Why I Left The Rabbit Business.

 I Left the Rabbit Business.

Yes, it is true. I am quitting the rabbit business. But before I tell you why, let’s give a quick background.

December 2022: I was really wanting rabbits, so after much research, I brought my idea to Dad and Mom about buying rabbits. I told them that if we got them, we could breed them and sell the bunnies to make money. After much convincing, we were on our way to a local auction to bid on a rabbit. I specifically wanted Holland Lop rabbits because they had the best temperament. So, at the auction, I bid and won a $20 rabbit I later named Snow White. She was all white with red eyes. After me and Dad worked on a proper hutch, I was almost all set.

March 2023: To actually make money, I needed a buck to breed with Snow White. As I was looking on Craigslist for one, I saw a cute black-and-white buck for $50. The people selling the Holland Lop buck were a family that would really help me with my rabbit endeavors later on. This family sold me the buck, and I named him Wonka. After researching, most breeders recommended breeding in the winter, so I waited until then.

August 2023: Well, unfortunately, both rabbits died over the summer, leaving me with none. I later learned that my mistake was not giving them a way to cool down in the harsh Florida heat. I was pretty sad and thought my days of owning rabbits were over.

December 2023: On Christmas Day, I excitedly opened up a rabbit that my parents gave me. It was a Holland Lop doe from the Maxson family. This is the same family that sold me the buck over the summer. I named the rabbit Happy, and again I tried starting a rabbit business.

March 2024: After Happy had a miscarriage, the Maxsons gifted me another female rabbit named Miffy. This time, I had my first successful litter of bunnies from Miffy. She had six. I was so excited, and after listing five of the six, I began selling the bunnies. I loved being able to sell the bunnies. I was able to make a good bit of money selling five. The sixth bunny I kept, she was a gray color, and I named her Flopsy. Lastly, with some of the money I made, I bought a Holland Lop buck named Hobbes. I was confident I could make even more money in the fall.

November 2024: Over the summer, I renovated our old chicken pen into another rabbit space. I then began researching everything about Holland Lop Rabbits. I learned how the colors worked, and how to breed for special colors. Over the fall of ’24 and the spring of ’25, I made a lot of money selling rabbits, and my little animal business was booming. It was really a success at this time. I was making money and now becoming more well-known in the Rabbit Facebook groups I was on.

May 2025: I wrapped up the breeding season in May and used my money to buy a lot of rabbits I mean a lot. This became a big failure, as I had way too many. In total, I had 10 females and 3 males. Over the summer, I even created a website about my rabbits. I had very  big plans for the fall.

October 2025: This is when it really began to fall apart. The bucks I bought did not breed with any of my females. I kept trying, but it did not work. Now my whole plan was not working and I was losing a lot of money because there was no bunnies to sell.

December 2025: I was already down a lot of money, as I had invested several hundred dollars into buying more rabbits. Finally, in December, three of my cheaper females gave birth. But I had already lost so much money and had many aging rabbits that I could no longer use for breeding.

February 2026

I was able to sell the bunnies—fine—but the huge problem was that 7 of the 10 females did not breed. I had already lost a lot of money, and the entire fall season ended up being a failure.

Now that you know everything I’ve done and you are well‑informed, here is why I am done with the business.

1) I lost a lot of money.
I understand the principle of investment, but the disaster that happened in the fall cost me a lot of money.

2) Too many rabbits.
In the summer of 2025, I bought too many rabbits and spent far too much money. Now I have 10 females, many of which are too old to breed. I also had three males that, up until recently, had not bred.

3) The amount of work.
There became so much work with having that many rabbits that it turned into a real pain to take care of them. It was also disappointing to put so much work into a business that ended up losing me so much money.

4) Divided focus.
 In the whole process of managing the rabbits, I began neglecting the time needed to grow the goat business. I know now that I really just needed to focus on one. Having two animal businesses became too much while trying to balance school, blogging, and ministry.

So you may now be wondering what I’m going to do with the rabbits.

I am handing off the entire operation to my younger brother, Micah. He has taken care of the bucks for me since the summer of 2024 and, in a way, has been the right‑hand man in the rabbit business. I’m very confident he will succeed, as he already has some smart and innovative plans to revitalize it.

Now, I’ll admit I’m a little sad. It has been a long journey with my rabbits—one I will never forget.

So to my rabbits—Happy, Miffy, Charleigh, Flopsy, Nibbles, Ragtag, Hattie, Wind, Willow, Spiff, Stupendous, and Hobbes—

So long.😢