ABOUT US

I am Val O'Neil, born April 11, 1979 as Valerie Jean Robillard.  I started Firedove Rabbitry with a single pair of unpedigreed, broken seal point Mini Lops (Dash Away and Dot-to-Dot) and a smutty tort Dutch doe (Lady Love) in late 1999 in a small apartment in Greenville, NH.

In early 2000 I obtained a blue Dutch buck.  That summer I met my future husband, Dan O'Neil and I also involved a friend, Shannon Sullivan in my rabbit habit.  Shannon went on to start her own rabbitry, dubbed Dark Dove Rabbitry in honor of the sisterhood of our rabbitries.  Dan really enjoyed the time he and I spent together with the rabbits.

In the fall of 2000 I moved back in with my parents in Milford, NH.  I had no place to keep my rabbits with me so my four rabbits moved in with Dan at his mother's home in Dracut, MA.  In 2001 we began the construction of the rabbitry building behind my parents' house.  By that summer the rabbits had moved into that building, the original four and several babies we had kept.

We also started showing in 2001.  My first show was at Devens, MA and I brought a young Dutch.  Since it was my first show, the secretary set me up with Pam Dunning to help me find my way through the show room and get set up.  I had entered my Dutch "Gwen" as a tort doe, but when Pam looked at "her" for me she discovered that Gwen was a buck.  Pam talked to the judge Paul Jurgelonis and the secretary and was able to get the now named "Gwain" switched to the bucks class.  Gwain was ultimately disqualified for a tied leg, but I learned so much at that show and I met Wayne MacKinnon who agreed to sell me some pedigreed Dutch to get me headed in the right direction.

Also around that time I learned about Jean Ann St Pierre and her daughter Suzette.  I went out to their home to meet them and ended up taking home a black Mini Lop doe named St Pierre's Onua who was bred to Shanahan's Whiskers.  I eventually got down to Wayne's rabbitry as well, Shannon came along and we purchased a trio. A blue buck, a blue doe, and a black doe.  The blue doe was bred when I got her.  Those first two pedigreed litters gave me my first two Grand Champions FD's Irish Ellie, a blue Dutch buck, and FD's Chick-A-Dee, a broken black Mini Lop buck.

I owe all of my success in rabbits to the wonderful people who helped me in those first years!

I have had many wonderful rabbits over the years, including some Hollands for awhile, but I eventually went back to raising exclusively Mini Lops.  In September of 2003 I decided to take on a big project, the Blue Eyed White Mini Lop.

In April of 2006 we again acquired a trio of Hollands, mostly for pet sales since they did not have pedigrees. We have since replaced two of the trio with pedigreed stock.

On May 29, 2005 Dan and I married at Sunset Hill House in Sugar Hill, NH.  For more on our wedding click here.  Although Dan isn't very involved in the rabbits anymore it's his continued support that keeps me going.

In August I finished buying my first horse, a blood bay Arabian gelding named PC Mozart, but we all know him as George.

At the end of August Dan and I closed on our first house in Fitzwilliam, NH.  The rabbits are now located in our garage, with hopes for a new rabbitry in the coming years.

On May 27, 2006 we purchased a pair of goats and it's already been an adventure!  To read the goat story click here.

Well we found a way to keep George!  YAY!  He is available for an on farm half lease. See more about him by clicking This Link

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