Breed recommendations

Looking for breed recommendations.

We live in the far out mid-west country. Not a homestead as you would think of it classically, just a couple of people who are interested in eating fresh food, including meat.

I've decided to do this backwards, I'm afraid. I'm building an outdoor hutch this weekend. Cages are going to be 48"x30"x24" with a built-in nesting box for all rabbits at the back. Wire floor and walls, wood frame, with a covered roof. South facing cages with tarp for colder weather/rain, etc. etc. It's going directly to the south of my large chicken coop to block the prevailing wind. They will be outside, a ways away from power, so hot-weather and cold-weather hardiness is an issue.

Here's the question: I have raised rabbits in the past, but they were Netherland Dwarf rabbits. Not exactly heavy hitters for meat.

I need your recommendations and some information, please.

I've noticed that the internet knows everything, but most of the information is for what I would call 'ideal'. I want to know real experiences. If you could, please tell me your recommended breed, reason for recommendation, describe the meat quality, describe realistic growth rate, feed consumption, care and general tips, temperament, and anything else you can think of.

Thanks ahead of time,
RHodgson

I raise Californians, they do very well for meat, and if you provide a wind block, and sort of close off the hutch during the winter they should do fine. As for heat, I suggest putting the hutch in an area that is shaded 90% of day. If not, you can freeze 2 liter bottles of water, and place them in their cages, and mist the ears with water.

Also welcome to RT!!

Thanks.

It is in the sun. The only place I can get shade is over in the woods, and I'm not too keen on putting rabbits on the edge of the woods; we have a hard enough time with predators as it is.

Is that a problem?

Heat is hard on rabbits, and breeding. Maybe extend the overhang on the roof? Just something temporary that blocks the sun directly hitting them at a certain times of the day.

I'll plan on an 18" overhang. It's south facing, so for the most part it is shaded by its own roof in the hottest months. I assumed it was ambient heat and not just sun that was dangerous. It's humid as all get out here in the summer months.

I'd say a mixture of both is bad either way, lol. It sounds like you have a great plan going so far. We started with our rabbits outside, but built a second hutch, and moved them into the garage, because the heat was just really hard on them this year.

Something I do is hang canvas around the hutches where I know wind or sun can be a problem.

I have to say, my French and Satin Angoras serve me very well. I cull to keep the very best type, health and wool and all the rest are meat. I cull hard, so we eat lots of rabbit. Surprisingly, they do grow fast. And, there is wool to spin, of course. But, if you don't spin wool, then best go with a standard meat breed.

I think bloodline is more important than breed and recommend you find local meat focused breeders and buy young stock from them

4H clubs, Ag associations and feed stores that sell rabbit pellets might be able to guide you to breeders

I agree with Dood, bloodline is more important than breed.

And bloodline has more to do with the breeder who's working with them than the breed in general.

As for meat quality, I've eaten lots of rabbits and they all pretty much taste like rabbit. Older rabbits are tougher and better for slow cooking recipes. Younger ones are more tender, but all of them taste good to me.

I raise harlequins for meat. They are medium sized, with mine tending towards the heavy end for the breed, around 8lbs. I love them because they have been very hardy for me, productive, great mothers, even tempered, and good with forage.

I have no idea how common those traits are to the breed, but I do love this line.


In general, the more I've paid for a rabbit the less productive I have found the them to be. :|
My best guess is that really good producers have a way of saturating the market and driving their own prices down. :lol:

Rare types tend to be rare for a reason.

It's hard to recommend a breed for another, especially since we're not sure what you are looking for in a breed or line...Hmmm..

I can share my own limited experience with the rabbits I've had here.

My show lines silver fox were all neurotic, more like wild rabbits than tame ones sometimes.
Their litters were smaller too, or else the does couldn't nurse as many kits, but they could reach 8+ lbs in 4 months.
They crossed well with other breeds for growth and better litter sizes, but the crazy trait seemed to be dominant.
Raising psycho rabbits gets old fast.
Obviously, not everyone had the experiences with silverfox as I have, but I have heard enough from other breeder to know its common.

The velveteen lops had a boatload of genetic problems, to the point where breeding them just seemed cruel.

The standard rex buck I paid $50 for developed sore hocks before he was even old enough to breed. :roll: The doeling went crazy at puberty and starting attacking everything in sight. She escaped her pen and took a big chunk out of caged kit's ear.

I know that others on here have had some really great experiences with standard rex. Really depends on who your getting them from....

The french angora were total sweet hearts, and they produce wool as well as meat!
I only ever parted with those due to my limited cage space. I still regret that.

Seems like unpedigreed new zealands and calis are usually just meat mutts who happened to inherit the color of the breed they are being sold as.

Meat mutts can be great, but who knows? They can also be junk.

Remember, a good herd is culled, not bred.

I suggest sourcing stock from someone who actually enjoys the taste of rabbit (or at least someone who has dogs that do.) That way they have a very good reason to terminally cull problem animals instead of passing them along to another breeder.

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Welcome to RT!

Heat is definitely more of a concern than cold for my area... we have hot, humid summers. And we have no trees. We put our newest hutches on the edge of the woods out back (technically not on our property) and a shade cloth to block the evening sun plus fans for the hottest days were all they needed (just ran extension cords - probably just over 100 ft from the house?). THe one by the house was in full sun most of the day. I almost lost all 4 in it the first hot day of the year (Sunday - wasn't expecting the heat to hit so fast and I knew I was in trouble when I walked out of church). I went straight the the back yard and found them in obvious distress. In my church clothes I put up a 10x10 tent over them, sprayed their ears, and tossed in some frozen waterbottles. Crisis averted. They had the tent for added shade, a fan, and occasional ice bottles the rest of the summer and were just fine.

As for breeds, definitely consider your goals. I started with backyard "NZWs" that I got for cheap but found myself easily bored with all white, all the time. I like color! And a visible challenge. Soooo... I added some color! :lol: Creme d'Argent, Chinchillas, and a Harlequinized chestnut buck. I am with Zass and AprilW and am becoming totally smitten with Harlies. I had no idea what they were (pre RT) and got one in a litter and found it fascinating. I also want to start feeding more forage so am going to start breeding towards that. I don't mind a longer grow out period if it means not having to buy or rely on so many pellets! And bigger isn't always better... big bones takes away from meat. There was a semi-recent thread discussing Dutch rabbits as actually being a good possibility for meat because of their percentages - 63% is the number I remember. My last batch was about 50%-53% without organs. Not terrible, but not great. Definitely something to work on.