what breeds to get?

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ohiogoatgirl

ohiogoatgirl

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i'm trying to think over all of my options for when i get rabbits. on one ad website the only rabbit ads were for:
REW netherland dwarf
dutch black, blue, tortoise, steel, grey
mini lop agouti
dwarf holland lop
mini lop steel, broken steel
lionhead
new zealand white

first off i want them for meat and i want to tan the furs. so i want some new zealands. read that dutch are good to cross with NZ for meat. plus i'd like colored pelts. about to go look up more info on breeds. what do you all like and dislike about these breeds? what are their strong-points? their weak-points? thanks!!! :D
 
If it aint dutch it aint Much! I would think nz and dutch would be two great breeds i raised dutch and cals for years never crossed but they will make good meat either breed and the dutch also make good pets and foster moms Id say personaly go get ya some dutch they are a bit difficult to breed with markings but they are most deffiantly worth it.
 
I also like Dutch a lot. I personally don't raise them, but folks I know like them because they're great little home meat rabbits, make excellent mothers, and have great temperments. They're small enough to sell to the pet store, sweet enough to sell to 4-H kids, but meaty enough to eat.

Can't go wrong with a Dutch!
 
I don't think anything has a better weight gain to feed ratio than New Zeelands. Mine will be around five pounds at eight weeks of age, just two weeks off their mother. I feed a tuna fish can of pellets per rabbit, once per day. That includes the mature breeding stock. They get their pellets in the evening and in the mornings I give them a table spoon of calf mana one day, and a table spoon of rolled oats the next. That gives them great looking fur. If you are also raising them for their pelts, I would recomend the New Zeeland Whites because they can be dyed most easily. I have not found that crossing the New Zeelands with something else improves anything over the standard line. Usually just the opposite.
 
I agree with cait and harry,,,,,,dutch are great little meat rabbits, and small and cute at the same time.


And its hard to beat the new zealand for meat production,but when i had them i did cross them with a californian sometimes and i think it did have its advantages.


If you want differnt colors , you can do all that with new zealands red white black and broken

also if you want to show , new zealands and dutch both are good show rabbits

__________ Tue Jun 05, 2012 10:54 pm __________

I also like the looks of the american chinchilla good meat and fir, but i dont know much about them,have never raised them.<br /><br />__________ Tue Jun 05, 2012 10:56 pm __________<br /><br />and you cant eat lion heads, they look to much like my dog, too cute to eat
 
Satins have arguably the best meat to bone ratio of any commercial breed, and they will give you the best option for tanned furs.

Cals and NZW's are the most common meat breeds, though.
 
Lops are sweet tempered, easy to handle, and good for beginners. I've often heard them recommended for children.

However, I've never heard of them being raised for meat, which implies that they would have poor meat qualities. That's not to say poor meat. Good meat qualities include high meat to bone ratio, large litter size, growing to weight quickly, a long loin, meaty back legs, good mothering qualities, producing lots of milk... That's all I can think of right now.

Although individuals may have some of these good qualities, they seem have bigger bones and being a smaller breed, would have smaller litters. These both mean less meat.
 
Mini Lops are not good meat rabbits at all, while they can have excellant compact type their muscling is poor, and they are slow growing compared to meat breeds. They are exceptional mothers, prolific and one of the easiest breeds to start with. Lots of colors too. Have a good friend who does them and sells for pets, her litters are often 8 and up, last one was 12 and the doe raised them all. Wouldn't be bad to have some Mini Lop does as fosters, breed them to the NZ and hope for some hybrid vigor. Dutch and NZ's can be crossed successfully, Dutch buck NZ doe of course. Dutch have been called 'meat bricks' and they are. Stay away from Dwarf anything.
 
The meat to bone ratio of a Champagne is a lot better than the NZW. The reason there has been talk about the crossing of Dutch and NZW is because the does would be a little smaller and easier to handle and eat less than a full blown NZW. Good for backyard and third world meat enterprises, where there may not be as many resources to care for the production animals. We currently have a litter of Dutch Champagne cross which are pretty much the same size as a full Champagne kit would be at this time. I think One Acre Farm recently freezer camped a litter of Dutch/Californian cross as well> She might be able to discuss the grow out/dressout a little further as we haven't got to that part yet!

Also our pure Dutch are throwing litters of about 4 to 9 kits! They are good mothers and are very easy going! One of our fellow breeders had a doe pop out 11 recently as well!!
 
i'm still lookin haha.
lookin at posts and for the breeds i want. :) i now have some dutch and some minirex. and some lionheads that are leavin at the end of the week.
and might be gettin some NZ or cali soon
 

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