Dress-out weight on a mini rex?

eco2pia · Jan 16, 2011

I know some of you raise mini rex and eat/feed the culls. I always assumed it was a tiny amount, not worth the effort...but I admit to being in love with rex fur(who isn't?). Oddly enough, I find most of the standard rex ugly--their faces seem odd, maybe it is just the ones I've seen. So just curious, what is the dress-out weight on a mini rex?

thanks.

DevonW · Jan 16, 2011

I haven't butchered any of my own Mini Rex, but from what I've heard from a friend who does they have a surprising amount of meat on them. She also mentioned that the meat to bone ratio is phenomenal.

ladysown · Jan 16, 2011

mini rex make GOOD meat rabbits. Seriously. There are times when they beat out my harlequins.

Granted...grow-out rate can be a bit longer... but it's actually not too bad particularly if you have bigger does and kits that grow out quickly.

Jack · Jan 16, 2011

the rex is a historical breed that was created for the meat and fur market, and did the best they could to make a great bunny that met both needs

eco2pia · Jan 16, 2011

well since I like the mini's if I loose interest in the NZ, I know what I'll consider next...I bet they can handle smaller cages too...So I could have MORE!

mountainrabbits · Jan 17, 2011

Interesting...mini-rex have a good dress out rate? There are a bunch of them in my area-lots of mini-rex, lionheads, and lop mixes-I wondered if getting some of the mr's and breeding them to nz's would be worth while...I thought maybe I would get size from the nz and color from the mr? Has anyone tried this? Would it matter which was the buck and which is the doe? My thought was that a nz doe could produce a better larger litter with a mini-rex buck but would she squash the babies?

Devon's Mom Lauren · Jan 24, 2011

For the size difference go with the NZW doe. However in this case you wouldn't have to worry about using a BUB Mini Rex as you DON'T want the dwarf gene at all! BUB bucks are usually a dime a dozen as they are not used for breeding or showing, so that's your gain!! You could perhaps find bigger MR does as well and with a little NZW in them create your own line of full sized Rex. REW Rexes most likely figured into the original developement of the NZW anyways so you would just be breeding back to their "roots" LOL

Frosted Rabbits · Jan 25, 2011

Devon's Mom Lauren said:
However in this case you wouldn't have to worry about using a BUB Mini Rex as you DON'T want the dwarf gene at all! BUB bucks are usually a dime a dozen as they are not used for breeding or showing, so that's your gain!!

Okay, what does the acronym BUB stand for?
Stoni had short ears, and Phil told me that short ears means the dwarf gene is present, long ears are not carrying the dwarf gene. My two boys are short eared..

DevonW · Jan 25, 2011

BUB stands for Big Ugly Buck (or in a Does Case, Bud-Big Ugly Doe). Terms for rabbits lacking the dwarf gene.

mountainrabbits · Jan 25, 2011

Hmmm...I'm thinking that is a good idea to consider

making my own rex's from new zealands and mini rexes...I would think the combination would produce some bigger kits I can use for meat and the smaller ones could go for pets possibly...I'm still uncertain on if I want to have anything to do with the bunny pet market around here. I've been told by the local feedstore when my dh got his lop mix doe that they can't keep enough rabbits in for pets and that they rarely get any brought back (if they get any brought back they buy them) so they wanted to know when I'm breeding and if I would breed a smaller rabbit such as mini's, lops, dwarfs etc. that they could buy from me. The owner had meat rabbits his entire life up until the past couple years and he said he would refer anyone looking for meat rabbits or show rabbits to me once I'm set up as well so it seems like an okay deal but is it worth it? And another thought on the nz/mr mixes-do you think they would be as prone to sore hocks or would the nz combat that? I've never had any rex or mini rex so I don't know how prone they are to that just what I've read.

eco2pia · Jan 25, 2011

Additional mini-rex/NZ question...that rex fur, is it dominant or recessive or incompletely dominant? Because the only thing that has stopped me from considering this cross is the idea that I would lose that plush fur for generations and then I have just made a small meat mutt, of no particular value (to me, I mean), not a bigger rex (a meat mutt with the added value of nifty fur).

mountainrabbits · Jan 25, 2011

Oh that's a very good question! I didn't even think of that! I was just thinking about the colors from a mini rex but the plush fur is definately a plus and something I should have thought about...hmmm...has anyone on here tried this combination? Or is anyone willing to try a crossed litter for us?

ladysown · Jan 25, 2011

i would provide the feed store with a basic care write up for them to give out with the bunnies they sell. But selling pet bunnies can certainly help pay the feed bill. Doing a smaller breed like mini rexes (they can double as meat buns though on the smaller side), or even going with mini lops (though they can get big).

DevonW · Jan 25, 2011

eco2pia":nx0hh4do said:
Additional mini-rex/NZ question...that rex fur, is it dominant or recessive or incompletely dominant? Because the only thing that has stopped me from considering this cross is the idea that I would lose that plush fur for generations and then I have just made a small meat mutt, of no particular value (to me, I mean), not a bigger rex (a meat mutt with the added value of nifty fur).

Rex is recessive, unless the NZ carries Rex you're going to have a litter of normal furred rabbits.

Frosted Rabbits · Jan 25, 2011

Mountainrabbits--I have a MRxHolland lop doe that has been bred to a CAl/NZ buck. Ialsohave a couple MR bucks-- I could try to see how many generations it would take at the shortest-- The doe has a real good flyback coat- I can use one of the MR over her when she kindles next month.

mountainrabbits · Jan 25, 2011

Frosted Rabbits":2v7hqchq said:
Mountainrabbits--I have a MRxHolland lop doe that has been bred to a CAl/NZ buck. Ialsohave a couple MR bucks-- I could try to see how many generations it would take at the shortest-- The doe has a real good flyback coat- I can use one of the MR over her when she kindles next month.

That would be wonderful! I have a cal/nz buck and a satin/lop mix doe that I'll breed when I'm sure she old enough so that would be an interesting experiment

please let me know how her litters come out! It sounds like what you have is a very close match to what I have

this mr/nz combination could solve a market conundrum I've been foreseeing if I try to sell some for pets and not just meat.

eco2pia · Jan 26, 2011

DevonW":2wuwjxjc said:
eco2pia":2wuwjxjc said:

Additional mini-rex/NZ question...that rex fur, is it dominant or recessive or incompletely dominant? Because the only thing that has stopped me from considering this cross is the idea that I would lose that plush fur for generations and then I have just made a small meat mutt, of no particular value (to me, I mean), not a bigger rex (a meat mutt with the added value of nifty fur).

Click to expand...

Rex is recessive, unless the NZ carries Rex you're going to have a litter of normal furred rabbits.

Thanks, that's what I thought. I did try to search for it, in between my microbiology searches. Luckily I had better luck researching bacterial colony morphology!

Actually recessive would be easier to select for--no hidden genes, what you see is what you get. Line breed back to the rex and save only rex furred kits.

mountainrabbits · Jan 26, 2011

Okay so if I want to keep the rex fur I would breed a new zealand doe (for size of litter) to a mini rex buck and keep the biggest doe or two from the litter and breed them back to the mini rex buck? Then if I get rex coated kits then I know the doe did get the rex gene from the buck even if she doesn't have a rex coat...is this right?

ladysown · Jan 26, 2011

yup, but still not all of them will come out rex coated.

Did anyone ever address the question of how they dress out? Because I find, at this time, depending on the litter, that my mini rex dress out a better carcass then some of my harles. At least when you consider the bone to meat ratio. If looking at size, then the harles win.

eco2pia · Jan 26, 2011

yes, i think we decided that they dress out nicely.

I was wishing the larger standard rex weren't so ugly in the face, though that could just be the pics I have seen and my opinion...and then we got here somehow.

I am curious as to whether it would take longer to breed up the size in pure MR or to get the rex fur back on a NZ cross. And I was wondering if it was a moot point because maybe the "cute" face is linked to the dwarf gene somehow? Though my NZ can have cute faces...

Dress-out weight on a mini rex?

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