Silver Sons Rabbitry

Happy spring time everyone! It’s been a while since I’ve updated my blog with everything that’s gone on in my rabbitry, so there’s quite a bit to catch up on!

Brief Side Project

As you may have noticed, I had intended to begin a Mini Rex breeding program. My friend Elizabeth from LJ7 Rabbitry has a Mini Rex program herself, and I thought it might be a fun project to work on together. I purchased some beginning breeding stock, but quickly ran into several issues with the breed. I had issues with them not being used to drinking from bowls, getting sore hocks from wetting their feet in their bowls, and just not enjoying keeping the breed. Mini Rex are still a great compact breed, but they just weren’t from me. Ray went on to LJ7 Rabbitry to be the main herd buck there, and the others were culled.

I would still like to get a compact breed to show, but I think I will focus on the Dutch when I move forward. My son already enjoys his Dutch rabbits, so I think that’s the more logical direction for our family to go in. Right now we are still mourning the loss of our pet Oreo, but when we are ready my son and I will begin our own Dutch program!

Selling Padme & Buddy

Another big change was Padme and Buddy leaving the rabbitry. Padme has always had a spicy personality, but lately she seemed to be having a lot of trouble being overly fearful. Small things that shouldn’t scare a rabbit would set her into a frenzy where she would run around her cage with such force that the cage would move across the floor. This would also scare the other rabbits, and some of them sustained minor injuries from these freak outs.

I never was able to really pinpoint what exactly was causing her to be upset like this, but my only guess was the fact that my house has a lot of unpredictable noise. I have 2 young sons and they make a lot of noise. With my rabbitry being in my basement, the rabbits will often hear them running and playing. I thought that Padme may just be unable to adjust to this environment and it was wearing on her.

I had previously gotten in contact with an experienced breeder of Silver Fox and American Chinchilla rabbits, Nutt House Rabbitry, as she was looking to add Creme d’Argent rabbits to her program. I knew that Padme would need an experienced breeder to go to, and I knew that this would be the perfect place for her. I have received updates, and she’s already doing better in her new home!

Buddy left with Padme so that they could make a breeding pair. I hope that they produce many little clones of Padme at their new home! Padme is a gorgeous rabbit, but she just wasn’t happy at my house.

Starting over with Argente St. Huberts

Another hard choice I’ve made recently was to cull Brownie. As beautiful as he was, he had the same problem that his mother was having: just being too fearful. I was having trouble even walking near his cage without him becoming very agitated. I just knew that I didn’t want to start my Hubert line with that kind of temperament.

I did keep Brownie’s pelt, as he was old enough for it to turn into a nice leather. I will definitely be posting more content on tanning hides in the future, so stay tuned!

My plan for Huberts now is to breed Denna with Adonis and keep the best buck or doe from that. Then I will breed one of my Creme does with Elizabeth’s Champagne d’Argent buck Arthur from LJ7 Rabbitry. Then the best from that litter can be the mate for the Hubert from Denna and Adonis.

All of those rabbits have nice temperaments, and will be a much better start for my Hubert line.

Overall Thoughts

Over the past several months I have realized just how important temperament is to me for the rabbits in my rabbitry. I have dabbled in the show world some, but meat production is still the main goal of my rabbitry. I can understand why people who are competitive in show would value the type of a rabbit like Padme more than her temperament. But that’s just not where I’m at with my own herd right now. I know that Padme really brought a lot of great traits to my rabbitry, and I will just have to work hard to bring out her good points from her offspring. Scotty and Leia will carry her legacy forward in my rabbitry, and I hope that I will be able to show Creme d’Argents again in the future and have a line I’m proud of. In the meantime, fried rabbit is absolutely delicious!