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Many of the people who have bought rabbits from us are getting into rabbits to breed for meat. They are interested in Silver Fox as a quality, heritage breed stock but often don't care about pedigrees or needing rabbits bred for showing. Of course you don't need pedigrees to breed for meat, nor do you even need purebred rabbits. Any old meat-type mutt rabbit will get the job done.
Some front-loaded vocabulary terms may prove helpful here. Purebred means a rabbit has a 3-generation pedigree where all rabbits listed are from a single breed and that the rabbit meets the ARBA standards of perfection for that breed. Purebred rabbits appear to be pure in all the ways that matter. Pedigreed is simply having an account of several generations in a rabbit's ancestry. A registered rabbit has been officially filed with the ARBA and they must have a full purebred pedigree. Only licensed registrars can do this at ARBA sanctioned shows, but not all breeders register their rabbits. When a rabbit is registered, a registration symbol is tattooed in the right ear of the rabbit (left ears are for the rabbit's identification tattoo). Lastly, a champion rabbit is one who has won three "legs" in shows, and when they do so they are considered a "grand champion". This is a title that basically proves this rabbit is high quality. At this point, a registration number is given to them which is also tattooed in their right ear.
Something to keep in mind is that when you go with a purebred, pedigreed rabbit you are buying years of experienced breeding behind the rabbit. That translates to several meaningful things.
You are more likely to have rabbits that breed true. This means your rabbits will pass their qualities reliably along to offspring. Outcrosses can often improve upon a rabbit, but closely bred rabbits are more likely to produce the same results with each breeding within a common lineage.
You can look back at your rabbit's ancestry and have an idea of what to do if your initial rabbits have common ancestors. It also encourages you to keep track of the pedigrees for your litters. This becomes invaluable once you expand to having more than 4 or 5 rabbits, as does having ear tattoos. Breeding records are hard to keep if you don't track pedigrees or mark your rabbits for identification. All of this is true whether your rabbits are purebred or not. If you buy mixed-breed rabbits with no pedigree, you can still keep track of the pedigrees for the litters you produce, and once you get 3 generations of rabbits, you will have a "full pedigree" for your litters.
Buying purebred also typically means you are buying rabbits who have been purposefully bred to exhibit the best meat and pelt traits. More on this below.
Pedigrees often list qualities like colors and weight which could influence your breeding program as well as predict litter colors and traits. As I am sure you can tell, we love color around here, so several of our rabbits were chosen because they were known carriers of some of the recessive color genes. This is easily surmised with good recordkeeping.
Here are the three primary categories we use to distinguish the rabbits we produce.
Show Quality Rabbits: can be shown, exhibit traits from SOP (standards of perfection), will be good breeding candidates
Silver Foxes are judged as a commercial breed, to set standards of perfection. SOP is developed with the rabbit's purpose in mind, primarily meat production in our case. These show rabbits win classes for having the best hindquarter width, greatest depth, strongest shoulders, and for their fur. A quick sidenote: Silver Foxes are scored with more points dedicated to fur qualities than any other breed. What this all means is the rabbits who win on the table would also be the best rabbits to butcher for meat and fur. It was once said to me that it costs the same amount of money to feed a high quality rabbit as it does a poor quality one. In the end, investing in pedigreed stock means what you produce performs better even if only on butchering day. We typically reserve showable stock for our breeding and showing program or for customers wanting to show.
Meat Breeding Quality Rabbits: may be able to be shown, but have more visible flaws deviating from SOP which can include DQ's (disqualifications).
While a meat breeder may not want to invest the extra money in a showable rabbit, or if our show quality rabbits have sold to homes, they would do well to buy good stock out of show-bred rabbits, selecting those who have minor flaws. Sometimes these rabbits would be able to be shown in many regards but have a DQ - a missing toenail, a white spot, less-than-perfect fur, or are a color variety not yet accepted in the standards. If I were starting a meat operation, these are the rabbits I would go for. They are the next best thing to a show rabbit, and are often offered at a reduced price. We always take into account a customer's goals and needs when matching them up with rabbits.
Pet Quality Rabbits: rabbits who do not make the cut as a show or breeding prospect.
This could be a rabbit with uneven teeth, or one with pinched hocks. We call them pet quality which is to say that they aren't fit for breeding or showing, but what it usually means for us is that they end up in the freezer on butchering day. These are often referred to by breeders as "cull rabbits". If someone happened along who wanted a pet, since we select for temperament in our breeding program, we would be likely to be able to match them with a rabbit who would do really well as a pet. With that said, we haven't had the opportunity to sell a rabbit as a pet to anyone just yet.
In the end, having a pedigree doesn't mean you have a good rabbit. It just means you have a family tree for your rabbit. But if you find a breeder who is selling purebred, pedigreed rabbits who takes the time to understand your breeding goals and wants you to succeed in selecting rabbits that will do well for you, that is a pretty good place to start your buying experience.
Now let's talk about naming. It is common knowledge in the rabbit breeding community that you leave the rabbit's name (especially the prefix) the same as what is listed on the pedigree. The rabbits we have produced have "Arbor House" listed as the prefix. This is to credit us as the breeder behind this particular rabbit, and it is just basic respect to honor that breeder for their work. We often also name our rabbits before selling them simply because it is easier for us to keep them straight with names than with their tattoo ID, but we can always change the name for you on the pedigree or send you one where the rabbit's name is blank, and we are happy to do this for you when we prepare your pedigree.
Pedigree organization and storage is also something that needs to be considered. We use Everbreed online software to track our rabbits, their litters, schedule breedings, and to keep detailed pedigrees. We also keep a printed copy in page protectors in a binder. This helps us to be able to quickly compare pedigrees when planning for breedings rather than flipping back and forth on a screen. It also makes for a quick grab and go when attending a show if we want to have pedigrees with me. We highly recommend keeping more than one copy of a pedigree as a backup, even if it is just a snapshot on your phone. Overall, I do believe that pedigrees are valuable and can really add to your breeding program, whether you are simply breeding for meat at home or showing competitively. A pedigree is a record-keeping tool, and most every successful rabbitry keeps good records.
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