Do whats in the best interest of the rabbit

Thinking back to when we started all those years ago, honestly, I cringe to think of all that we did. No, it wasn't that bad but now we are so picky with our standards that we spend half our life cleaning something in that barn! (keep in mind this was 7 years ago)

When we first started we had a 10 by 10 approx shed for 21 rabbits. Now we have a 40 by 30 foot barn with 85 rabbits(with more room for way more if we did stackers on the one side instead of the 10 hanging holes.. but.... we are VERY happy with just 85 holes. We can do so much more with the rabbits now : )

I remember a few times coming back from shows with too many rabbits and having to put them in my french lop carriers for a week maybe two to make cage space. We would never do that now. Maybe we grew up, maybe we just care more, maybe it is just a mixture of both. But to me if you don't have cage space, don't buy the rabbit!

If you don't have time to care for more rabbits, don't buy more rabbits!

If you are always away or have to rely on someone else to take care of your rabbits more days a month then you are with them don't buy more rabbits!

If you are buying rabbits, and having them shipped to you or transported to you have everything ready before they come. Don't make them stay in carriers for a few days because you didn't take the time to get their home ready. THEY depend on YOU. They shouldn't have to wait.

I can understand coming home with an extra rabbit that will help your herd, although knowing the next day you will have to cull something in the barn to make room for that rabbit. 1 day in a large carrier would be fine, but not longer and definetly not in a small carrier.

I think what really changed for us(and hopefully she doesn't mind me posting this) was Jody Mitchell.

When we started going to her place and seeing all she did we really changed. It wasn't that we were neglecting the rabbits or anything of that sort. If it ever got to the point where I wasn't able to feed my rabbits every single day I would give them up. I wouldn't rely on someone else-- at least not longterm anyway(months, years etc).

When we had the small shed we didn't cull hard. So we had all these ugly rabbits that we wouldn't cull because we didn't want to cull any of our rabbits. Well, now it is just a fact of life. That definetly doesn't mean we've turned cold, however, when we cull them we know they never suffer. We know they aren't sitting in some hutch out in someones backyard with no attention, no food or water until their owner feeds them, not being let go into the wild because "its better for them" because its not.

We cleaned constantly that wasn't the problem but we didn't do the proper set up. We used canning jars for water, that were zapped in. Well a big french lop could throw those even zapped in if it wanted too. I would never do that now! Every rabbit has a water bottle and a lot have a water bottle AND crock.

We used to free feed. I measure feed now it is better for the rabbit, it keeps them in better condition. We would only treat for coccidosis 1 time a year(and didn't really know what we were doing), same with deworming. Now we are 2 times a year at least for both, sometimes 3 depending on how many shows we've been too. We would absorb information but never really do it. That all stopped 5 years ago when we moved to the big barn. I think we probably just grew up, but I'm still seeing some breeders who haven't seen that light of day and need too!

Jody is the ultimate rabbit breeder. She is the person if you had a favorite rabbit that you could no longer use in your herd, you would want her to have that rabbit because you know that rabbit would be in excellent hands. She loves her rabbits, she takes the absolute best care of her rabbits- we hope one day to do as good of a job as she does. Any help we ever need we call Jody! We've strived every single day to have a better barn, a clean sanitary barn, happy and healthy rabbits, and I think every day we get a little closer to our goal. We are very proud of our barn, it is coming together just as we like it. We have a lot to learn, but with one of the best people to learn from I think we are well on our way!