What is your buns weekly avg weight gain?

Stared a new topic as a spin off my other post, but trying to see what is possible for weight gain in the next three weeks. Is it at all possible for a meat rabbit to gain a lb/week? I do realize there are lots of factors, but just wondering if it's even possible or if we are probably out of luck. And curious what other avg weight gain per day or per week is.....

When they hit the right age it's amazing how much they grow in a week. Currently mine have put on 12-14oz. a week but that's not fare. I have a litter of 7 Flemish that are eating 12 cups of food twice a day right now. You can almost see them growing. They always seem to grow in spurts ya know. Grow like that a couple weeks then slow down to only a couple ounces for a couple. Butterballs one week then long and lanky the next. :lol:

Oh yeah, they're 10 weeks old now and have done this a couple times if that helps any.

It does help! I want to be realistic and I know anyone with a chance of winning is basically right at 5 lbs. It will help me to prepare my daughter and plan for next year, to breed sooner. But even if ours do some of what you said I have hope we can get them to over 4lbs.....

I've kept track of two litters on a weekly basis, the first one seemed... really small to me which is why I started tracking weight in the first place. The second litter (out of Snow White from the first litter) grew much faster.

Possible differences:
(Litter1) Both parents of the first litter were quite large, about 10-12lbs. Natural upbringing by mother in nest box, feed a LOT of edible greens/weeds as supplements to unlimited feed. Born late spring. Experienced mother.
(Litter2) Mother was on the smaller side 8-9lbs, father is 11lbs. Litter was "shelved" in the house from day 1 until 3 weeks old. No greens/weeds, same unlimited feed. Born early Dec. Mother's first litter.

-------Litter 1 - 75% NZ 25% Cali-------


Week 4

Big Boy – 13.25 oz
Twin 1 -10.25 oz
Twin 2 -10.625 oz
Momma’s Mirror -10.375 oz
Snow White – 11.875 oz

Week 5

Big Boy – 1lb, 2.25 oz (Gain of 5oz)
Twin 1 -14.25 oz (Gain of 4oz)
Twin 2 -14.625 oz (Gain of 4oz)
Momma’s Mirror -13.875 oz (Gain of 3.5oz)
Snow White – 1lb, 0.5 oz (Gain of 4.625oz)

Week 7

Big Boy – 1lb, 10.625 oz
Twin 1 -1lb, 8.25 oz
Twin 2 -1lb, 6oz
Momma’s Mirror – 1lb, 7.5 oz
Snow White – 1lb, 7.625 oz

Week 8

Big Boy – SOLD
Twin 1 -1lb, 11.625 oz (Gain of 2.375oz)
Twin 2 -1lb, 8.5oz (Gain of 2.5)
Momma’s Mirror – 1lb, 9.5 oz (Gain of 2oz)
Snow White – 1lb, 5.875 oz (LOSS of 2oz) ??

Week 10

Twin 1 -2lb, 6.25 oz (Gain of ~11.5oz, so about 5-6 oz each week)
Twin 2 -2lb, 4.25 oz (Gain of ~11.75oz, so about 5-6 oz each week)
Snow White – 2lb, 3.25 oz (Gain of ~13.5oz, so about 6-7 oz each week)
Momma’s Mirror – SOLD

Week 11

Twin 1 -2lb, 10.875 oz (Gain of 4+ oz)
Twin 2 -2lb, 9.625 oz (Gain of 5- oz)
Snow White – 2lb, 8.625 oz (Gain of 5+ oz)

Week 12 (~estimations from week 11 & 13.)

Twin 1 -3lb, 1.25 oz (Gain of 6+ oz)
Twin 2 -3lb, 1.5 oz (Gain of 8- oz)
Snow White – 2lb, 15.625 oz (Gain of 7+ oz)


Week 13

Twin 1 -3lb, 7.625 oz (Gain of 6+ oz)
Twin 2 -3lb, 9.25 oz (Gain of 8- oz)
Snow White – 3lb, 6.625 oz (Gain of 7+ oz)

Week 14 (~estimations from week 13 & 15.)

Twin 1 -3lb, 12.50 oz (Gain of 5- oz)
Twin 2 -3lb, 14.19 oz (Gain of 5- oz)
Snow White – 3lb, 12 oz (Gain of 5+ oz)

Week 15

Twin 1 -4lb, 1.25 oz (Gain of 5- oz)
Twin 2 -4lb, 2.75 oz (Gain of 4+ oz)
Snow White – 4lb, 1.25 oz (Gain of 5+ oz)

Snow White adult weight was around 8.5 - 9lbs


-------Litter 2 - 62.5% NZ, 12.5% Cali, 25% Texas A&M-------


The smallest of this litter was sick at 4 weeks (Qwerty) so I kept her inside with me while I injected her daily, she got over it in a week but was still underweight and behind the rest for awhile.

Snow White & D’artagnan’s litter - "W" White, "B" Black, "R" Runt.

4 weeks

W5 Jeri – 11 7/8 oz.
W1 – 9 oz. (sick)
W2 – 12 5/8th oz.
W3 – 14 1/4th oz.
W4 – 13 3/8th oz.
B1 – 11 3/8th oz.
B2 – 14 5/8th oz.
B3R – 11 3/8th oz.

Avg. (minus the sick one) = 0lbs 12.78 oz.
Avg. (total) = 0lbs 12.31 oz.


5 weeks old

W5 Jeri – 1lb 1-1/8 oz. (Gained 5-1/4th oz.)
Qwerty – 15-1/4th oz. (Gained 6-1/4th oz.)
W2 – 1lb 4-3/4th oz. (Gained 8-1/8th oz.)
W3 – 1lb 6-1/4th oz. (Gained 8 oz.)
W4 – 1lb 6 oz. (Gained 8-5/8th oz.)
B1 – 1lb 2-7/8th oz. (Gained 7-1/ 2oz.)
B2 – 1lb 8 oz. (Gained 9-3/8th oz.)
B3R – 1lb 2-5/8th oz. (Gained 7-1/4th oz.)

Avg. (minus the sick one) = 1lb 4.2 oz. (Gained 7.42 oz.)
Avg. (total) = 1lbs 3.5 oz. (Gained 7.27 oz.)

5 weeks 4 days old (Left for a trip, hence the early weighing)

W5 Jeri – 1lb 7-1/8 oz. (Gained 6oz.)
Qwerty – 1lb 1-1/4th oz. (Gained 2oz.)
W2 – 1lb 13-1/2th oz. (Gained 8-3/4th oz.)
W3 – 1lb 13-3/8th oz. (Gained 7 oz.)
W4 – 1lb 11 5/8th oz. (Gained 5-5/8th oz.)
B1 – 1lb 8-5/8th oz. (Gained 5-5/8oz.)
B2 – 1lb 15 7/8th oz. (Gained 7-7/8th oz.)
B3R – 1lb 7-1/4th oz. (Gained 4-5/8th oz.)

6 weeks old -ESTIMATE

W5 Jeri – 1lb 12-1/8 oz. (Gained 11 oz. in a week)
Qwerty – 1lb 5-1/4th oz. (Gained 6 oz. in a week)
W2 – 2lb 1 oz. (Gained 12-1/4th oz. in a week)
W3 – 2lb 3-1/2 oz. (Gained 13 oz. in a week)
W4 – 2lb 1-5/8th oz. (Gained 11-5/8th oz. in a week)
B1 – 1lb 14-5/8th oz. (Gained 11-5/8th oz. in a week)
B2 – 2lb 5-1/4th oz. (Gained 13-1/4th oz. in a week)
B3R – 1lb 12-1/4th oz. (Gained 9-5/8th oz. in a week)

Avg. (minus the sickly one) = 2lbs 0.3 oz. (Gained 12.1 oz.)
Avg. (total) = 1lb 15 oz. (Gained 11.5 oz.)

6 weeks 4 days old

W5 Jeri – 2lb 1-1/2 oz.
Qwerty – 1lb 9-1/4th oz.
W2 – 2lb 4-3/8th oz.
W3 – 2lb 9-5/8th oz.
W4 – 2lb 7-1/2 oz.
B1 – 2lb 3-3/4th oz.
B2 – 2lb 10-5/8th oz.
B3R – 2lb 1-5/8th oz.

7 weeks old

W5 Jeri – 2lb 3 oz. (Gained 6-7/8th oz.)
Qwerty – 1lb 11-3/4th oz. (Gained 6-1/2 oz.)
W2 – 2lb 8 oz. (Gained 7 oz.)
W3 – 2lb 13-1/2 oz. (Gained 10 oz.)
W4 – 2lb 10-3/4th oz. (Gained 9-1/8th oz.)
B1 – 2lb 7-5/8th oz. (Gained 9 oz.)
B2 – 3lb (Gained 10-3/4th oz.)
B3R Miz Houdini – 2lb 5-1/4th oz. (Gained 9 oz.)

Avg. (minus the sick one) = 2lb 9.2 oz. (Gained 8.9 oz.)
Avg. (total) = 2lbs 7.4 oz. (Gained 7.43 oz.)

8 weeks old - "D" Doe, "M" Male.

D Jeri – 2lb 6.5 oz. (Gained 3-1/2 oz.)
D Qwerty – 2lb 3-1/4th oz. (Gained 7-1/2 oz.)
D W2 – 2lb 14 oz. (Gained 6 oz.)
D W3 – SOLD
M W4 Streak – 3lb 1/4th oz. (Gained 5-1/2 oz.)
D B1 – 3lb 1-1/2th oz. (Gained 9-7/8th oz.)
M B2 – SOLD
D B3R Miz Houdini – SOLD

Avg. (total) = 2lbs 11.5 oz. (Gained 6.5 oz.)

9 weeks old

D Jeri – 2lb 15.25 oz. (Gained 8-3/4 oz.)
D Qwerty – 2lb 12-1/4th oz. (Gained 9 oz.)
D W2 – SOLD
B Streak – 3lb 12-1/4th oz. (Gained 12 oz.)
D B1 – SOLD

Avg. (total) = 3lbs 2.6 oz.
Avg gained = 9.9 oz.
Buck gained 12 oz, does gained an average of 8.9oz

10 weeks old

D Jeri – 3lb 7 oz. (Gained 7-3/4 oz.)
D Qwerty – 3lb 6 oz. (Gained 9-3/4 oz.)
B Streak – 4lb 4 oz. (Gained 7-3/4 oz.)

Avg. (total) = 3lbs 11 oz.
Avg gained = 8.4 oz.
Buck gained 7-3/4 oz, does gained an average of 8.75oz

11 weeks old (Feb 18th)

D Jeri – 4lb 2-1/2 oz. (Gained 11-1/2 oz.)
D Qwerty – 4lb ½ oz. (Gained 10-1/2 oz.)
B Streak – 5lb 1-5/8th oz. (Gained 13 oz.) :chef:

Avg. weight = 4lbs 12.2 oz.
Avg gained = 11.875 oz.
Buck gained 13 5/8 oz, does gained an average of 11 oz

My rex are 4 pounds at 8 weeks. IF they are smaller than that I yellow light them for culling for being to small. I look again at 4 months( when I butcher and take prime fur) when I want them to be no more than a pound and a half under senior weight. At six months my does need to be 8 pounds or have top notch type, or fur. Bucks 7 and a half pounds. Its taken me the last year to get rabbits that will hit those target weights. RIght now I am happy with one of the three of size, fur or type. I consider it a win win if I get two of the three. Hopefully in a few more years I will have rabbits with all three but I guess if it was that easy, we would all be rich.
The big mistake I see people making are feeding to little pellets and way to much hay. I only feed a tiny bit of hay (handfull) twice a week to my growing babies just to keep them cleaned out inside. If you feed to much hay and to much greens to little rabbits they don't grow like they should. If your rabbits are to small( which it sure looks like, from here) it can also be a sign that your doe is not a good milker, or her diet needs to be improved. I never ever feed kits under eight weeks greens of any kind. Greens have way to high a water content to be all that good for babies. Remember pellets are alfalfa HAY and everything your kits need. To much dry hay just keeps them from eating the pellets they need to grow. I kick my kits out of the nest box at two weeks old. ( around a pound) They need to get on high quality pellets quickly in order to meet butcher weight at eight to ten weeks old which should be five pounds. If your feeding them longer than this its just not cost effective. Your price per pound of meat is way to high.

BlueHaven":3e1byau8 said:

The big mistake I see people making are feeding to little pellets and way to much hay. I only feed a tiny bit of hay (handful) twice a week to my growing babies just to keep them cleaned out inside. If you feed to much hay and to much greens to little rabbits they don't grow like they should. If your rabbits are to small( which it sure looks like, from here) it can also be a sign that your doe is not a good milker, or her diet needs to be improved. I never ever feed kits under eight weeks greens of any kind. Greens have way to high a water content to be all that good for babies. Remember pellets are alfalfa HAY and everything your kits need. To much dry hay just keeps them from eating the pellets they need to grow.

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Excellent! Great advice, thank you for sharing Blue! I always wondered why the first litter was so small when they had such a "good diet...." Aha. :lol: Hey, now I know right? I'll also keep that in mind about the hay, as it stands the babies have unlimited hay (as well as unlimited feed) so I'll start cutting back on the hay and see if that makes a difference.