It's probably obvious by now I am fascinated by them and keep coming back to that as a rabbitry goal. Rather than continually hijacking threads with my questions I figured I would start my own thread...
For those that have them, how did you get started? Breeding your own? Purchased them?
I don't intend to show, so it's more for the challenge of getting the patterns and colors using what I have (and I think I can get there... I think) vs. working toward the SOP with pedigreed animals. Also, I want to work toward more forage overall - not prepared to do so this winter, but come spring it's a goal... hoping I can do both at the same time.
Are most Harlie colored rabbits on the smaller side? Does that come with the genes? I know the harlie chestnut buck I have is definitely on the smaller side... and so were his litter mates. They were hovering around 4 lbs at butcher time (13 weeks if i remember correctly) and with no organs had percentages between 50% and 53%. Another thing to work towards.
So many ideas! Even the short wait between generations seems so long - and you even get multiple offspring to work with... I can't imagine working on larger breed animals!
Oh, my current rabbits are:
multiple "NZWs"
a harlie chestnut buck
Creme d' Argent doe
3 adult Chins (2 does, 1 buck) - 5 kits, 1 of which is a steel
I also have access to a broken tri buck that used to be mine and can get whenever I need him...
Any thoughts on where to start?
For those that have them, how did you get started? Breeding your own? Purchased them?
I don't intend to show, so it's more for the challenge of getting the patterns and colors using what I have (and I think I can get there... I think) vs. working toward the SOP with pedigreed animals. Also, I want to work toward more forage overall - not prepared to do so this winter, but come spring it's a goal... hoping I can do both at the same time.
Are most Harlie colored rabbits on the smaller side? Does that come with the genes? I know the harlie chestnut buck I have is definitely on the smaller side... and so were his litter mates. They were hovering around 4 lbs at butcher time (13 weeks if i remember correctly) and with no organs had percentages between 50% and 53%. Another thing to work towards.
So many ideas! Even the short wait between generations seems so long - and you even get multiple offspring to work with... I can't imagine working on larger breed animals!
Oh, my current rabbits are:
multiple "NZWs"
a harlie chestnut buck
Creme d' Argent doe
3 adult Chins (2 does, 1 buck) - 5 kits, 1 of which is a steel
I also have access to a broken tri buck that used to be mine and can get whenever I need him...
Any thoughts on where to start?