Should I purchase sexually mature breeding stock or younger?

Hey guys I am preparing to raise meat rabbits for home use (2 adults) and will have 1 buck and 2 does. I will probably buy New Zealand’s or Californians.
I could use some advice on obtaining breeding stock. I am trying to decide on whether to buy young rabbits (8-12 weeks old) or older rabbits that are ready to be bred (6 months – 2 years)?
I would prefer to get younger rabbits, from what I’ve read it sounds like it is easier for them to get used to you at a younger age. However I am not too keen on having to wait 3-4 months to breed, and then having the does go through the mothering learning curve. (If they turn out to have great mothering instincts from the start great! But, I would mentally prepare myself for the first litter or two to not be successful.) While I am a patient man, 6-12 months of waiting is a long time for the ultimate reward.
But I see the advantages of obtaining rabbits that are ready to breed right away (6+ months old). Once they get used to the new surroundings (I figure two weeks or so) I could start breeding; cutting out the four months or so for the rabbits to reach sexual maturity. Plus with older rabbits I wouldn’t have to worry about the does developing their mothering skills.
Some other considerations would be younger rabbits are probably more available, I might be able to get better rabbits if I buy younger, and it may be cheaper to buy younger rabbits (although it might be advantageous to pay more for a mature rabbit).
I was curious as to what you guys thought? Are there any advantages/disadvantages I might have missed? Perhaps some sort of combination of the two? (Keeping in mind I am going with 1 buck / 2 does setup.)
Thanks for any advice,
Mike

You could also consider buying (proven) pregnant does

Nika":15ni4bmf said:

You could also consider buying (proven) pregnant does

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Thanks for another possibility. Is there any concern about the move putting too much stress on the pregnant doe?

Mike, I'd go for something in the 6-12 month old range if you can find them. You didn't mention a breed but in general the smaller ones tend to be ready to mate when they're younger. You also don't have to shell out for food while they grow... Make sure and get some of there feed from whoever you buy from so you can move them over to your feed if it's a different brand.

Homer":q3p7csni said:

Mike, I'd go for something in the 6-12 month old range if you can find them. You didn't mention a breed but in general the smaller ones tend to be ready to mate when they're younger. You also don't have to shell out for food while they grow... Make sure and get some of there feed from whoever you buy from so you can move them over to your feed if it's a different brand.

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I am going to get either New Zealand Whites or Californians. So you are correct I'd need something 6+ months old. Thanks for the suggestion regarding feed; I heard that one before. I haven't found information about transitioning them from one feed to another; specifically how long the process should take. Is it something I should do over a week? two? a few days?

I've seen a lot of advice since joining RT to get young stock from a reputable breeder and raise them yourself. But I started before I'd seen that advice. We also wanted to raise rabbits for meat.
So in April of 2014 we bought a SF buck, 9 months old and had already sired kits, and 2 NZW does, one a year old and one 2 years, both had kindled before.
We wanted to feed as much as possible on what we can grow ourselves so transitioned all 3 off pellets over the course of a few weeks, adding more forage as we decreased the pellets. And we bred them just a couple weeks after we got them, while they were still transitioning off pellets.
Ours were rabbits we got from Craigs List, not from a show or known breeder. (We couldn't find anyone who seemed knowledgable and helpful so we just got rabbits that were meat breeds and looked healthy to us)
So we did a lot of things that someone might be advised not to do, but we got 3 litters from one doe and 2 from the other that season. We didn't breed over the winter, didn't keep either of the original does but kept 3 does from the better ones litters and bred them in 2015. One of the 3 was a terrible mother and the other 2 were good. Kept 2 more young does we're breeding this year along with the 2 good ones from 2015. We're happy with the meat we've produced and are hoping as we "breed the best and eat the rest" our rabbits will improve over time.
So my advice would be not to worry too much. Get started. Use your commons sense as well as listening to advice. (We did follow some advice about making the cages and what weeds make the best rabbit forage and having good ventilation and keeping their space predator proof)
Good luck to you whatever you decide. You can learn a lot here on RT and from getting started and seeing what works for you.

Rainey":3e7ny4bs said:

Good luck to you whatever you decide. You can learn a lot here on RT and from getting started and seeing what works for you.

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Thanks for sharing your experience! I've been reading posts for about a month. Now that I've closed on the house I'll be moving to, I want to start planning.

Keep in mind that summer is coming fast, and you might need to let it pass before you get into breeding, depending on how hot it gets where you are.

Marinea":2mjdldn0 said:

Keep in mind that summer is coming fast, and you might need to let it pass before you get into breeding, depending on how hot it gets where you are.

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I actually wouldn't be starting anything until the fall. Moving there in September, probably wouldn't be settled in until October. I'm off Lake Michigan in Wisconsin so the weather is a bit milder in the summer. I am hoping that during next summer the heat won't be too much of an issue. (Plus I work at home so I can change out frozen 2-Litre bottles to keep them cool.)

if you buy mature stock be aware --- very few rabbit breeders will ever sell you "a proven doe" that is really all that great, -- they keep those for themselves... you are more likely to get a doe that was not all that great, that performed less well than their average doe, a doe that didn't quite meet their standards-one that they wanted to replace anyway.

If you not in a hurry. I would and will do next time. I will buy them as young as I can to get pick of the litter. You no some will be runts and you cant tell that if the rest of the litter is not there.

My first herd was all unproven NZWs. My second herd had a proven 2 year-old buck and a pair of 5 month does. As a rabbit noob, that proven buck made all the difference for me. If I had it to do over again, my stock would all be proven animals or at least a proven buck.

My advice

If you can find good proven rabbits do so, at the minimum get a proven buck.
Get rabbits in the area that you are moving to OR that has weather patterns that are similar.
Get rabbits at a time when you won't have seasonal upset. Every spring and fall come out LOTS of posts of "losing my babies, lost my adult" type posts. Those are times of seasonal upset.... make it easier or your rabbits and buy well before such times of change.

My preference is either buy kits in the 6-8 week range or in the 5-9 month range...buying older bucks wherever possible. I actively avoid buying 8 week to five month old rabbits.

If a doe or a buck are proven producers and they are any good at all, why would a breeder part with them? And how much would a rabbit like that cost?

Rabbits don't always breed like rabbits. A proven rabbit that has been very successful in someone else's rabbitry may not perform at all when moved to your rabbitry. That happens.

I recommend that people purchase animals that are eight to twelve weeks old. It requires less of an investment and enables you and your rabbit to get comfortable with each other by the time your rabbit is old enough to breed. Bonding is important. And you can spend the ensuing months reading everything you can about raising meat rabbits.

Buying proven or buying young - neither approach guarantees success. There is a learning curve when it comes to working with any livestock. Raising rabbits for the table is very different than raising rabbits for show or having a "pet" rabbit. It takes time to learn from your mistakes and to discover what works best for you.

It may well be that your biggest challenge will be finding experienced and honest breeders with solid stock.

Best of luck to you!

SuburbanHomesteader":2skzx4td said:

If a doe or a buck are proven producers and they are any good at all, why would a breeder part with them? And how much would a rabbit like that cost?

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Once I have what I need for replacement, the proven breeders have to go some where. If they were good enough for me to hold stock back from, they are good enough to help some one else. Broods prices vary, some times you can get good ones for as little as $40 but in general the bigger the tag the better the quality. If working with show stock, a good doe and buck built well can be easily 200+ depending on breed.

I always suggest older stock, otherwise that nicely put together junior you paid 50 for can turn out to be the ugliest adult you've ever seen and not worth breeding. Some times they fall apart as juniors, then you've wasted your money and time. Plus the death rate, even with seemly healthy, is higher with juniors (think travel time in getting them and then stress from that leading to GI issues).

The question that started this thread was posed by someone wanting to start raising rabbits for meat for the family. So the answer is probably not the same for that purpose as it would be for someone breeding to show or to have rabbits that had certain popular markings or colors.
When you're just starting out, it can feel so daunting that you have to find a "reputable breeder" (never mind the various threads on RT about buying from such and not having rabbits do well) and pay more to get "better" rabbits although you won't know how good they are until you've worked with them for a while. I'm not suggesting that anyone buy unhealthy rabbits or ones that are kept in unsanitary or crowded conditions Just that it isn't that hard to get "good enough" rabbits to start raising for meat. You can learn as you go and at the rate we cull when raising for meat we should see improvement over time.
Just my opinion--and I mixed up all my pronouns even though I know better.

Hmm I wasn't thinking on lines just show, I eat them too plus dog chow. I didn't buy into lines that were just show type, so that's part of behind my answer too. Most of mine are still very big works in progress because they have better loin/meat to bone than others I see on table for the most part. Or least my thoughts on them any way. True can get cheap mutts for free or near free, some times good history some times a guess. Young ones around here are often 5 or 10, better to guess yourself at age/history/health though than ask the seller :/ I guess I'd rather put more into a better possibility (around here, cheap is riddled with problems any how and part of where I'm coming from) plus have a bit better market if I should choose to offer some for sale. Even though my breedings are in the end aimed for show rabbits, I end up eating 90% of what I have because I won't sell cheaply or they aren't to me fit for breeding/showing.

Thank to everyone providing their opinion the past few days! I appreciate all the thoughts on the matter.
I am still not sure which way to go on the matter; at least I have a few more months to plan.
My guess is the ultimate choice will come down to what is actually available in my area when it comes time to purchase my rabbits.
I might try something like getting a young trio and then also getting a pregnant doe. If she works out, great; but if she doesn't I would have the two young ones just about ready to breed by the time I was done with that first litter.

If you have someone you really trust, then you might consider buying older stock. However, if it's not someone you trust and who is willing to show breeding records for the doe in question, I would go with the younger stock. When I first started out, I bought two young rabbits and an older proven doe. The doe was supposed to even been bred for me before I picked her up. She never kindled and later when I tried to bred her she would never lift. I finally just stew potted her. She was had a ton of internal fat which is probably why she ever took. If I had know then what I know now, I probably would have tried to put her on a diet but you live and learn. The young rabbits did great for me even though they were on the small side. I've got a couple of does I've kept back from those lines.