Breeds: This one, that one, argggggggg

[lyric]

Every time I think we've settled on a breed to begin with I see yet another. I am about to pull my hair out and with only shoulder length I don't have much to spare .

Is there a comparison chart of breeds on the 'net somewhere that you know of? If I can see information side-by-side (in addition to spending time with rabbits) I believe we will be better able to decide which breed to go with. We are interested in rabbits for meat and pelts. For meat, DH thinks New Zealand is the way to go, but keeps going between Flemish and NZ. Additionally, I would like one for a pet/fur and had settled on Giant Angora (teaching self to spin fiber into yarn), but we live in FL and I do not want heat making my bunny sick or worse.

Thanks.

L

 

[akane]

Flemish are not good meat rabbits. They and all the giant breeds have thicker bones to support their mass leading to less meat per pound of rabbit. They are also very slow to mature and slow to make butcher weight. Some do mix in a little giant breed and we have 2 checkered giant x new zealand does we are breeding to a champagne buck but the purebred giants usually aren't a good choice for anything but show and pet.

I don't know of a comparison of all breeds but rabbits are mostly divided by body type. If you know the body type of the rabbit you can get a general idea of how useful it is for meat and what the faults or strengths might be.
http://www.raising-rabbits.com/types-of-rabbits.html

Commercial types will be your most common meat rabbits with the best frame for holding a lot of meat. Some compacts like standard chinchillas, dutch, and mini rex can make good smaller meat rabbits but some compacts like netherlands have been bred to be lighter as well as smaller so they lack any useful amount of meat even ignoring their small size. There are some meat breeds amongst the semi-arch/mandolin body types such as giant chinchillas but for the most part they are only used in crosses with more common meat breeds instead of as purebred meat rabbits.

Long fur can actually protect against heat if it is kept brushed and tangle free. The hairs pull heat from the body to the end of the hair. Not all long haired animals are actually worse off in the heat than their short haired relatives.

 

[Legacy]

You want champagnes. Oh wait maybe that's me... Or some of each. Oh, wait... That's me too.

I have NZW, NZ black/mixed mutt, champagnes, satins, and standard rex. I had a hard time deciding too.

 

[Miss M]

If you are interested in selling pelts, the NZ whites are the most likely to be successful, since they are pure white and can be dyed to any color. The market for pelts isn't too great right now, though. If you think outside clothing, though, you may have a market to fly-fishermen, and they might want variously colored pelts. Fryer pelts can't make a good coat anyhow, because the skin is too thin. The rabbit has to be mature (6+ months or so) in order for the skin to be tough enough for much of anything but craft/fishing applications.

Akane is right about the Flemish. The big bones and slow growth rate don't work optimally for a meat rabbitry, and they are reputed to eat large amounts of food, as well. The commercial breeds -- Californians and New Zealands -- are bred for small bones, and fast growth, yielding lots of meat in a short time on much less food. These are generally the most efficient meat rabbits, in terms of meat produced per amount of food and time invested.

Other breeds, like Akane mentioned, make good meat rabbits. I've seen people raising Silver Fox, Dutch, Mini Rex, Rex, any of the d'Argents, and quite a few others for meat. These rabbits typically won't be quite as efficient as the commercial breeds -- they'll take a little longer to reach butchering size, or they'll eat a bit more food, etc. But if they were terribly inefficient, fewer people would raise them for meat.

Akane, I had no idea about the longer wool actually protecting the bunnies! That's amazing!

__________ Tue Nov 01, 2011 11:55 pm __________

You want champagnes. Oh wait maybe that's me... Or some of each. Oh, wait... That's me too.

I have NZW, NZ black/mixed mutt, champagnes, satins, and standard rex. I had a hard time deciding too.

:lol:

I didn't decide. We rescued a minilop buck, and bought a meat mutt doe. We kept a couple of their kids, and were given a NZW. So, since Pearl died (that original meat mutt doe), we're about to make our first real decision.

Oh -- Lyric, I'd suggest against minilops for meat. We've made it work, but I imagine it isn't optimal. :lol:

 

[ilovehome]

When I was starting, I had two main priorities for me meat breeds: they had to be easy to handle, and a heritage or rare breed. The Americans and the Giant Chinchillas are meat breeds who both met those standards. Silver foxes, and the d'argents are also good and of the standard commercial meat body type, while AMS and GCs are mandolin shaped. There are so many choices it is very hard. It's less complicated to start with whatever is available in your area.

You certainly should get a Giant Angora. You can see how you like them, and use them to breed to your meat does if you want. At least, that's what I do with my Satin Angora.

 

[Cattle Cait]

Any need can be met by various breeds, rabbit breeders have done an amazing job of creating several breeds for any sort of purpose. I raise Havanas & American Chinchillas.

Havanas make great compact meat rabbits. They are 4-6lbs, have very soft, lustrous fur (Havanas were used to develop Satins), and are very meaty. I love their temperments and am very quick to recommend them to 4-H kids looking for something a little different versus the usual Mini Rex, Holland Lops, etc. Breeds similar to Havanas - Florida Whites, Dutch, and Standard Chinchilla.

American Chinchillas are a very rare, heritage breed, and that's why I have them. They are large rabbits, 9lbs+, and are predominantly for meat. They used to be popular in the fur trade, but when that died out the breed nearly did too. I love their pretty gray color. Because they are a rarer breed, I don't recommend them for a first time breeder. Similar breeds include Palominos (my mother raises these), Cinnamons, and countless others.

It took me quite a few years to settle on these two breeds, and I'm sure it will change soon. I recently got out of Checkered Giants because, although I LOVE them to pieces, I'm going to college and really don't have the means to house 15lb, wild child rabbits. I started with Mini Rex and for a long time raised Mini Rex and Harlequins. I recommend starting with a fairly common breed so that you can easily find stock, have good, healthy competition, and learn alongside many other breeders. Raising a rare breed can be frustrating because breeding stock is hard to find and rarely will there be other breeders at shows. Also if you decide the breed you have isn't for you, selling off a rare breed would jepordize the breed because dispersing the herd disperses the bloodlines.

If you are looking for a meat breed, as much as I sing praises of beautiful heritage breeds, I suggest New Zealands, Californians, or a common meat breed like these for starters. If it turns out you love raising rabbits and want to preserve a beautiful heritage, please, please do! We always need supportive breeders of rare breeds.

I'll put together a nice chart on my blog, I can put up a link on this thread for it when I'm done. It'll give me a project

 

[Dirty Harry]

I just addressed this issue on another thread so I will copy it here.

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.

 

[PulpFaction]

Why don't you just get French Angoras? Meat, wool, I would imagine you could have nice "fuzzy pelts" butchering fryer-age.

I got the Silver Fox as a meat/fur breed but had to downsize and now just have my Thriantas because they take up less space. The pelts on the SF are gorgeous, but any of the "fur" breeds will require them being grown out a little longer, 4 to 5 months where most fryers are process at 2-3 months, to hit prime pelts. Not the most efficient process if you're mainly wanting meat, but if you plan to tan and use the pelts yourself, it can be worth it. Or if you have a buyer for the pelts that's willing to pay enough to grow them out an extra month or two.