Cross Breeding Project Advice

[Mero2305]

Ok so I have purebred harlequins and they take SOOO long to grow. I saw that one post but the only problem is that they're Japanese harlequins and mine are magpie. http://rabbittalk.com/a-few-questions-on-making-a-harlequin-new-zealand-t9115.html Although magpie is only mentioned once I saw that you would have to use markings like Sable, Himalayan, and REW for the harlequin markings to show.
:arrow: What I plan on doing is breeding my buck to a REW New Zealand doe, still have one line of purebred harlequins, and for fun breed one of my other does to a lop buck.
:?: I was just wondering, have any of you people done/heard of someone else do something like this? What was the turnout? Any tips I might need to know or that would be useful?
I know there is something I might be forgetting but right now it's literally midnight and I've been sleeping at 2 the past few days and need to sleep now and as much as I can because I don't have to wake up tomorrow due to spring break.
So good night wonderful people of RT

 

[Zass]

You can cross whatever to whatever to make meat mutts. Hybrid vigor can surprise you. If you want the mutts to be harli colored, breed a japanese to a new zealand red, though plenty of whites also carry the non extension required to throw it.

I wouldn't try out crossing to "improve" the breed however, or sell the mutts as anything other than mutts.

 

[Mero2305]

You can cross whatever to whatever to make meat mutts. Hybrid vigor can surprise you. If you want the mutts to be harli colored, breed a Japanese to a New Zealand red, though plenty of whites also carry the non extension required to throw it.

So I only have magpies right now and already knew this from before. So after doing WAY more research trying to find what I was looking for, and looking for a rabbit, we found a purebred New Zealand White and will plan on breeding her later this year to a buck that I have. Hopefully.

I wouldn't try out crossing to "improve" the breed, however, or sell the mutts as anything other than mutts.

Sorry if what I had doesn't make sense. It's just that I don't intend to 'improve the breed', I want them to grow a bit faster because the ones I have right now are at 3 months and just a little bit larger than my hands -and I have small hands compared to most people my age(16)

Also after talking to some people I know, I might actually not do the whole lop-eared rabbit idea until later
^(like probably 2 years from now kind of later)

 

[Donna Robinson]

So I only have magpies right now and already knew this from before. So after doing WAY more research trying to find what I was looking for, and looking for a rabbit, we found a purebred New Zealand White and will plan on breeding her later this year to a buck that I have. Hopefully.


Sorry if what I had doesn't make sense. It's just that I don't intend to 'improve the breed', I want them to grow a bit faster because the ones I have right now are at 3 months and just a little bit larger than my hands -and I have small hands compared to most people my age(16)

Also after talking to some people I know, I might actually not do the whole lop-eared rabbit idea until later
^(like probably 2 years from now kind of later)

We just got a new buck from some breeders out west of us. He is 3/4 Californian, 1/4 New Zealand. We are planning to breed him to our New Zealand does, and our New Zealand buck will be breeding with our Californian doe, because the people we got our last ones from tell us that they do grow faster & get bigger than the purebreds. They have a lot of experience with rabbits and sell them to people who want them for raw cat food, as we do.

We just started breeding rabbits since the Pandemic hit, and there was little to no meat in the stores. Two of my Sphynx have HCM, heart disease, and the Raw Diet is what is best for them, and will help them to live longer, with better quality of life.

For human consumption they are best butchered at around 12 weeks, as there is more meat & less bone at that age. But our Sphynx NEED the bone, so we let them grow bigger. But I am very anxious to see if they really do grow faster & bigger when the breeds are mixed.