Who here has visited a rabbit breeder?

Let me point out straight away this isn't a thread for debating the ethics of breeders. I purely want to know who on the forum has actually visited a breeder and what their experience was. Negative and positive, and please don't argue/debate over it, stick to the other thread for that thanks

I have.
I took 3 rex rabbits..(including Ali and buns Piper) from a breeder. Dreadful place

:wave: I have visited quite a few breeders over the 25 years plus I have been working with rabbits .
Some are excellent and others dire.....
I have learnt much of my rabbiting skills from good breeders, they are a fantastic source of information (which was the purpose of my visits in the main, not to buy a rabbit from them).

The first two rabbits I got as a kid were from a breeder, well actually it was my sisters friends who bred dutchies for showing.

We went to pick out a baby, I have to admit they were very nice, we met the babies mum and dad and could choose which baby we wanted. They were handled daily and were very freindly. We went back a year or so later to get another. Both went on to live long happy lives

I guess this girl wasn't breeding to sell as pets, just giving one of the babies to a freind.

Can't really comment on conditions cos I was young and don't remeber too well.

I wouldn't go to a breeder now as I am not fussy about what breed a bun is and would rather give a good home to a rescue bun.

I visited a breeder in Germany once, he had a shed full of Nethies. When I got there, he was just skinning one of them, he said the meat is quite popular with the elderly people because it is so tender. That's how he dealt with his "unsuitable" stock. But at least they were not totally wasted and thrown into a bin at the vet's.
The bunnies were clean, had fairly big hutches (3 or 4 ft, and quite deep) and they had hay and pellets. The shed was a bit dark, though. He seemed to be quite knowledgable about rabbits. I did not take any rabbits off him, because I decided that I wanted something a bit bigger than a Nethie, when I saw them. I bought a Dutch cross in a garden centre a few weeks later.

I have friend who used to breed dwarf lops (not BRC reg). Only small scale - one litter at a time. They had massive hutches & daily garden time. She did sell the babies at 10-12 weeks old, & recommended neutering, although her own buns obviously weren't - they were vaccinated. Buns retired at a couple of years old to pet homes. I'm anti-breeding & NOW i would call this back-yard breeding (she doesn't breed now) which I'm against. But in her defence buns were in clean spacious accommodation & she knew her stuff. She did take a free ad bun off me some time ago - a little dwarf lop who had had a bad start, but bun was spayed & lives loose as a house bun, & is very well-loved . She also kept the old buck & he was neutered to live with his partner, until the died.

theirs a local breeder near me he breeds both Lionheads and Mini lops i was impressed that he had reasonable sized housing for them and didnt over breed them.... although that was a while ago

now i feel hes getting out of control as hes now selling his 'old' stock when i went to see him the first time he let his buns have a retirement with him so none were sold but kept as pets. he now rebreeds his does after 6 weeks of giving birth and now sells his babies to the garden centre where he works the babies are only about5/6 weeks when their took to the garden centre. he asked me a few weeks ago if i wanted one of his retired does as he knows they'd be going to a good home.... i turned down his offer i was a bit shocked and dissapointed in him to be honest he came across as a nice lad who really loved rabbits as much as us but now he just seems more intrested in overbreeding for more money he doesnt show and his rabbits dont have perfect markings he just breeds for the sake of it :?

Does Ross Rabbits count?? They are a 'once a year' breeder and thats where i got my two frenchies from.

I've also visited another breeder (supposed to be reputable) and was disgusted at what i saw. I'll say no more though.

I have, am friends with an ex breeder.

i've been to a breeder. we actually got dusty off her.

she had a lovely establishment. all the rabbits were extrememly well looked after. handled daily, groomed daily, fed and watered and had plenty of fresh hay. she showed us all her rabbits and they were wonderful. they had large hutches, and were given daily exercise in large runs on grass. she didn't have that many but had had rabbits since she was a child. she was extrememly knowledgable, and recommened spaying at 6 months old, and tips on how to bond her with my rabbit.

i htink that breeders like her are wodnerful, and do rabbits justice. breeders like the one the boblets are from though should not be allowed to run. really it would be a good idea if breeders were regularly inspected.

Ruth xx

angel_night said:

i've been to a breeder. we actually got dusty off her.

she had a lovely establishment. all the rabbits were extrememly well looked after. handled daily, groomed daily, fed and watered and had plenty of fresh hay. she showed us all her rabbits and they were wonderful. they had large hutches, and were given daily exercise in large runs on grass. she didn't have that many but had had rabbits since she was a child. she was extrememly knowledgable, and recommened spaying at 6 months old, and tips on how to bond her with my rabbit.

i htink that breeders like her are wodnerful, and do rabbits justice. breeders like the one the boblets are from though should not be allowed to run. really it would be a good idea if breeders were regularly inspected.

Ruth xx

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I was an ex show breeder. I gave it up about 4-5 years ago. I bred netherland dwarfs. My does were bred from once a year, and I had a stud of 10 netherlands max. This description above (in quotation) is true of me and how I treated my bunnies. I used to let my babies leave at 10 weeks of age. At this age, they were well developed, strong, with confidence characters.
I had people travel all over the country for my babies....one lady did a 4 hour trip each way! I had a set series of questions I asked any prospective new family, and all of my buns left with a 20 page bunny guide (written by myself, with my own photo's etc) mounted in a file. I also included pictures of mum, dad , litter mates, and photo's of the baby growing up.
I still get emails/cards today from owners of my babies (who are now 5, 6, 7 year old bunnies! ).


As far as breeders go, I'd like to think I was responsible as I could be. I'd be lying if I didn't say there were parts of the hobby I miss. However, I could list much more negatives, which is why gave up.

I am more than happy helping a local rescue centre now

I've only been once - and the experience was lovely. It was clean, the does' cages were spacious, clean, and quiet, and there were indoor and outdoor runs. They bred only Polish buns, and had been working on their lines for years. The woman could tell me the dispositions and various attributes of each lineage. Not only did they keep a record of everyone who took a bunny from them, but I actually got a call from them over two years later to see how things were going with my bunny!

I have been to both fantastic and dreadful breeders.

As others have said, the good ones really are great but the bad. oh my god.

Vinnie came from a dwarf lop breeder(rescued not bought), she wanted him pts at a year old as he was hutch aggressive and bit everyone who went near him. The vet I worked with refused, told her to take him home and when I came on shift I would collect him from her (she knew I would take him like a shot) I got to her house and it was a big garden shed and lean to, both had seen much better days and although the hutches were reasonably clean they were stacked on top of and IN FRONT of other hutches!!! Vinnie was under one hutch and behind another that was attached to a small run(the other hutch not his) and so basically his life was led in almost complete darkness
I gave the woman what for after I had him in a carrier and reported her to the RSPCA that same day.

I've been to what I thought was a good breeder when I was a kid, (guinea pigs not bunnies) and got 2 very sweet cross breed female guineas, that were living with their dad and brothers. Anyway after a very short time I notices chip was getting really fat, so figures she may be a girl so I seperated, a few days later the other guinea was making funny noises, I checked and she (Toby) was having babies, so was also preggnant! Chip had her babies 3 days later.So I ended up with 2 female guineas and 4 babies which I sexed, and they were all boys.

I know its about guinea and not bunnys, but still it was rediculas.

Unfortunately, we have visited many breeders over the years, and have not seen a good one yet

Jaypot said:

Unfortunately, we have visited many breeders over the years, and have not seen a good one yet

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Ditto!

a couple i`ve been to were even very well known in the showing field & won prizes at the large shows but the conditions their rabbits were kept in made me cry, I:E: 2ft hutches, no exercise facilities, dark green water bottles ( many which didn`t even have water in )!
And what they openly told me they did with unwanted or poorly rabbits was sick!:evil:

Only to a hamster and dog breeder. The hamsters were well cared for, but the cages were tiny, some didn't even have a wheel!

The dogs were well cared for and the breeder had a full room of rossettes and she only let us have Hannah when she was 100% she could trust us, my parents were interrogated for 2 hours!:lol:

Never seen a bunny breeder, and don't think I want to. I have heard from several breeders that many cull because of improper patterns or colouring or even to reduce litter size. If I came across a breeder like that....I don't know how I'd react!

I got Radar and Ruby from breeders. Radar's was a show breeder, Ruby's just for pets.
I found Radar's by by word of mouth when working in the petshop. I mentioned I wanted a giant to a french lop breeder who told me of Radar's but refused to give out her number till he had spoke to her. He then came back to me with the number and when I rang, I admit, just wanting to say "yes I'll have one" straight away she asked me questions on did I know what I was getting myself in for, where did I intend to keep him, did I realise the costs etc - I felt like I was on trial and pleased when she agreed to "meet me " but said there was still no gaurentee she would sell him to me until she was sure he was going to a good home!!!! Even though I know my stuff I was actually really scared haha! ..

Sure enough when I arrived she made me chat to her inside the house, before I even saw Radar. Then she showed me his parents, uncle, and the rest of the litter (she was keeping.) She explained she'd been showing for ten years and did it for the love of the breed. Hers were pets too and came into the house. She only bred 2-3 litters a year saying "quality not quantity." All the animals were pets foremost. I watched as her children played with them in the garden. I could tell by the way they bounded around they were used to it and she had not just let them out for my benefit. They had pens within a double garage that had been specially made for that purpose not cars haha! She said there was no money to be made in it, if anything its an expensive hobby! I only paid £30 to cover the cost of his feed in his short 9weeks of life! She sat him down on a table and went through a health check - she examined his eyes, teeth, ears, bum, basically everything a vet would do and gave me a sack of pellets.

Since then I have I have rang her to ask advice on several problems I've had with him and she has always been happy to help. She told me so much about the breed and its requirements - to get rid of the heater in my shed as they overheat quickly or to make sure the weight stayed off him so he didn't get arthritis and to handle him lots as a baby as he'd grow quick and its too late then. It all helped me immensely.
However, when I rang them back to get a female 2 years later they refused to sell me one. Her husband said it was because they were low on does for breeding but I think they were worried I was going to bred even though I stated I could prove Radar had been neutered !!!

I found an ad on the net for conti and BG's. So I rang her up and told her my plight - she had everything bar a female.... I was dishearted yet again, just about to say bye when she said " but I do have a pet papillon, I wasn't going to sell her as I hand-reared her, but you sound so nice...Shes 13 weeks" She'd barely finished before I shouted "I'll take her!" Her set up was great, she didn't have many rabbits, but the hutches were huge and the rabbits had runs too. Everywhere was clean but then she had known I was coming.... She was very knowledgeable and asked me lots of questions before letting me take her. She said "I know shes going to a good home. Just from speaking to you..." She asked me to send her pictures and keep me up to date on her progress as she grows .

I've been to a breeder of Frenchies who kept them all in huge hutches and vaccinated them etc and just by a twist of her deciding to breed rather than rescue, she was as bunny mad as everyone on here. However I was am still remain shocked at the amount of baby bunnies she was churning out, lots of them and her website is always full of new babies. She's obviously selling them and not that many Frenchies end up in rescue as far as I've seen, however she doesn't home check and will get her husband to deliver them 'down south'. As I say though, her set up and devotion to rabbits was fine.

I got two guineapigs from a breeder who has now stopped breeding as she didn't want to sell her breeding sows and as she only had two litters off them she decided to retire them and enjoy them and also takes in rescues for the rspca. Her hutches were in a purpose built shed and were fantastic.

I would guess the bad breeders are not so welcoming except when they want to offload 'stock' (I hate that word :evil: )

The breeder I rescued all my pigs from was mainly a rabbit breeder, experimenting briefly with guinea pigs (they were too much work to clean out - tell me about it ) At one time she had 35 rabbits churning out babies (she proudly told me) and would sell them to anyone who came to the door and said 'I've been told you have rabbits' :roll:

She really confused me, because we got on really well and she seemed caring, but the standard of accomodation she had the pigs in was appalling, and I assume the rabbits were kept the same way, in cages far too small. She fed them on rubbish mix, to keep overheads down, and didn't give them much veg either - to her it was a paying hobby, and if she'd spent too much on them it wouldn't have covered her costs. No question of them going to the vets - husband who delivered the pigs to me said it was his job to kill any sick animals

She was gutted when I 'changed my mind' about breeding from the pigs (like as if - I had to sound interested to get them off her!) as she was proud of her stock, carefully built up. She kept urging me to 'just breed a few' litters after all I'd spent on them, 'to pay for it' and really thought I was soft in the head I guess.

She was also winding down the rabbit breeding, and I tried to get the last doe off her, but she didn't want her to go to someone who wasn't going to breed from her, as she was too good to be wasted - she sold her to another breeder. Possibly the same lady who got in touch with me a fortnight later saying could I take 4 rexes off her hands as they were no good for breeding and she 'didn't know' what she would do with them if I didn't take them that very day as they HAD to go