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netherland dwarf breeders..

P

patchworklilly

New Kit
I am looking into breeding netherland dwarf's...I have kept them in the past..I have seen a very nice show quality agouti buck for sale and I have the possibility of purchasing a nice bew doe aswell..do any breeders out there have any advice for a newbie starting up..:D
 
Just be careful of your colours. BEW should only be bred to BEW or you end up with bunnies with small white marks on. Rabbit colours come in groups and agouti should only be bred to other colours in that group. You would need to read up on genetics. For showing only certain colours are showable.

Other than that, I don't know anything about netherland dwarfs!

Please also make sure you have good homes lined up for the babies before you breed as there are thousands of bunnies in rescues waiting for a lovely home. You really need to consider why you want to breed.
 
You may find you're not in the right place. As a site that looks to support the rescue and re-homing community, many people here consider breeders to be a problem.
 
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Netherland dwarves are a breed prone to many health problems. For all rabbit breeding it is important to use only rabbits that you know the genetic history of several generations back, and for a breed like nethies it is even more important so that you do not produce rabbits with these genetic problems. You will be throwing yourself way into the deep end by starting with nethies.

You will also need a pretty thick skin, as you will undoubtedly at some point have peanuts in your litters, and will have to watch them die.

As has already been said, you would need to think about your purpose in breeding first as that will affect how and if you breed your rabbits. You'll also have to read up on genetics thoroughly and decide what traits and colours you will focus on.

To be perfectly honest with you, if you breed your rabbits they will not have the best life that you can offer. The RSPCA and RWAF welfare guidelines for rabbits state that they should live in bonded pairs, but this isn't possible when breeding rabbits, as you have to keep them separately. It is also recommended to neuter rabbits so that they live happily with others and to prevent females from getting uterine cancer, but of course if you are going to breed them you can't neuter them till they are older. You'll also need a very large garden and a fair bit of cash to build an initial breeding setup that meets welfare guidelines (6ftx2ft hutch attached to a 8ftx4ft run for each rabbit/young litter).

If you have the cash, the time and the space available, by all means you could be a successful breeder, but do make sure you research it thoroughly first and you have everything in place before getting the rabbits, or things can very quickly get out of control. Sadly a lot of breeders don't meet the RSPCA standards of welfare, so it would be a nice change to see a breeder with the proper size hutches and runs and breeding for the good of the rabbits :)

However, if you think you'd like having just a few rabbits, enjoying getting to know them and keeping them in pairs or groups, it may be better to consider having them as pets. You could even consider fostering litters of rabbits for a rescue if you are keen on having litters around.
 
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A friend of mine ended up a few years ago with 12 rabbits after accidental missexing which she found a nightmare to rehome and I think she ended up keeping about 7 of them!!! My mum had a similar problem when we were little after our cat got pregnant and we ended up with so many cats!

I agree with what others have said really, that make sure you know everything you can and have a good few homes lined up. :)
 
marleysworld said:
Just be careful of your colours. BEW should only be bred to BEW or you end up with bunnies with small white marks .
Click to expand...

Aaah I'd been wondering about that - have seen a lot with white patches by their nose. Thanks

Also agree - unless you really know what you're doing, genetics wise, there's a big risk of bunnies with dental and other health problems
 
Thanks all.i forgot to mention on my previous thread I did for a short while breed angora's and trying to match them up could be a problem sometimes although I had the backup of a very experienced breeder.I kept one of the doe's for myself and I managed to rehome the rest..perhaps having 2 nethie doe's as pets to begin with would be a good starting point...iv kept rabbits all my life but breeding them is a different ballgame altogether...
 
nessar said:
Netherland dwarves are a breed prone to many health problems. For all rabbit breeding it is important to use only rabbits that you know the genetic history of several generations back, and for a breed like nethies it is even more important so that you do not produce rabbits with these genetic problems. You will be throwing yourself way into the deep end by starting with nethies.

You will also need a pretty thick skin, as you will undoubtedly at some point have peanuts in your litters, and will have to watch them die.

As has already been said, you would need to think about your purpose in breeding first as that will affect how and if you breed your rabbits. You'll also have to read up on genetics thoroughly and decide what traits and colours you will focus on.

To be perfectly honest with you, if you breed your rabbits they will not have the best life that you can offer. The RSPCA and RWAF welfare guidelines for rabbits state that they should live in bonded pairs, but this isn't possible when breeding rabbits, as you have to keep them separately. It is also recommended to neuter rabbits so that they live happily with others and to prevent females from getting uterine cancer, but of course if you are going to breed them you can't neuter them till they are older. You'll also need a very large garden and a fair bit of cash to build an initial breeding setup that meets welfare guidelines (6ftx2ft hutch attached to a 8ftx4ft run for each rabbit/young litter).

If you have the cash, the time and the space available, by all means you could be a successful breeder, but do make sure you research it thoroughly first and you have everything in place before getting the rabbits, or things can very quickly get out of control. Sadly a lot of breeders don't meet the RSPCA standards of welfare, so it would be a nice change to see a breeder with the proper size hutches and runs and breeding for the good of the rabbits :)

However, if you think you'd like having just a few rabbits, enjoying getting to know them and keeping them in pairs or groups, it may be better to consider having them as pets. You could even consider fostering litters of rabbits for a rescue if you are keen on having litters around.
Click to expand...


Excellent post :thumb:
 
patchworklilly said:
Thanks all.i forgot to mention on my previous thread I did for a short while breed angora's and trying to match them up could be a problem sometimes although I had the backup of a very experienced breeder. I kept one of the doe's for myself and I managed to rehome the rest..perhaps having 2 nethie doe's as pets to begin with would be a good starting point...iv kept rabbits all my life but breeding them is a different ballgame altogether...
Click to expand...

Please don't breed Angoras. People can't cope with the grooming and loads end up at rescues like the one I volunteer at. They are rarely rehomed.
 
I have to agree with MummyBunnyEm about angoras. I would urge anyone not to breed these as my local rescue also has one that came in is such a state because her owners couldn't keep up with the daily grooming. It is so unfortunate that many buns end up in rescues as many people like the idea of a cute baby bunny only to get bored of them a few months later.

And even the best bred nethies can still get major health issues due to their size, and as others have said genetics can be extremely complicated to get right, if you still plan to breed.
 
Personally it saddens me to see someone considering breeding when there are so many rabbits in rescues in need of good homes. Many good rescues are on the verge of collapse or have closed down and where does that leave the rabbits? Naturally it is a subject close to my heart and I am biased against breeding. But if you truly care about rabbits as a species and rabbit welfare you won't breed. Also the Netherland Dwarf breed comes with many inherent health problems. I am not really sure why anyone would want to continue such a line and allow more animals to suffer for their looks.

Obviously it is up to you and I am not trying to be rude but I think you would be far better putting your time and efforts into helping the rescue situation. Animals should not be used to make money.
 
Fifibutton said:
Personally it saddens me to see someone considering breeding when there are so many rabbits in rescues in need of good homes. Many good rescues are on the verge of collapse or have closed down and where does that leave the rabbits? Naturally it is a subject close to my heart and I am biased against breeding. But if you truly care about rabbits as a species and rabbit welfare you won't breed. Also the Netherland Dwarf breed comes with many inherent health problems. I am not really sure why anyone would want to continue such a line and allow more animals to suffer for their looks.

Obviously it is up to you and I am not trying to be rude but I think you would be far better putting your time and efforts into helping the rescue situation. Animals should not be used to make money.
Click to expand...

:thumb:
 
patchworklilly said:
Thanks all.i forgot to mention on my previous thread I did for a short while breed angora's and trying to match them up could be a problem sometimes although I had the backup of a very experienced breeder.I kept one of the doe's for myself and I managed to rehome the rest..perhaps having 2 nethie doe's as pets to begin with would be a good starting point...iv kept rabbits all my life but breeding them is a different ballgame altogether...
Click to expand...

You're right, breeding is very different to keeping them as pets, the nethie even more so as you are guaranteed fatalities and almost guaranteed to have some health problems appear in your line which you'll then have to separate from the breeding program and keep as pets (because animals with health problems rarely find new homes). You'll end up with a lot of rabbits very quickly that are unbreedable - false dwarf bucks and ones with health problems.

Here's a link about the dwarf gene that causes these fatalities and false dwarves: http://www.raising-rabbits.com/dwarf-rabbits.html

As you've said, it may be better to have a couple of nethies as pets, so that you can enjoy having bunnies without the stress of planning the breeding programme and without the sadness involved in having some die. You bank balance would also thank you! :lol:
 
My thoughts exactly, think the last estimate was 67,000 rabbits in rescues across the UK and that's not including the ones on free ads. It'd be such a shame to add to this massive crisis. :(


Fifibutton said:
Personally it saddens me to see someone considering breeding when there are so many rabbits in rescues in need of good homes. Many good rescues are on the verge of collapse or have closed down and where does that leave the rabbits? Naturally it is a subject close to my heart and I am biased against breeding. But if you truly care about rabbits as a species and rabbit welfare you won't breed. Also the Netherland Dwarf breed comes with many inherent health problems. I am not really sure why anyone would want to continue such a line and allow more animals to suffer for their looks.

Obviously it is up to you and I am not trying to be rude but I think you would be far better putting your time and efforts into helping the rescue situation. Animals should not be used to make money.
Click to expand...
 
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