Purchasing Rabbits

About six months ago, I started reading into raising rabbits for meat and manure for the garden. I was intrigued by the usefulness of the droppings and the nutrition of the flesh. After researching for a few weeks, I decided on purebred New Zealand White rabbits from the best shown parents I could afford. I wanted purebred so I had a very good idea of how they were going to perform based on their parents. Purebred rabbits all have pedigrees that show three generations of lineage and the prizes and shows that each ancestor has won. Pairing that with records that the breeder has kept on litter size, litter weight, parenting ability, and feed conversion gives a good set of traits to expect from your rabbits. I chose New Zealand Whites because they are the most widely kept rabbit in America and their superior meat quality. Since so many people grow this breed, I thought it would be easy to find high quality breeding stock.


So began the search for a breeder. Phone calls to my county extension agent rang unanswered and the American Rabbit Breeders Association’s (http://www.arba.net/) list of breeders provided little help. After countless Google searches I stumbled across a very simple website with a few pictures and a phone number. I called this breeder and spent an hour allowing him to tell me about his rabbits, whom he claimed were the best in the country. Feeling pretty comfortable, I scheduled to visit his home and look at his newest litter. The drive was three hours but well worth it. When I arrived, he walked me down a rolling hill to a plain privacy fence nestled between the backyards of his two neighbors. Only after he opened the doors did I realize that this was his rabbitry. No smell, unsightly manure piles, or flies were anywhere around.

During the grand tour, he pointed out his two grand champions and told me that the litter that was for sell were descended from both and that there was no way to go wrong with these rabbits. I asked to see the best breeding pair he had for sale. After hours of looking over every feature on each one, he decided on a pair that he thought were right for me. I bought these two immediately for $50 each. In November, my pair will have reached breeding age and I’ll be ready to produce my first litter of meat rabbits. I plan to feed with all organically grown vegetables and greens. Resources are scarce for this feeding plan but a thread at http://www.homesteadingtoday.com/ provides the most tested and reliable information that I could find, including a safe food list. I’ll soon add pictures of my semi-free-range rabbit hutch and more info on breeding/feeding/caring for rabbits.