Polyface Rabbit?

[iamdrglass]

I have been looking for more info on the Polyface rabbit line. Does anyone know what breeds were used to start the line? Have they published any data on growth rates for their fryers? Or are they just mixed breeds that just get pastured?

Thanks
Dan

 

[Frosted Rabbits]

I haven't found any recent information-- but they may very well be larger meat mutts. You may e-mail them, but looking at some of their 'fees' in the past-- you may be charged for the answer!!!

 

[Devon's Mom Lauren]

There was something I saw on Youtube, I think they are just mutts. Sometimes clever marketing helps make something appear better than it really is or different from all the "others" I don't remember the link but I guess you can use polyface as a search word there

 

[MaggieJ]

My understanding is that they are meat mutts, but a line that has been developed and selectively bred to do well on a diet high in foraged greens. Now how much is truth and how much is hype I could not tell you, but since I am doing something rather similar with my meat mutts, I can understand why they think their rabbits are special. I know my line is improving every year as I learn more and select the best of the best to carry on.

 

[Frosted Rabbits]

Polyface farms has excellent marketing-- Joel Salatin is recognized as an authority on getting the most bang for your buck when it comes to renewable/sustainable food production. And when you look at the bigger picture-- rabbit breeds were developed to get a consistent outcome from each breeding-- and like Maggie does, the same thing can be done with 'mutts' in any species. When people start 'showing' animals in competition, the breeders start to focus more on ribbons than on the final intended product. too bad meat pens are not processed on site-- to give an accounting of true dress out weights and meat to bone ratios. Another thing a dress out on show site would do-- look at the quality of FAT on the rabbit. Now, Joel Salatin is not going to provide breeding program information without getting some sort of compensation for it. But, he is showing us all, that one can be both economically and 'healthfully' productive by integrating Nature in what we do to raise our food.W ecan do it in a manner that also feeds more than just one or two families, as well. Walter Jeffries in Vermont is doing the same thing-- And you can find WJ on the HT forums... he even has a website devoted to keeping the government OUT of our food production businesses..AND he will sell you live breeding stock that he has developed that improves their success on a Natural, grass based program.

 

[currituckbun]

Here is the link to Poly Face in Virginia. Great reading. I see we have a store in Virginia Beach. Not far from the soccer field I spend so much time on. I think I might go check it out. Thanks for the lead. http://www.polyfacefarms.com/

 

[anthonyt21]

http://polyfaceapprentice.blogspot.com/ ... bbits.html
he says they are linebred nzw cali

 

[iamdrglass]

Thank you all for you responses.
Maggie what was your starting point breed wise? What traits are you looking for in a litter to improve your line? Are you able to hit the 5 lb mark in the 10-12 week range?

If there is anyone else working on lines that are being breed for natural forage what are you doing and traits that you look for?

Thanks
Dan

 

[MaggieJ]

Our "starting point" was a trio of yard sale meat mutts that my partner, Brian, surprised me in 2005. The does had some NZW blood, I think, but who knows for sure. One was a broken black and the other a sort of steel. They were full sisters. The buck was smallish, chinchilla-coloured but good and chunky. We just kept selecting our best offspring for future breeders, sending everything else to freezer camp. On pellets the rabbits reached five pounds by 10-12 weeks, but on natural feed they take longer. But our costs dropped from about $1.50/lb of dressed rabbit to about 75 cents, so cheaper overall and much better flavour. We select for good growth, meaty hindquarters, not too long in the ribcage. We favour rabbits with good dispositions but have never had really nasty ones. Twice we have brought in a better buck to improve the line. Other than that we have a closed rabbitry. I like it that way - the rabbits thrive on natural foods from the beginning and it reduces the chance of bringing in disease.

 

[iamdrglass]

When you feed natural weeds alfalfa how much are you feeding at one time? I feed 1cup pellets a day plus alalfa in the hay feeder so how do I start converting to hay and weeds quantity wise?

Does natural fed rabbit have a darker meat?

I think next spring I will try going 50/50 on diet if time permits. I am going to build some larger grow out cages with maybe a large hay rack in it as well as a couple of tractors with wire bottoms, then just keep the best foragers for next generation breeders. I just crossed some real high quality Rex (huge huge top line) in with my smaller NZW. I have high hopes for the next generation.

Thanks
Dan

 

[MaggieJ]

The amount of fresh foods (mainly weeds) varies with the season. In winter, it is often treat portions only, plus free choice alfalfa hay and a small ration of grain. As spring arrives, the amount of greens served increases with availability, as it would in nature. By late May they are getting all the greens I can gather... about a five-gallon pail twice daily. They eat a lot less hay and grain then, but some is always available. As the greens dwindle in fall and we get our new supply of second cut alfalfa hay, the rabbits slowly move into winter mode again.

The meat from naturally fed rabbits is not darker but the flavour is enhanced, much as free-range chicken is tastier than confinement-raised.

 

[Mosherd1]

So if you get a 5 lb rabbit in 10-12 weeks, does that give you a 2.5 lb dress out?

 

[MaggieJ]

Mosherd1, in case you missed it... the 5lb/10-12 weeks was on pellets. And yes, dress-out if usually about half or a bit more. On natural foods, the same 5 pounds takes longer (14-16 weeks) and dress-out is similar to pellet-raised.

 

[ellistattoo]

In the first couple minutes of this video Joel Salatin talks about some of the meat rabbits that they have. Apparently his son started raising them at 8 yrs old as a 4H project. According to Joel it took 5 years of selective line breeding averaging a 50% mortality to come up with a line that is acclimated to forage. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfw2ybbRTYs&feature=relmfu[/youtube]

 

[MaggieJ]

Fifty percent mortality rate? What the heck??? I can't even begin to imagine what they were doing wrong. But of course, Daniel was only eight years old when he started... might have had something to do with it.

I took three months to transition my rabbits from pellets with some greens to a fully natural diet. I took it real slow because I was winging it... Very few people were doing this then. I've had very few losses and not a single case of enteritis among youngsters.

 

[ellistattoo]

MaggieJ- I thought that was pretty darn high too! Unrelated to this thread, but I can't thank you enough for your posts reflecting your experiences with alternative feeding methods. My little doe can't thank you enough either, she seems to be doing very well under the circumstances!

 

[MaggieJ]

Glad all my ramblings on the subject helped.