Raising any livestock produces ups and downs. In rabbits, your ups are your good show wins, great litters and flowing sales. The downs could be disease/illness, bottoming your classes, loosing litters and no empty cages.
Last year, I was on an up. 2009 has really bottomed out for me, granite, I have had some good wins, awsome litters and wonderful support, but I have reached an all-time low with the rabbits. I considered selling out at one point, but I decided to just keep it down to 10. That's really hard to do when no 'good' sales are arising. I love 4-H'ers and people who want pets, but I hate seeing great show/breeding stock wind up as 'dead-ends'. I like to go back to breeder-friends and have the ablility to purchase back offspring if I need to.
I've had a lot of interest, especially locally. But the follow through kills me. People are busy this summer, as am I, and I have no time to wait around. I have no choice but to make another cull list after I get home from Corvallis. I'm at 40 (9 babies), with 10+ culls (awesome stock, I just cant move them out) I want to keep about 7 or 8 for San Diego out of 10 (from the original 50). If I can keep it at 20, with the 7 or 8 for San Diego, I'll be the happiest person in the world.
I'm leaving for county fair in the morning. I'll be away from my computer for an entire week *yikes!*, so if you need to get ahold of me, just call. Maybe a week of camping with my 4-H kids will boost my spirits :)
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