Today I was at a Buy/Sell/Trade. I brought my beautiful EA buns. Someone else was also selling rabbits. They were 5 weeks old & only $10 each. Not pure breed, just small sized. The person breeds the rabbits non stop year round. So thanks to this bunny mill selling adorable tiny little 5 week old kits (something that I recently learned is illegal in the state of WV), we only sold one rabbit. I am so disgusted. Even after telling people, they still went with the cheaper rabbits. My husband got so pissed off he actually snapped at a lady & told her, "You get what you pay for." I think we are done with the Buy/Sell/Trades. We cannot compete with people like
this. -ARBA Member, Reputable English Angora Breeder
One thing I do disagree with this EA breeder is that Angoras or really any wool breed, require a little more care than what the average person might be ready for. They are best housed on wire over shavings, or they will become a matted mess and they need a good grooming at least once a week. If the people are willing to pay for a $10 "cute" I'm going to die from enteritis in a few days because my flora isn't developed 4-5 week old, you can bet they don't deserve a rabbit of higher quality.
A big thing we discussed later was that when the kids clearly want a rabbit from a reputable breeder, and the parents buy the sickly young rabbits from the mill breeder or the pet store because they "feel bad" for them....THEY ARE ENCOURAGING THE PRACTICE.
Generally what I see these days are rabbits being sold for $15-$30 that have "awesome colors" or "blue eyes" that apparently make them great for breeding.
If you are just breeding for color and have no clue what good type on a certain breed is, then you probably need to re evaluate your breeding program.
My biggest pet peeve....It's pedigreed or I crossed two pedigreed rabbits, so the offspring are show quality.
Pedigree doesn't make your rabbit good quality. Neither do a bunch of "big breeder" names make it great quality or guarantee it will produce good quality. Even the best breeders have culls. I went through juniors myself about a week ago. I went through 25 babies and out of those 25, I kept 12. Then in another few weeks, I will go through them again and that number will probably go down by half. I want the best out of my Mini Lops.
I could slap a pedigree on a lot of rabbits but what would be the point? A reputable breeder won't sell you their best, but they shouldn't sell you their worst. I won't sell something show quality unless I would keep it for myself. Sometimes I just don't have the room or I have a sibling that's just a touch better.
I don't believe in breeding for "just pets" and I don't believe in sending pet quality with pedigree. If you want to breed quality animals, you will need to make the investment into good animals. Breeders should ,myself included, should always be as honest about their strengths, and also their weaknesses. If I know what they cross well with, I will tell you. Most of the Mini Lops I've purchase range from $75-$250 and have all come from the same line for the most part. I can honestly the investment in higher quality stock, was much better than buying a bunch of $20 culls.
Please do your research. If you are just starting out with show rabbits, please show them before you breed them. Nothing worrries me more when someone gets a Holland buck looking for a Mini Lop doe to breed for the show table. Learn your breeds!