Florida Whites

[xlt]

Anyone raise Florida Whites? I have an opportunity to purchase some, but the "senior weight" kind of worries me for a meat operation... 4-6 pounds...

Are they extremely efficient feed converters? I read that they were developed as meat rabbits...

 

[PulpFaction]

They are meat rabbits, albeit smaller ones. I hear the feed conversion is quite good and that many really like them for a smaller meat rabbit. You can keep them in smaller cages, etc. They are certainly intriguing! I hope someone else chimes in with first hand experience.

 

[Thundrr]

i have a florida white buck.. i do not have a doe to put him with.. we use a chin colored rex as his girlfriend... wow they produce pretty babies lol.. he was my first rabbit.. incredibly sweet boy.. if i were going to use them for meat rabbit purposes.. it would probably be to target small breed dog owners that wanted them for raw feed... i have 2 ankle biter type dogs.. along with 2 labradors... i dont think their offspring would do much for my labs... however... my 2 ankle biters would be perfectly happy with those meals... we have 4 kits from that pairing right now.. they are 7 weeks old.. and we're going to take them to a local farm swap this weekend to see if we can sell them off..

lemme see if i can get the photo links right .. this is my first attempt on this site..

hercules

babies

the picture of the chin rex mama was way too big after i put it on this reply so i took it off... but thats hercules the florida white... and his babies

 

[xlt]

Thanks! Hey, are those kits 7 weeks old in that picture?

 

[DevonW]

They're excellent meat rabbits if you're looking for a smaller rabbit with a big dress out. They don't need huge cages, they don't eat as much so they don't poop as much. Yet their dress out is phenomenal for something their size.

 

[xlt]

Is their feed conversion/dress out size a function of their size? In other words, if I crossed this rabbit with one of my NZ, I would end up with a smaller rabbit but could I expect that the dress out percentage would increase?

 

[Thundrr]

Thanks! Hey, are those kits 7 weeks old in that picture?

no.. they're only about 2 weeks old in that picture... i havent taken any since then

 

[xlt]

.....O....K.... well, went to pick up the rabbits... got a "one year old" female and "six month" old male... look to be healthy, though imho a bit thin.

Didn't realize though that they were in a colony setting... so am I right to presume the female was bred by somebody? Can't for the life of me palpate and the guy I bought them from said "...WEEEELLLL... maybe she's pregnant..."

 

[PulpFaction]

I would assume pregnant until proven otherwise and get a nestbox in there asap.

 

[Thundrr]

yeah i would assume pregnant as well.. we have 2 new zealand girls we got recently that we're watching for the same reason... im selling that grey one in the picture this morning... and hopefully the rest will go tomorrow at a farm swap

 

[xlt]

well, put a nestbox in and it appears that she made a nest last night... so we'll see what surprises lie in store.

The colony was a pretty mixed bag, so this could be interesting.

well, she's definitely pregnant... would guess in the next couple of days we'll find out what's in there...

__________ Tue Jan 18, 2011 7:20 am __________

well, my other does seem to have a different pattern than this one... they make a nest, pull fur have babies... pretty much in short order. This one seems to be taking her sweet time, made a nest right away... then stared at it for three days... pulled fur last night, but no babies yet...

__________ Tue Jan 18, 2011 8:15 am __________

well, there they are... three whites and two broken something else is what I am seeing right now... don't know much about the colors to be able to tell just yet...

 

[PulpFaction]

Congrats! I had a Thrianta doe that drove me crazy with waiting. She made her nest AND pulled fur about 4-5 days before kindling. And she was HUGE! Had 8. I don't know how she held them in that long.

 

[xlt]

not too good with colors this early, but some of you seem to be able to spot them right away... Anybody?

__________ Tue Jan 18, 2011 1:40 pm __________

oh, and I was wrong about the whites, they all seem to be broken something or other... just saw the pink under the pulled fur and assumed

 

[Miss M]

Oooooooooooooooooooooooo... I can't tell right now, but I really look forward to seeing their pics in a week or two!

 

[eco2pia]

Me too, those markings seem really pale--that has to end up looking cool! I wonder if they are blues?

 

[ottersatin]

What were they crossed with?
They look like they might be,
broken Blues or Lilac.
Guess we will all just have to wait and see.
Ottersatin. ldtimer:

 

[xlt]

I have no idea what they were crossed with, this doe was in a very loose colony setting with pretty much one of everything as far as color goes...

 

[Thundrr]

can you post pictures of the parents?

 

[xlt]

Well, the dam is REW. Sire is anybody's guess. The guy looked to have polish, dutch, mini-rex, californian, and hotot mixes in one way or another running around.

 

[Thundrr]

ahhhh i see... the stripes remind me of the litter i had born on thanksgiving day.. we only have 1 left... the other 3 have sold.. its neat watching the fur come in and seeing the patterns evolve