So I weighed all my rabbits a bit ago and was very disappointed with all of my meat bunnies. The trio I started with were supposedly 2 NZW and a NZ/FG cross. Well, I knew they looked a little small to me, but they were my first meat rabbits and I've only had dwarfs before, so I thought they were only a little on the lower end of the weight range. Turns out the supposed NZs are both between 5 and 6 pounds, they aren't underweight at all and are definitely adults (over a year), just tiny. The NZ/FG mix is just about 8 lbs. I'm wondering if I was sold Florida Whites or something... They've never had health issues, and have gotten feed with enough protein, so I can't think of any other reason they would be so small. So after that I weighed the mutt buck and 2 NZWs in my colony. The NZW does are 8 and 9 lbs, so I'm not too unhappy with that, except the larger is very aggressive and the one I wanted to get rid of. The mutt buck is only 6 lbs. My lop/NZ mix doe is also only about 7 lbs.
I decided to try with all these guys anyway because they do have nice meaty body types, so I figured I'd just get smaller meaty kits, maybe more with the grow out weights of Florida White and all. Well, a few litters later I've realized the kits just don't grow out fast enough at all. They get a high protein feed, yet I'm getting kits that are not much bigger than my mini rex! They all seem so much smaller and slower growing than their parents were! I'm lucky if I get 4 lbs at 20 weeks. I can't keep going with this stock and trying to improve them when I'm wasting money raising the kits so long for so little meat. I need to go through and figure out who to process and who to maybe keep for another try with a larger buck or doe once I have a few larger bunnies who may produce faster growing kits.
So does anyone have good stock in PA or MD? My priorities are fast growing and LARGE, color and breed aren't as important, though I do have a soft spot for Rex, Americans, Silver Fox, and Californian. Any odd or older meat breeds or even mutts would be cool as long as they meat my main criteria.
I decided to try with all these guys anyway because they do have nice meaty body types, so I figured I'd just get smaller meaty kits, maybe more with the grow out weights of Florida White and all. Well, a few litters later I've realized the kits just don't grow out fast enough at all. They get a high protein feed, yet I'm getting kits that are not much bigger than my mini rex! They all seem so much smaller and slower growing than their parents were! I'm lucky if I get 4 lbs at 20 weeks. I can't keep going with this stock and trying to improve them when I'm wasting money raising the kits so long for so little meat. I need to go through and figure out who to process and who to maybe keep for another try with a larger buck or doe once I have a few larger bunnies who may produce faster growing kits.
So does anyone have good stock in PA or MD? My priorities are fast growing and LARGE, color and breed aren't as important, though I do have a soft spot for Rex, Americans, Silver Fox, and Californian. Any odd or older meat breeds or even mutts would be cool as long as they meat my main criteria.
Good luck! Hope you find what your looking for soon. :clover:
