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1) RESEARCH AND CHOOSE A BREED, THEN RESEARCH THAT BREED.

Once you know which breed you would like to get into, learn about the breed's characteristics, their strengths and weaknesses, their breed standard (purchase a breed standard's book at a show or from a cage company), cage requirements and anything else than you can learn about the breed. A great place to start is by joining the ARBA . Also join the national club for your chosen breed which will provide you with alot of the information you need to learn about your breed.

2) STUDY YOUR BREED STANDARD and the information the national club provides you with.

In depth and up close. ***This is a crucial step towards getting the quality animals you will need to begin your herd. If you don't understand a concept in the standard be willing to ASK FOR HELP. Keep in mind that there are many breeders out there...ALL in different stages of learning. There isn't one breeder out there who knows it all but there are many that are very knowledgeable. Here is a great resource for getting you a head start in learning about rabbit type or body shape. I wrote this book for breeders who are just starting out. It is what I personally teach all of my mentorees and will help you with any breed you choose to start in.

3) LOOK FOR A BREEDER WHO IS WILLING TO TEACH YOU, NOT JUST SELL YOU A RABBIT

If they just hand you the rabbit without spending any time helping you...it is a good idea to look elsewhere. The exception to this rule is if they are showing or talking with someone else at the time you ask. If they are, come back when they can talk with you.

***A word of warning here though...if you have done your homework you will KNOW what you want in type and fur ahead of time so that you aren't taken for a ride by someone who doesn't know what they are talking about. Listen to them but make the decision for yourself rather than letting them talk you into purchasing.

4) DONT PURCHASE BY LOOKING AT NATIONAL POINT STANDINGS OR WHO IS WINNING IN ANY GIVEN DAY.

It is very easy to be deceived by points systems of national clubs. Look at the amount of shows the breeder goes to and divide it by the amount of points. This will give you a points per show ratio. The higher this number the better, but keep in mind...some breeders show 2-5 rabbits per show and some breeders show 20-50 rabbits per show. Ask the breeder you are interested in purchasing from about how many rabbits they show per show and divide this number by the number they give you. This is their approximate points per rabbit shown. The higher this number the better.

***NOTE Judges do make mistakes too. Keep this in mind as well.

5) DON'T BE DECEIVED.

Learn what you need in your breed then make decisions based on your knowledge rather than what you hear others saying. As with any show situation there is alot of gossip. Don't let this gossip affect your judgement of breeders or their rabbits. Make up your own mind about a breeder and their rabbits. Don't let others make up your mind for you. The book listed in #2 of this article will greatly help you decide which are the best rabbits. Don't judge the rabbits by the person selling them...judge the rabbit individually.

6)DON'T DON'T DON'T buy the first rabbit you see and DONT DONT DONT buy for color alone!!! TAKE YOUR TIME!!!

I can't stress this enough...this is one of the BIGGEST mistakes that new breeders make. They are in WAY too much of a hurry to get into the breed and they fall in love with the first rabbit they look at. BIG MISTAKE!

7) IF YOU WANT TO WIN, INVEST IN QUALITY STOCK and learning about what quality is NOW or it will cost you much more in the long run. Put in your learning time and research time and be willing to spend the money for quality stock. The second largest mistake I see new breeders make is to go out and buy several $15-30.00 animals and then expect to win with those animals. Sure it is possible that you will get lucky...but chances are really really against you.

Look at it this way...if you go out and purchase 10 animals at 15-30.00 each, bring them home, breed them and raise their babies to show age you will have invested a MINIMUM of $150-$300 for your "herd". Now, when you go to the show tables with these animals...you are most likely going to get CLOBBERED because you didn't know how to cull and kept for color or because a bunny was "CUTE". You will also have invested money in cages, feed, and TIME into these animals. Chances are...when you come home from your first show with your own stock you are going to be pretty darn bummed and consider getting out of rabbits entirely. If you manage to stay...you either are faced with a LONG row to hoe uphill to get your rabbits up to the quality of the top breeders...or you will try to put in one good animal to improve with. By breeding in this one animal...you will improve quickly for one generation...then by crossing back into the beginning stock...you will dilute the quality once again and get your butt kicked once more. IF you know what you are doing you can improve steadily every generation but you must have the knowledge of what to LOOK for before you move on. At this point...you have invested 2 years worth of feed and time into your herd and will probably either leave or start looking at your options...to purchase better stock to work with. Now is when you go out and purchase that seemingly "expensive" trio...so go find that trio NOW instead of later. Don't have the money? SAVE FOR IT while you research your breed.

The old addage that you get what you pay for is a good standby as long as you have DONE YOUR RESEARCH and can protect yourself from being taken for a ride.

The exception to this rule is a breeder that KNOWS what they are looking for. It is possible to find animals for greatly reduced prices in your own state but if you don't know what you are looking for...will you know when you find that good deal? Your preparation beforehand will give you the tools you need to find this "deal" and KNOW it when you see it.

8) BREEDER ETTIQUITE now that you have this quality trio...don't greatly undermine the breeder you purchased them from by selling animals from the crosses for poor quality stock prices. A good addage is to sell the stock for no less than half what the original breeder is selling them for. Provided that you CULL HARD the offspring of the animals that you purchased are worth every bit as much as what you paid for the original stock. By selling at greatly reduced prices you are undermining the work of the breeder who you purchased the stock from and they may not be willing to sell to you again when you need stock. If you are serious about breeding quality animals and getting what YOU ask for YOUR stock...don't lower your prices just to "sell" unless you absolutely must.

I am not going to say that this is easy advice to follow at first...but it will pay off for you in the long run. People will SEE that your stock is superior and that you only sell quality stock and when they are tired of being beat by you (and those that they are buying from now) they will come to you for stock. They will also refer you to their friends who are looking for quality animals in the future.

It is however very acceptable to give youth breeders discounts on rabbits. I personally only give youth discounts if I am CERTAIN that they work for their own money for the rabbits.

9)WHEN YOU GET TO WHERE YOU WANT TO BE and along your way>>>HELP OTHERS- Don't sell your culls and teach others about the breed- the future of your breed depends upon it. A good question to ask yourself is "Does this animal have something to offer my breeding program and am I willing to keep it if nobody purchases it?" If it has nothing to offer you, and you wouldn't keep it...it has nothing to offer others either. Most of all...be honest with yourself and with others when you choose animals to keep and to sell. It takes a very short time to wreck your reputation and many,many years to fix it. Honesty is ALWAYS the best policy when culling and selling.