My new rabbits - Rex n NZW

[Piper]

Am in the process of trading my 2 bucks for some rabbits I can use.
The rex is a cuddle bunny but the NZW was put in my loops bucks old cage. She went a bit bonkers last night, checking it out. Is a bit standoffish today. I should be getting a Cali or Silver Fox buck today (same breeder) and intend to breed her in about a week. Short quarantine but the only rabbits here, will be from that breeder. I am waiting at least a week, to see how to takes to my area. Anyone think that (considering the factors) is too soon"?
- I was originally going to get a 1 Cali buck, 1 Cali doe and an NZW doe. The rex, I fell in love, though in researching breeding Reds, may trade her back for his black or wait till he has some other color. Wrong? Reds, easier than I think?
- As far as the Cali buck, when I went yesterday, I thought he only had meat rabbits. He has a bit of everything.
-- Background: when I got into dog breeding, I had had dogs since I was a child - minimum learning curve, in comparison to rabbits.
- I know these do not have pedigrees and may have DQ, but I am trying the sizes / breeds to see what I fit with.

So, questions:
1) as a meat rabbit - any comments about a Silver Fox male breeding(s) to A) Cali female B) NZW
2) Red Rex - he has other colors, some (barn does not have good lighting) that appear to be a grey or lilac, should I go that route, or wait till his Red Rex Buck (that he got 2 weeks ago) is out of quarantine and get the Red Buck?

 

[skysthelimit]

If you want more reds, wait for the red, as you know it will have the genetics to make good reds, while the others will not, and definitely carry the dilute gene.

Silver Fox and Cals are both excellent animals, a cross should be fine to meet your meat purposes. I only have a sr SF buck, I may cross him to a rex for a while until the doe is ready. I don't really have an open doe yet though.

 

[hoodat]

I got some oustanding litters from a cross NZ doe and a cross rex buck. I was only sorry to lose the line when I went to the hospital.
That red looks great.

 

[skysthelimit]

I got some oustanding litters from a cross NZ doe and a cross rex buck. I was only sorry to lose the line when I went to the hospital.
That red looks great.

Do the crosses grow faster than regular Rex? That might help me fill my meat needs until the SF doe grows up.

 

[hoodat]

I got some oustanding litters from a cross NZ doe and a cross rex buck. I was only sorry to lose the line when I went to the hospital.
That red looks great.

Do the crosses grow faster than regular Rex? That might help me fill my meat needs until the SF doe grows up.

My purpose in usig a NZ doe was bigger liters, faster growth and a better momma. It worked out very well for me, especially since the cross rex buck gave them a heavier loin on the back.
She raised every kit she had and never had a runt or dead one except one time when I lost a litter to the heat. Her best litter was 13 and she kept every one of them fat and sassy.

 

[MamaSheepdog]

intend to breed her in about a week. Short quarantine but the only rabbits here

Quarantine does not only apply to exposure to other animals- it also applies to stress bringing out dormant illness. I can understand wanting popples, and wanting them n-n-NOW!!!, but it would be wiser to let them get settled before you breed her.

The red Rex is pretty- but are you sure it is a Standard? The ears look pretty small.

Those are pretty neat looking cages- where did you find them?

Congrats on the bunnehs! Whoo-hoo!

 

[ZRabbits]

Nice looking rabbits Piper. Another week letting them settle won't hurt. Mamasheepdog is right regarding giving them time to settle. That's why I wait 2 weeks with mine. I give them time to settle by themselves and then introduce to the tribe. If a breeding doe is nervous, it could affect the kits and her. So just take your time. Looks like you got yourself a good foundation to start your meat project. But stress will affect not only illness but kits as well.

Karen

 

[Piper]

- I have my Red Rex male, but he is only 3 months old, born 4/30, his ears are gigantic compared to the female's.
The trio are Satins, from the same litter, the black is the male. The Satins were bought as live fryers, but I am tempted to try a colony with them. I also have an Cali buck, with the roughest coat, but he is suppose to be proven.
- The NZW (in the pictures above) is suppose to be a 2yr old show rabbit, that has never been bred. I am hoping that the NZW does not intimidate him, the way she was going batty (in my lop bucks cage) I think she is more than ready!!!
- I did get a surprise. The chocolate buck (Hershey) was a kids rabbit that I took, promising that I would not eat him. Hershey was one of the bucks that I was going to trade, until - we found out that Hershey was a female! I had never checked. I kept Hershey, even though she is smaller than what I would like, Hershey takes the heat extremely well!
Roll Call:
3 Satins - 1 buck, 2 does
2 Rex - 1 buck, 1 doe
1 Choc Havana ---, 1 doe -- bad Havana to slim looks arch
1 REW NZ - ------- 1 doe - bad coat is rough
1 Cali - 1 buck, ------ - bad coat is rough

 

[ZRabbits]

Are they healthy? That's all that matters when it comes to meat, which is what you want. I wouldn't worry about coat unless you want good pelts. Otherwise, looks like you are on the right road.

Your NZW should like she is ready. I have a almost 7 month old Lion head doe that now starting to nest, and hopefully in October my Lion head male will be ready, because I know she is. So I know what you mean about "batty" attitude.

Hershey sounds like a charm and sounds strong. Stay with her if she does "heat" well. Will pass it on to her kits. Then you can be able to build from there if you got does that are heat resistant.

Try the colony, see how it works for you. Please keep us informed. Would love to hear about how it works for you.

Karen

 

[Piper]

intend to breed her in about a week. Short quarantine but the only rabbits here

Quarantine does not only apply to exposure to other animals- it also applies to stress bringing out dormant illness. I can understand wanting popples, and wanting them n-n-NOW!!!, but it would be wiser to let them get settled before you breed her.

How long should the quarantine be, when all rabbits are from same breeder? Breeder lives 10 mins away.

The red Rex is pretty- but are you sure it is a Standard? The ears look pretty small.

I think the female is a mini, he said that she was about mediums size. The new 3 month old male, has ears that are already larger than the females, though. Wonder if my 3 month old male is going to get too big to breed to her, when he is full grown.

Those are pretty neat looking cages- where did you find them?

Thank You! The cages were cl specials, I needed cages for the chickens (before I had the coop) and was not choosy.
Did not realize what I got, till recently. They are good size, but do not have anywhere to put a fine feeder.
I also picked up 5 nice (brand name) cages, from an aviary that was downsizing. Turns out that they are made completely, out of what we call baby saver wire. Now, I just need to learn how to use J clips, and replace the zip ties I rigged them up with.

Congrats on the bunnehs! Whoo-hoo!

My comment? :twilightzone: - - - - - - I also wanted his Silver Fox, Champagnes and Thrianta - I have to keep thinking about, if I breed what I have how many cages it will take! I was bit, hard! I do think that I have the smaller Rex, it is a start though - will keep an eye out for the larger size and keep any large babies, I get, too!!!<br /><br />__________ Sun Aug 12, 2012 9:33 pm __________<br /><br />

Are they healthy? That's all that matters when it comes to meat, which is what you want. I wouldn't worry about coat unless you want good pelts. Otherwise, looks like you are on the right road.

I hope to know within a week, may extend the quarantine / wait a bit more to breed. Will be biting my nails, though!

Your NZW should like she is ready. I have a almost 7 month old Lion head doe that now starting to nest, and hopefully in October my Lion head male will be ready, because I know she is. So I know what you mean about "batty" attitude.

She actually growled at me last night, then thought about it and came to the cage door. The breeder also asked me if I still smelled of the bucks, I said yes. 'knocking head on wall'

Hershey sounds like a charm and sounds strong. Stay with her if she does "heat" well. Will pass it on to her kits. Then you can be able to build from there if you got does that are heat resistant.

I am hoping so. Thank You!

Try the colony, see how it works for you. Please keep us informed. Would love to hear about how it works for you.
Karen

I have heard that a colony spats, can mess up a coat. Since I do not care what the coats on the Satin fryers will look like, they seem to be a good one to try. Also the Satins are on the small size and not as intimidating to me. Would hate to try to do my first colony with (full size) NXW or Cali! I like the 'idea' of a colony, that does not need a lot of different cages, feeder, waters and that I can put a full block of (instead of individual spools) mineral salt in.

 

[ZRabbits]

Know about "biting nails", lol I'm there myself. Can't wait until October so that I can put my doe and buck together and see what happens. Finger crossed on that one. I'm sticking to my plan. And hopefully by that time I'll have a Flemish Giant doe so that I can start thinking of that breeding program. It's tough being patient sometimes, but sometimes you have to to make sure all is successful. I think if you extend it just a bit, it will help you being successful with good healthy kits. I'm waiting so that my LH doe is truly ready and instincts have kicked in. I know some start at an earlier age, but I just want to give my first time doe as much as an advantage as I can.

Regarding the growling, don't have that much with my doe, but she does get a bit antsy and will lift when she smells my bucks on my hands. I guess I'm lucky.

I think you are smart starting out with a smaller rabbit (satins) with your colony. It would be the way I would go about doing a colony if I would do it.

Karen

 

[Piper]

Will not be so hard to wait - in case something else shows up. My beautiful Red Rex doe, will have to go back, she has mastitis and an eye that has a slight discharge. Right now I am putting the eye down to the fact of her body fighting off the mastitis.
*crossing fingers and toes*
- His rabbit shed does not have strong light. We checked her teeth, hocks and ears, out in the open but rex fur is thick. I am used to my rabbit(s) allowing me to trim nails and do a head to toe check up. She has been the calmest and so started with her. After about an half hour of hands on, something was wrong and I found the mastitis. After bout a t of drainage and more still there. So, she will be returned and replaced. Because she had a (possible) compromised immune system, from the mastitis, everyone else is getting dosed with apple cider vinegar, just in case, since all were transported on my car. :rant:

__________ Mon Aug 13, 2012 6:18 am __________

Know about "biting nails", lol I'm there myself. Can't wait until October so that I can put my doe and buck together and see what happens. Finger crossed on that one. I'm sticking to my plan. And hopefully by that time I'll have a Flemish Giant doe so that I can start thinking of that breeding program.

Lion Head and Flemish Giant - Thinking about the size of the cage for a Flemish Giant grow out pen, makes me grateful that the largest I have is REW NZ and Cali! Good Luck!<br /><br />__________ Fri Aug 24, 2012 6:36 am __________<br /><br />OK, traded my doe (that had mastitis) the next day, for another, Rex doe.

 

[ZRabbits]

Lion Head and Flemish Giant - Thinking about the size of the cage for a Flemish Giant grow out pen, makes me grateful that the largest I have is REW NZ and Cali! Good Luck!

lol, big difference from a Lion head, I know. Should be interesting.

Really pretty replacement Rex doe. Hoping you have better luck with her. All your rabbits look good. Wishing you luck with your breeding program. Look forward to hearing how it goes for you.

Karen

 

[Piper]

Thank You! I think I am getting a little better at placing them.

 

[MamaSheepdog]

Nice looking bunch of rabbits, Piper!

I would love to have red Rex- they are so pretty! I hope you have better luck with the new doe.

 

[hoodat]

I got some oustanding litters from a cross NZ doe and a cross rex buck. I was only sorry to lose the line when I went to the hospital.
That red looks great.

Do the crosses grow faster than regular Rex? That might help me fill my meat needs until the SF doe grows up.

I used NZ as a doe because they have large litters, are great mamas and the young show fast growth. I used the Rex buck to give them a thicker loin. It worked out very well for me.