Wednesday, September 27, 2006
Too Attached
There's been an interesting conversation on the internet about whether to register rabbits. My philosophy is simple: if it's good enough to breed, it's good enough to register. I register every senior in my barn because it wouldn't be there by that time if I think is either show or breeding quality.
But one breeder had an interesting objection to registering rabbits. She said that once she'd invested the energy and money into registering a rabbit, it made her more reluctant to part with it. Her statement intrigued me.
Of course, that's not an issue in my barn. Every senior is registered so any time I sell a senior, I sell a registered rabbit. That's an even playing field for me. But that doesn't mean that I can't relate to her point of view. Oh boy, can I!
For me, legs are the golden handcuffs. And grand champion status makes it worse. A grand champion or a rabbit well on its way to being a grand champion is hard for me to part with. Even if she has five dead litters in a row. Even if he still looks like an adorable junior at 12 months. Even if I have ten does of the same variety who are better than she is. And what turmoil I feel if he or she develops a DQ!
Worse yet, consider the rabbit that has placed well at a national level show! Talk about investment! If I spent $1000 to attend Convention and ten of my rabbits have placements that I'm pleased enough with to brag about, that's about $100 per bragging right - I mean rabbit.
I recently sold a gorgeous broken sable point doe that had placed 19th out of a large class of juniors at Convention. When I was honest with myself, I had to admit that I had six grand champion broken does that I liked better than her and a broken sable point out of similar lines that I liked a tad better. That placement at Convention seemed so irreplaceable. It was hard, hard, hard to part with her.
And there are sadder stories yet. I had a rabbit that placed at Nationals but later developed a DQ. I had to pet her out. Can you imagine how hard that was? It was terrible.
A breeder-friend of mine once told me that too often, breeders make their culling choices (or rather, not-to-cull decisions) based on liking the parents, how much they paid for the dam or sire, or because it was the only one left of its line, etc. We can add to this list being registered, being granded, having legs, or placing well at a big show or in a big class, or having a big win.
But there are only three reasons that a rabbit should be in your herd:
But one breeder had an interesting objection to registering rabbits. She said that once she'd invested the energy and money into registering a rabbit, it made her more reluctant to part with it. Her statement intrigued me.
Of course, that's not an issue in my barn. Every senior is registered so any time I sell a senior, I sell a registered rabbit. That's an even playing field for me. But that doesn't mean that I can't relate to her point of view. Oh boy, can I!
For me, legs are the golden handcuffs. And grand champion status makes it worse. A grand champion or a rabbit well on its way to being a grand champion is hard for me to part with. Even if she has five dead litters in a row. Even if he still looks like an adorable junior at 12 months. Even if I have ten does of the same variety who are better than she is. And what turmoil I feel if he or she develops a DQ!
Worse yet, consider the rabbit that has placed well at a national level show! Talk about investment! If I spent $1000 to attend Convention and ten of my rabbits have placements that I'm pleased enough with to brag about, that's about $100 per bragging right - I mean rabbit.
I recently sold a gorgeous broken sable point doe that had placed 19th out of a large class of juniors at Convention. When I was honest with myself, I had to admit that I had six grand champion broken does that I liked better than her and a broken sable point out of similar lines that I liked a tad better. That placement at Convention seemed so irreplaceable. It was hard, hard, hard to part with her.
And there are sadder stories yet. I had a rabbit that placed at Nationals but later developed a DQ. I had to pet her out. Can you imagine how hard that was? It was terrible.
A breeder-friend of mine once told me that too often, breeders make their culling choices (or rather, not-to-cull decisions) based on liking the parents, how much they paid for the dam or sire, or because it was the only one left of its line, etc. We can add to this list being registered, being granded, having legs, or placing well at a big show or in a big class, or having a big win.
But there are only three reasons that a rabbit should be in your herd:
- It is valuable to your breeding program
- It is valuable on the show table
- You are growing it out to see if it will be valuable to your breeding program or on the show table.
[Now that doesn't mean that you won't have other rabbits in your barn. If you decide to retire beloved rabbits there, that's a valid choice. Some rabbits may have become your pets. I have a Netherland Dwarf in my barn that belongs to my daughter. But those rabbits are not part of your herd.]
Take a hard look at your herd. Be totally honest with yourself. Ask yourself for each and every rabbit, why is this rabbit here. If the answer is not #1, #2, or #3 above, what are you going to do about it?
Laurie Stroupe
The Nature Trail Rabbitry “Home Of Grand Champions”
Precious Pet Rabbits
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