Should I get a Flemish Giant buck?

[GBov]

He is young and not too much money so I was wondering if he would be a nice mix to my New Zealands just for our freezer camp?

The man selling him was very inthusiastic (I hate my spell check, it now thinks that is the proper way to spell it :evil: )about the cross, said it would give a MUCH larger dress out weight at 8 weeks so I thought I would ask the folks who have done the cross what they thought about it.

I love having a go to group

 

[Mary Ann's Rabbitry]

You can do it. But you will get a bigger bone to meat ratio... I dont recommend it.

 

[jollysrabbits]

when it comes to pure economics of the subject you would probably be better off just sticking with the NZ's, like Mary Ann said you will get bigger bones. that being said I love my Flemish and they are an awesome breed and mix very well with nz's. it just takes time to really get good crosses. just to clarify Flemish do not grow any slower like some people think. they just grow differently they don't put on much meat till after 3 months. before that just bone and flesh.

 

[garden lady]

when it comes to pure economics of the subject you would probably be better off just sticking with the NZ's, like Mary Ann said you will get bigger bones. that being said I love my Flemish and they are an awesome breed and mix very well with nz's. it just takes time to really get good crosses. just to clarify Flemish do not grow any slower like some people think. they just grow differently they don't put on much meat till after 3 months. before that just bone and flesh.

After the bone and flesh, I am not sure if there is much meat other than fat really. It takes a lot of food to keep them going. I do not see how anybody would profit raising these things to eat, especially the younger ones. The neighbors thought they were jackrabbits because of the legs.

 

[jollysrabbits]

when it comes to pure economics of the subject you would probably be better off just sticking with the NZ's, like Mary Ann said you will get bigger bones. that being said I love my Flemish and they are an awesome breed and mix very well with nz's. it just takes time to really get good crosses. just to clarify Flemish do not grow any slower like some people think. they just grow differently they don't put on much meat till after 3 months. before that just bone and flesh.

After the bone and flesh, I am not sure if there is much meat other than fat really. It takes a lot of food to keep them going. I do not see how anybody would profit raising these things to eat, especially the younger ones. The neighbors thought they were jackrabbits because of the legs.

ya they always feel bony no matter when you pet them, I was just stating the stage where they "fill out" is between 4-8 months

 

[GBov]

Ah, I did wonder if it was a good mix. He said that a FG buck would give the frame and the NZ doe would give the meat to cover it and I would have 6 to 8 pound friers at 8 to 9 weeks of age.

But as he seemed a bit barking, I wanted to double check the things he was sooooo very sure of.

Still, a chance to get another kind of rabbit, hmmmmmmmmm, my rabbitosis is acting up again

 

[ColdBrook]

Hmmm Thanks for asking this. I have a buck that is half Flemish, half NZ and my first litter, from my NZ doe is 6.5 weeks old now. They're still fairly small, maybe 3 pounds at the most, for the biggest of the bunch. Surely there's no way they will be even 5 pounds within the next two weeks! Am I not feeding them enough? I weaned at 5 weeks but at 3, they were devouring Mom's pelleted feed. They get pellets, steamed oats and all they can eat timothy hay.

I also got a Flemish doe, thinking more Flemish in the mix might be better for meat, but that was before I joined this group. Wondering now if I should look for another NW doe and keep a 3.4 NZ buck and breed out the Flemish a bit?

 

[ZRabbits]

I got a Flemish/NZ mix from a meat breeder, as a pet, Rubeus. Was good tempered but had a jaw issue. I would have had to trim his teeth for the rest of his life, so the breeder took him back. Was impressed with the growth in the month that we had him. Rubeus's father was a 20 pound buck and mother was a NZ/Red. Don't know how big she was.

Here's some pics of him

7 weeks

10 weeks

I think if you get a smallish Flemish, not hitting scales of 20 pounds and a good meaty NZ doe, you could really have a nice meat rabbit.

Karen

 

[tm_bunnyloft]

My FG/NZ crosses had amazing meat to bone at between 12 and 16 weeks. I now have rex FG crosses growing up for meat. I like the color variety better. I kept a rex fg cross doe to breed back to rex dad. That should bring the meat up and bone down enough.<br /><br />__________ Wed Dec 05, 2012 9:55 am __________<br /><br />To clarify, I don't ever send bunnies to freezer camp before 12 weeks so not sure how they are at 8 weeks.

 

[Basenji43]

I am relatively new to rabbits so take or leave my advice as you see fit I have flemish giant does and a Champagne buck for my meat rabbits. If you were going to use Flemish in your mixes I would use a doe not a buck. The Flemish does I have are GREAT mothers even first time moms and I have heard that others are as well. They have large litters and take great care of the kits. The two mixed litters I have right now are 4 weeks old and the majority weigh in at 1 pound 10oz with two kits topping 2 pounds!!! They feel chubby and not boney like my Flemish does did at that age. So I am hoping that the Champagne refines some of the bone while keeping the meat...so far so good

 

[JessicaR]

I am not sure what my results will be but I did breed my NZW doe to my blue flemish buck. I dont have a NZW buck so since the doe we got is 3 years old I wanted to get her bred soon and not let her sit around getting fat. If it took i should have babies this weekend, I will definitly be charting their growth rate.

 

[ColdBrook]

I think I will cull my half Flemish buck Zeke, once his son, Black Zakk is of age as Zakk is 3/4 NZ being out of a full blooded NZ doe. Then I'll see what I get from my one FG doe in the spring, crossing her to Zakk instead of to Zeke as those babies would still be over half Fg, but not 75% as they would if I used Zeke. I'll start looking for a full NZ or CA, American Blue, or some other breed of meat rabbit for a replacement for Zeke.. Oh gosh, I just realized how difficult this is going to be to cull...Zeke's such a goober, so sweet and friendly. I can't imagine sending him to freezer camp..but he's coming on two years old and I don't want to let him get too old before we make that choice. I am going to go try and weigh my little 6.5 week old 3/4 NZ 1/4 FG kits over lunch break here!

Ooops, I am sorry! I totally did not mean to hijack someone's thread. Please accept my apologies, OP. I just jumped in with both feet (all four feet?) since it was a topic I might have posted myself, but need to remember I didn't. I do sincerely apologize.