We have decided...

[BlueCamasRabbitry]

I agree with what some other members are saying, especially Peg.

I have experience in what you're wanting to do, so please, do listen. When I started breeding, I bred mixes....I still have the buck & doe, becuase they were my first rabbits. Yes, their babies were cute, did I have a reason for breeding? Not really, other than giving them to "pet homes". But then I became aware of all the bunnies in the shelters, and I didn't want to be a part of what was putting them there, if you know what I mean. So, I got some purebreds and got involved in showing & 4-H and I've loved it ever since. While I still love/miss all the pet bunnies that I bred, I know now that it wasn't a good idea to do that, it wasn't getting those homeless bunnies anywhere, because their future homes were being taken by my babies, but I am glad that my babies did get good homes, while some others I had to take to the auction and hope they got good homes.

Anyway, the point being, if you want to help rabbits, then you won't be a part of what's putting them in shelters. By breeding purebreds, other rabbit owners will be able to select your stock and use them in their own rabbitries and your bunnies could be great winners some day, etc. Also, it's harder to find mixes a good home, and you may end up having to do what I did, which means you might never see them again.

As for what Peg said about you never know what problems you'll get with mixes, she's right. The first litter I ever had, there was one deformed kit and the other, Artie (whom you may have heard of, others know who he is) was blind and unable to use his back two legs; the rest of the babies from that litter and everyone on after that were fine, but it just goes to show what a doe/buck can carry.

I really do hope you think about this some more before you breed Fluffy. I mean, I thought you were against breeding Dippy to that one bunny? If you want to breed, I suggest you get a pair of purebreds and then breed, that way otherscan benefit besides just you.

Emily

 

[SOOOSKA]

Well said Spring.

Susan

 

[Phinnsmommy]

If you breed, are you planning on keeping the babies?

ETA: If you want to just have the experience of babies, I know a couple people who have fostered pregnant does.

 

[clevername]

BabyBunnies wrote:

It sounds soooo blimmin fun :shock::inlove:

That part is fun.

But I really should stress it isn't easy. Rabbit breeding, at least as a hobby, isn't all that profitable. Good quality rabbits can run you anywhere from $30-200. The start up cost for my rabbitry (29 cages total--this was just to start as this is very small) came to well over $1,500 dollars. And I did a lot of the building myself which saved me some cash.

Also you will have to come to terms with exactly what it is you are doing. You will be seeking to improve the breed. There will be culls, some so severe you'll have to put them down instead of let suffer. It is not fun. Even though you love your rabbits they will now be livestock to you. And a lot of things you may have sought vet care in the past you'll now be administering yourself. Can you deal with the that responsibility?

Ask yourself what you really want out of breeding rabbits. Is it the fact that you enjoy caring for rabbits? Or would you like to have a hand in making a better rabbit? What is a better rabbit to you?

Why do you breed rabbits?

Before you commit try to have a good answer to these questions.

 

[naturestee]

I just thought I'd throw this in: can you afford the vet care? There are lots of things that go wrong. I'm having "fun" with two problems now. An orphan bun (mom died 1 week after birth probably from complications, both siblings passed away) and a mom and babies with syphilis. I have these guys through the local shelter, by the way.

Anyway, the vet bills add up. I've spent about $100 on my remaining orphan bun, and that's with a very inexpensive vet clinic. She'll probably need more andis infected with two different problems now and I still am not counting on her surviving to adulthood.

In addition, when my foster mom Jazzy had her second (!) litter she had problems. Two babies were born dead because they were too big and she had to grab on andyank them out of herself. If they had been completely stuck she probably would have died because it was a weekend and the nearest emergency vet clinic that treats rabbits is an hour away. If she had survived to get there it's $100 just to walk in the door.

These are far from the only possible problems. It's just what I've experienced with my first everfoster mom (with two litters, grr) and two orphan babies (now down to one). If breeding is something you really, really want to do then do a lot of research first and set aside several hundred dollars for emergency vet care.

 

[Becca]

I really want to adopt a homeless bunny instead of breeding - Mum was supposed to read this thread I am not sure if she did. But I wanna give a poor old bunny a home.

 

[Becca]

I have fallen in love with this gorgeous little girl http://www.rabbitrehome.org.uk/moreinfo.asp?RabID=13601

:inlove:

I need to get round mum now...... :headsmack

Pros and Cons of Dippy and Fluf mating

Pros:

Good experience

Sweet babies

Another bun



Cons:

Breeding for no reason

Fluffball could be ill

If fluf gets ill = ££££££

Got to find homes for the babies

the bunnies might not get homes elsewhere and will need vaccines and neutering etc etc





Pros and Cons of adopting

Pros:

Giving a bun a home

Helping a bun who has had a c*** life another chance and a loving home

^ | That one rules all :nod



IF I HAVE MISSED ANY FEEL FREE TO ADD THEM IN :biggrin2:

 

[Becca]

Well mum said its a definte (sp?) no about adopting so I asked about fostering and she didn't say no she said she'd think about it so I have made one of my famous powerpoints saying all the reasons why we should foster! I'll let you no how it goes1!!!

 

[TinysMom]

Becca,

I think its great you want to help other rabbits in need - I think that would be a good thing - especially since many times fosters will receive help (I think) with the food, etc. and sometimes the cage is provided I think....

Something to consider before you do this though is to make sure that ALL of your rabbits (and the new rabbit coming into the house) is up to date on all their shots, etc. We don't have the vaccinations here in the US that y'all do over there but from what I've read - those viruses that they vaccinate again are pretty darn nasty and very very painful to rabbits. If your bunnies aren't up to date on those shots - you will definitely want to do a power point presentation to show your parents why it is so important that the rabbits get their shots ASAP.

Here is a link to an article in our library about VHD:

http://www.rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=25864&forum_id=10

 

[BlueGiants]

Becca,

I've been following this thread, and didn't add anything because everyone else covered what I would have said. But I do have to say, I'm very impressed with your maturity in thinking this through and taking Fluff's welfare into consideration.

You are very smart to consider all the options and I think you'd be a great foster mom for a shelter bunny. It will also give you more experience with different rabbit breeds and different rabbit personalities. That's how we all learn. By thinking outside the box and exposing ourselves to different things.

I'm sure your mum has your best interests at heart. And now you are doing that for your rabbits. Kudo's to you.

 

[Becca]

Thanks BG and TM!

Means a lot - I have made a VHD powerpoint to show mum!

 

[Luvmyzoocrew]

you can also get the experience of babies and preggo mamas in fostering, if it is really the experience with babies that you want. I foster guinea pigs and the lady that runs it gets pregnant moms all the time, so that is a possibility for you to be able to experience that.

 

[Peek-a-boo]

well theres no point shouting and saying dont do it lol

i dont see anything wrong with breeding if you have;

-money incase of emergancies

-homes for teh babies - make sure to see pictures of where the rabbit will be living before handing them over last thing you want is to give a baby bun you brought into teh world to go live in a 3ft hutch with no exercise time outside! and basically forgotten about once the babys grown up.

-make sure new owners are willing to get emergancy vet treatment if ever they need it.

- get in touch with the breeder and try to get any history from her i.e both fluffballs and dippys parent grand parents etc. you never know they may be distantly related which to me isnt a major thingso not something to worry about but it would be handy to know.

- when sexing teh babies get second opinion off a vet or breeder before rehoming

- i would be wary of homes where the baby is getting bought for a 'child' make it clear that it is the parents responsability to look afte rit not the childs

- take any of the babys back if ever they need rehomed this will stop them from being handed to rescues or given to bad homes.

- also if any of teh babies have health problems i.e teeth problems (when my bun had babies one of them had overgrown incissors by the time it was 8 weeks old!) they will be un-rehomable meaning you will need to keep it and carry on vet treatment as and when its needed which can be pricey some vet treatment will have to be carried, all the buns life so take that in mind.

 

[tamsin]

Hiya,

I do a lot of work with rescues in the UK so I thought I'd add some more information for you There are about 30,000 rabbits that go through rescues every year in the UK. This includes a big portion of babies. Unfortunately people often really underestimate how hard it is to rehome babies so rescues get a lot of babies in at around 3-4 months when people who have bred find it's impossible to get homes.

No so great for the rescues (who have to cover the cost) or the babies who are homeless, but great if your interested in fostering or volunteering as socialising babies and looking after them until they are neutered ready for rehoming is often done by foster carers. It's not uncommon to get pregnant females in either so you may get to have babies as a foster mum too

Fostering is great because you get all the fun of rabbits without making such hudge commitments. The rescue will usually cover all the vets bills and may even provide the accomodation!

I'm not anti-breeding - baby bunnies have to come from somewhere lol but I get to hear about all the times it goes wrong so I think it's really important people know what they are letting themselves in for. For example one rescue had a mum in rescently, she died just after giving birth and they were left with 10 cute little babies to hand rear. They got them to a couple of weeks old all gorgeous and fluffy then had to watch as one at a time they slowly died, every single one of them. That's unbelieavbly heart breaking when you have nursed them for hours everyday and even when you've paid out a fortune in vet bills you can't save them. Babies can be a joy to watch but they can be the absolute worst to. I think that's the point people here are trying to make, not don't breed but make sure you go into it with your eyes open about the risks and problems

You can find out more about rescues in your area via the Rabbit Welfare Association: http://www.rabbitwelfare.co.uk/ give their helpline a call and they've got a list of rescues and can also give you more advice on fostering or breeding or both

Tamsin

 

[Becca]

Thanks Tamsin

 

[BSAR]

BabyBunnies wrote:

I would love to foster in fact I wanted to adopt buuuuttt for some reason the parents said that i can only breed fluf not get another bun

They probably said that becuase when you breed, you sell the babies. So if you get a bunny then you are getting another and not breeding and just getting read of some. Do you get what I am saying?

 

[LadyBug]

BabyBunnies wrote:

I have fallen in love with this gorgeous little girl http://www.rabbitrehome.org.uk/moreinfo.asp?RabID=13601

:inlove:

i totally agree with you:biggrin2:. so, so cute! that was the other color i was thinking about when i got J, the broken orange







i'm gonna stay out of the breeding discussion because i myself have mixed feelings about breeding

 

[BabyBailey]

I don't want people to get mad at me, but why are so many people ganging up on Becca? She loves her bunnies and she has proven she is responsible and dedicated to them. If she wants to breed them and her parents will not let her adopt, then we shouldn't interfere but support her decision and give her productive advice. And she does not have to be in 4H to learn about animals and breeding them. One can self-learn and she obviously has. I remember reading about her "bunny bible" and how she wrote everything she might possibly need to know about bunnies. Why not let her learn about breeding on her own also? Just because us american kids have a special teacher shouldn't mean that it excludes the rest of the world from breeding and learning for fun. So Becca, I think you should go for it. If you can't adopt, then there shouldn't be any reason that youcan't breed your bunnies. I know I might have angered some people, and i'm sorry. But let the girl do what she wants.

 

[Phinnsmommy]

I do agree with you BabyBailey, I just think one of the main concerns of all of us are breeding for "fun" when there's already so many bunnies that need homes. Do you know how many are put to sleep everyday just because they don't have the chance to go to a good family?

When Becca sells the babies, every single one of them are homes that could have been given to a bunny that is already alive and in a shelter.

Like Spring said (I think it was her...) the supply is more than the demand.

Becca, please take all of this into consideration, but your a smart girl and we all know which ever choice you make it will be an educated one, and I support you with whatever you decide.

 

[BabyBailey]

Yes. But some people are picky about what they want or can have. I live in a small apartment and had to have a small bunny. Thats why I went to a breeder for a holland lop. If a person wants something specific and thats what she has then what's the big deal? If they don't go to her for their specific needs, it's not like they are just going to a shelter, they will probably go to another breeder. In brief, If the person was going to go to a shelter they'd go to it anyway. If someone wants one from a breeder they are going to just look at breeders. It's not like if her bunnies weren't there a whole bunch would be rescued. It probably wouldn't change anything at all.



** edited for spelling