Standard Rex growout

[DonnerSurvivor]

Hi guys, I need to add some new breeding stock and really want rex but am wondering what the growout time and feed/weight conversion will be like compared to NZW or Calis. Thanks in advance.

 

[PSFAngoras]

I don't believe that rex typically grow as fast as those breed, but I have noticed faster growth than my angoras. This is my first litter though, so I can only tell you what I know so far.

I have a first time doe who only kindled two kits. I had to help her figure out how to nurse them, and then she took off from there. She actually fed them so much I was scared of over feeding. I assume the fast grow rate is due solely in part to the small litter size, but he kits were 5 and 8 ounces at one week old, 15 and 18 ounces at 19 days old, and I weighed the larger of the two kits today at day 25 and it came in at 25 ounces. They are massive!!!

Hope this can give you some ideas, maybe someone else who has more rex for a better comparison or NZ or Cali can help input some info.

 

[Tegan]

I typically culled my rex at 11 weeks and around 4.5 lbs. 12 weeks would have seen the majority of them to 5lbs....but I am impatient and only feeding a family of 3...so no worries if they are a little small (saves on feed cost too). Right now I'm running rex/flemish mix and culling between 9 and 11 weeks and 4.5ish lbs. Some of them seem to grow faster then others. I suspect the ones that got more of dad's (rex) genes then mom's (flemish) genes and are built for a little more faster growth. They are also jerks...and the replacement buck I was thinking of keeping is getting culled tomorrow for jerkiness (spraying across the isle at my other buck, trying his darnedist to chew the water lines, destroying feeders, destroying ice bottles, spazzy to the point of being unmanageable...it's too bad because he got big FAST compared to his siblings...)....but his sister (a replacement doe for one that kept stomping her litters and culling them down to 7 from 10-12) is as sweet as can be....which isn't the norm that her mom throws LOL.

In general the rex have been great though...I'm just out of rex does....traded one off to a different meat breeder because she couldn't keep up with my breeding schedule and stay in condition....and the other one started stomping litters so she had to go. I'm looking for a replacement for my flemish doe because she's just too stinking big for me to handle comfortably...and wasn't handled enough from the gal I got her from, so she's a bit wild.

Anyway....side tracked.....

I really do like rex, you can get interesting colors and patterns (I can't stand looking at WHITE out in my cages all day) and they grow plenty fast to make me happy.

 

[PSFAngoras]

I've never had the experience wih crazy Rex, mine were not handled much before I got them, so they don't like to be held, but they are fairly sweet. They will all allow me to pet them, though the one doe who has kits is a little overly protective of them. (I just use a spare cage to put her in when I check on the kits) the other doe has had two large litters of kits and raised the. Well. She is due again in a week, and she is still sweet as can be. I hope that doesn't change when she kindles. The buck has never once sprayed me or anything else, so I think Tegan just unfortunately got a line that likes to 'act out' a bit more than usual. Rex are typically sweet and sociable rabbits

 

[skysthelimit]

I can't say anything about typical. My Rex are pyschos, even though they are all handled after birth, and spend more time with me than with there dams. I have culled half of my herd due to temperament, and have had my hand gorged twice by two different rabbits, one a buck and one a doe (two different lines completely). I have heard similar, and from judges. Because they are not as easy to find, I think this creates a serious temperament issue in the breed, we keep things we have no business because they are hard to replace.

As far as grow out, I'm not the best person to ask, grow has always been my chief complaint with Rex, because they are supposed to be a commercial breed. For the past two years, I only had 2 buns reach 5lbs before 5 mos, over a total of 200 kits. Finally I am getting 5lbs at 12 weeks, but only one or two out of the litter, and I'm culling all others. I hear the same complain on the Rex breeder pages. They have fallen out of favor with meat breeders because of NZ, so a lot of the people raising them are for show, and aren't as greatly concerned with fast growth rate. Slower growth sometimes equals better fur quality, and that's more important.
I do get huge litters,10-12. Litter size does matter ,but the litter of 9 now, is about 3 lbs at 8 weeks. Another litter of 4, is barely 1.5lbs at 6 weeks. I plan to cull that entire litter and the dam. Mola kindled 7/21, and her kits are almost the same size as the 6 weeks olds.
Rex on the West Coast seem to grow faster than the East coast. Maybe more breeders over there stayed true to the meat breeding aspects of Rex.

If you decide, find someone who breeds for meat, and is mainly concerned about meat. Although I am trying to improve the size of my Rex, they are quickly losing favor as my primary show breed, too hard to get quality stock. I gave up on them as meat breeders, that's why I got the Silver Fox, and decided on French Angora instead of English.

In order of feed conversion, Silver Fox, Rex, Angora.

 

[MamaSheepdog]

I absolutely adore my Rex- their fur is like nothing else. I have a soft spot for brokens, and love the different varieties (colors) available.

I also love their temperaments. My rabbits are all friendly and calm. The worst I ever had was a doe named Evil Blue, who would lunge at me, but never bit. However, she was out of one of my first litters when I did not handle the kits for fear of becoming too attached to my meat. I eventually brought her around and she became known as "Irritable Blue" instead.

The growout on my Rex is slow as well. Mine rarely reach senior weight before 7-8 months. I spoke to a judge about it who bred Rex, and he said that was his experience also.

I am working on faster growout, but it is not a quick or easy fix.

My friends raise Cals- unpapered, Craigslist Cals... and their growout is astonishing compared to my Rex. They completely blow them out of the water.

Like Sky, I also have moved into other breeds for meat production, since we now eat rabbit at least twice a week. I have two Beveren does and a buck, and have raised one litter, and recently acquired a pair of junior American Blues.

If you are looking for fast growth, you would be better off with another breed, unless you are lucky enough to find someone who has been focusing on meat production in their herd for quite some time.

 

[DonnerSurvivor]

Thank you all for the good honest replies I will take this into consideration.

 

[Tegan]

Sorry the flemish/rex mixes are the nutso ones. The pure rex I had were fine. My rex buck is fine. The flemish is making them unmanageable (I think I got a doe from a nutso line). Should have been a little more clear. The standard are certianly more skitish then the mini rex I had at one point, but much more manageable then the flemish and her crazy kids.

 

[OneAcreFarm]

Rex are a smaller rabbit than Cals or NZW, nor do they grow as quickly. You cannot do a direct comparison. However, I have had great results with Cal/Rex crosses for meat. I raise all three breeds and love them all for different reasons.

And, I am going to be completely ANAL here, :roll: but they are REX...not Standard Rex. I know lots of folks refer to them that way, but that is only because *some* MR breeders incorrectly refer to their rabbits as simply Rex. :mrgreen: They are not, they are MINI REX. OK, I am done... :soap: :lol:

 

[skysthelimit]

I had an old time breeder get on me about that, but I told him at one point I had both, and I got tired of people asking me about particular Rex, and come to find out they wanted Mini Rex and not Rex. They just glossed over the Rex part, quite a few people don't even know there is a larger Rex.

 

[OneAcreFarm]

I had an old time breeder get on me about that, but I told him at one point I had both, and I got tired of people asking me about particular Rex, and come to find out they wanted Mini Rex and not Rex. They just glossed over the Rex part, quite a few people don't even know there is a larger Rex.

I know...it just drives me insane! :frypan: I usually say Rex, NOT Mini Rex, instead. And I have learned to ask anyone that says they have Rex if they are Mini's or not.... :mrgreen:<br /><br />__________ Mon Aug 12, 2013 4:34 pm __________<br /><br />Back to the question of grow out....we recently weighed some that were 6-6.5lbs at 12-13wks. I think that is pretty good for Rex, what do others think?

 

[MamaSheepdog]

Back to the question of grow out....we recently weighed some that were 6-6.5lbs at 12-13wks. I think that is pretty good for Rex, what do others think?

I think you'd better send me some of whatever you are feeding them.

 

[skysthelimit]

I think you'd better send me some of your Rex!

 

[MamaSheepdog]

I think you'd better send me some of your Rex!

My Sistah has Rex from my lines, and I have a couple lilacs from her... so it's gotta be the feed. :hmm:

Maybe she is secretly feeding them RGH... Rabbit Growth Hormone. :twisted:

 

[skysthelimit]

Oh, right, lol.

Well yours are still growing faster than mine, though I finally got a 4 mos old at 6lbs, but it's a buck, black at that, and he will become a cull, don't need more bucks.

There's a lady on the FB Rex page that says she has 4 mos old at 8lbs. I hardly believe it, but I'd be willing to try some of hers.

Thought I have also been told by the old time breeder, as speed of growth increases, fur quality diminishes.

 

[PSFAngoras]

Thought I have also been told by the old time breeder, as speed of growth increases, fur quality diminishes.

It's unfortunate, but it really does make sense. If you breed them to put more of their protein intake into building muscle faster, what is there left to develop the coat?

 

[skysthelimit]

I see what you mean about Angoras and Rex. The doe I just got is small compared to Ansel and Louet. The owner explained that the line I have from a particular breeder- she breeds bigs ones. Really big. Ansel and Louet were at least 7lbs at 12 weeks, they were the size of my adult Rex. And Ansel is bigger than any rabbit I have here, maybe heavier than the Silver Fox. It was just those two, which is why the FA/EA crosses look so small to me. They are the correct size, and Ansel and Louet are/were just larger. That would put my Rex at a faster grow out than the current crop of Angoras, which goes into the needing protein for wool/fur, being diverted/shared with growth needs.

 

[OneAcreFarm]

I think you'd better send me some of your Rex!

My Sistah has Rex from my lines, and I have a couple lilacs from her... so it's gotta be the feed. :hmm:

Maybe she is secretly feeding them RGH... Rabbit Growth Hormone. :twisted:

You feed a grain mixture, correct? I am thinking that *may* possibly be the issue with your Lilacs....either they are missing some kind of vitamin/mineral that they DO get from pellets or maybe something in the grain they are sensitive to...I dunno, but it likely IS the reason they grow slower.