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Rabbitries and Standards

22 9:45:37

Question
I've been to about 5 different rabbitries and it is sad to me that these rabbits basically sit in a cage and are only looked at by their show quality.  Some people have over 50 rabbits in a barn.  One had them all stacked up in a garage.  When I read about caring for rabbits it talks about excersise and keeping everything clean.  Some people have so many rabbits it has to be impossible to clean the dishes they drink from and I am scared to buy from a Rabbitry because it would be impossible to take each one to the vet.  I am scared that they all have fleas, mites, and parasites.  How is it possible for someone to keep a Rabbitry with so many rabbits that are just left in cages all day long?  Isn't it considered animal abuse if they have fleas, mites, parasites and their health problems are not cared for?  I have a French Lop and I live in MI and they are very hard to find here.  I went to IL to purchase my French Lop and the rabbits had gunk in their eyes.  What most concerned me is that they all had knots in their fur.  I took my rabbit home and I spent 3 days taking out all the knots he had in his fur.  I didn't want to stress him out too much so I couldn't do it all at once.  I'm not sure if he had fleas, mites, or if these knots were made by flies.  But I felt sorry for the poor rabbits.  My rabbit has a tri gene and I knew they had rabbits with tri genes.  They had a 6 month old Harliquin buck that I drove down to purchase from them.  They seemed to clean the Rabbitry up a little bit more the second time I came.  I purchased the buck and he was so big I couldn't really inspect him which I should have.  First look he looked fine, but looking at him the underneath of him was really bad.  He had knots around his chin area and knots underneath him.  He was full of anxiety.  I let him run around a little bit and I called him and he came to me and I gave him a pet on the head and then he walked away, but turned around quickly and bit my hand very hard.  I went to the hospital.  Then I noticed worms on his stools and one point I picked him up and these worms were on his hair in his genital area.  His genital area was so matted I couldn't even see his anus.  Anyway, how can these people operate rabbitries with so many rabbits it is impossible to keep them all disease/parasite free?

Answer
hi Brittany i live in the UK and the most rabbits i have had in one go is 18.
a true rabbit breeder will look after his rabbits like a mother looks after a child -the ones you have seen are only in it for what money they can get out of it.
mine are cleaned out thoroughly once a week and they all run on sawdust to protect their feet.
i would only buy from a breeder i knew and would certainly not go to a big rabbit farm
dave.