We started out with a pet bunny named Hershey in July of 1999. We quickly fell in love with her. When she wasn't running around on the kitchen floor or sitting in our laps while we were watching TV, she was eating expensive treats or something to that effect. We bought her from a petting zoo at the St. Charles County Fair for $8. We had already been in 4-H for some time by then, so we enrolled in the 4-H rabbit project that September, and took her to a fun show to find out she was a "pet" chocolate Havana.

We went to our first ARBA rabbit show and bought Charger, a black Havana buck. We bred them and ended up with a few black and brown critters, and eventually I (Ryan) ended up with a pair of Dutch, Eclipse (his "eclipsed" blaze covered his face) and Sadie, and Ty inherited the Havanas. About this time, we had somewhere between 5 and 12 rabbits in our basement, and Dad found Harvey running around by the neighbor's barn. That was a tough rabbit. He had been outside for at least a week, and was covered by just about anything that crawls! We cleaned him up, and put him in a cage. He just wouldn't go to the bathroom! Later, Dad was sitting on the floor petting him when Harvey hopped straight to the litter box across the room and flooded it. We now had a litter-trained New Zealand White pet in our possession, and that's part of why we chose New Zealands over Californians (It was fate!).

The following September (2000), we went rabbit-crazy. We had gone to a few shows, and asked by Mom and Dad (forced) to pick new breeds. We bought a trio of New Zealands, and I (Ryan) picked Mini Rex. Mom sort of picked the Holland Lops, but nobody protested, so we currently have a ton of flop-eared bunnies outside!

All three of our original New Zealands have passed away now, Buck, Lily, and Bonnie. I lost my original mini rex doe, Evie, in the summer of 2002. She was our pet and the coolest rabbit! I could take her into the yard and have her follow me around! My Chesney, or Chezzy as we called him, passed away in the summer of 2005 at the age of 5. Where do I start with the old guy? Chezzy was the greatest. That's all I can say! Disco, our original Holland buck, hopped to greener pastures in the summer of 2003. He was our little disco bunny! Roxzi, our original Holland doe, passed away due to a long-term eye/ear infection about a year after we bought her. She and Disco are the parents of Peanut and Amber.

Soon after we bought the new rabbits, the Havanas dwindled off to make room for the new rabbitry. I managed to keep a few Dutch for a while. My last was Blue, the best show Dutch and only blue bunny we owned until Blue Belle was born in 2006. We sold her to one of the 4-H girls in our county. It's true, Dutch are more highstrung, but their disposition depends on how much you love and handle them! They make great moms! Sadie once raised a New Zealand orphan named Dutchie!

Dad built the barn around the same time we bought our starter stock in September, and in 2004 we added on the other half we originally planned on. Dad and I built the barn from the ground up with rabbits in mind, so it's kind of an impressive set-up! I still remember running rabbits out of their cages on the basement patio into the new barn in 20 degree weather and snow! That was in early December of 2000.

Ty began M-n-M's entry into the Palomino breed in 2006. Stan and Kahlúa are our foundation stock. Our Pals have been responsible for numerous Best of Breeds to date and have been bringing attention to the breed in Missouri. They have also been getting attention in our barn! They tend to turn into pets!

Since Hershey, our experiences with rabbits have been fun, happy, lucky, frustrating, expensive, profitable (not!), sad, and sometimes tragic. What a great hobby! We've learned a lot, and somehow become one of the top youth New Zealand White breeders in the nation. We're also doing well with our Mini Rex and Holland Lops. That's the good thing with having a small barn, the quality of the stock you're able to keep becomes extraordinary.

Thanks to all of our rabbit friends for the great stock and good advice! It's you guys that made our rabbit experience what it is today! We hope you enjoy our web site! Please don't be shy about signing our Guestbook or GuestMap, we would love to hear from you!

For Fast Facts about M-n-M Rabbits, like who our first Grand Champion rabbit was, or how many cages we have, visit our Fast Facts page!

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