Dutch/Cali or NZW crosses

[xa.logan]

So I was reading an study done by a university (I can't remember which University, possibly Mississippi State) and they were identifying dress out percentages among various breeds of meat rabbits. The Dutch rabbit had the highest dress out weight at 10 weeks coming to almost 65%. NZWs came in a second (59%) and Cali's were practically the same as the NZWs.

This had me thinking: :idea: a higher dress out % means that rabbit converts feed to meat fairly efficiently. And I know that dutch rabbits are some of the fastest growers. Reaching their full adult weight around 7 months.

If you mixed a Dutch with a Cali or NZW, would it be possible to have a rabbit that reaches market weight faster OR a rabbit that has a higher weight at 10 weeks? Combining the large genes of the Cali's with the fast growth genes of the Dutch could produce a very fast growing litter (it would seem).

Now, the study did say something about crossing the Dutch with NZWs. The dress out % of those were 61-62% AND they reached a market weight of 5# in 7 weeks.

All that being said, I can't remember the study and I hope I'm not making those numbers up. The point of this post is to either A) Verify that information with personal experience or B) ... does anyone notice a difference in their Dutch/Cali crosses? Faster growth, less feed, higher dress-out weight, etc.

I hope that's not confusing...

 

[MamaSheepdog]

Interesting! I tried finding the study, but this is the closest I found, with no mention of the cross:

http://msucares.com/livestock/small_ani ... ghter.html

Dressing Percentage of New Zealand
and Dutch Rabbits at Different Ages
Age --------- New Zealand ---Dutch


8 weeks --- 55.9% ------- 60.3%
13 weeks -- 59.2% ------- 63.3%
Mature ---- 58.2% ------- 62.8%

I think it is worth doing. I would recommend using a Dutch buck and a NZ or Cali doe.

OhioGoatGirl bred Dutch and Dutch crosses for meat, although I don't know if she still has any. Hopefully she will share her personal experience with you.

 

[Dood]

I remember reading this study BUT if was done on French rabbits and in the 1950's so I do t think it would be a relevant with today's breeds.

Just in the 30 years since I have had ND's they have changed dramatically and, IMHO, not for the better

 

[AmysMacdog]

So true Dood. I can barely recognise the ND now and alot of the dutches I've seen just don't look the way they used to. I had dutch bunnies when we lived on our old property and I loved those. Nice meaty round shape and consistant dutch markings in chocolate, blk, blue and fawn. Sigh! Home sick for my bunnies. If I could find some like those, you bet I'd get some again!
Instead we have pitifully puny poorly marked so called dutch rabbits around here.

 

[Dood]

I did some searching and found this article about NZ and Dutch breeds in the 1960's and the NZ were only 3.2-4.2 kg (7-9.5 lb) and the dutch 1.7 - 2.9(4-6lb) which were not for show but still primarily a small meat breed - think a black florida white with a belt.

 

[ohiogoatgirl]

interesting to see some numbers on this.

yup I started with dutch and I've been doing crosses.
-lionheads suck all around, cross em with anything and they just get longer.
-americans, I didn't have any luck with the pair I had and sadly I lost all of the only litter I got from the buck crossed to a dutch doe I had. the litter was all long though and I don't imagine they would have gotten much better if they'd lived to grow longer anyways.
-minirex, sadly I lost the litter i'd crossed with them due to coons {cursed creatures!!} but I imagine being similar body type that this sort of crossing with bigger animals of each breed would do good for smaller meat rabbit goals.
-Californian, have one litter now. litter of 8 and all are lookin good so far. three are definitely bigger then the rest so i'll be watching to see how they do. I want to keep the biggest buck to breed back to cali to see how that litter would grow. perhaps cross him to my NZred doe or 3/4NZ 1/4FG doe to see how those do. maybe even keep the biggest doe of this litter too to breed to the brother to see how those do, see how big she'd get at breeding age,... NEED MORE CAGES!

 

[xa.logan]

Thanks MamaSheepdog for providing the link! I'm pretty proud of myself for remembering those numbers.

Yeah, I want to play with it but I don't have enough cages either! I know there's something to mixing those two breeds together to get a medium sized rabbit that reaches market weight really quickly or uses feed efficiently.

 

[ohiogoatgirl]

I separated my litter today. 4wks and 2days old. not too big but i'm hoping they have a growth spurt! :mrgreen:

checked bottoms and marked ears. thinkin 3 bucks and 5 does. biggest three are buck and two does. so will have to see later on who gets biggest. i'm excited to see opcorn: