Alan Schrader, Breeder of American Rabbits
Thursday, June 23, 2011 at 4:33PM ;)
Vick's Bonnie Blue
Coming to rabbits late in life, I am eagerly seeking mentors in order to learn as much as I can. I quickly discovered that there is nothing a rabbit breeder likes more than to talk about his or her rabbits. I have found “rabbit people” to be a very friendly, nurturing bunch. Heritage rabbit breeders are certainly no different, and maybe even more so.
My first heritage breed was Silver Fox. I learned about them from chef and fellow podcaster Neal Foley. I purchased my first breeding pair from Garden Gate Rabbit Park in South Carolina. I was quickly hooked. Loretta Hayward of Garden Gate told me about another heritage breed she had. Was I interested? Yes! She described her Beveren as having white fur, blue eyes, and a great personality. So my third rabbit was a bred BEW Beveren. While searching for a Beveren buck, I found Delbert Vick in North Carolina. Delbert not only set me up with some Beveren stock, but also told me about the American heritage breed. Was I interested? Of course! He told me I was getting some nice American stock from Indiana, but I didn’t know one breeder from another. When Jeremy S. Cowan (organizer of the American Drift and developer of the Global Pedigree Project) informed me that the breeder, A & C in Indiana, was one of the few people who brought Americans back from near extinction, I was intrigued. After living with my Americans for a couple weeks, I decided to get the story first hand from Alan Schrader himself.
Even though I was a total stranger who called Alan out of the blue on a Tuesday morning, Shrader was eager to talk about his rabbits. His love for the American breed came through loud and clear throughout our 2 hour conversation.
Born in 1947 in a rural community, Alan Schrader remembers that as a child his family grew all their own food. His father, who Alan referred to as an “old German,” liked to keep American rabbits for their meat production. Alan told me he “liked those rabbits.”
In 1965 when Alan was 18, he enlisted in the Navy and served time in Vietnam. Alan believes that his childhood experiences of hunting squirrels at night by using his stealth and excellent night vision helped him stay alive during those dangerous years.
After 22 years in the military, Alan found himself with a good pension and time on his hands. He told his buddies he was going to “raise me some rabbits.” And that he did.
He got his first trio of Americans in New York State while he was there visiting his son and twin granddaughters. They were blues. He line-bred these three to develop his distinctive line. He said that his white Americans are true albinos. They will sometimes throw black kits. Breeding a black doe to a blue buck will produce a deeper blue color in the kits, but you should never keep a black buck, he advised, due to “too many problems.”
I was surprised to hear Alan state that the American breed was not the first American rabbit developed, but second to the New Zealand Red. It was originally developed in California. I found corroboration that yes, indeed, the New Zealand Red was developed as early as 1913 while the American breed was not recognized until 1918.
Alan explained some of the characteristics he appreciates about the American meat rabbit. It has excellent, tender, and delicious meat qualities. These are what place the American breed on the Slow Food Ark of Taste. The American is a medium-boned rabbit which gives it a high percentage dress-out rate compared to the New Zealand. He butchers his fryers at 8 weeks when they weigh about 4 pounds and this yields about 2 1/4 pounds of dressed meat. Even the older bucks are easier to skin than other breeds.
American does are hardy and prolific, with good mothering instincts. They consistently bear 8-10 kits per litter. He does not breed them until they are 9 months old. Alan breeds his does again when the kits reach 4 weeks of age, and he weans the kits at 6 weeks. He feeds 4 ounces of food per day for all rabbits except nursing mothers, who are free fed. He believes that keeping the does lean when breeding helps to develop better litters. The kits are free fed up to 6 weeks of age, then weaned down to 4 ounces per day.
Alan uses a local feed for his herd. Animals being prepared to show receive special rations for two weeks prior to the show. This includes an ounce of whole grains such as rolled oats, whole oats, soy meal, popcorn, rolled barley, and a sprinkling of Calf Manna. He cautioned against putting too much weight onto the rabbits.
Schrader has seen the popularity of the American breed come and go. In 1970, he stated, there were 20 breeders of Americans in the state of Indiana. However, by 1990 when he retired and began seeking stock, there were only 10-12 breeders left nationwide. At the National Convention, they did not compete but were displayed only. Alan recalls getting a phone call in 2003 from “a lady from some group in North Carolina.” The American Livestock Breed Conservancy published his contact information in their directory and he began receiving numerous calls about his rabbits. Lucky for me, in 2010 one of these calls was from Delbert Vick. Vick drove to Indiana to get American stock from A & C rabbitry and recently passed on several of these from me.
Alan chatted to me a bit about he pedigrees in the stock now housed here at Broad River Rabbitry, part of our heritage farm. He asked if any of them showed ear tag G61, a buck he kept “for a long time.” Mikie was apparently a favorite. He was great, great grand-sire to my senior doe Vick’s Little Blue, and to my intermediate doe Vick’s Bonnie Blue. Schrader was also pleased to hear that the grandsire to my litter of 8 kits is Quicksilver, Z5. This buck recently became a Grand Champion, he told me, and was in the process of being registered as such. I retained two does and a buck from that litter.
Alan’s secret to success is to breed carefully to standard and to cull hard. He takes 8 weeks to determine who to keep. He advised me not to be afraid to make a mistake, and that I will learn with time.
My friend Krystal Beers of Two Hunnyz Rabbitry in Washington State raises white Americans from pure Canadian line. She shared with me recently that in the nearly 5 years that she has been raising American rabbits, she has seen the numbers increase by nearly 50%. Until this year, the American breed was the first on the “most critical” list. She wrote to me, “Thanks to experienced breeders, like Alan, mentoring these new ones, and these then exhibiting in shows to learn from judges and other breeders how to better their stock, the quality of the AM's is returning to its original glory. Pretty wonderful to watch!”
It was a pleasure “talking rabbits” with Schrader. His home and rabbitry are located in Brazil, Indiana near Indianapolis. He excitedly told me that he would be at the National Convention in 2011 “with bells on.” For a low-key type of guy who raises rabbits as a hobby and claims that “money means nothing to me,” it is obvious that raising prize-winning rabbits means quite a bit. He admitted to having a strong competitive side to him. He must be very proud of his accomplishments working with this very worthy heritage American breed.
Reader Comments (2)
Yah! Americans! Best rabbit breed EVA!
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