Aquisition: Rex

[Ferra]

So I caved... I'm almost a full year into my rabbit keeping, and I've finally arranged to buy some new rabbits. I'm adding a pair of pedigreed Standard Rex to my barn. I was wondering if anyone would have any commentary on the new stock - I'm not super familiar with the Rex standard, so I'm not sure these two are fantastic, per se, but they appear nicely balanced to me, and are look stronger in the shoulders than my NZ buck.

Here are the ad photos for the two rabbits I plan to purchase. I'll be off to pick them up on Saturday, if all goes well.

This is the doe: She's a yearling, give or take, who just had her first litter, and raised 9. The recent litter has her out of condition, so her coat leaves something to be desired right now. But I suspect she'll get back to normal nicely. Her kits were the sale ad as well and looked good, I thought.




I have also agreed to purchase a young broken blue buck who is not from this litter, and so not pictured.

I'm not an expert, but they look really nice to me. The only downside is that once with these guys are in my "barn" all my adult cages are full. (they'll live in my quarantine stacker elsewhere first thought). I will have to cull down again once I've tested the new stock out against the old. I'm just loathe to cull first, just in case these two don't work out quite as planned. Not counting my cadbury creme eggs before they hatch and all that.

For those who don't want to click over, here's my favorite of her recent kits.




[EDIT: Why am I posting this? Because, relevant XKCD, people need to know: there are buns.]

 

[Ramjet]

I wouldn't buy them ... the fur looks nothing like a Rex to me , pee stains all over the one on the bottom make me question the living conditions.

The bottom one also looks to have pinched hips the way his feet are splayed.


I'd really look elsewhere .... sorry if I sound harsh.

(Rex is the only breed I keep)

 

[Ferra]

Don't worry about sounding harsh -. Most certainly better to hear it now than later! I do still have the ability to back out as needed. Though I will probably still go look at the animals in question in person before doing so.

The second photo is not of a rabbit I plan to buy, but one of the does' kits... Still I see your points... Hrm

 

[Prisma]

As Ramjet said, I wouldn't buy them. Not even looking at their type but their condition. There's some thing off about the size of the yearling doe, mine are HUGE compared to that one...they are slightly bigger than SOP allows but the body structure and head structure isn't there let alone actual type/fur needed. They might be OK for some one's pet/meat project, maybe a very bad picture day (living conditions?)...but I can get better.

 

[Ramjet]

My Rex don't look like that even when in full molt blowout.

They look like some 2nd / 3rd gen crosses I experimented with - horrible texture on the fur. They can call them "pedigree rex" all they want but that wouldn't pass muster with me.

Start with quality stock or you'll regret it later.

 

[Silver Willow]

I'm certainly not an expert. But from my research when I was getting into Mini Rex, I agree their coat quality looks very poor. Not something I would want to start out with, even if their living conditions were fine!

 

[Ferra]

As I respect the opinions here, I did back out of the arrangement.

But as a brief venting moment: I'm a little annoyed at how I seem to be in a commercial-type dead zone. Your can't throw a stick without hitting a Holland Lop, lionhead, or a mini Rex, but I can't find a commercial bodied breed to save my life. The local rabbit show was the same. I found one commercial breeder raising Florida White, and not much else. Augh!

 

[Ramjet]

If you can arrange shipping .... I'll send you a trio.

Only have black , chocolate and blue currently. <br /><br /> __________ Sun Aug 06, 2017 7:37 pm __________ <br /><br />

As I respect the opinions here, I did back out of the arrangement.

But as a brief venting moment: I'm a little annoyed at how I seem to be in a commercial-type dead zone. Your can't throw a stick without hitting a Holland Lop, lionhead, or a mini Rex, but I can't find a commercial bodied breed to save my life. The local rabbit show was the same. I found one commercial breeder raising Florida White, and not much else. Augh!

If you can arrange shipping .... I'll send you a trio.

Only have black , chocolate and blue currently.

Just making sure you saw this .... even if it is a longshot , the offer stands.

 

[Ferra]

If you can arrange shipping .... I'll send you a trio.
Only have black , chocolate and blue currently.

Just making sure you saw this .... even if it is a longshot , the offer stands.

I saw it... but I can't say if I can capitalize on it yet. SixGun and I have been scheming about Angoras since January. If that ever becomes a reality, I'm tempted to see if there is transport from Texas to Arizona and move a bunch of stock up here... Import all the Rabbits!!

 

[SarniaTricia]

Ferra
I was going to second all those opinions on those rabbits!!
We have a great bunch of Rex breeders in the Michigan area and I live just across the boarder in Canada. (I hang with the Rex people at shows, but I show Magpie Harlequin)

The ARBA nationals are in Indianapolis this year so getting quality show rex stock is very possible. Ask around those other breeders for someone who is going to nationals (there is always someone going) Find out what they would charge to transport rabbits back for you! All the rabbits need to be cooped at Nationals, so I imagine you will need to pay for the rabbit, cooping and transport. But getting quality is very important in REX.... I can invite you to a few Rex groups on FB if you want to make some connections?? PM me

I love rex, but my friend raises them and I wanted something very different for my own rabbits.

 

[Lowstorm]

I'm just adding that pee stains on a white bunny aren't necessarily from bad care. My REW looks like that, constantly. Its because she's on a solid floor, and loves to dig in the litter. The litter is brown colored, and she's a stinker! I totally agree with the others on what they say though, since I'm not into Rex. If you ever want to sneak over some champagnes over the boarder, I'm only an hour away from it in MN.

 

[Prisma]

Lowstorm, I wasn't even looking at pee stains . Stains happen, but the one has quit a bit of poo stuck to their feet in the picture and the overall patchy fur is a concern. I know from molts, some look like you started shaving one end and stopped half thru but this doesn't appear that way. There's a thin look to them, could be structural genetic issue over care...either way not suitable for show broods. I just wanted to explain a bit more so maybe better understood as I'm not saying they are being cared for poorly exactly.

 

[Ramjet]

If you can arrange shipping .... I'll send you a trio.
Only have black , chocolate and blue currently.

Just making sure you saw this .... even if it is a longshot , the offer stands.

I saw it... but I can't say if I can capitalize on it yet. SixGun and I have been scheming about Angoras since January. If that ever becomes a reality, I'm tempted to see if there is transport from Texas to Arizona and move a bunch of stock up here... Import all the Rabbits!!

Just let me know if you can arrange it ....


The lilac pictured above is descended from MommaSheepDog's Evil Blue as are most of my breeders .... California is a long way from Texas.

 

[Psybird]

As I respect the opinions here, I did back out of the arrangement.

But as a brief venting moment: I'm a little annoyed at how I seem to be in a commercial-type dead zone. Your can't throw a stick without hitting a Holland Lop, lionhead, or a mini Rex, but I can't find a commercial bodied breed to save my life. The local rabbit show was the same. I found one commercial breeder raising Florida White, and not much else. Augh!

mmmm i know this pain. its the same where i live, nothing but lionheads and lops :wr_crying:

 

[Nymphadora]

mmmm i know this pain. its the same where i live, nothing but lionheads and lops :wr_crying:

Not quite true... there's some good Rex around if you look hard enough, from what I've found. MamaSheepdog raises Rex, after all.

 

[Psybird]

mmmm i know this pain. its the same where i live, nothing but lionheads and lops :wr_crying:

Not quite true... there's some good Rex around if you look hard enough, from what I've found. MamaSheepdog raises Rex, after all.

oh?! now im off to convince my partner we need some rabbits :twisted:

i had forgotten that mamasheepdog is here near bakersfield

 

[MamaSheepdog]

The lilac pictured above is descended from MommaSheepDog's Evil Blue as are most of my breeders .... California is a long way from Texas.

Nice bun, Ramjet! Great width.

oh?! now im off to convince my partner we need some rabbits :twisted:

Everyone needs rabbits. :twisted:

i had forgotten that mamasheepdog is here near bakersfield

I was actually in Bakersfield yesterday... the eclipse sure didn't cool things off much. :x

I should be breeding another round of does shortly. Right now I am focusing on Otters and selfs in black, blue, chocolate, and lilac.

Are you looking for show rabbits or meat stock?

 

[Psybird]

The lilac pictured above is descended from MommaSheepDog's Evil Blue as are most of my breeders .... California is a long way from Texas.

Nice bun, Ramjet! Great width.

oh?! now im off to convince my partner we need some rabbits :twisted:

Everyone needs rabbits. :twisted:

i had forgotten that mamasheepdog is here near bakersfield

I was actually in Bakersfield yesterday... the eclipse sure didn't cool things off much. :x

I should be breeding another round of does shortly. Right now I am focusing on Otters and selfs in black, blue, chocolate, and lilac.

Are you looking for show rabbits or meat stock?

nearly 2 years later and i just noticed you replied to me oof, sorry about that :x
ive wanted to raise meat rabbits for a while now, and have a whole garage I could possibly allocate to breed some, but it gets very hot and stuffy in the summer due to it not getting any central air and only being half insulated. it might be possible to work with it and i possibly could make it habitable for a more heat resistant breed, but I have yet to figure out a solution.

good news is since creating this post ages ago I did have the opportunity to dispatch, dress, and cook an out of commission breeding doe, and my SO (who is a very picky eater) liked the taste a lot!

 

[Ferra]

Buahaha... It's not thread necromancy if you raised it from the dead first! (... right? :mrgreen: )

Not that it matters, but the French Angora plans with SixGun eventually happened, and I imported a trio in early 2018. I got rid of my "practice / Heinz 57 mutt" herd, and now have my full rabbit shed dedicated to the angoras.

I obviously don't have space for Rex anymore, but I did finally get some pretty solid buns. I also got 2+ lbs of angora wool in my first year off the trio, which I really need to find the time to spin in and amongst all my master spinner homework...