new rabbit owner would appreciate any information...

[scarlnt]

First I would like to say hello. About a month ago, i was at at a ranch store and they had rabbits (bunnies) for sale, so I bought two boys and a female. I thought that breed didn't matter and I really didn't ask until, I started doing some reading and research and found that some are better for meat than others. So I went back and asked if they could tell me what kind I have...well it is speculated that I have a broken Netherland(male), Unknown(male), and a white Californian doe..she has pink eyes.....she is still small I have had her a month.....Any ways are these are good meat rabbits? If not, then how do i sell them and get at least one of each that are good meat rabbits...Well thank you ..please help

Nikki :bunnyhop:

 

[BoxerMom]

Your Cali will probably be a good meat rabbit. Are you thinking of using them for meat, or for breeding? Some places might alter rabbits before selling, so double check on that. I don't know much about Netherlands, but i think they are rather small and aren't typically used for meat. If you can get some pictures, it would be great if you could post some on there. There are sove very knowledgeable people here who could look at those pictures and have a better idea of what to tell you.

 

[scarlnt]

Thank you so very much for replying to me! I will get some pictures up tomarro..so that you and other can have a look. I went to your site, and your rabbits are large...I would be interested in one of each sex... My goal is to breed..to eat to sell...!!

 

[akane]

Netherlands will be useless for meat for human consumption. They might make good feeders for other animals if it weren't for their poor production abilities but they are the smallest rabbit breed and lack the body type to get much meat off them. If you have a californian then it will have dark points (feet, nose, tail) or else it's a cross or similar breed like new zealand.

Rabbits are broken in to body types
http://doubledutchrabbitry.com/arbodytypes.html

Also see
http://www.raising-rabbits.com/all-rabbit-breeds.html
for a list of rabbit breeds and their body type along with some mention of which breeds were developed for meat purposes.

Most anything with a commercial, semi arch/mandolin, and some compact types will make ok meat rabbits. If you want great meat rabbits though you should find a meat breeder. Even the same breed bred just for show over many generations can lose it's ability for litter size and growth rate if the breeder has not been paying attention to those things. People breeding for pet and show tend to not care as much about how many rabbits a given doe manages to produce in a year because they can't sell that many whereas a meat breeder can butcher all the doe can produce so breeds for these things. Growth rate may also be lost if breeding for pet or if the show standards are not as strict as what the meat raisers breed for. If the one doe turns out to be a cali or other commercial type rabbit of good enough size I might keep her to see how she does but if you want to raise for meat you would be best off selling the netherland dwarf and I would sell the buck irregardless of breed simply because he's probably not been bred for the purpose you want and will introduce weak genes to the whole herd. Since most only keep a few bucks for lots of does the buck is a very important rabbit in your breeding program and will influence the future of the entire herd. It's fairly easy to cut out one line from a certain doe but very hard to cull all rabbits from a certain buck if you haven't been using many bucks. I would find a local breeder of meat rabbits and get a good buck and however many does you think you will need or want to start with. Make sure to ask about litter sizes, weights at various ages, and the health of the herd overall. You will be much happier than trying to piece together a meat rabbit herd out of rabbits not bred for the purpose.

 

[ottersatin]

Hello Nikki,
first I would ask that you change the color of your print
to a darker color. The pink color you are using is
VERY hard to read especially for someone with older eyes.
I would suggest that when you are purchasing rabbits for breeding,
you should purchase two Does [females] and one Buck [Male].
If possible Purchase a Bred Senior Doe and a Junior Doe,
a Junior Buck related but not a brother or Son.
This way when the Senior Doe kindles [gives birth]
she can later be bred to what was the Junior Buck as can
the Doe that was the Junior Doe. This is the way you can get your own line started.
Just a suggestion as there are so many ways to "skin a Cat".
Start a Rabbit herd.
Ottersatin. C.V.R. ldtimer: :bunnyhop:

 

[BoxerMom]

Selecting the text as if you were copying it helps to read text as well

 

[moonkitten]

There are a number of breeds that come in the "Californian" coloration. If the doe weighs only a few pounds, then she isn't the Californian BREED, just a small pet rabbit in the Californian color and not suitable to breed for meat production.

 

[MaggieJ]

Hello Nikki and welcome! :hi:

It sounds as though you've jumped into this impulsively and got the cart before the horse. When selecting rabbits to breed for meat, you are best to buy from a reputable breeder of meat rabbits. That way you will get rabbits the right size and shape to have "plenty of meat on their bones".

The best thing you can do is to buy or borrow from your library a good book on raising rabbits for meat. Bob Bennett has written several "The Storey Guide to Raising Rabbits" "Raising Rabbits the Modern Way" etc. My personal favourite is Ann Kanable's "Raising Rabbits" but any of these books will give you the basic information you need BEFORE starting. Reading here on this forum will also help a lot. We cover a lot of ground in our discussions and learning from other people's experiences will make your learning curve less steep.

Have your rabbitry built and the basics firmly in your mind... and then look for some good stock. You can talk to breeders in the meantime to get an idea of what is available in your area.

Any rabbit can be used for meat, but you will find the small ones don't have enough meat to make the trouble worthwhile. If you can't find homes for the small ones, you could butcher them anyway, they just won't have a lot of meat. It will still taste every bit as good.

You mentioned selling rabbit meat. You need to be aware that each state or province has regulations governing the sale of meat. Find out the law in your area before you get started.

 

[scarlnt]

Thank you all so very much for the input! I am taking it all in what started out to be an impulse thing is now a quest...Are any of you breeders for this purpose?? If so I would like to buy right!!! When I purchased my rabbits I was told that they would be good meat but I am thinking maybe I got had :!: thats okay...if at first...I have uplaoded some pictures these...can you tell any thing by looking at them :?:

Thank you again

Nikki :bunnyhop: <br /><br />__________ Sun Jul 17, 2011 7:52 pm __________<br /><br />Sorry i haven't figured out how the uploading pictures works yet .....

Nikki

 

[hoodat]

Just for the record any rabbit can be eaten; it's just that the breeds used mainly for meat are more economical (thrifty to use an old fashioned farm word)in that they have a better meat to feed ratio and a better meat to bone ratio.
Once you develop a good eye you can find meat mutts that have both those qualities and breed to them but it takes time to know what to look for. A meat mutt will cost less but you may have to breed out undesirable traits over a few generations. In time though you can have a strain that's all your own and that's kind of fun.

 

[akane]

Easiest way to post a picture anywhere is to make a photobucket account and upload them there. Then copy the link with the picture that has img around it. That will work on nearly every forum and the direct link photobucket gives in their list of links for the pic will work anywhere else like email or chat.

 

[MaggieJ]

It's easy to post pictures as attachments without using Photobucket or a similar service.

attachment-tutorial-t5.html

 

[Miss M]

Hi, Scarlnt! Welcome to the world of rabbits! Many of us on here breed rabbits for meat. Some for our own consumption, some for pet consumption, and some for selling.

We breed for meat, and do it with mutts. Our herd started with a rescued minilop and a Flemish cross we bought. We will be working our way toward more meaty breeds, but, for now, we have only one actual "meat breed" rabbit -- and I don't even know for sure that she's a purebred NZW. She had been a pet, and we took her in.

Our particular mutts do alright for us, but they stay a bit on the svelte side. I have no plans to select from litters and breed my own line like Hoodat mentioned, though that would be great. My rabbits just don't produce large enough rabbits to do that. As these kick the bucket, they will be replaced with New Zealands and Californians. My uncle, with whom we now live, has really gotten into this rabbit thing, and he wants efficiency! :lol:

Selecting the text as if you were copying it helps to read text as well

I do this frequently for faint text, and text that is on a patterned background, to make it easy to read.