod.com/pencil.html

http://www.debmark.com/rabbits/genetics.htm

http://www.debmark.com/rabbits/breeding.htm

 

[Purple Mountain Rabbitry]

Along with those I would reccomend

http://nmrrc.net/

http://www.asrba.org/Broken%20Satins.pdf

I know the second one says satins but it is good general info for anyone that breeds brokens of any breed. The guy that wrote it bred rex for 30 odd years.

Crystal