This decision I’m about to share with you all has not come lightly. This has been a year in the making, and I’m finally ready to move forward.
I am selling out of rabbits. I will no longer be breeding, as of today. I currently have no babies in the box, and no expectant does. I will continue showing through the year, since I am still the Club Secretary of the Washington State Holland Lop Rabbit Club through December.
I believe I will always have rabbits. I love them. They are my babies. Several will be staying here as pets.
Everyone else will be sold.
I wanted to talk a little bit about what goes behind this decision. Like I said, it wasn’t made lightly, by any one event or situation but rather a collection of events and occurrences, all of which I may never share. The truth of the matter is that I no longer see raising rabbits on a larger scale, breeding and showing, as a hobby. I don’t have the same love for it as I once did.
This past winter was a very difficult season for my rabbitry. I lost a lot of babies. Does were not producing. I had several rabbits for sale, and they weren’t selling. My favorite rabbit of all time, Butterfly, developed cataracts in both eyes, and she is completely blind now. Her daughter, who I was very excited to show and breed to carry her mother’s legacy, broke her leg and passed away soon after during treatment. It was a very heartbreaking winter for me. I didn’t have nice juniors, because I didn’t have any litters. I didn’t show, because I didn’t want to. Being around people that were so in love with the breed and having fun wasn’t what I wanted - because I currently was not having fun with my breed and with rabbits as a whole. But I didn’t want to talk about it.
Come spring, my rabbitry was reported through Youtube for rabbit hoarding (unsafe conditions) because of my wire cages. I stopped making YouTube videos, because my rabbitry no longer felt safe. Everything else in my rabbitry also wasn’t going well. 7 does were due, however only 4 took. Of those 4, we only got 2 viable litters. 5 babies total. Of these babies, 2 are fuzzies (I’m allergic to fuzzies). Of the other 3, none of them are something I would consider exciting enough to show or add into my program. They are very nice, but like I said, I’ve lost the love of growing out a baby to see what happens.
I started raising rabbits when I was 12 years old, and more seriously at the age of 14. I’m in my twenties now and pursuing a career in teaching. I’m in my last year of school, and starting my student teaching next winter. I want to have time for myself. To develop new hobbies, find new passions, and strengthen and challenge my love of teaching.
Several rabbits will be auctioned off with all proceeds going to support our club, the Washington State Holland Lop Rabbit Club (the auction will be July 20 at the Evergreen State Fairgrounds). These are some of my nicest rabbits and they will not be available to the general public; come to the show to bid if you are interested in these specific rabbits.
I will be at the following shows with the majority of my stock for sale:
July 13 Monroe
July 20 Monroe (3-4 rabbits will also be in the live auction)
August 31 Evergreen State Fair (still debating)
I will also hopefully be at these shows in the fall/winter although I don't expect I will have any rabbits still available:
October 5 Monroe
December 7 Monroe
I will continue to attend shows and show what I have left until December. That is when my time as Club Secretary of the WSHLRC comes to an end. Going into the year 2020, I hope to be completely done with raising rabbits, showing, etc (except my few pets still remaining).
In my next post (which will go live at 10am PST Sunday 6/23), I will share more about the rabbits I will keeping, who will be at the auction, and prices for all. Throughout the coming days, I will be listing prices on each available rabbit on my website, adding details about them, and updating photos. If you are interested in any, please save your inquiries until after the post is made on 6/23. I will also be making sure my friends and rabbit breeders/showmen in the area get first pick before out-of-state rabbitries and pet owners.
This will come at a surprise to most of you, but unfortunately it's time for me to move on. It's been fun, but my passions are on other avenues these days.
Until next time,
Holly (Holly's Hollands Rabbitry)