Ethical rabbit breeding

[Tim McLoughlin]

Hi everyone, my first post but please I am really keen to canvas opinion. I used to breed and show rabbits many years ago in less enlightened times in the 1970s for about 20 years. Back then I kept English Lops and later Dwarf Lops. I have plenty of space and was thinking about keeping and possibly breeding rabbits again, but...

Looking at all the excellent research that has been done about welfare standards I am now questioning as to whether it is even ethical to start such an endevour. I was planning on having a small number and selling any offspring to pet homes with the proviso that if needed the rabbits can be returned to me if needed. I see lots of adverts of people selling very young animals because 'the kids have lost interest' type reasons and so am wondering if perhaps I should go a different route?

Perhaps starting by creating a spacious and stimulating environment for a pair of rescues and seeing how it goes for a few years and take it from there? Given that the major animal welfare organisations seem to talk alot about the need for rabbits to be kept in social groups, how then can anyone keep unneutered animals at all?

I know there are lots of super rabbit breeders out there and I would hear your views/ideas so that I might take the right steps forward and not repeat mistakes made in the past. Many thanks, Tim.

 

[tonibun]

If you feel passionate about Rabbits why not start a Rescue. There are usually about 67000 Rabbits in rescues in the UK at any one time. I have rescued many in my small way. I have them neutered then they can live with another Rabbit.

 

[InspectorMorse]

If you wanted to get back into keeping Rabbits why not contact a local Rescue and offer to Foster for them first. There are thousands of unwanted Rabbits in Rescue all over the UK and obviously those involved in Rescue see the awful consequences of too many Rabbits and not enough suitable homes. It is equally understandable that those involved in Rescue are almost all very anti the deliberate breeding of more Rabbits. I would be a hypocrite to criticise anyone who, knowing those facts, still chooses to start breeding, I have bought Rabbits from Breeders in the past.

If you got really involved with helping a local Rescue you would be bound to have a pregnant Doe in need of Foster care at some stage. Your previous knowledge of Rabbit breeding would be useful in that situation.

Best wishes for whatever you decide to do. Oh, did you happen to know Geoff Edwards ? He was an English Lop Breeder.

ETA - The welfare of Pet Rabbits is far better served by neutering Bucks and spaying Does. Then they can be kept in pairs or groups as every Rabbit needs a companion of their own kind

The best source of information about Rabbit Welfare

https://rabbitwelfare.co.uk/

 

[Tim McLoughlin]

Thanks for the replies! That sounds a really nice way to go. Thanks again.

 

[Tim McLoughlin]

If you wanted to get back into keeping Rabbits why not contact a local Rescue and offer to Foster for them first. There are thousands of unwanted Rabbits in Rescue all over the UK and obviously those involved in Rescue see the awful consequences of too many Rabbits and not enough suitable homes. It is equally understandable that those involved in Rescue are almost all very anti the deliberate breeding of more Rabbits. I would be a hypocrite to criticise anyone who, knowing those facts, still chooses to start breeding, I have bought Rabbits from Breeders in the past.

If you got really involved with helping a local Rescue you would be bound to have a pregnant Doe in need of Foster care at some stage. Your previous knowledge of Rabbit breeding would be useful in that situation.

Best wishes for whatever you decide to do. Oh, did you happen to know Geoff Edwards ? He was an English Lop Breeder.

ETA - The welfare of Pet Rabbits is far better served by neutering Bucks and spaying Does. Then they can be kept in pairs or groups as every Rabbit needs a companion of their own kind

The best source of information about Rabbit Welfare

https://rabbitwelfare.co.uk/

I'm not sure about that English Lop breeder. I lived up north back then and got rabbits from a man called George Gibson in sunny Hull!

 

[InspectorMorse]

I'm not sure about that English Lop breeder. I lived up north back then and got rabbits from a man called George Gibson in sunny Hull!

Geoff was up North, he wrote this book https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1898015066/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_taft_p1_i0

 

[Tim McLoughlin]

Wow, looks a great book. I had my lops in the 1970's/80s. Dwarf Lops were very rare then and came in mostly one colour..agouti. How times have changed!

 

[tulsi]

I had pet rabbits in the 70s. Amazingly our local vet agreed to neuter my two bucks by no means a routine op back then.

 

[Tim McLoughlin]

Wow, your vet was blazing a very early trail! They must have been very skilled indeed.

 

[TheBee]

If you feel passionate about Rabbits why not start a Rescue. There are usually about 67000 Rabbits in rescues in the UK at any one time. I have rescued many in my small way. I have them neutered then they can live with another Rabbit.

:thumb:

 

[Preitler]

...., how then can anyone keep unneutered animals at all?

I know there are lots of super rabbit breeders out there and I would hear your views/ideas so that I might take the right steps forward and not repeat mistakes made in the past. Many thanks, Tim.

I don't care what this or that groups think, what opinion is in fashion right now. My rabbits don't know about that anyway.
They are social animals, and once I had seen and learned I don't keep them alone anymore. My (now, due to athrosis, retired) buck is my free range house bunny, and I got one of his daughters spayed as his cuddlebun. It's just so satisfy ing watching them. My breeding does live in mother-daughter pairs, one pair is active and will be for some years, the other is retired. They get a lot of garden time, and I even let my current 7-head girl group out on the meadow and wood to graze when I'm home. Reason for the mother-daughter combination is that there is no bonding necessery, and I have 4-5 months to see wich doeling gets along with mum best.
I don't care what some people define as ethical, i do it the way I feel comfortable with. There are too many with no actual experience or even much of a clue demanding that things should like they like to imagine. For example, I know of several rabbits that got dumped in the woods because here those said people made it almost impossible to sell or even give away unwanted pets, and there are not many rescues for rabbits here where you can simply make your problem other peoples problem instead of finding a good solution yourself.

 

[Tim McLoughlin]

Thank you Preitler. It's good to hear how you have done it, great in fact! Thank you, that gives me some really nice ideas to work on. Happy Christmas (when it comes). I see you're over in Austria, I wear Austrian Army clothing as its so cold where I live!