My husband and I are building a 15 hole rabbitry. Ideally we would like to enter into 3 breeds. I know that I want 3 English Angoras, so I'm just waiting until the National Convention to do some meet and greets and decide on a breeder. That leaves 12 holes for two breeds. My husband wants to raise a pet breed and I want a fur / meat breed. We have gone through every breed and talked about the pros and cons but have yet to come to a final decision on either breed. I would truly appreciate any insight or suggestions anyone may have. Here are our finalists in each category:
Pet Breed
Netherland Dwarf
Mini Satin
Lionhead
*We have a Netherland Dwarf house rabbit now. We truly love his size but my husband is concerned about the high kit mortality rates in the NDs. We have not been able to find similar stats with the Mini Satins or Lionheads. We do understand that you can offset peanuts by using false dwarf does but beyond culling parents that produce hippos there seem to be more genetic issues in the NDs than we really want to take on. Is this going to be the case with all of the super small breeds? Are Mini Satins and Lionheads genetically dwarves also? We do not want a lop eared pet rabbit and would prefer one that has many acceptable colors. Have we left a breed out of consideration?
Fur / Meat Breed
Standard Chinchilla
American Sable
Harlequin
Satin
Silver Marten
-and the-
Havana
*I am have a really difficult time narrowing down my list to one. I've raised the Standard Chinchilla back in high school. I love this breed, but, I plan on tanning hides, and I'd really like a different coloring pattern on occasion. I've raised the Harlequin, I also love this breed, and I don't mind the large amounts of culls, because I feed a raw diet to my dogs. I know much less about the American Sable, Satin and Silver Marten. I like their body size, their growth rates, and their coloring. Does anyone have any experience with these breeds? And finally, I have the Havana on my list. This is a smaller breed, but Ive read that they still have good growth rates, and can be just as economical as a larger breed. Again, does anyone have any opinions?
We will be traveling to Del Mar in October to the National Convention, so I'd like to narrow down even more before then.
Thank you everyone.
Pet Breed
Netherland Dwarf
Mini Satin
Lionhead
*We have a Netherland Dwarf house rabbit now. We truly love his size but my husband is concerned about the high kit mortality rates in the NDs. We have not been able to find similar stats with the Mini Satins or Lionheads. We do understand that you can offset peanuts by using false dwarf does but beyond culling parents that produce hippos there seem to be more genetic issues in the NDs than we really want to take on. Is this going to be the case with all of the super small breeds? Are Mini Satins and Lionheads genetically dwarves also? We do not want a lop eared pet rabbit and would prefer one that has many acceptable colors. Have we left a breed out of consideration?
Fur / Meat Breed
Standard Chinchilla
American Sable
Harlequin
Satin
Silver Marten
-and the-
Havana
*I am have a really difficult time narrowing down my list to one. I've raised the Standard Chinchilla back in high school. I love this breed, but, I plan on tanning hides, and I'd really like a different coloring pattern on occasion. I've raised the Harlequin, I also love this breed, and I don't mind the large amounts of culls, because I feed a raw diet to my dogs. I know much less about the American Sable, Satin and Silver Marten. I like their body size, their growth rates, and their coloring. Does anyone have any experience with these breeds? And finally, I have the Havana on my list. This is a smaller breed, but Ive read that they still have good growth rates, and can be just as economical as a larger breed. Again, does anyone have any opinions?
We will be traveling to Del Mar in October to the National Convention, so I'd like to narrow down even more before then.
Thank you everyone.