Creme or Champagne D'Argent?

Hello everyone,

So I can't decide between Creme D'Argent and Champagne D'Argent. There are breeders of both in my area so availability is not an issue. I'm looking for a rabbit that is good for both meat and pelt. A sweet docile temperament is a plus. Any suggestions? What are the big differences between the two?

I would go meet the breeders of both if you could, as the breeder you buy from (and maybe trade stock with in the future) is going to matter a whole a lot more than what breed, or what variety of the same breed.

There's no one super close to me so I'll email folks and see what they say. Thanks!

My understanding is that they are very similar rabbits with the biggest difference being the color? Someone please correct me if I'm way off base here.

I would look at breeders of both and ask, in addition to meat and fur production, what their herds are like. How many kits are in their average litters? How is the mother's temperament (before, during, and after kindling)? What else do the breeders look for when they select their next breeding pairs/trios/etc.?

You don't want to start your herd with rabbits that you're afraid to handle, or that produce small litters (or huge litters with a high mortality rate). Think about how you want your rabbitry to operate, and then find a breeder that closely resembles that model. By the time you've found one, you'll have gotten enough exposure to the two varieties that hopefully you'll know if you have a preference of one over the other.


-Zass beat me to it!-

beware of breeders who claim to have "perfect" rabbits--IE - those who claim to have a 10 rabbit weaning average, or claim to have fryers that average 5 lbs in 8 weeks.[both of those are never true] If it seems too good to be true it usually is..

They should basically be a different color of the same type of rabbit. I don't know why the Argentes were each made a different breed per color when they are mostly meant to be identical and often crossed to make more of each other. Depending on your area one or the other may have more crossing to other breeds due to lack of local stock to bring in or have been bred toward certain characteristics more than others. Like most breeds those breeding mainly for the show table are not going to produce the same as those bred mainly for production.

Creme d'argent around here are more New Zealand bred back to the creme color and size than anything else. I drove up to the WI border to get champagne d'argent instead because there is a large group of breeders working with them that have old lines bred to standard and not bad for meat production. The litters leaned toward 5 average when my creme never failed to produce 8-10 and raise them to weaning but like I said she had a background full of New Zealand crosses that the breeder had then bred off the pedigree. She would throw REW and shaded when bred to those colors. Great meat rabbit but I wouldn't say she was an example of an average creme d'argent.

Really if you just want meat production breed doesn't mean much at all. The breeder and their goals will determine how useful their particular breed or mutts are more than being able to call something a specific breed. Then pick what you like for pelts out of what breeders have developed a high producing line of rabbits.

Creme d argents are a bit smaller than champagnes too (in the US).

The US standard is the same for creme and champagne or maybe a fairly insignificant 1/2-1lb different (I lost my SOP). It's the UK standard that all argente breeds are 5-6lbs except champagnes that are 9-12lbs. With all the decades of breeding them and crossing them to things in the US they mostly fit the ARBA sizes unless you find recent imports or someone completely ignoring the ARBA breed standard that still has a reason to not just make outright mutts. I had some champagnes that were closer to 15lbs but that's even beyond the ARBA standard. Again variation locally is probably going to be greater than any generalization or the standard depending what they were bred for and what the particular line has been crossed with.

michaels4gardens":2ser1736 said:

beware of breeders who claim to have "perfect" rabbits--IE - those who claim to have a 10 rabbit weaning average, or claim to have fryers that average 5 lbs in 8 weeks.[both of those are never true] If it seems too good to be true it usually is..

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Not even Tamuks get to 5 lbs in 8 weeks? I have never had them, just wondering because I read where some people claim this.