My husband was the one who did most of the research on rabbits before and even after we had gotten our first three. It was his plan that we would also get a Californian or two and crossbreed with the NZWs. However, we just could not find a breeder with Californians anywhere near us. The few that had Californians were not breeding for purebreds but NZW crosses. We wanted purebreds to cross and also to have purebreds now and then.  So, as I got involved with trying to find Californians, I began reading about meat rabbits and somehow came across a few websites that gave information about two other rare heritage breeds that interested me. One was the American and the other the Silver Fox, but it was the latter that really intrigued me because I once lived close to where they were developed in Ohio. Although this breed was on the critical list at one time, it has been moved down to threatened, because its popularity has grown. Surprisingly, finding a Silver Fox breeder near us ...

I must confess that I have never been particularly fond of Ruby-Eye White (REW) rabbits, although I like their pelts and how they can be dyed. However, New Zealand White (NZW) rabbit breeders are pretty easy to find in these parts and they are a fairly hardy breed. For the most part REWs are not easy to tell apart and we did not mark them since we planned to use them for meat. We even kept the breeders names simple to remind us they had a purpose, in case they did not work out: Doe and Buck. However, the youngest one of three my daughter claimed so she named her White Sugar. Not knowing which of their bunnies was which made it easier for us all, particularly our young daughter, when it was time to cull. We almost always had new bunnies to keep us busy when my husband was processing the ones that had grown up—it became a rhythm in our lives. However, it was even difficult for us adults the first few times. The second thing that made it easier was that NZW rabbits have been bre...

There is always a beginning that really is not a "beginning," but more of a point in life when people make a decision to do something a bit different than they had been. My husband and I have always been homesteaders at heart, but due to many factors, we have not gotten to be there the way we hoped...not yet at least. Still, we had been reading some time about raising rabbits and then one day we just decided to do it. We have been breeding rabbits for our personal use of meat and furs from the winter of 2011. We started with three New Zealand Whites (NZW), one proven doe, one junior doe, and an unproven young buck, all purchased without pedigrees the day after Thanksgiving in 2010 from a breeder in Alabama that sold mostly to medical research facilities, which meant that they had to have a high standard for healthy rabbits and that was our main goal...in the beginning. What has followed is our Tale of Tails.... Our first successful kindle five days old: Buck x Doe in...