How did I become a rabbit breeder?

I get asked this question all of the time.

I feel so lucky to be doing something I really love. No, I don't make any money doing it. However, I love animals and enjoy having new babies in the nestbox all of the time.

When I was around 10 years old, I finally talked my Dad into buying me a netherland dwarf at the Huntingdon County Fair in Pennsylvania. He was a Ruby-Eyed White buck without a pedigree. Knowing what I now know, he had great type and he was full of personality. Soon afterwards, we bought a black himalayan doe. My Dad and I made a bunny motel on the side of his shed. It had electricity with lights for them and everything. I remember working on it with him and painting it when it was finished and the excitement of putting our two bunnies into their new homes. Of course, what happened next was bound to happen. Queenie had her first litter of kits. It was winter and only one survived. A little girl named Buttons who looked just like her but a little smaller. Later we bought 2 more rabbits. A black doe named Sunshine and a sable marten named Martin. Sunshine had a litter of 6. Two of which went to live in my Biology class (as pets! - no disecting!). I still never dreamed that I would grow up and have a rabbitry.

I went to college and studied in Moscow, Russia and then Bremen, Germany. I made the terrible mistake in Germany of buying a netherland dwarf rabbit and keeping it in my apartment. I don't know how I was thinking that I'd bring it back with me to the U.S. I had to give the bunny up and I learned a valuable lesson. You have to be ready to make a lifetime commitment.

I was planning to be an FBI agent, with my background in Russian Language. Unfortunately or fortunately I was in a car accident which gave me a back injury to prevent this. I met my husband in Baltimore while I was an instructor for Homeland Security and we moved out here to Winchester, VA to allow me to be a stay at home Mom (since it is less expensive to live here than where we were).

It was our 1st wedding anniversary when I met Skittles. Skittles was in a pet store in Myrtle Beach and I just fell in love with him at first glance. He is probably a dutch mix and the store was selling him way too young!, but I had to get him. After talking my husband into it, we went back to the pet store the next day and waited in the parking lot until it opened and luckily he was still there! I had it in my head that all of Myrtle Beach wanted him.

We moved into our first house with Skittles and it wasn't long before I knew what my hobby was going to be. I joined a bunch of rabbit clubs and e-mailed breeders. This time I wanted all the information that I could get before breeding. I was able to get some good pedigreed breeding stock and helpful advice from a number of breeders. My hobby grew from there. I have had hundreds of rabbits born here now and it is always exciting for me. I lay awake sometimes thinking up rabbit names and worrying about the new litters. I have pieces of paper all over the house with rabbit ideas, genetic codes, breeding projects, cage building plans and thoughts scribbled on them.

Rabbit breeding is not a business for me. It is a hobby that keeps me happy and at times makes me sad. It is not a hobby for everyone. Many babies don't make it. Moms have trouble kindling. I can't keep them all and sometimes it is even tough to see them go. It is important to me that they have good homes. I enjoy giving and receiving advice. It is where my thoughts go when I get stressed out with the joys of parenthood or financial concerns. I am lucky to have such a hobby.