how big?

[guinnessguy]

I have 6 kits born from my Lionhead female (4-5lbs), bred to my Palomino/Flemish Giant male(10-11 lbs). Though not a traditional meat rabbit, this is still the intent for this litter.

This is my first successful litter, now over 3 weeks old. I'm just wondering how big they will actually get.??

 

[ladysown]

anywhere from 5 - 10 lbs. is my best guess. How big are they now?

 

[HendricksHearth]

I agree- probably somewhere in between the parent's would be my guess, too.

Best of luck,

Lauren

 

[Devon's Mom Lauren]

Interesting! Could be anything, Let us know how they grow and what they end up weighting at 8 or 10 weeks! Have any pictures?

 

[guinnessguy]

I don't have pictures.
I was looking them over today, and I have 2 very distinct traits appearing in the bunnies.
4 of them look like my buck: long head, pointy nose, even-length fur
2 of them look like the doe: short/round head, flat nose, lion mane.
All of them are the same size. My guess would be 3/4 lbs, but I don't have a scale to double check.

And they're all growing so nicely!

 

[avdpas77]

It might not be the best thing to breed a buck that big to a doe that small. You won't always get away with it without some trouble..... other way around is OK. Since you were successful this time, you won't really know how the size would turn out unless you keep them to at least junior age. Some may end up being almost as small as the doe, or almost as big as the buck. I would suggest, that if you want meat rabbits, you find a large doe to start out with..it will be a great help in the long run.

 

[guinnessguy]

Thanks for the advice! I do have 3 other does. 2 are NZW and one is mini-rex. The reason for the variety is that they were all cheap/free. (gotta love Kijiji!) If larger does become available for as cheap/free, I will pick them up.

I know that the MiniRex and Lionhead aren't true meat rabbits, but they will do for now.

 

[Devon's Mom Lauren]

Mini Rex actually make very good eating.. they have fine to medium bone and are very meaty.The problem is if you want the hides, you need to keep them longer to get prime ones.