How did you choose your breed?

[Starsider]

Oh, you poor experienced people...dealing with a bunny-noob like myself. I promise not to ask TOO many stupid questions :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

So right now I'm in the "research" phase of this whole adventure. I'm trying to settle on a good beginner breed to start out with. I'm interested in meat rabbits, but not sure I'll be able to take on that whole adventure until we've got our own place (rented townhouse, roommates potentially weirded out by the dispatch process, etc).

But I'm also developing a strong interest in the showing portion of things, so I might still venture into that while I suss out how I'd work meat rabbits into a townhouse community without some city slicker getting up in arms because I'm dispatching meat animals in my house. :roll:

But there's TOO MANY CHOICES!!! :lol: I have no idea where to start!

I am interested in the Silver Fox primarily, but I'd also like to look into one of the more common breeds for a larger gene pool and more variety. I've been working off a criteria of: Something of a mediumish size (not too huge), gentle personality, easy to handle, and yeah, a little bit of color here and there.

What were your decisions for choosing the breed you did?

 

[Random Rabbit]

I would suggest perhaps going to a show... and Just looking. ( donn't give in to rabbitosis...just Look)
This coming weekend...Feb 4th and 5th... in Lebanon, PA is the big Pennsylvania State rabbit Breeders Convention. That is a really big shew... er show. One could spend hours looking and probably not see it all. But it would give You an idea of the various breeds of rabbits and what might appeal to You.

We have primarily Palominos... Beautiful golden color Brown eyes. ( i dislike red eyes...) They are , to me, such a pretty rabbit. Our next breed is American Chinchilla...DH's project...have to ask him Why. Then i have the Blanc de Hotot... just for a challenge. Not real reasons Why... we just happen to really Like these breeds. I still can and Do admire a Lot of other breeds...just do not wish to handle any more breeds at this time.

Good luck. If You want more info on the show coming up...juat ask and i'll try to find out.

 

[Starsider]

Yep, I was looking at that Random! And of course with my luck, I always wind up finding out about these things the week before a super-busy weekend. Blegh! Between trying to get approved for our move and finding a place to board my mammoth donkey colt (and visiting said colt) this weekend, no time for bunnies >.<

Oh well, I did find one that's a little more "local" in March, but a lot more limited in what breeds will be there. So I'll start small and try to find something bigger to visit soon, I guess!

 

[ladysown]

harlequins!!!! yes.. my breed of choice.

But seriously.. go to a show and check out the different breeds. I love the look of the standard and american chins and sometime will probably get some of them should I ever get a bit of property.

 

[skysthelimit]

I had a friend who bought a rabbit at a pet store in college. Made her throat swell (she was an opera singer) so she gave it to me. Unfortunately, I fed it some fresh veggies. End said rabbit. Well it was a mini Rex, and I was fixed on finding a new one. I got a Netherland dwarf, a Mini lop and another mini Rex. The Mini Rex was eventually rehomed because it latched onto my hand, and had to be pried off of me by two people.

This is my third pass at a Rex, and I got standards instead. I'm going for another round with the lops, Holland Lops. Maybe sometime down the road, I might go for the Netherland dwarfs.

 

[Beach Bunny]

We have a mish mash here between my house and the bf's we have 7 ( actually now 13 cause the Mini Rex had her babies ) rabbits! A dwarf Hotot , a Lion head ( his dads) 2 Mini Rex , a mix rescue bunny, and 2 Thriantas for whom i am looking for a good doe to start breeding. I'm very partial to the Thriantas so i always recommend them I love their personality chubby faces and beautiful color.

I would love to get my buns to that show this weekend myself....curse you Superbowl!!

 

[Peach]

I love Lops They have dog like tendencies and are really really docile ( as long as they have been handled). I personally work with Mini Lops Would really love to give english lops a try one day or harlequins.

 

[Legacy]

You mean how did I narrow it down to 4? It wasn't easy.

 

[DevonW]

I saw, I really wanted, I bought. It's pretty much how it always works out for me :lol: I have no self control when it comes to pretty rabbits.

 

[OneAcreFarm]

Be very careful...we are all heavily infected with G. Rabbitosis around here and it is horribly infectious and totally incurable! :lol: Once you contract it, there is no going back....resistance is futile.....



You WILL be assimilated! :twisted:

 

[MamaSheepdog]

Terminator Bunny! :rotfl:

Assimilated... nyesss... another symptom of G. Rabbitosis is the unholy pleasure we take in watching the disease process progress in yet another unwitting victim. Mwa-ha-ha!!! :twisted:

My first rabbit was a broken black standard Rex. I have always liked their fur. When I started considering raising rabbits for meat, I was delighted to find that Rex are a dual-purpose breed, providing meat and fur. They come in a myriad of colors, including broken. I've always loved critters that are spotted or marked with white in some way, especially ones that have symmetrical markings.

Rex are a medium sized breed, and are not as high producers of meat as NZ's and Cals since those breeds have been the favorites of the meat/fur industry for so many years, (the fur industry prefers white pelts because they can be dyed any color), and so much more effort has gone into their selection. But I feel that their fur and the nestbox surprises more than make up for a little less meat.

There are many meat breeds, so go with what you find visually appealing. There is no need to limit yourself to white rabbits, since the fur market is not the industry it once was.

As for a more diverse gene pool to work with, it is better to start with good quality related animals, and line-breed and in-breed your stock. When you bring in outside blood lines, you are introducing a host of other genetic material (some good, some bad), and basically have to start at square one again.

 

[PulpFaction]

I found my main breed (Thriantas) at the animal shelter. LOL. No really, I got my foundation buck there and traced his ear tattoo to his breeder, who happened to be one of the best Thrianta breeders in the country at the time! I stuck with them because they are a challenge without being impossible. Every kit in the litter will be showable, but fine tuning them is a challenge. And I like it! I also find them to be a good size, a striking color and fur, entertaining personalities and just generally a nice little rabbit to work with.

I was smitten with Silver Fox and finally got some a while back...but after having the opportunity to compare them to the california satins I have access to, I moved them on. No contest in the productivity department, and the satins are just all around better producers and more resilient than the SF stock I had. Someday I would like to try SF again, but I don't have the space for two "project" breeds right now, and Thriantas won in that department and Satins won in the meat producing department!

 

[Bumper]

I saw the Polish picture in the SOP and on the ARBA website. End of story.

 

[akane]

I got given a mini rex so we started raising mini rex. The guy we got some more mini rex from raised champagnes and we ended up with champagnes. Cremes being close to champagnes sounded interesting but never went past a doe due to poor quality stock in the area and high price tag of anything you wouldn't be embarrassed to be seen with at a show. Netherland's were needed just cause they are tiny fluffballs. The rest are whatever might combine to improve the meat mutts. Some new zealand, some checkered giant, possibly some standard rex, something that produces steels which isn't in any of the breeds we were told are in our mixes.

 

[Miss M]

We started with a young minilop buck my beloved Shay rescued when somebody dumped him outside before they moved. He might make 5 pounds if I got him good and soaking wet before weighing him. Ah, well, he was a buck, I wasn't complaining!

Then we went to a farm to buy a lady-friend for him. We had seen her on Craigslist, along with a red doe, but this one was white with black eyes (no eyeliner, though). Bunny-Wan Kenobi totally fell for her, so we looked her over and paid $20 for her, knowing she was a Flemish Giant cross. The seller wasn't sure what she was crossed with, as she had bought her as a kit, as a purebred Flemish. As she grew, and neglected to develop any hint of a mandolin shape, she realized Pearl was not pure Flemish, and that was why she was selling. Fine with us, we didn't need a pure anything. Just a healthy doe that would grow out well and produce well, and she looked good. She produced a number of beautiful litters for us.

Thumper, the minilop, retired after his first litter. We couldn't get him to breed after that; he was too much of a gentleman. We kept a buck and doe from his first litter (we were moving and building a new rabbitry as they were growing up anyway), so now we had two bucks and two does. Then the manager of a property Shay inspects asked if we would take their two pet does who had just about been raised together. So he brought home the duo, one of which ended up being a New Zealand White, as far as I can tell! The other is some kind of black dwarf with silvering. No kits from her, but we breed the other doe, and the black is the kits' overprotective aunt.

That's how we chose our "breed". :lol:

As the originals die off, we'll replace them with more meaty stock. Pearl died a couple of months ago of fur impaction. We're about to refurbish the rabbitry, and then we'll get a new doe. Hopefully I can find a New Zealand Blue, or a Silver Fox. Nestbox color surprises are so much fun!

 

[ottersatin]

How I/my family got into rabbits is on my website: http://crescentvally.webs.com/
Look under my Experiences.
In short a neighbor called to tell me:
"I've got an Easter present for your Daughter".
My Daughter was 5 years old, she is now 32!
So I guess you could say a few years have gone by since that day.
That day will live forever in my life as "A day of Infamy! JK!
That one rabbit lead to the development of Crescent Valley Rabbitry.
It has been and continues to be a long wonderful though bumpy trip.
I don't know where I would be today if I hadn't been lead down
the path to rabbit raising. I cannot begin to tell you of all
the exciting adventures we have had brought about by our
hanging out with rabbits and rabbit people.
When things aren't falling into place, you can calm yourself
in the Rabbitry. There is always something to do which will
take your mind off other things. Rabbits are a lot of work
but it is FUN! Please see the website for the rabbit choice
Ottersatin. ldtimer:

 

[seagullplayer]

I don't know that I have just yet...

I have always been the "test drive" type guy.

 

[OneAcreFarm]

I knew I wanted to raise for meat, so I looked at meat breeds. I narrowed it down to Cal's because that is what was available near by for me to get. I have since branched out to Standard Rex, I was given a Dutch, and I will be picking up some NZW in the next week or two.