thoughts or experiences with flemish giants or FG crosses

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ohiogoatgirl

ohiogoatgirl

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any thoughts or experiences would be welcome. i am workin on gettin some meat breeds and was thinkin a FG or FG cross would be good. from what i see of their sizes on youtube videos compared to what i am seeing of my dutch kits they seem to be fairly good growth.
maybe a half FG-half NZ or cali? or a 1/4 FG? for the meatier build and larger litters (from the little i have been able to find on them).
thanks!
 
my best rabbit is 1/4 flemish. I don't know that I'd go that much more than that.

Flemmies grow more slowly and have a lot of bone to them.

So look around, see what you can find locally. :) Or make a trip up here to Ontario is about... four weeks... I could send you home with a couple of Biscuits children. :) granted they'll be 1/2 flemmie which may be more than you want... but they are out of a excellent doe. :)
 
Yep, what she said. Pure FG have big bones, grow slowly, and, I hear, eat you out of house and home while growing out.

We did have a FG cross doe. She didn't get terribly big, but we don't know what sort of cross she was the product of. She produced faithfully for us, though. Babies took about 14-16 weeks to get near 5 lbs. BUT... our buck was a minilop, so...

Hey, you get started with what you can! :)
 
I have 2 purebred FG's I love them to pieces!! But they do grow slow, my 10 week old kit is almost 6 pounds. And they eat, and eat, and eat!! Mine eat almost 2 cups a day. Also from what I was told from the breeder, they grow bone first and put on muscle after they are mostly done growing (not sure how true that is).
 
well I'm a fairly new breeder, but my flemish do not grow slowly. I have a litter right now of 3 month old flemish, that are really big. I haven't weighed them yet. I also have some 5.5 month old californian/flemish crosses, that are nice sized. The does are larger than their californian mother. I like the cross of cali/fg. they grow really fast, and I've bred six of the does, so we will see how they do as mothers. due any day now. My flemish buck is a year old, and has sired five litters, with several more on the way. every litter was 7-12 kits. the only ones of these that we lost were due to my own inexperience.I didn't uncover the nest box and the doe had them on the wire.
I had a litter of flemish/nz last summer, that were really nice kits too. I sold one REW buck that was as large as his sire, pure flemish buck, at seven months old. He was gorgeous.<br /><br />__________ Wed Mar 21, 2012 5:54 pm __________<br /><br />well I'm a fairly new breeder, but my flemish do not grow slowly. I have a litter right now of 3 month old flemish, that are really big. I haven't weighed them yet. I also have some 5.5 month old californian/flemish crosses, that are nice sized. The does are larger than their californian mother. I like the cross of cali/fg. they grow really fast, and I've bred six of the does, so we will see how they do as mothers. due any day now. My flemish buck is a year old, and has sired five litters, with several more on the way. every litter was 7-12 kits. the only ones of these that we lost were due to my own inexperience.I didn't uncover the nest box and the doe had them on the wire.
I had a litter of flemish/nz last summer, that were really nice kits too. I sold one REW buck that was as large as his sire, pure flemish buck, at seven months old. He was gorgeous.
 
I have a blue FG buck and they are smaller than the other colors, so that is why he is only 6 pounds at 11 weeks. They put on weight slowley, getting longer first. Mine are big they just dont weigh as much as you think they would compared to how big they are. I will have to post some new picks of them soon.

From what i have been told; Sandy is the largest followed by fawn and REW (depending on the background color), then light grey, steel, black and the smallest is blue.
 
I've heard that one of the best meat crosses is a commercial buck (NZ, Californian) on a Flemish doe, because the doe will be a good milker and raise big babies, but the father's influence will hopefully make the bones finer and the body a little more meaty.

I wouldn't know from experience though, its just something I've heard tossed around.
 
Cattle Cait":2oxzuyzb said:
I've heard that one of the best meat crosses is a commercial buck (NZ, Californian) on a Flemish doe, because the doe will be a good milker and raise big babies, but the father's influence will hopefully make the bones finer and the body a little more meaty.

I wouldn't know from experience though, its just something I've heard tossed around.
Click to expand...

Man I hope that's true, if so I might have some pretty awesome kits popping out here in about a week
 
lostcreekrabbits":tcgzrcp2 said:
Cattle Cait":tcgzrcp2 said:
I've heard that one of the best meat crosses is a commercial buck (NZ, Californian) on a Flemish doe, because the doe will be a good milker and raise big babies, but the father's influence will hopefully make the bones finer and the body a little more meaty.

I wouldn't know from experience though, its just something I've heard tossed around.
Click to expand...

Man I hope that's true, if so I might have some pretty awesome kits popping out here in about a week
Click to expand...

How has that litter turned out for you so far? We're planning to breed a Californian buck to our FG does when they are mature enough. Thanks in advance!
 
WOO HOO Flemish people !!!!!! TY TY I have a Blue Doe and a REW Doe, the REW Is due in a week and is bred to a Flemish NZ Cross buck Im really excited about this litter. The Doe was bought as a 6 wk old and grew fast and furioius and is a good size girl. This is her first litter. I have a NICE BIG BOY REW FG in line for her next assignment. I had bred my Blue doe to my old Guy as I wanted a son out of him. BUT in the intrim have a Steel tip grandson out of a NZ cross and he is a good lookin boy for a breeding program. Enjoy yours folks they are a great rabbit :bunnyhop: :bunnyhop:
 
Jake and Cindi,
We hope things go well for your upcoming litters and would be very interested at how your FG crosses turn out if you don't mind sharing. We have to wait until fall to breed our FG does as they are only 8 weeks old but our intent is to cross them with either a Californian or possibly NZ buck which we do not have yet. We're currently looking in MN/WI/IA for a buck to add to our breeding stock.
 
.....following this thread with interest! I am curious about Flemish influence on meat breeds. Would like to experiment with a Flemish or Flemish cross doe. Fortunately, my cages are all filled up right now. But if one came knocking on my door I would likely find room. Can't wait to hear more on this particular cross.
 
well i am filling my cages very quickly but hopefully i can still get the trio of flemishs if not a doe or two. last they emailed me back they still had 7 white flemish left... but they havent replied to my last email :/ i hope they arent all gone...
 
Just as an update - my Flemish x Checkered cross babies will be six weeks old on Friday. I also have a purebred Checkered litter that will be eight weeks old on Friday. The crossbreds are much larger then the purebreds, with much more mass to them. Interesting!
 
Diamond I live in Oregon as well but on the opposite side of the state. Do you ever make it to Eastern Or, I will have some flemish crosses available this summer. Right now I have a Flemish NZ Cross doeling about 8 weeks old if your interested

__________ Wed Apr 18, 2012 2:12 pm __________

If anyone lives in the Boise area or Eastern Or, WA area's and have a steel doe or two I would be interested in a Steel tip , not gold but the grey

Thanks
Cindi<br /><br />__________ Wed Apr 18, 2012 2:12 pm __________<br /><br />If anyone lives in the Boise area or Eastern Or, WA area's and have a steel doe or two I would be interested in a Steel tip , not gold but the grey

Thanks
Cindi
 
I have cross my meat rabbits on purpose, and one of the "founders" of the tribe was a Flemish. Most of my young does are 1/8 Flemish, and my main bucks ae 1/4 Flemish. This (1/4 FG) seems to be a good ratio. Since I didn't get my Flemish doe till latter (actually she was 1/2 Flemish and !/2 French Lop which saved me a step in my breeding) I bred her into my buck line as I already had the 1/4,1/4, 1/4. 1/4 Brazilian, Cal, San Juan, NZW in my doe line. My bucks are 1/4 Cal, 1/4 French Lop, 1/4 Flemish, and 1/4 Brazilian-Rex-Harlequin mix. I would have preferred the FL in My doe line, as they are the all around best mothers and provide more milk than any breed I have ever raised. I don't think I would want more than 1/4 Flemish as they are really just too big to put on wire.

I think you will be happy with a 1/4 FG cross, and if you breed that yourself, it gives you a chance to learn more about all the breeds you will use. The smallest rabbits used in my crosses were San Juans and probably averaged about 8-9 pounds as adults. They are naturally lean much like the Brazilians. Like FL, I find FGs as being actually too large for an efficient meat operation.

I did raise pure-breed French years ago, and they are my favorite. I really like the attitude of pure-bred FGs, and although I haven't raised them myself, was always impressed by the ones held by other breeders I know.
 
I had an accidental litter of mini lop x flemish giant babies once and those babies grew FAST! They were bigger than their father by 8 weeks. My neighbors still have 2 of them now as pets and they grew to be nice 12 lb rabbits.
 
Cindi Davis":h8s5m8tq said:
Diamond I live in Oregon as well but on the opposite side of the state. Do you ever make it to Eastern Or, I will have some flemish crosses available this summer. Right now I have a Flemish NZ Cross doeling about 8 weeks old if your interested

__________ Wed Apr 18, 2012 2:12 pm __________

If anyone lives in the Boise area or Eastern Or, WA area's and have a steel doe or two I would be interested in a Steel tip , not gold but the grey

Thanks
Cindi

__________ Wed Apr 18, 2012 2:12 pm __________

If anyone lives in the Boise area or Eastern Or, WA area's and have a steel doe or two I would be interested in a Steel tip , not gold but the grey

Thanks
Cindi
Click to expand...

Making a couple trips to that side of the state. Heading to the Columbia basin just east of the Cascades next month, then Elk Camp near Imnaha, Oregon (think Enterprise, LaGrande) in September. Will be hitting the Fort Rock area in SE Oregon sometime this summer for horse camping.
 
I'm just getting started with the meat rabbits, but I have a doe who is half FG and half NZ, and she is my favorite so far in terms of temperament and looks - much more mellow than my pure NZ doe. When she is old enough I'll be breeding her to a Californian buck and I'm hoping for great babies!
 

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