Not Just Contemplating Dutch... bought one!

[FourRingCircus]

Ever since reading the stat someone posted a while ago about dress out percentages vs. size being motivation for certain breeds, they have been on my mind. I think the particular numbers they posted for them was something like 63% dress out? I wouldn't mind a smaller breed to work with - less cage space, less food, smaller poop not to mention in theory they would be a bit easier to handle in general. I want to keep things simple - but just a little more than REW. I like some color every now and then! :lol: I was going to start working on some harlequin coloring until my buck that I needed to get things going got out and disappeared (I am so thankful to have two little girls that are eager to help with rabbit chores, but one particular morning they got started on their own before I made it out and in turn I lost two rabbits... my two favorite ones that I wanted to use for breeding the new colors, of course. Maybe God's way of telling me it was going to be too much, to just keep it simple).

I have seen a couple options locally, but they were asking $65 which I think is a bit steep. But maybe it's not worth the switch right now? I'm torn...

__________ Sat Feb 06, 2016 9:30 pm __________

Oh boy... just found the perfect Dutch if I were to go that route! I know the markings aren't showable, but it has the harlie coloring!

http://greensboro.craigslist.org/grd/5437029972.html

__________ Sat Feb 06, 2016 9:47 pm __________

Hmmm... what are the chances the middle one in #3 is a male?

http://greensboro.craigslist.org/for/5378949276.html

 

[Preitler]

Well, about 50%, if there isn't any magic of the *** Change Fairy going on :good-luck:

 

[FourRingCircus]

They replied back that they only have one male left... I doubt it's the one I want - all the other markings are pretty wonky...

__________ Sun Feb 07, 2016 8:27 am __________

And looking at the pics with fresh eyes (not blurry exhausted ones :roll: ) the face structures are all so different! Almost NDish looking in some, right? <br /><br /> __________ Sun Feb 07, 2016 8:54 pm __________ <br /><br /> Got my first Dutch today! Her ears are askew in the photos, I had just put her in the hutch so she was on high alert. When I was holding her they were upright and straight - the lady said that she had been in a couple shows before. Her markings aren't great, but she's solid! I wouldn't be surprised if the lady was on here somewhere, honestly. We seemed to have a pretty similar knowledge base, even to the point that I had mentioned having a poor dead kit in the car b/c we found it on the wire and were hoping it might revive when it was warm. She asked if I needed a bag, I told her not just yet... the last thing she said was "remember, they're not dead until they're warm and dead!" :lol: She talked about the meat to bone ratio before I even mentioned it, so that's reassuring that maybe it will work out. I have never seen blue IRL, and it's beautiful! Love the color/marking combo on her. She said she's a bit skittish for her breed, but was easy to handle compared to anything I have at the house now (we were comparing battle wounds - matching scarred up forearms :lol: ). Ears, fur, vent, and teeth all looked good. She is in the quarantine hutch right now b/c I am not making that same mistake twice. But man it's tempting to toss her in with a buck b/c she looks ready to go! :mrgreen: So wishing I had my harlie chestnut buck still - little booger :evil: - I am sure they would have made beautiful babies!

 

[Marinea]

What a cutie! Congrats!

 

[Zass]

Pretty colors...

 

[ZachsRabbits]

Welcome Heritage to my neck of the woods. I must warn you Dutch are highly inquisitive.

 

[GBov]

Very pretty!

 

[EnglishSpot]

Are you sure your breeder isn't an RT member? What a trick that would be!!!

 

[FourRingCircus]

Are you sure your breeder isn't an RT member? What a trick that would be!!!

I actually had that thought... but was a bit chicken to ask (I have no idea why... just seemed a bit weird)

 

[EnglishSpot]

Whenever a rabbit person starts throwing out familar phrases, I always say, "Oh I read that on RT, too!" Either they give you a strange look or squeal and shout out their username, lol! <br /><br /> __________ Wed Feb 24, 2016 10:23 pm __________ <br /><br /> Whenever a rabbit person starts throwing out familar phrases, I always say, "Oh I read that on RT, too!" Either they give you a strange look or squeal and shout out their username, lol!

 

[ohiogoatgirl]

Hey Heritage, got any update? She is quite nice looking in those pics. The other plus with dutch is that when they are born you can see if there is any really off markings. so if you need to cull down a litter you can at least tell if one is going to be totally not a chance of being correct markings.

 

[FourRingCircus]

Hey Heritage, got any update? She is quite nice looking in those pics. The other plus with dutch is that when they are born you can see if there is any really off markings. so if you need to cull down a litter you can at least tell if one is going to be totally not a chance of being correct markings.

I don't have a dutch buck yet so I just bred her with another breed - she's due sometime in the next week, we'll see how she does! DH's cousin has my tri colored buck from last year, but when I peeked at him last it looked like he had vent disease :x so as much as I want to put the two of them together I guess for now I'll just steer clear. I want to work with her some more and see if I can get her to more of a "pet personality" rather than a crazy meat rabbit like all my others :roll: . The lady I bought her from said she was a bit more skittish/nervous for the breed, but it's still better than what I am used to handling. I was able to pick her up out of the cage right away with little issue.

I am curious to see how her litter will growout. I hope the buck wasn't too big for her... I thought they were a bit closer in size until I saw them side by side and by then it was too late. He had a fall off before she was even in the cage - my hands were still on her!

 

[ohiogoatgirl]

in my experience the does tend to do fine with a bit bigger buck unless you are going like lionhead with Flemish buck I would be avoiding. haha. from my experience with the litters the pure dutch kits were the same size really as the other breed kits so that shouldn't cause problems I would think.

cant wait to see about her litter Dutch is one of the breeds I want to get back into.

 

[Momto3boys]

Wow, I'll be honest and admit to not knowing much about dutch but I had no clue they came in other colors besides black and white. All we ever see is black and white here.

So did I understand correctly in that they make a good meat rabbit?

 

[FourRingCircus]

Wow, I'll be honest and admit to not knowing much about dutch but I had no clue they came in other colors besides black and white. All we ever see is black and white here.

So did I understand correctly in that they make a good meat rabbit?

I am sure the individual genetics will play a role, but yes, supposedly they do . I am getting about 50-53% for dress out with my current ones (not including any liver or kidneys in the weight, not sure how big of a difference that makes), but they are supposed to be a higher dress out percentage. I am really curious to see!

 

[GBov]

So did I understand correctly in that they make a good meat rabbit?

ALL rabbits are made of meat!

 

[alforddm]

Wow, I'll be honest and admit to not knowing much about dutch but I had no clue they came in other colors besides black and white. All we ever see is black and white here.

So did I understand correctly in that they make a good meat rabbit?

I saw an old study where dutch had one of the highest dress out percentages. I was trying to find it but I haven't yet.

 

[FourRingCircus]

So did I understand correctly in that they make a good meat rabbit?

ALL rabbits are made of meat!

Valid point! :lol: Just some are a bit more worth the effort than others :wink: .

Wow, I'll be honest and admit to not knowing much about dutch but I had no clue they came in other colors besides black and white. All we ever see is black and white here.

So did I understand correctly in that they make a good meat rabbit?

I saw an old study where dutch had one of the highest dress out percentages. I was trying to find it but I haven't yet.

That's probably the one that got me started on this process - it was linked in a thread a while back, but I couldn't find it to look back on it either... I will admit my searching skills aren't stellar :roll:

 

[alforddm]

Maybe there was where I saw it. http://msucares.com/livestock/small_ani ... ghter.html

 

[FourRingCircus]

Maybe there was where I saw it. http://msucares.com/livestock/small_ani ... ghter.html

I can't say 100% that it's the same one I remember reading, but the numbers line up! Thanks for finding that!