Rex Breed Info and Tips.

What are the pros and cons of the Rex Breed? Temperament, Mothering Skills, Weight?

I have stared In rex in the last year, and I have 12 rabbits and 11 kits.. The pros are of course that they are just drop dead beautiful rabbits and feel even better. The bucks are sweet.. the does... usually for me, kind of tempermental. Not all are great moms, but they seem to tolerate the babies. I have one that seems to want nothing to do with her kits after about 5 weeks, which seems early to me. That being said they are reaching their milestones on time. For me that's 4 pounds by 8 weeks old. I have one super sweet doe and I intent to keep every one of her offspring to cross with the others I have to get improved temperments on their babies. When I have one better doe, she will replace a doe that is less motherly. Starting out you will cull for different reasons, mine are temperament, growth rate and type right now. I wanted to specialize in chocolates, but that's going to have to take a back seat to better rabbits that simply carry chocolate so that I can cross for that with better stock. You may get lucky and get sweeter girls, its all relative, but when starting out, I find that thereis usually some reason whoever sold you that rabbit did so. That's not a bad thing, with time you will make the rabbits you want.

ZachsRabbits":2z562hhh said:

What are the pros and cons of the Rex Breed? Temperament, Mothering Skills, Weight?

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It really depends on the line and breeder. I have yet to find a stereotype to place all Rex in.

I don't breed for temperament as a top thing, though I will cull nasty animals. I handle all my rabbits from birth, my hands are constantly in the cage. I would not say any of them are sweet, cuddly pet types, but no current ones are vicious. Interestingly, the cases where I have been bit, 2 in 4 years, both were bucks.

I breed and cull for mothering skills. Easy keeper, easy breeder, easy kindle. Big litters, raise them all or get culled. i keep litters together for a long time.

Some lines are notorious for not reaching Sr weight, or reaching it slower than others. If you are breeding for meat solely, there are other breeds that will do better. Think of Rex as a fancy breed for meat, fur and maybe show, and you will have a better frame of mind when it comes to growth (but don't tolerate things that don't make weight at appropriate milestones).