So long Lops... Hello ??

[TF3]

I think I have finally got my daughter talked out of her Holland Lops.
She bought them with the money she saved for a couple years for chickens.
But really, she pays them no attention in favour of her favourites from the big buns.
So the lops are going to go... (they are cute but just more work than our others and a pain to adapt to when all the rest of the rabbits are big!).

She wants to show, so I told her she could pick a breed and *eventually* we will find a doe for her~ if it was in the 7-12 lb. range and could double for meat production.
She has been poking around and really likes the Creme D'Argent... would you suggest one colour over another (are they considered separate breeds by colour?)
She is also liking the Harlequins as she loves the look of a magpie.
I think we're more likely to *find* a Harlequin.

 

[Zass]

I LOVE my harlequins.

My few have great tempers, big litters, great mothering, great forage ability, and reasonable growout times. Not anywhere near as fast as the meat mutts, but workable.

Different lines are going to be different of course...
Their show points are almost entirely in markings, so body type is further down the list when it comes to selection of stock.

Pedigreed stock in rather important, since there are so many harlequin colored mutts that one may never be able to get really good markings from.

Instead, if you can, make sure the person you buy show stock from actively shows their harlequins. They can give good breeding advice too.

Getting showable markings can still be rather challenging, even from good stock. Winning markings even more so.
For that reason, I tend to think that they are more suitable for a meat breeders than pet or show only breeders.

It's just easier when you can eat up all the mis-marked ones.

 

[MamaSheepdog]

Harlequins have notoriously bad body type since everyone's primary focus is pattern. Getting the correct markings is very difficult, so if they happen to pop up it doesn't matter what the body looks like. You will get lots of culls for the freezer though! :lol:

The Cremes I have seen have pretty nice body type. Plus they are rather rare, so nice to get into just to bring up the numbers.

If your daughter plans on showing, she will probably need to enter in Open because there likely wont be many (if any) Youth exhibitors in any given area so no possibility of earning Legs unless her rabbit takes BIS in the Youth show. My daughter shows her Satins in Open for that reason, and there are some Rex breeders that are Youth who also show in Open here in California.

Another plus is that she will probably find a mentor (or several!) because the Creme breeders will be so excited to have a new enthusiast of the breed join their ranks.

 

[BirchLane]

I'm adding the American Chinchilla to my herd very soon, and moving away from the meat mutts to a breed that is notable for its good production of both meat and fur. I am purchasing my trio from a show breeder, as I want an animal that I can put on the table in more than one way. I find that, at least as far as the meat breeds go, an animal that meets the Standard of Perfection is typically also a good quality animal for the homestead. Not always, of course, but most of the time.

There's the added fact that the American Chinchilla has been classed as Critical by The Livestock Conservancy. As applied to rabbits, Critical status indicates that there are fewer than 50 annual registrations in the US with a global estimate of less than 500 animals. I am particularly interested in the preservation of heritage livestock breeds, so the notion that I may be able to help the American Chinchilla's continuance in some way is very appealing to me.