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PMcNemar

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Okay, so I was thinking of going with Giant Chinchilla's and then adding some Silver Fox later, but both these breeds are extremely hard to come by in my area. The closest breeders are 13 and 18 hours away. However, just 1 and 1/2 hours away I could get Flemish Giants. Would these be good to have instead? What are some of the differences in size, rate of growth, care needs, cage needs, and disposition? Also, does $55 to $75 sound like a fair price for each rabbit?

I'd really appreciate any feedback and advice I can get. I've never raised rabbits before and I'm wanting to start off as best that I can when I've gotten the money in place to buy my first trio.
 
I can tell you this:
You will require some larger cages to house the Flemish,
they have a lot more Bone than meat if you are planing
on raising for meat production. Most Cross the Flemish
to another slightly smaller breed. Hey, one man's Rose is another Man's Daisy
The choice of breeds is yours to make, but there are so many breeds to choose from
and most do not require an excessively large cage. I heard this story of
a Father that purchased a FG for his son to bring to Youth-Fair.
By the time the Fair arrived the son could not even pick up the rabbit.
Due to it's weight. Flemish Giants are quite friendly much like a Puppy Dog.
The Price range sounds Fair, after all, a large rabbit like the Flemish require
quite a bit of feed and cage space to bring them through weaning.
Have you looked into any other breeds that you might be interested in?
Ottersatin. :eek:ldtimer:
 
I really do want the Giant Chinchilla and Silver Fox, I just don't know how I would get them. The drive would be much too far and most breeders won't ship. Then again, maybe they would. The airline shipping would be expensive, but worth it to me to have the rabbits I desire. Many pedigree dog breeders will airline ship their puppies, so maybe that could be arranged for my rabbits.

I did have another question. Would it be bad if I decided that I wanted to buy my breeding stock from show quality and keep any show quality babies while culling the rest for my meat? The show quality babies could be added to my breeding stock or sold. It's just a thought, of course, but I don't know if it would be the best option. However, with the Silver Fox being so endangered, it might be a great project towards their conservation and improvement of their breed.
 
Would it be bad if I decided that I wanted to buy my breeding stock from show quality and keep any show quality babies while culling the rest for my meat?
It would be in your best interest to cover both bases.
Ottersatin. :eek:ldtimer:
 
Thanks for the input. I think breeding for show quality would be great and culling the rest so that I can both put good rabbit meat on the table and also help endangered breeds thrive. Which is something I really want to do. :)
 
PMcNemar":smz1g0ve said:
I really do want the Giant Chinchilla and Silver Fox, I just don't know how I would get them. The drive would be much too far and most breeders won't ship. Then again, maybe they would. The airline shipping would be expensive, but worth it to me to have the rabbits I desire. Many pedigree dog breeders will airline ship their puppies, so maybe that could be arranged for my rabbits.
Click to expand...

Check out what rabbit shows may be near enough for you to travel to easily. Sometimes breeders participate in shows halfway across the country. You could contact the breeders of Giant Chins and Silver Fox and see what shows they will be attending. Most are glad to bring rabbits to sell... It helps offset their show costs.

PMcNemar":smz1g0ve said:
I did have another question. Would it be bad if I decided that I wanted to buy my breeding stock from show quality and keep any show quality babies while culling the rest for my meat? The show quality babies could be added to my breeding stock or sold. It's just a thought, of course, but I don't know if it would be the best option. However, with the Silver Fox being so endangered, it might be a great project towards their conservation and improvement of their breed.
Click to expand...

This is an excellent idea. It fulfills both your goals and strengthens the breeds by weeding out the poorer specimens. I think just about all serious breeders do this.
 
Thanks! I'm glad it isn't just me being an idealist and fanciful. I do love rabbits, not just for eating, but as an animal themselves. They're adorable. Having show and breeding stock will help make it easier to cull the ones that can't add anything to the breed through reproduction, so they add to my table to help the ones that are show quality.

Also, I feel really, really stupid. The closest Silver fox breeder is actually only 4 and 1/2 hours away from me, much more manageable than I thought. The Giant Chinchilla breeder closest is around 6 hours away, also very manageable. :)
 
That's great! I do think you will be happier with those breeds for meat production than you would be with Flemish Giants. The Flemish are are lovely rabbits but they take a long time to mature and they have large bones which means a lower dress-out percentage of usable meat.
 
Yeah, thanks. Everyone has been so helpful already and I just joined yesterday evening. I agree that I would be happier with the Silver Fox and Giant Chinchilla, or maybe the American Chinchilla. I'm actually thinking I might go with the Silver Fox first, and then add the American Chinchilla instead of the giant simply because the American is supposed to be in critical status, while the giant is recovering. When I get my homestead started I don't only want to raise my own food, but also help the heritage breeds because they need more people to look out for them. :)
 
I'm all for the 2 birds and 1 stone method. As for finding your breed do you know of any local 4-H fairs you may be surprized at what the kids are breeding.The last show we attended for 4-H had a lot of different breeds and i find if it's not there someone there will know where to find one.
 
The only 4-H shows that I know of are at the state fair, which is in August. Maybe I'll be ready for my rabbits by then, but only time will tell. Right now I need to find a job before I do anything because I will not own rabbits that I can't afford to properly take care of, it's against my morals to do so. I don't know if they would show Silver Fox, but maybe the would. There is the breeder 4 and 1/2 hours away that I can always go to when I'm ready. I'm so glad I found a closer breeder.
 
I just stared with Giant Chins after the first of the year...and I am in love! Their personality is similar to Flemish. They are gentle giants. I plan to keep a few for show, but mostly for meat. The 8 week olds weigh 4-5 lbs, which is the weight we prefer for butchering, so there is no need for grow out cages. However, the breeder cages need to be large enough to hold a 13 lb mother and 32 lbs of babies!

If you have not already been there, the giant chin website is very helpful, and so is Shannon Zwaan who operates it. They may be able to help locate breeders closer to you. http://giantchinchillarabbits.webs.com/ ... ectory.htm
 
Thanks so much for the link! I've already been looking at that website and it's got lots of good info on it. I knew that with such large rabbits I'd need a very sturdy and special cage. Wire-floor cages aren't recommended for most large breeds because it can hurt their feet, so I've read. I've been thinking about slat flooring, is this a good alternative?
 

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