What Breed Did You Choose and Why?

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Tara B

Tara B

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Joined
Jan 26, 2011
Messages
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Location
Owen Sound, ON
I am new to the world of rabbits and am finding it extremely interesting! I cant believe there are so many different breeds and varieties!

I will be raising rabbit for meat for my dogs, my husband and i. When i first started researching it seemed like the NZ was the be-all and end-all of meat rabbits. But after reading through this and other forums i see that so many of you have so many different breeds that you breed for meat!

I am, i'm sure like everyone is, looking for the perfect combination of production efficiency, temperament and looks. But it doesn't seem to come down to one breed or else everyone would have the same breed!

I am interested to hear how everyone came to raise a certain breed, i am sure there are countless factors involved!
 
Well, I was looking to just have mutts, and then I got this beautiful NZ red doe, and got hooked. Now though, I wish I had actully maybe gone with the mutts anyway--there are soo many cool colors you can have when you are breeding just for meat, and it is just so fun, guessing what color you may get. If I stick with the reds I will have purebreds, but I will only ever see red (or red and white) in the nest box. Since mostly they are all headed for the freezer, I don't think it matters much. I originally planned to sell some for pets or breeders, but now, meh, the market is only so-so for that, pleasing myself is seeming more important than trying to breed for anyone else. We can eat whatever I could produce here anyway, I am in town.
 
We chose NZ and Californian for meat rabbits. My husband did all the research, and found they had the best meat to bone ratio. We're raising meat rabbits for us, but mostly for my kitties, they have allergies to something in commercial feeds, and a raw meat diet is the only thing that keeps them from itching.
 
Not for meat, but we chose Netherland Dwarfs because of the size. We wanted our rabbits to be in the house most of the time, and also there is a fairly high demand for them here. But we wanted some small house pets first...

We are also going to get Flemish Giants someday too.... maybe next Spring. We got them because of their behaviour and size... they are our 'just in case' rabbits... Otherwise, we will just have two pets, but if we get to where we think we need an extra source of food, we will breed for food.... But they will just be pets besides that....
 
When we first started looking for meat rabbits, we thought we were set on New Zealand's. Then we got to the breeder's farm and found out she only had NZ's available at 3-4 months of age. We really wanted to breed ASAP so she showed us what else she had. In the end we took home two 6 month old Giant Chinchilla/New Zealand cross does, and a Checkered Giant buck. We liked how large they were already, and for us size was a big factor.
 
why the breeds I have?

harlequins because I like the look of them and the challenge (more like luck of the draw with markings). I have a particular fondness for the magpies in blue and chocolate. I have a NZ that I mix with them on occasion to add some speedy size when I need it.

I'd seriously consider doing Bruns...but hubby dislikes the look of them even though they have an excellent meat to bone ratio. :) Sometime I'll hopefully have a barn and be able to experiment with more varieties of rabbits. :)

Holland lops I raise because they make me laugh. Polish are just these sweet dollies. :) and the mini rex are my breed of choice though I'm mostly getting out of them. I can't sell the kits easily and EVERYONE and their brother does them and I dislike culling to food GOOD kits.
 
I raised Harlequins for a long time and hope to soon again in the future (college interrupts rabbit plans). I love the challenge of getting the markings just right and the fact that not many people have them. I love the "Oh, look at that!" affect that they have on people.
 
I chose Mini Rex because 1.) Their fur!!! 2.) Their fun loving, friendly personalities 3.) The variety of colours they come in 4.) the competition in the breed, the more competition you have in an area the higher the quality of rabbits come from it.

Bruns 1.) Very attractive colouring 2.) fair sized, not HUGE but not small. 3.) Excellent growth rates, and dress out. 3.) Personalities are fantastic. 4.) Not a very common breed yet.
 
Ok well let's see if I can't confuse you here lol we show as well as raise alot for meat origanaly got cals for meat cuz we liked the looks and they were available easily at the time then we started changing for looks we have had Rex champagne and creme d argents and currently have new zealands cals and satins for meat we have pretty much always had cals from day one the satins were chose for there colors and satin coat the nz was chose cause we now produce a large amount of commercial meat and the price for nz and calls are higher due to the white coat we do have black and red nz also but that's just cause I get bored looking at white lol we are also adding pals either one or both d argents again and possibly silver fox for our show/commercial herd but not everyone has the market for all that lol we have 10 breeds we raise already either for meat and show or show and pets and we also have a couple breeds strictly for our sales to pet market buyers.<br /><br />__________ Sat May 14, 2011 7:54 pm __________<br /><br />Ok well let's see if I can't confuse you here lol we show as well as raise alot for meat origanaly got cals for meat cuz we liked the looks and they were available easily at the time then we started changing for looks we have had Rex champagne and creme d argents and currently have new zealands cals and satins for meat we have pretty much always had cals from day one the satins were chose for there colors and satin coat the nz was chose cause we now produce a large amount of commercial meat and the price for nz and calls are higher due to the white coat we do have black and red nz also but that's just cause I get bored looking at white lol we are also adding pals either one or both d argents again and possibly silver fox for our show/commercial herd but not everyone has the market for all that lol we have 10 breeds we raise already either for meat and show or show and pets and we also have a couple breeds strictly for our sales to pet market buyers.
 
I have mutt rabbits. That being said, they are a NZ and Cali cross. Some colored NZ thrown in as well as the whites. LOVE them - I still get alot of color and markings variety and they dress out really well. I also have 2 Lion head does, no bucks yet, just for fun - I do not plan to eat them.
 
Mostly, I am interested in doing what I can for rare breeds.

For food: Americans and Giant Chinchillas.
For fur & food: Satin Angoras (would like to add Giant Angoras some day).
For fun: English Lops (rare around here!) and Mini Lops (not rare-these were my practice rabbits!)
 
We looked at NZW and Californians because of the meat to bone ratio and litter sizes...we went with the Cali's for a couple reasons:

1) There were no NZW near us
2) The Cali personality is a little friendlier, from what I have heard
3) They have those awesome ears, nose, feet and tails!
 
we went with the classics ... californian and new zealand white.. simply because thats what all of the sites i went to suggested.... we're about 12 weeks into our first litters now.. they're averaging about 4 pounds right now but i have one doe thats five pounds... i just might keep her..
 
We have mutts. In 2005, shortly before we were really ready for rabbits, my partner, Brian, "surprised" me with some yard sale rabbits that he got of $5 each. I was doubtful, but we decided to give them a chance. They were a bit of a mess when we got them but we fed them up on dandelions and plantain in addition to their pellets (this was before we went to natural feeding) and when we felt they were ready, we bred them. They did great for us and we've been breeding mutts ever since. We did bring in a purebred New Zealand Red (Thanks, Moonkitten! Jasper has done well for us.) when our mutt buck died suddenly and I think that has improved our stock some, but they were doing fine even before that.

I like mutts. They are easy-going, hardy critters. We get lots of nest box surprises, which is not a shock when you consider the breeds that have gone into their lineage. New Zealand, French Angora, Chinchilla, probably Dutch... and who knows what else. That's our story and we're sticking to them. The mutts, I mean. :)
 
It's always been my belief that mutts of any animal are likely to be hardier and have less disease than pure breds. The inbreeding that goes into keeping purebreds pure sometimes accidentally breeds in undesirable traits along with desirable ones. A little less disease resistance is likely to be one of those traits that isn't obvious enough to get culled out but can make all the difference in your herd. I like the idea of keeping the gene pool as large as possible.
Maybe I just feel that way because I'm a mutt myself. ;)
 
I have a lot of mutts but I want certain breeds in my mutts. My top three I was looking for were Champagne, stain, & Rex. I found a NZ bred to a champagne and I got 1 black baby so that one is a maybe. Today I got 2 Satin Does and a Satin buck. I also got a REW Rex. It's not the black otter I was wanting but it's a good start. I am so excited.
 
Hi everyone, I just found this forum and am excited to have rabbit people to talk to :) I am just getting back into rabbits after 25 years.

@MaggieJ - what is the "natural feeding" you mentioned? I researched everywhere to get current on healthiest diet for my rabbits, and give pellets, fresh vegetables, and timothy hay. Please explain what you feed yours.

And to answer the question, I picked up a Belgian Hare! Because I find them to be just stunning animals, plus they are possibly the smartest of the rabbit breeds. They look like wild rabbits and I like that. Mine took only one week to litter box train and he is a housepet, really sweet and plays chase with the cats!

However, I do want to raise rabbits for meat as well, for my cats (I buy 45 lbs. of meat a month to feed my 4 Maine Coons!) and for my partner and I (I am hoping I can manage to eat rabbit - I couldn't when I was a teenager and my family ate them). I loved the Blue Rex I had in the past, and I also fancy creating a Blue Belgian Hare! So I am trying to pick an animal who's type, fur and color would be most conducive to this outcrossing. I am looking at the Rex, Beveren, and Blue American. I am not familiar with the latter two breeds and would appreciate any input, they are more sizeable and would do better for meat production I would think. The Beveren seems to have a long coat which I wonder if it'll interfere with the Belgian's compact shiny coat. I adore the Rex's personality but their body types are a little flat to the ground, and I have no idea what the fur would do in an outcrossing, plus a little small. My concern with the American is that they sound like they don't have much personality or smarts, and this is something I adore in the Belgian.
Anyone here outcrossed Rex and/or with a Belgian Hare and care to share their results?

If you know another gorgeous large deep blue rabbit I'd love to know about it. Thanks for your input :)

p.s. I also would love to get my hands on Harlequins but there does not seem to be any on the West Coast! The Blanc d'Hotots have also caught my eye... and all of these besides Rex being endangered would be a worthy project to raise

ps. @MaggieJ - I found the section on "Natural Feeding" and am reading it all - so nevermind :)
 
Glad you found it, Stormy... and welcome to RabbitTalk! :hi:

The main thing to remember when making any changes in your rabbits' diet is to go slowly and give their digestive systems a chance to adjust.
 
The Americans I had were friendly. They always came to front of the cage for "scratchies" and would not eat until they got petted. I also had to feed in a certain order so the dominant rabbit got her feed and scratchies first or I might get sprayed.

Overall the Americans were friendly and gentle. A couple of grumpies but they were the exception.

I would not cross the Rex with any straight haired breeds. Since your Belgian Hare has a full arch body type, you might consider using a blue Rhinelander or English Spot and then breed the spots out of it. Or you could use the American Blue with the semi-arch body type and flyback fur. But they are wider in body shape so you would have to breed back to full arch.

Have a good day!<br /><br />__________ Tue May 17, 2011 6:37 pm __________<br /><br />By the way, there are some Harlequins in Calif.

Post a message on the yahoogroup
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/Harlequin_Rabbits/

Have a good day!
 
Thanks rabbitgeek for your response. I had not even heard of the Rhinelander! I cannot find any pictures of blue ones on the internet. Are they white with spots like the tri-color rhinelander that I am finding, except with blue spots? Or are they solid? They look like amazing rabbits and will have to find out more about them.

Thanks for your input on the Americans. They seem like really nice rabbits thanks for vouching for them.
And, thank you for the Harlequin tip, I will check that out now!

(Can I have one of each?? I am having so much fun shopping for what kind of rabbit I want to get into!)

p.s. have you ever crossed a Rex with straight haired breeds? Do you know if you just lose the plush underfur and default to straight fur, or does it just become a mess?
 

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