New zealand rabbit weight at 7.5 months?

[Duck Survivalist]

Hello Folks,

I bought a new zealand red buck 2 months ago and it's currently 7.5 months old weights at 7.70lbs

That's pretty low, the precious breeder said they only fed hay and would butchure at 6 months.

Would this red be worth breeding or should I just get rid of him?

My other rabbit that I got from the lady is a doe and it's a mutt between new zeland blue and beveran. It's currently 8.5 months and slightly over 10lbs.

I actually don't have a current photo but these are the photos of the seller.

 

[Alaska Satin]

Hello Folks,

I bought a new zealand red buck 2 months ago and it's currently 7.5 months old weights at 7.70lbs

That's pretty low, the precious breeder said they only fed hay and would butchure at 6 months.

Would this red be worth breeding or should I just get rid of him?

My other rabbit that I got from the lady is a doe and it's a mutt between new zeland blue and beveran. It's currently 8.5 months and slightly over 10lbs.

I actually don't have a current photo but these are the photos of the seller.

Seven pounds at 7-1/2 months is pretty small for NZ buck. Standard senior weight for a NZ buck is 9-11lbs. Your buck may still get there, but it's best if rabbits can hit full adult weight by 8 months. However, I've found that fast growth rate up till butcher age (8-12 weeks) is not always attached to high weight at 8 months, so if you have that early growth and then they plateau between 6-12 months, that's not great for show purposes, but it can work quite well for meat bunnies. As long as you've already got him and if you like him otherwise, I'd go ahead and breed him and just see how the bunnies grow.

Wow, 6 months is a l-o-n-g time to grow out butcher rabbits! You could grow out a sheep or goat in that amount of time! Most meat rabbit breeders shoot for 8-12 weeks (mostly because once they hit 12 weeks, sexes need to be separated to prevent unwanted breeding). Some prefer 16 weeks so they can harvest a prime pelt, but personally I would not grow rabbits for 6 months before harvest. At least in my barn, the fastest growth comes between 2-16 weeks, and after that, growth slows and you're putting a lot more feed into the animal for much less meat.

If they're feeding only hay that might explain the slow growth, so if you add pellets you might find better growth rates with the same stock.

Something in the photos that concerns me is that each picture shows at least one rabbit that apparently has an eye problem: the red on the far right of the first photo looks like it's blind, and the REW in the second photo seems to have something going on as well.

The fact that a seller would advertise rabbits that don't appear completely healthy is a little worrisome for one thing, and rabbits that tend to get eye problems often produce more rabbits that tend to get eye problems. Maybe the photos are misleading and it's just an illusion; even if they are real, eye problems are not the worst issue in the world; but it would be something that raised a red flag for me.

 

[Duck Survivalist]

Seven pounds at 7-1/2 months is pretty small for NZ buck. Standard senior weight for a NZ buck is 9-11lbs. Your buck may still get there, but it's best if rabbits can hit full adult weight by 8 months. However, I've found that fast growth rate up till butcher age (8-12 weeks) is not always attached to high weight at 8 months, so if you have that early growth and then they plateau between 6-12 months, that's not great for show purposes, but it can work quite well for meat bunnies. As long as you've already got him and if you like him otherwise, I'd go ahead and breed him and just see how the bunnies grow.

Wow, 6 months is a l-o-n-g time to grow out butcher rabbits! You could grow out a sheep or goat in that amount of time! Most meat rabbit breeders shoot for 8-12 weeks (mostly because once they hit 12 weeks, sexes need to be separated to prevent unwanted breeding). Some prefer 16 weeks so they can harvest a prime pelt, but personally I would not grow rabbits for 6 months before harvest. At least in my barn, the fastest growth comes between 2-16 weeks, and after that, growth slows and you're putting a lot more feed into the animal for much less meat.

If they're feeding only hay that might explain the slow growth, so if you add pellets you might find better growth rates with the same stock.

Something in the photos that concerns me is that each picture shows at least one rabbit that apparently has an eye problem: the red on the far right of the first photo looks like it's blind, and the REW in the second photo seems to have something going on as well.
View attachment 40364View attachment 40365
The fact that a seller would advertise rabbits that don't appear completely healthy is a little worrisome for one thing, and rabbits that tend to get eye problems often produce more rabbits that tend to get eye problems. Maybe the photos are misleading and it's just an illusion; even if they are real, eye problems are not the worst issue in the world; but it would be something that raised a red flag for me.

Yeah that blue doe that I have did have eye problems 2 weeks after I got her.

Looked like crying eyes almost like weeping eyes, I took extreme caution with her by quarinteening, and after 2 weeks it went away.

So I think she has dental issues, so I think her baby's would only be for meat, not for Line breeding or selling.

I've had her for 7 weeks now.
Slowly introducing her with the herd.