# good meat rabbits?



## Kada6305

I got a breeding pair of mini lops the other day, the previous owner housed them together for the past month so I am guessing Rosie is pregnant. Only time will tell though. She has been hanging in her nest box past two days ( its built in with the cage we go) I tried feeling but of course I have no idea what I am feeling for. thought I felt something once and realized it was her nipples   But my question about meat rabbits is this: We are trying to raise meat rabbits for our dogs and we got 2 mini lops will they be okay? And we are getting 3 Dutch. I also plan on getting a bigger breed...if I breed a smaller male ( maybe the lop) with the bigger breed will it take? I plan on getting meat rabbit at our local swap if they have any. So this way we have meat rabbits for the dogs (lop/dutch) and meat rabbits for us.


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## secuono

It's all fine and edible. If the weight difference is more than 2-3lbs, best to breed the small buck to a large female. If you do it the other way around, doe can have issues passing them or might die.


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## Kada6305

okay that's what I was thinking. Thank you ! first time raising anything for meat.


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## farmgirl01

We raised mini Rex for our meat rabbits.  At the time, our family was small and this breed fit well into our situation.


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## xa.logan

Before I type anything, I'm going to say I typed out a whole post before I realized that I read your question wrong. 

Anyway, yes. I've read that mini lops are commonly used for dog food. Not quite big enough to be a meat breed for most people, but big enough to feed the dogs, along with some of the organs of their "people-feeding rabbits".
Dutch are supposed to be awesome. MSU did a study on raising dutch vs californians.

But yes, what secuono said.


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## VickieB

In what way are the Dutch superior? My sister and I were just discussing this earlier (we're both new at this) and came to the conclusion that when it came to taste we were sure they must all be the same. (This was just a guess, since, as of yet, we've not yet dispatched our first rabbit!)


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## ohiogoatgirl

I had several crossbred minilop litters and NONE impressed me at all. I would pick dutch over them any day.

I started out with dutch. just getting some real meat breeds in now. but the dutch have been better then any other "nonmeat" breed rabbits. they were originally one of thee meat breeds and used as foster moms for all the new up and coming small breeds who couldn't nurse many in a litter. so think like you have Netherlands that have tiny litters (1-4 I believe) and you happen across a doe who has bigger litters (lets say 7) and after she has em she keeps a couple and then you foster the rest over to the dutch doe so you don't loose em all.

but then again now most are pet/show bred dutch and are smaller and smaller. you want to look for the larger ones. I did have one once who hit 5lb at 14wks.
right now i'm playing around with dutch/Californian. have one litter now and i'll probably keep the largest buck to breed back to the mom.

best of luck!


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## xa.logan

Awesome. Thanks for reminding me. I'm so sorry I don't respond o this earlier, VickyB. 

Mississippi state did a study with Dutch rabbits and crosses. Dutch rabbits have a higher dress out percentage than any meat rabbits at close to 65% on average at 11 weeks. So a 5 pound rabbit will have a 3.2 pound dress out weight. 

All that is great but what it means really excites me. They have a high dress out weight and they grow really quickly. They're much more efficient at converting feed and growing. When bred with NZWs, MSU reported rabbits reaching market weight at 7 weeks with a dress out percentage of 60%. However, this is only true for the first generation. 

So in summary, at 7 weeks the NZW/Dutch cross weighed approx 5# at 10 weeks they were reported to weigh over 6# with 60% of the carcass being edible muscle mass. Faster growth, less food, higher dress %. 

Looking for the paper I read now.


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## Citylife

Holland Lops are a small breed pet rabbit which will have small litters, meaning 2-4.  Mini Lops should be under 4 lbs. if memory is correct.  
I have never met anyone with as good a luck with Dutch's as xa.logan talks about.
It all comes down to what goals you want to reach.  The lops will be skinny and not have nearly as much meat as a Dutch or a Florida White (which is a small meat rabbit).  
If you are only wanting to feed dogs you will need to feed other meats besides the rabbit, as it is too lean for them to thrive on.  I go through a lot of rabbits and need efficiency.  I have 2 NZW's that are easy to breed, have 10-12 kits and raise them with ease.  They are only a superior meat rabbit because that is exactly what they were bred for, highly efficient meat producers.
Enjoy your bunnies and if your not getting the amount of meat you need you may change breeds down the road.  Needless to say, all rabbits are edible, just some or more productive then others.


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