# Californian or New Zealand?



## Ebers (Mar 25, 2014)

I have an opportunity to trade some chickens I have for a trio of rabbits either calufornian or new zealand which would be the best for somebody just getting into rabbit breeding?


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## SA Farm (Mar 25, 2014)

I prefer New Zealand personally, but both are good meat rabbits, so it's really up to your own preference


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## CDC (Mar 26, 2014)

I have New Zealand and am pretty happy with them.  I don't have any experience with Californians but I know that they are considered good meat rabbits.  The only thing I can say is that I was listening to a podcast the other day about meat rabbits and someone was saying that they started with Californians and then got New Zealands and they much preferred the New Zealands.  I don't remember why exactly.


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## Ebers (Mar 26, 2014)

I was told new zealands are a lil bigger than the californians I wonder if that's true


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## Cedar Valley Farm (Mar 26, 2014)

Well like always I love the Californians. They are a lil smaller but I think the meat is more tinder an juicy. I also like to cross them with NZWs. But it should be your choice.


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## Ebers (Mar 26, 2014)

Do you put a cali buck on NZ does or the other way around?


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## Cedar Valley Farm (Mar 26, 2014)

Ebers said:


> Do you put a cali buck on NZ does or the other way around?


I do both. But mainly Cal buck on NZ doe.


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## Ebers (Mar 26, 2014)

Thanks for all the info I really appreciate it


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## Citylife (Apr 14, 2014)

I have both breeds and prefer male NZ's and CA Does.  My experience has been the NZ Does tend to be nasty to deal with.  The bucks are easy to handle. 
I have been working on my NZ's to be better tempered. 
Both breeds are great meat rabbits.  So, I think a lot of it is just preference.


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## Ebers (Apr 14, 2014)

I've traded some hens & chicks I have for a couple of NZ does & a cali buck I'm supposed to pick them up friday. I'm super excited


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## Citylife (Apr 14, 2014)

Very good!  Like I said, they are very good meat rabbits!  Look forward to hearing more.


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## aksrabbitgirl (Apr 16, 2014)

I like newzealands but  I hear calis are good too so what ever you want.


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## Ebers (Apr 16, 2014)

I think I'm going with new zealands after seeing his breeding stock. I was impressed but that's not saying much since all I've had were meat mutts. They were big & beautiful compared to my lil scrubs lol. How many does can 1 buck service I don't wanna over use him


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## aksrabbitgirl (Apr 16, 2014)

A lot!! He can breed with a least one a day I know you would not use him that much.  you could have up to  100 does to 2 bucks. so I would get 2 bucks and 3 to 15 does it just deppens on how many you are wanting to raise


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## aksrabbitgirl (Apr 16, 2014)

Do you know how to get people to follow you on this website?


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## Ebers (Apr 16, 2014)

I have no idea I'm just excited that there are ppl in the world that are as passionate about their animals as I am. I love watching new life develop into what GOD created it to be. Just gets me fired up lol


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## VickieB (Apr 16, 2014)

When trying to figure out the number of rabbits ask yourself how many people you will be feeding, and how often do you want rabbit for dinner.


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## aksrabbitgirl (Apr 17, 2014)

now Gods creation is awesome do know of any other rabbit sites?


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## aksrabbitgirl (Apr 17, 2014)

I know


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## Ebers (Apr 17, 2014)

I really like the way you had it broken down to the point of breeding a doe every 2 wks & butchering half a litter per wk. I have 4 in my house & I'll most likely end up giving some to my mom & my grandpa here & there. I would like for us to eat rabbit 2 to 3 times per wk if we can. So what do you suggest? Right now I have 3 does & a buck but I have room for a few more if need be


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## aksrabbitgirl (Apr 17, 2014)

I would say five six does and two bucks. I breed flemish giants I have six does and three buck really I only need two  bucks but I have three lol.


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## VickieB (Apr 21, 2014)

Ebers said:


> I really like the way you had it broken down to the point of breeding a doe every 2 wks & butchering half a litter per wk. I have 4 in my house & I'll most likely end up giving some to my mom & my grandpa here & there. I would like for us to eat rabbit 2 to 3 times per wk if we can. So what do you suggest? Right now I have 3 does & a buck but I have room for a few more if need be



I have 4 does and 2 bucks, which would be plenty enough to easily feed 4 adults 2 to 3 times per week. You can actually do well with just 1 buck, but if something were to happen to your buck you could find yourself in a quandary... If you have access to another breeder and able to quickly get another buck, then limiting yourself to one buck probably wouldn't be a problem.

I like having 4 does because if I keep them to a routine, it means they get bred every 2 months. (I re-breed when their litter is about 3 1/2 weeks old.) If you want your rabbit to have more of a break between litters, throw in another doe, and that will give each doe another 2 weeks before re-breeding.

I shared in another thread that I cull my litters down to 6. (there are 3 adults in my family right now, so the six works great for me.) I know with that size of a litter that the babies get all the milk they want, and I don't have babies starving. I find that kits from the smaller litters do grow out faster, and I'm much more likely to reach my 5 pound mark from anytime between 8 weeks and 9 weeks. If I do a litter of 8 (since there are 4 in your family that's what I would try to do... It's still a small enough litter that you shouldn't see much of a difference in size of the kits, if at all...) this is what my kitchen would get on a weekly basis if I dispatch half (4) a litter a week:   

8 large back legs       
the backstrap and tenderloins of 4 rabbits      
8 small front legs     
4 large livers       

With this you could make 2 meals out of the large legs alone (1 leg per serving which is very doable with a 5 pound rabbit) 

You could make one or two meals out of the backstrap/tenderloin   depending on how you cooked it.

You can make one meal out of the liver.  I've just started this and have really enjoyed it. Fried rabbit liver and onions is wonderful, much better than chicken or beef. The liver from one rabbit is large enough to make a serving. Another really nice thing about the liver is it doesn't have to rest, so I cook the liver up the night I dispatch the rabbit, and let the rest of the meat brine in the fridge overnight. 

Save up the smaller front legs, and at the end of the  month you can do a night of Buffalo Wings (my son's favorite)


So, you see, if you really wanted you could make 4 or 5 meals a week for 4 people from 4 rabbits.


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## Ebers (Apr 22, 2014)

That's prob what I'll do I know a lady that breeds californians & black new zealands I could get another buck & a doe. By the way you said you brine your meat overnight what do you use for brine?


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## VickieB (Apr 22, 2014)

Salt water...  I use one of the crisper drawers in my fridge. I put the meat in and then cover them with salt water (apr.1/8 cup and enough water to cover the meat). I set the drawer on the bottom of the fridge, instead of on the rails. I'm a little nervous that the weight might be more than what the drawer and rails were made for.

If you're dispatching at 8 or 9 weeks, you probably don't need the salt in the water. I'll try not adding the salt this next time and see if it makes a difference.

Another thing you might want to consider... if you have a meat grinder (I have one with my Kitchen Aide mixer) you can grind up the tenderloin/backstrap pieces, mix it 50/50 with lean ground beef and cook it anyway you would have your ground beef. It makes for a VERY LEAN ground meat, and all those picky eaters in the house have no idea what you've just done while they are scarfing down their "ground beef" dinner...


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## Ebers (Apr 22, 2014)

Please let me know if not using the salt makes a difference I'm very interested in the difference since you normally use it


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## Chickadee5002 (Apr 28, 2014)

Hello everyone! I was wondering can you put 2 NZ does together? Or 2 NZ Bucks together? I didn't know if you should put them together or keep all of them separate. I am hoping to get some here really soon!


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## happy acres (Apr 28, 2014)

I wouldn't, simply because they may fight. Also it would make it harder when you wanted to breed them.


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## SA Farm (Apr 28, 2014)

happy acres said:


> I wouldn't, simply because they may fight. Also it would make it harder when you wanted to breed them.


x2 Usually you can keep two sisters that grew up together in the same cage for several months, but once puberty hits between 6-8 months, territorial issues can come up. Even if they got along fine all that time, they could fight. Best not to risk it


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## Chickadee5002 (Apr 28, 2014)

SA Farm said:


> x2 Usually you can keep two sisters that grew up together in the same cage for several months, but once puberty hits between 6-8 months, territorial issues can come up. Even if they got along fine all that time, they could fight. Best not to risk it



Thank you! I just wanted to make sure I had enough cages for everyone before I got them


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## Ebers (May 12, 2014)

Update: I've ended up with 4 does & 2 bucks. 3 new zealand does & a flemish cross doe. 1 buck is new zealand the other is a californian. I have processed 7 buns so far & have 17 new babies born this week & I'm very pleased with the way things have been going thanks to all the wonderful advice I've gotten on this site


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## Ebers (Jun 29, 2014)

I'm thinking of breeding during the summer, I have my buns outside & they're very well shaded I understand there's an issue with overheating in general but are there any problems with breeding or fertility as a result of the heat?


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## mysunwolf (Jun 29, 2014)

Ebers said:


> I'm thinking of breeding during the summer, I have my buns outside & they're very well shaded I understand there's an issue with overheating in general but are there any problems with breeding or fertility as a result of the heat?



I've heard that the buck can get overheated and not be able to do his job, or not be quite as fertile (ie pregnancies do not "take" as easily as they normally would).

The pregnant does seen to get hot and stressed very easily, and I've noticed that lactating does are extremely susceptible to heat. I have never had rabbits die from this, but I have been keeping rabbits for less than a year. They don't seem to gain weight back as fast from pregnancy/lactation when they're heat stressed, so you might have to have longer intervals between breedings.

What kind of temperatures do you usually get? I think this makes a huge difference.


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## Ebers (Jun 29, 2014)

Right now it's in the mid to upper 80's but it could easily reach 100 next wk


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## mysunwolf (Jun 29, 2014)

I would definitely be concerned about temps in the 90s and around 100, but maybe I'm being too cautious. Even with frozen water bottles, mine seem to get pretty stressed in the 80s (about as hot as it ever gets here). If you do want to breed in temps much higher than that, I'd consider setting up a fan and/or misting system for the buns.

Hope others with experience will comment.


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## Hens and Roos (Jun 29, 2014)

we don't breed in our summer months(May through August) so we don't stress the rabbits out and the bucks can have fertility problems when it is hotter out.


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## Ebers (Jun 29, 2014)

I have an air conditioned room in my shop I can put the doe in but I'll have to rig up a way to catch droppings & urine. Would it hurt her to go from the outside heat into the air conditioned room?


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## happy acres (Jun 30, 2014)

Don't know about that, but cooler would probably be better. Mine are through breeding for the summer, I'll start back again in September.


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## P.O. in MO (Jun 30, 2014)

Going from outside to AC should not be a problem.  I keep my rabbits in a well insulated shed and have AC for when the heat index is going to be above 95.  On days it's supposed to be really hot I usually go out around 10:30 or 11 AM and shut the windows and turn it on low cool.  Then go back out around 8 or 9 PM and turn it off and open everything back up and turn on a fan. I try to keep the temp around 80.  I bred thru the summer last year and had no problems.  I have 23 growing out right now, all around 6 weeks.  Once they are all weaned I let it get a little warmer. I want to add that I will probably wait until mid to late august before breeding again. BECAUSE, there is a drawback to AC, especially when you have a lot of rabbits.  When you close it up to cool it, you are shutting off your fresh air source to keep the ammonia smell down and have to clean and rinse pans more often.


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