Rex for Meat?

[Truckinguy]

We took our annual trip to the Royal Winter Fair here in Toronto last weekend and while I was there I had an opportunity to pet a Minirex rabbit. All I can say is Wow! That fur is so soft and dense! I don't think I"m going to change out all my New Zealands but would full size Rex rabbits be a good meat animal? I tan some of my NZ pelts and they come out pretty good but you can't beat the Rex fur.

 

[Sagebrush]

I am currently breeding Rex as a meat breed for our family.

 

[Ramjet]

I raise Rex as well for both meat & pelts. They grow a bit slower than more commercially acceptable meat breeds like NZ & Cali's but the hides at least to me are well worth the extra time growing them out.

I was looking at the price of tanned Rex hides a while back and dyed rex fur was $24-$33 a hide while natural colors were as high as $54 each.

 

[Truckinguy]

I raise Rex as well for both meat & pelts. They grow a bit slower than more commercially acceptable meat breeds like NZ & Cali's but the hides at least to me are well worth the extra time growing them out.

I was looking at the price of tanned Rex hides a while back and dyed rex fur was $24-$33 a hide while natural colors were as high as $54 each.

Good grief, that's a lot of money! I"m not horribly concerned with growth rates so I might give it a try although that means I have to build a second colony... uh oh....

 

[MamaSheepdog]

I raise Rex for meat as well. They do take a bit longer to grow out, but their pelts and sweet personalities make up for it. Plus, they come in so many beautiful colors!

I say... Come to the Rex side, TruckinGuy! :twisted:

 

[skysthelimit]

Go for it, Rex are great as meat rabbits. It's possible you can find an older line that grows out a bit quickly, but if not, it's not too much behind the NZ and Cals.

 

[Truckinguy]

Very interesting! We'll see what happens in the spring. Maybe I'll start a second colony for the Rex and keep the NZ going. I'm pretty attached to the line of NZ's I have going now, for color and, well, they are all descended from my first buns ever, Scarlett and Adam. Yup, sentimental old truck driver... lol

 

[Dood]

You might want to look into Standard Rex now - I think there are only 2 breeders advertising in Ontario and there is a waiting list :shrug:

If they breed for show you might find poor production qualities - my show quality American Chinchillas left much to be desired in a meat production rabbit

 

[BC Belgians]

I think hobby breeders and small scale farmers do very well choosing breeds based on appeal before choosing them for a certain performance. It is often surprising how well an alternative breed can do in the care of someone who has true affection for the breed and interest in it.

I chose Belgian Hares because I liked the breed. It wasn't my plan at all to raise rabbit meat, but the hares are doing so well that raising them for meat now has the potential of contributing to our farm income.

Border Cheviot sheep are a far cry from a commercial meat sheep. We chose them for their look (they look like bunnies). Our ewes are now consistently lambing twins, and the lambs finish as nice 50 lb. carcasses on pasture in 6 months. That suits us and our clients perfectly, and - more importantly - we get excited to go outside to take care of the sheep, because we like them.

What the Rex rabbits might lack in meat performance (when compared to other breeds) they could potentially make up for in pelts. You may do better with your Rex rabbits in the end.

 

[HendricksHearth]

I agree 100% with BC Belgians. That's pretty much what I was going to say, except they said it more eloquently. I have had Harlequins for years and while they don't dress out the same as NZW, they work just fine for my purposes and I love their coats. Learning to work with their pelts is on my to-do list because I think a Harlie blanket or hat would be amazing. Work with what you love!

Best of luck,

Lauren

 

[Celice]

I think Rexes are great meat rabbits, and if you want them to have better meat on them you can cross them with NZ and get a better growth rate on them. That's what I've been doing, crossbreeding for rex furred NZ and the grow fast with nice plush fur

 

[gardenbunny]

I just started breeding. I got a rex buck from a show rabbitry that didn't want him because his color is off. I breed him with a California/nzw and a florida white. both grew out pretty well at 4 months we got about 3 lbs of meat after butchering per rabbit. however I didn't use the pelts so I was thinking i'd just use his son as my new buck. the nzw/cali cross is the only rabbit that is so bitchy to me lol

 

[3mina]

I raise Rex for meat and fur and while it can take some time you can improve growth rates and fur quality just the same way we improve every other trait we want in our herds. I've increased growth rates for my bunns while keeping the fur quality my breeder has been working with. My biggest problem is by the time the pelts are ready the bunns are bigger than I want.

I love being able to have different colours and patterns in the barn too.

 

[nvstickbow]

We are raising Rex's for show and meat. Might just be my lines but they are growing out just as fast as my Cali's are. They are weighing between 4 and 5 pounds at 10 weeks. The pelts are looking pretty good at 10 weeks but are definitely better around 15-16. I couldn't get away from the Rex's if I tried; my wife and kids love the soft fur on them so much more than the Cali's or New Zealand's.

 

[GBov]

I started with Rex not too long ago and LOVE them! Such laid back bunnies and wow that fur and all those wonderful colors!

Having crossed my Rex bucks with NZ does I found the fur to be super thick on those kits and the flavor is even better than straight NZs. Its worth my while to keep the bucks from those crossings for 4 full months as the hides are more than worth it. The pelts are like super thick duck down.

There is a down side to Rex for meat though, I can sell my Rex kits faster than I can produce them so I have to keep another breed for meat! :lol:

Hopefully when all my Rex does are in full production I can faze out my other breeds and still have enough rabbit meat.

 

[Ramjet]

I started with Rex not too long ago and LOVE them! Such laid back bunnies and wow that fur and all those wonderful colors!

Having crossed my Rex bucks with NZ does I found the fur to be super thick on those kits and the flavor is even better than straight NZs. Its worth my while to keep the bucks from those crossings for 4 full months as the hides are more than worth it. The pelts are like super thick duck down.

There is a down side to Rex for meat though, I can sell my Rex kits faster than I can produce them so I have to keep another breed for meat! :lol:

Hopefully when all my Rex does are in full production I can faze out my other breeds and still have enough rabbit meat.

Funny , I had the same issue last year , Rex sold out FAST and for a very good price compared to other breeds. I didn't eat a single one that wasn't a cull. I think I have ONE rex hide and about 20 NZ/Altex hides tanned from last years kits.
They grow out a bit slower but they definitely paid for themselves ... and pretty much the entire rabbitry.

I haven't sold any hides , I keep them for myself but I've found multiple websites that sell them and the prices make them worth the wait. The lowest was $24 each and a high of $54 for a tanned hide. The only natural colors available were various castor / otter while the did offer dyed pelts in various other colors.

 

[Zass]

The only natural colors available were various castor / otter while the did offer dyed pelts in various other colors.

Industry finds it more cost effective and consistent to buy white pelts and dye them.

I find that this tendency produces a rather strong demand for natural colors to be sold directly to consumers.

 

[Celice]

very true!

and I personally like colored pelts. The more interesting the pattern the more I like it, and I'm sure it's like that for a lot of people. I noticed on Hide and Fur that the natural rex colors are blue, black, white, chinchilla, and castor everything else is dyed. They sold for an okay price $15 and up for some of them.

In my herd I've started to get blue harlequin rex and I'm loving the color and patterns.

I've also found out that rex have better loins then NZ and mixing the breed helps.

BTW, Zass you have beautiful opals!!! I've got a pelt from someone on DA and it was one of your bunnies. Massive rabbit!

 

[Zass]

very true!
BTW, Zass you have beautiful opals!!! I've got a pelt from someone on DA and it was one of your bunnies. Massive rabbit!

Might have been a big fryer, or maybe one of Pancake's sister's...My opals started from FG/NZ crosses so they were pretty big. The new generations are to be a bit smaller but much more plush.

 

[GBov]

I just butchered a Rex French Angora cross and the loin was at least twice as wide as a NZ! She didn't look any bigger than any of the ones I processed that day but she sure was meatier than the NZs.

I wasn't sure if it was the FA or the Rex that gave the huge loin so its nice to hear its from the Rex side.