Willoughby Acres

Welcome to Willoughby Acres Homestead

Our Silver Fox Rabbits

At Willoughby Acres, we specialize in Pedigreed Silver Fox Rabbits. Combining lines from a variety of reputable rabbitries throughout the USA, we offer all colors and unrelated trios. We select our breeding stock for genetic vigor, mellow temperaments, good mothering skills, and

meat-to-bone ratio. (We do not offer show prospects.)

Our rabbits are given our best at all times, ensuring their health and well-being. We are pharma-free, and feed non-GMO, corn and soy-free pellets along with locally grown orchard grass hay and organic forage off our property. We pride ourselves on customer service and

after-sale support.

Our Backyard Chickens

We also hatch and raise a variety of purebred, full-sized laying breeds of chickens for backyard flocks. At this time our breed list is constantly changing, and we offer day-old straight run chicks through started pullets. Cockerels are also available. We guarantee pullets to be female, so if we ever make a mistake we will gladly provide a refund or a replacement (if available) and take the cockerel back!

Frequently Asked Questions

Please reach us at Laurel@willoughbyacreshomestead.com if you cannot find an answer to your question.

Why should I consider the Silver Fox breed?

We have worked with several different meat breeds over the years, and have decided that Silver Fox are the only ones we care to keep anymore. They are docile, generally appreciate human interaction, tend to be very good mothers, and tolerate the southern summers better that we expected. Their gentle dispositions make them a great choice if you are introducing your children to the responsibilities of small livestock. We also enjoy them for their varied colors, beautiful dark eyes, and distinctive silvered fur.

What does "Pedigreed" mean?

A pedigree is simply a breeder record showing the parentage of your rabbit for several generations. It is not a "registration" (like AKC in dogs) but rather the product of your breeder keeping track of lineage as they breed individuals. It does not make a rabbit better, or more "special" than an un-pedigreed rabbit. What it does do is show you a snapshot of the detailed effort that the breeder has gone to in order to track and record their progress of (hopefully) improving their results generation after generation. Our rabbits all come with a three generation pedigree, going back to great-grandparents.

How many rabbits to I need to get started?

This is a great question. Generally speaking, a trio will get you going. It doesn't have to be unrelated individuals--line breeding is quite common in rabbits. For additional questions on the nuts and bolts of raising rabbits for meat (housing/breeding/harvesting/etc.), I have included a recommendation for a fantastic book on my RESOURCES page.

How do I obtain a Willoughby rabbit?

The first step is to contact Laurel (pronounced Luh-REL) via email, text, or phone. She will want to get a detailed understanding of what you are looking for (how many, what color, what sex), what your goals are (getting started in meat production, adding to an existing program, etc.), and where you are in your rabbit journey. (She loves helping new rabbiteers!) Our notification list is usually pretty deep, so you will be placed on the list once we know what you are looking for and we will notify you when it becomes available.

What happens once I'm on the notification list?

Litters are weaned at 6 weeks but not released for pickup until they are 8 weeks old. When they turn 8 weeks old, folks waiting on the list will be notified in chronological order, based on what they are requesting, and what we have available. We do not ask for deposits or payment up front, but you will need to confirm you are still interested and commit to picking up your kit/s before they turn 9 weeks old--in other words, you have one week to collect your kit/s. As a courtesy, if we have space available and you have made prior arrangements for a delayed pickup, we can hold kits beyond 9 weeks old for a boarding fee of $5/week per kit.

How long do I have to wait for a Willoughby rabbit?

It depends entirely on what you are looking for. The more specific your request, the longer the wait. If you just want one doeling regardless of color, we can typically fill that request fairly quickly. If you want an unrelated trio with specific colors (ex: an unrelated chocolate buck, plus a lilac doe and a blue doe) it's going to be up to chance if we have all that available at the same time. The more flexible you can be on colors/bloodlines, the faster we can set you up with your new rabbits.

Do you sell pet rabbits?

We do not offer pet rabbits. There are many pet rabbits in rescue, and we encourage and endorse rescue adoption.

What about your chickens?

At this time, the best way to keep up with our chick/grow-out availability is to follow our Facebook page!