what breeds in your meat mutts?

[Rainey]

We started with 2 NZW does and 1 SF buck April 2014. Ended up getting rid of both does by winter but saved 3 doe kits from the better mother to breed this year. Didn't even think about keeping out a buck but now wish I had. We were getting kits from every breeding, but this year's kits at 3/4 SF are so much furrier. Makes it harder to *** them, harder to clip nails, more hair to clean up. And our SF buck is small--just over 7 lb. So this year we're keeping 2 of the does we bred through this season and a couple young ones to add in next year. We also kept a buck to breed but a week ago noticed him moving awkwardly and found a hernia when we checked him over so culled him and now have to decide what to look for to be ready for next year's breeding. (we take a break through the middle of winter)

I know we should keep the buck we have until we know a new one is successful breeding our does. I don't know what we'll be able to find and thought I'd ask what breeds others have used to create meat mutts they are pleased with.

 

[Dood]

Started with a Flemish X NZ pet turned to herd sire and a trio of AmChins

Added another buck and doe AmChins from show stock and have culled out most of their bloodline

Tried a Californian buck with DISASTEROUS results and culled him and his progeny after 4 months

Around the same time of the Cali I had an "oops" litter of a blue harlequin Mini Lop buck to an AmChin and was pleasantly surprised at growth rate, meatyness and disease resistance and have continued with this cross.

Currently the majority of my mutts are getting to meaty 5 pounds before 12 weeks on a forage, hay and grains and are mostly hepatic coccidia free :hobbyhors

 

[rtower]

My choice for meat rabbits may be a bit different from most.

Years ago I had two New Zealand does and one New Zealand buck. We raised litters for meat successfully for a few years, along with lots of other small livestock... Chickens, guineas, quail, a couple of dairy goats, turkeys, ducks... Pretty much, you name it, we raised it.

My wife and I were both raised 'in town' and were eager to try 'farm life' after we married. Took us seven years to find the 40 acres of isolated, rolling sandhills we now live on. We were pretty aggressive 'homesteaders' for the first several years. As my business grew I had less and less time for the animals and we scaled back to just keeping a few cats for mouse patrol.

A couple years ago we decided to start keeping chickens again for fresh eggs. Then I thought it was time to get back into rabbits. But I really didn't want to deal with the large breeds like New Zealands or Californians, though I did seriously consider American Blues. Finally decided on Florida Whites. Typically max out around 5 pounds. Eat less and produce litters of around 5 to 8 kits. Also require less space.

I spent close to three months searching online for good information about raising Florida Whites as well as a reliable source for good breeding stock. That's how I found RabbitTalk. At any rate, after e-mailing several breeders one of them referred me to someone well-known for showing high-quality Florida Whites. He lives about 7 hours from me but was attending a show in Wichita, Kansas and offered to meet me there with two bred senior does, one junior doe and one senior buck. (Wichita is just under 5 hours from me.) These are pure-bred, pedigreed Florida Whites.

I couldn't be happier with my choice. First litters from my two senior does produced 12 healthy kits. (Started with 13 but lost one at around 2 weeks. Think it got crushed when its mama was frightened by something.) Second litters from the same two senior does now have 12 more healthy kits just beginning to explore outside their nest boxes.

The junior doe had her first litter on the wire and I didn't catch them soon enough to save them. But, based on advice from the kind-hearted and knowledgeable folks on RabbitTalk, I'm giving her a second chance.

So, based on my experience so far, starting with quality stock, Florida Whites were an excellent choice based on my criteria... Easy to keep, small space demands, appropriate sized litters for meat for two people, and no health challenges to date.

 

[ladysown]

my meat mutts have flemish, harlequin, new zealand, english spot, holland lop, californian and who knows what else in them. I used to do purebred harlequins until I got frustrated by a small buck throwing slower growing kits.

My buck currently is a california cross of some sort. Doesn't handle the heat well and I'm looking to rehome him but my son LOVES this buck. He's so sweet and kind. He has a very sweet son that I kept back with plans to use him but the lad simply hasn't taken to him at all....

ANYWAYS... my does are black steel, and siamese sable in colour. I am hoping to make my own chins but all the adult does I get have "ISSUES" as adults (latest one was a mental nut job).

My kits come out with blue chin, sable chin, siamese sable, steel and pointed white colouring.

They do well for me... getting on 7 lbs by four months which I like.

 

[Zass]

I worked with mutts from flemish giant, new zealand, and lilac, crosses. They were pretty great in temper and reliablilty and had very decent growth.
I have mixed some french angora in there...no problems.

Added silverfox and got great growth, and neuroticism.

Right now we just have purebred harlequins. They do not grow like meat rabbits, but they are REALLY sweet. They seem to thrive on forage.
Not in the 5 lbs at 9 weeks range like I was getting before, but in the "can eat anything I give them and not have digestive issues" sort of way.
Lean and healthy, with all the good rabbit nesting and breeding instincts in place, and none of the crazy. :lol: Their bodies lack the commercial meat type though.
No idea what they dress out at, and to be honest, at this point I don't even care.

 

[Preitler]

Not in the 5 lbs at 9 weeks range like I was getting before, but in the "can eat anything I give them and not have digestive issues" sort of way.
Lean and healthy, with all the good rabbit nesting and breeding instincts in place, and none of the crazy. :lol: Their bodies lack the commercial meat type though.
No idea what they dress out at, and to be honest, at this point I don't even care.

:yeahthat:

That describes my herd pretty good, not too big (around 7-8lbs), not really fast growing on almost exclusivly forage (takes about 15, 16 weeks for 5lbs), but really uncomplicated, eat all, great fertility, very great instincts.

They are undefined checkered, 2 of them with a giant checkered/RNZ mix as sire, and now my buck is a giant checkered of samewhat unclear pedigree :? , but great temperament, agility and character. Thrives on forage. Rabbits in his line were in production use up to 10 years, so I hope he'll be quite healthy.


Only point that annoys me somewhat is my unability to keep their fertility in check... :roll:

 

[wamplercathy]

I have 2 NZW does, 1 NZW/AmChin doe, and a Cal/NZW buck. Out of the 4 my buck is the most loving. These are my start into rabbit farming.

 

[TF3]

I have three purebred bucks (well, only one pedigreed, but the others are close enough for the sake of our needsLOL).
A Standard Rex, Californian and a NZRed.
My does are mutts, with my FG cross being the best producer -- given what she has thrown, and her daughters-- there is NZ in there and some Rex at the very least.
Aside from that doe and her line, I have kept some daughters out of each buck , so have NZW, Satin, Cali, FG and Rex.
My Cali buck makes great babies.
In the spring, most of my girls will go back to their fathers, and aside from my top doe and a daughter, and the 3 boys, all will be home raised.

Until I can really get a handle on what we like and want, I will breed back to my purebred bucks.
I was very pleased with growth rates this fall and beginning to get a sense of what to keep

 

[Petlover500]

If I do meat in the future, I would probably go with either flemish giants or new zealands... or maybe a FG NZ cross. But I love hearing what other people have to say about what breeds work good for them! Helps me get a wide view.

 

[Dwc77]

3 of my does are Flemish giant cali cross (there are awesome mommy's that usually have around 10 kits apiece) :clap2: my last doe is out of a older sister of my first 3 breed to what looks like a creme d argent but from that cali looking doe they were mostly black kits and two Orange. So that buck is a mutt Maybe. My girls just had to have one of Orange ones and that is are butterscotch or as they call her buddyscott. She seems to be a good mommy but has had smaller litter 5 and 2 :x . one of my brothers gave me my does . Then I bought a nzw buck most kits are pure white with a few cali looking except butterscotch all her kits have been black :?

 

[Petlover500]

Its pretty!! Ooooooh 10 kits per litter?! AWESOME!

 

[TF3]

Keep in mind Flemish are not commercial type bodies and they grow bone before meat... So they grow slower, eat more and take longer to be ready for processing. I like having some FG in my herd (I love their temperaments) but for me I quickly saw the difference in meat:bone.

 

[Petlover500]

Keep in mind Flemish are not commercial type bodies and they grow bone before meat... So they grow slower, eat more and take longer to be ready for processing. I like having some FG in my herd (I love their temperaments) but for me I quickly saw the difference in meat:bone.

Do New Zealands, Californians, and Rex breeds get meatier faster, then?

 

[Dood]

NZ and Cali generally do but Standard Rex have a reputation for being slower to grow out

 

[Ramjet]

I have mostly purebred Rex but kept a couple of my meat mutts around mainly because one of them is my son's favorite - one of them is NZ Black x Altex and the other is her daughter from my Rex buck .... so NZB x Altex x Rex. She dwarfs both her parents the doe being ~10.5lbs & the Rex buck being ~8.5. She's a whopping 13.5lbs. Talk about hybrid vigor ....

When bred to her sire half the litters come out rex the other half normal furred generally having 10-12 each litter .... and the growth difference between them is striking. The rex furred kits grow at a slow pace you'd expect from a rex taking 12-14 weeks to reach the 5lb mark but the normal furred kits grow like weeds , they'll easily be 5lbs in 9-10 weeks.

Now if I could just get any of them pregnant .... ugh.

 

[TF3]

My limited experience so far is the same with Rex.
I have a litter of 10 (was 12) , sired by my SR buck, to my FG cross doe (who apparently has some Rex as we got Rex furred kits!). The Rex furred kits are all (6) at least 1/3 smaller than their littermates at 10 weeks. The doe's full sister was bred to my Cali buck and had 12 as well, 11 living, on the exact same night, and they are all larger than the rexed kits.
The Rex kits are meaty but just clearly slower.

 

[Rainey]

I keep realizing how many different factors there are to consider. I wish I'd asked when I started this thread not just what breeds were in your mix but whether you were growing just for meat or for meat and fur. And how you feed. We're just looking for meat, not fur, so the SF probably wasn't the best choice to start with. And we're not feeding pellets. The NZW does we started with were bigger and had bigger appetites than their daughters. That's what is disappointing about losing the junior buck that we'd raised on the alternative diet. I don't know what breed to look for, don't know what we'll be able to find nearby, doubt that we'll be able to find a buck raised on natural feed so it will set this whole experiment back a bit.
But I console myself with how much we can learn from our mistakes

 

[Ramjet]

I keep realizing how many different factors there are to consider. I wish I'd asked when I started this thread not just what breeds were in your mix but whether you were growing just for meat or for meat and fur. And how you feed.

In general I breed for meat and fur hence most of my herd is purebred Rex. I can tolerate the extra grow out time for those plush rex hides.

My two crossbred does -

#1) NZB x Altex. Weighs about 10.5lbs is 3.5 years old. Easy to handle great mother and fairly solid in producing 7-8 every litter weaning them all. She's managed to stick around despite not fitting into my plans because she's just a real solid rabbit.

#2) NZB x Altex x Rex. Daughter of #1 , weighs 13.5lbs. Just like her mother , easy to handle , fantastic mother and produces 10-12 like clockwork. She has one issue , she will get nasty with kits after weaning so I have to remove them or else .... She's my son's favorite so getting rid of her just isn't an option.

Only have 2 related choices when it comes to bucks both pure rex. My 2.5 year old chocolate buck who's about 8.5lbs and his son a black who's ~8.9lbs and will be a year old on the 17th of November.

I feed them exclusively 18% pellets (Lone Star). Nursing does & kits get free feed alfalfa and rationed oats along with the pellets. They are also provided a salt block. I do give them the occasional treat usually apple or ginger which they really like.

 

[ohiogoatgirl]

I have had many rabbits in the few years since i started. Right now i have a black SF buck and a choc pointed cali doe. The buck is great and lovey and i paid twice what i bought any other for ($50!!) But he is full pedigree, show quality, and was transported from a big time show breeder in Maine and i bought him in VA and didnt have the added transport costs!

The cali doe, i had bought 6 cali rabbits at the local auction. 4H fair for our county had just ended and the rabbit section was packed full of 'leftovers'. They looked pretty good and i got em for darn cheap. Turned out there was *one* doe! The others got butchered.

The doe has been bred now and i am crossing my fingers she took. The buck is gettin older and i reallllllyyy want some babies out of him.

In addition i am dyin to have a couple dutch does and use my SF buck on them. Then use the whole group to start a line that does well in my keeping ways. If certian things go as i hope i am plotting a small-ish multi level cage/hutch colony to make things easier.

I would breed for good meaty shape, good growth by 10wks, and hardiness. Preferably they will be good growers and ready to breed at 18-20wks time so that i can get alot done with the line breeding. And i want to switch over from pellets to more grains if i can make it cheaper than the pellets.

There ya have it, if in an unorganized fashion..