paul2641 wrote:
Maybe wait till he breeds again, Or if these does are extraordinary get them, But you said broad does, Which I think means not perfect but can be worked on?
I'm sorry to hear about your lose, I hope everything goes well with all the others!
I'm hear rooting for you Peg, are you strictly gonna buy from this Juan guy or from Other Flemish breeders?
Paul - there is a lot you don't know - I don't remember if I posted it in my blog while you were gone - or perhaps I never posted it but discussed it behind the scenes with folks I was close to.
Either way- I will update things here.
When I first considered breeding back in July - I contacted Cathy (BlueGiants) about wanting to work with light grey flemish. She gave me the names of what she considered to be the two TOP breeders in the nation (her opinion only) for grey flemish. One name was Jack Langley - the other name was Juan's.
Since Jack was in Texas -I contacted him first and wound up buying from him - and I truly love his rabbits.
But if I continue to breed "his" rabbits only - am I really developing my own lines - or just continuing his lines - but under my name? My goal was to develop my own lines and bring in rabbits from other breeders.
When I was in Conn. in October - I got to visit the show in Storrs, CT and Alicia can tell you that when I saw two of Juan's rabbits (that he will be breeding in March) - my jaw dropped. I was extremely impressed. As I talked to Juan at the time - he was sharing with me that he rarely ever keeps bucks from his own lines but usually winds up buying the best he can find - but this buck was outstanding. The doe I looked at was phenomenal too. I could not believe these rabbits and I kept going back and looking at them over and over and over again.
Now I have never considered stealing anything - but if I could've found some way to grab those two rabbits - make a dash out the door - and flown them to Texas....I would be tempted to steal for once. VERY tempted.
In fact, Alicia and I talked about leaving Athena intact for a bit when she goes up there so Alicia could show her - but as I told Ali - I wouldn't want Athena to go up against Juan's rabbits...I honestly don't think there is any way she'd win.
When I told Juan that I had Jack Langley's rabbits and was looking to bring his in - you should've seen his face. WOW. He knows of Jack (or knows him?) and he said if I show the rabbits against Jack's and his rabbits win - he really wants to know.
Juan is not just a flemish giant breeder. If I remember right - he's the President of the flemish giant club in the New England area. He has a small rabbitry but is well respected by others for his treatment of his animals - his personality - and just who he is in general. He may not show as much as some others because his family comes first - but he has some very very nice rabbits.
Anyway - yes - I could wait until Juan does his breeding in March (and hope it takes). However - that leaves me with basically Jack's lines - which are good - don't get me wrong.
But I lose time in building my own lines with rabbits that I want.
I have thought about buying only one doe from Juan - but these does are from two different litters entirely - so I really like that. It is like bringing in two lines from Juan to work with the lines I have from Jack.
You need to remember - Athena is only going to be bred once more. Sophia won't be bred at all. Nyx will be bred (I think) - still going back and forth on that one. Nyx is definitely a cherished pet along with being part of our herd.
I really feel foolish trying to explain myself here....but the fact is - this has been discussed with people who know me - who know rabbits - and who have seen some of the rabbits.
I didn't just point my finger at a list of breeders and go "that sounds neat". I did research and a lot of thought and looked for breeders who had what I need.
As I've studied the pictures and thought about it a lot - I love Jack's rabbits for their rise and their shoulders. But I love Juan's rabbits for their size (they're massive) and I think they will bring a lot to my lines to get the quality of rabbits I want.
I want to point out that at the 1 year anniversary of starting my rabbitry - I will most likely have my original three does plus these two does - plus one more doe (total of 6) plus two bucks. That's a total of 8 rabbits. I may allow myself to keep up to 3 or 4 of the litters I have now to see how they do at shows - I am currently watching some of them as they develop.
But of those 8 rabbits - by fall - 2 will be retired - bringing me back down to 6 that I'll have for sure.
I don't think that's bad at all.
