Producing desirable kits.

[AlbinoGiant]

So far my rabbit breeding hasn't gone to well and I've ended up with a bunch of generic common black bunnies that are a Dutch breed but with not so many Dutch markings so poor examples of a dutch rabbit. I have a feeling they will be hard to shift even if I sell them super cheap or for free... I just don't have a good feeling about it and I have 10 of them plus the mother to get rid of so that I can concentrate on producing better desirable breeds with some different rabbits.

In my area it is hard to find decent rabbits, its mainly small breeds that I see here. The desirable breeds are always way out of my reach in terms of distance. I want to produce large sized albino lops, although it doesn't matter too much if some have straight ears. English, French, German Lops seem to be a rarity where I am, so that is a breed I think I will try and produce but in Albino mutation. There are none in my area or anywhere else... So here is what I have and what I can get...

I have an Albino Mini Lop buck to get things started... I am also aiming to get good sized rabbits. There is a seller within my reach that has some New Zealand rabbits for sale and I was thinking maybe I could cross the two breeds to produce some larger albino rabbits that resemble an English Lop. There is also another seller further away who has an albino Continental Giant for sale and its his last one so I might not secede with getting it which leaves me with the New Zealand doe as the alternative to producing nice sized rabbits.

What do people think?

 

[RabbitsOfTheCreek]

It's REW not Albino btw

 

[tambayo]

Lops are prone to ear problems, so you either need to be very hands on and that becomes tricky with many bunnies or breed for normal ears. So one how much time do you have for your bunnies every day during standard chores? Being efficient is important, but so is taming and keeping the bunnies tame/comfortable being handled (incl. in biting cold or wet weather when you want to be back inside a warm house asap). Handling kits dayly is a major part of that.

Why the focus on "nice size rabbits"? If it is for food, quail are big enough to eat so same goes for a good size dwarf. Don't fall for the bigger is better thing. Ideal size depends on how much room you have (total and hutch size), and what animals are a good size for you to handle and not only now, but also 20+ years from now if this is something you want to do for a long time.

I raise rabbits for meat, but between only having to feed me and still wanting to be able to do this when 70-80+ i picked rex dwarf (now they are towards 1700-1900 grams i.e. over show weight, but that is not relevant for me anyway). 2kg adult is about as heavy and big as i want them, they fit my arms, they fit my hutches (and the room i have for hutches, shed isn't that big). Makes them easy to handle and therefore way more attractive to indeed handle, check and so on. I found that "wrong" as it might be the animals i like get more handling and so on. I know it and so keep tabs on that, but it is something to be aware of when keeping animals and esp. multiple ones. If you focus on selling pet rabbits, they need to be well handled also to know of problems like agression making the rabbit and possibly the whole line unsuitable for pets, but also less fun to handle.

I would first sit down with pen and paper and start writing what traits you want and what your breeding goals are if you want to sell. Only then start looking at what breeds are offered that would fit. If you start crossing breeds and sizes keep in mind that the doe needs to be bigger/same size as the buck due to limited exit room for the kits. Usually rule is about 10-15% difference in bodyweight. Also the next generation may have very different sizes if you breed dwarf to standard size. It can work, but don't bet everything on it for breeding stock.

 

[AlbinoGiant]

I have decided to scrap the idea with breeding a New Zealand rabbit with a minilop and aim for the REW Continental Giant, I think that is the breed where the money will be although I'm not doing it purely for money but just as a side hobby for now. If the seller has sold them all then I'll wait until more become available rather than going for the next best thing. I think its better to have a clear idea and stick to it.

I prefer the larger breeds. I've never had any issues with lops and there ears. I have a lot of time for my animals so I don't mind spending an extra hour or so making sure my rabbits are healthy, besides its all part of owning them. I do have other rabbits I've put aside for house pets, like my mini lops.

There is one other breed I am looking into and that is the English Spot rabbit. I really like the look of those and I would like to have one as a pet and maybe breed a pair of them at a later date. I'm not going to cross any breeds. English Spot rabbits sell well so if I bred a pair of English Spots then I'll have no issues selling them. For now I'm only going to be looking for one English Spot for a house pet. I will breed a pair of REW Continental Giants once I'm able to obtain some.