No milk...or nipples??

[AmberLops]

I know what you're saying and it makes a lot of sense!
I just would love to be able to better the breed...but maybe it's just not worth it.
My Holland Lops are my absolute favorites...I love everything about them. My Angoras would have to be second and the Netherlands third....then there are the Lionheads
What kind of rabbits do you raise?

 

[Ridgetop]

We raised rabbits for 30 years - 100 hole barn of NZWs, Holland Lops, our son had Floridas while our daughter had Havanas. I also had some Rhinelanders, and other breeds, while DH loved champagne D'Argents. We did not stay with those breeds since DH was heavy into NZWs - both showing and meat sales. I sold all the Holland Lops finally because I had a profitable business selling holiday bunnies, with repeat buyers 2 weeks later after the buyers, their children, or their other pets killed the first bunnies. I made a lot of money BUT it was depressing knowing that 75% of the pet bunny sales were going to die. I would rather sell for meat than sell for pets since a lot of pet homes won't listen to your instructions, get tired of the animal and carelessly dispose of it, or kill it from neglect, etc. I have had bad experiences selling for the pet market. I like to sell breeding stock and meat. The breeding stock owners usually take good care of their animals because they want to produce, and meat is terminal. I love selling to terminal meat buyers - no worrying about how people will take care of the animals and they come back for more. Later we added some Californians while the kids were in 4-H and DH was surprised to find he really liked them - quicker to market, calmer, etc. Several dog attacks before getting our LGDs hit us hard, and our children eventually took over our 24' x 36' barn for their dairy goats and sheep.

At the moment we are redoing our barns and pens for the Dorper sheep flock. Then DH will rebuild his rabbit barn and go into Californians - show, meat, and breeding stock. All our cages and equipment, watering apparatus, etc. are waiting. Our whole family loves to eat rabbit and we have a lot of people wanting to buy meat rabbits from us. Just have to rebuild a smaller barn first. Children are grown now so they can't take our barn again! LOL

 

[AmberLops]

Wow it sounds like you guys are incredibly into your animals!!
I can't wait to have that many rabbits. As of right now, I have just over 40 adults and i'm busy all the time with them...can't imagine 100!
You mentioned that you prefer to sell to breeding homes. How do you advertise specifically for that?
I post mine on craigslist and some of the people are pretty awful to the babies like you said....not taking my advice and end up killing the baby

 

[Bunnylady]

I post mine on craigslist and some of the people are pretty awful to the babies like you said....not taking my advice and end up killing the baby

And then, of course, they believe it's your fault, because you knowingly sold them a rabbit that was sick, or had something else wrong with it.I've known people that made up a little flyer of basic rabbit care instructions, that they gave to the new owner every time they sold a rabbit. You can talk, and talk, and talk, but most people won't hear half of what you say, and they'll misunderstand a fair percentage of the other half.Sometimes, if they see it in print, they retain a bit more (if they have the sense to read it). Of course, they may just use that thoughtfully written and carefully worded flyer as cage litter, but if they do, the seller can say, "look, I gave you specific instructions, even gave them to you in print, I can't help it if you didn't follow them."

I have to say, the legislation that makes selling a rabbit less than 8 weeks old illegal is useful, both for weeding out the seller that sells babies wa-a-a-y too young, and the buyer who is looking for an animated stuffed toy. Even Netherland Dwarfs lose a lot of their "squee factor" by 8 weeks, and are clawsome enough to make a rambunctious child wary of picking them up.

 

[AmberLops]

I agree. I think the older they are when you sell them the better.
And I actually DO write a care sheet for all the babies I sell ha ha!!
One time I had a lady come with her young daughter to pick out a lop and the next day she called and said I sold her a rabbit with 2 broken hind legs. Of course I told her that it was fine when she came to look at it and she said when she first saw it, it's legs looked strange to her but she has a friend who's a vet and they can take care of it..but she wants her money back. Unbelievable what people will do!! Either she just made that up to get her money back, or her kid broke the rabbit's legs.
I had another lady who told me her neighbor's husky killed the rabbit the same day she brought it home...

 

[Bunnylady]

Either she just made that up to get her money back, or her kid broke the rabbit's legs.

I suspect the child dropped the rabbit (or just nearly dropped it, and grabbed it awkwardly), and it wasn't the legs, but the spine that was broken. It can happen in a heartbeat, and the buyer might not have realized that anything happened. But that business about the legs looking strange is just . . . BS. If she genuinely thought there was something wrong with it, why in the world would she assume that her "friend who's a vet" could magically fix it, and buy it anyway? Piling it higher and deeper, if you ask me.

 

[AmberLops]

Exactly! People can be horrible...
I think the most memorable story is when a lady called about a Holland lop, then said she would come the next day to get it. She called me before she left (she was about an hour away) and said she was so excited and all that...
Then 2 hours went by...I called her to make sure she wasn't lost and she didn't answer her phone.
Then 2 more hours went by and I still hadn't heard from her so I assumed she wasn't coming and was just a scammer.
She called me 3 days later, crying...and told me she was in the hospital and that she got into a car accident on her way to get the rabbit.
She said it wall all my fault and that I owe her a rabbit or the amount of money she was going to pay for it....I already sold the one she was supposed to get and when I told her that she completely lost it (very over-dramatic) and she demanded that I deliver a new rabbit, or the money to her in the hospital...I just hung up the phone.
I couldn't believe it!! She was just a complete scam and so obviously too

 

[Ridgetop]

Absolutely amazing what people can pull and what they think you will fall for! However some breeders are just as bad. 25 years ago I bought a beautiful Holland Lop finished champion buck from a well known heavily winning breeder out of state. He said he wanted to sell this champion buck out of state because he did not want to compete with its offspring in his own state. This buck cost the equivalent nowadays of $1000.00 back then. He had a beautiful barn and gorgeous animals. I brought that beautiful buck home and immediately bred it to some of my best does. There were problems with dead kits and dead litters. 4 months later the buck showed signs of vent disease (rabbit syphilis) which goes dormant and then reappears. By then having contaminated some of my best does and bucks (when I bred the infected does to my previous bucks), I ended up having to put down half my herd. Later I heard from people in his state that this was common with this breeder to sell animals out of state that were diseased. If he sold those animals locally it would have resulted in getting him in trouble with his local club and ARBA. No local breeders bought from him. After that I only bought virgin bucks and does. There are cheats everywhere. Live and learn.

Selling breeding stock: If you want to sell breeding stock, forget Craigslist. Those buyers won't be interested in top quality breeding stock and they won't want to pay the price of good breeders.

First, you need to exhibit at as many shows as you can get to. Volunteer to clerk under different judges at your local shows and learn all you can about the breed standard of the breeds you have. By that I mean learn to tell a good rabbit with your fingers, not just your eyes. Also learn the terms the judges use so you can explain them and point out the good points of your rabbits and breeding stock to prospective buyers. Once you are winning locally make the trek to the larger state conventions to show. Take the breeding stock you want to sell with you to all the shows and put "For Sale" signs on the cages. Put the bunnies' pedigrees in plastic sleeves and have them available for prospective buyers to see. Take more does than bucks to sell, and mix the bunnies so you can sell a breeding trio rather than just siblings. Only offer show quality bucks for sale. The shows are where most people buy breeding stock (except those Craigslist buyers who just want to breed a few meat rabbits in the back yard). Breeders buy and sell at shows. Sell only excellent stock. Sell "good" and mediocre animals for pets or meat elsewhere. You want to become known as a quality breeder, then people will seek you out and you will get referrals from other breeders for your breeding stock. It make take a couple years, but this will get you the reputation you need to command decent prices. Don't sell your excellent stock too cheap (pet prices) but don't over price it either. You want to sell those bunnies after all. Protect your reputation as a breeder and seller of quality healthy stock and it will pay off for you.

We took quality breeding animals to shows to sell as juniors at 3 to 6 months old. We entered a lot of juniors in the shows too. There is no advertisement as good as to sell a winning junior as a breeder. You can repeat the breeding and replace that bunny in 6 months. It also gives the impression that you have so many winners at home you can afford to let this one go. If it is a neophyte breeder you have just become their mentor, and they will come back to buy more breeding stock.

We sorted everything at home and because we had meat breeds and a good meat market when DH said this is an "ok" bunny I tossed him into the cull meat cage. I culled heavily and only kept the best to breed or sell as breeders. Those bunnies went into a 24" x 24" grower cage at 8 weeks, then we sorted them again at 3 months and 6 months. Keep the very best to breed in your barn, sell the second best to get a good reputation as a breeder of excellence. Cull heavily. With rabbits you can attain a good reputation as a breeder of excellence in just a few years - that equates to 1/3rd of the time it would take in any other species of animal.

We only sold our meat culls to the butcher, or to meat buyers (many of them where DH worked). No pets and no live sales. To avoid the regulations against selling butchered meat, DH would sell the rabbits live and then butcher them "as favor" to the buyer. Usually we took orders, collected the $$, butchered and packed in ziplock bags, put them in the freezer, and then delivered the frozen rabbits a day or 2 later. We also ate a LOT of rabbit. YUM! To this day my kids' favorite meal is rabbit and dumplings.

Hope this helps. Good luck to you!

 

[AmberLops]

Thank you so much @Ridgetop
I really appreciate your help and i'll take your advice for sure. I love showing the lops...and all my stock are pretty great rabbits. I will just have to show more and more and give up craigslist
And that's pretty awful what that guy did to you...he's such a liar!
It always amazes me what people will do and say when it comes to buying or selling an animal!