The Hang Up with Rare Breeds

Posted by Jeremy in philosophy, rabbits, simple living

In a post here last month, ...On Why I Raise Rabbits, I extolled the virtues of raising rabbits and the quality of their meat. I mentioned that the breed I raise, the American Blue and White, is one of, if not the most critically rare breeds in the country. In fact, the 2008 census of American Blues and Whites came up with less than 300 rabbits in the country.

Being the huge philanthropist that I am (had nothing to do with being unemployed and bored) I organized a mass migration of American rabbits from coast-to-coast. I rented a van, and drove from my home in San Diego County, California north to Central Oregon, then east to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and back home via Dallas, Texas. In total I delivered about 60 rabbits, driving over 6,700 miles, through 21 states, all in 7 days. This was considered a major boon for the breed as it helped get new genetics into old rabbitries and breeding stock to new breeders who would have been geographically limited.
Why do I mention this? Well it isn't to toot my own horn. Honestly, I was hoping to turn a little profit on the dozen rabbits I sold on the trip. It might have happened had I not received speeding tickets in Oregon and Iowa. No, I mention this because now I have 32 kits growing out of their cages who I've been trying to sell for almost a month now, and have not had so much as a bite; despite having advertised on the ABWRC (American Blue & White Rabbit Club), American Drift (the project I described above), Rabbit_Talk, RabbitClassifieds, Meatrabbits and Heritage-RareLivestock Yahoo! Groups. And I even offered to transport them as far as Washington State.
Now, I can't help but wonder why I can't get a bite. I have great stock. All four litters are mostly unrelated (2 would be cousins, sort of). I don't think that has much to do with it. I think it is more a collective xenophobia amongst potential buyers and the following quote sums it up well. This is from a comment on ...On Why I Raise Rabbits, Tiffany said, "Just when I think I've gotten familiar with all the meat breeds, another one pops up." Funny thing, in the US, the American was THE meat rabbit in the 40's and 50's.

I think the problem comes down to a fear of the unknown. Because it is now obscure, people shy away from the Americans. They don't know enough about them to understand their value. They are afraid that a rare breed cannot win a show. They are afraid that a rare breed will have some genetic defect that will pop up down the line. They are afraid that they won't get the value they know they can get from the popular breeds.
But I am here to tell you, you get the value out of your animals that you place on them. And my Americans are priceless.