Anybody raising Florida Whites?

[Goatzilla]

I'm just curious if anyone is raising FW's. I'm picking up a pair of them tomorrow and I'm psyched. I used to raise and exhibit them during the mid-nineties.

 

[Goatzilla]

Here's a pic of my new FW buck. He's really decent and I already have my does bred. No one else raises FW's?

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[no nonsense]

I've never understood the need for the Florida White. Not as large as a proper meat rabbit, but not sickeningly small, to fit the craze for all of these dwarf breeds which many people seem to think are the only size rabbit which can make a good pet. I understand that the smaller size of the Florida White may have a slight benefit in the summer time heat of the deep South, but really, with proper management New Zealands can and do prosper there just as well. With the smaller size of the Florida White, you are giving up some feed to meat conversion efficiency, and you have a higher offal and bone to meat ratio. It's not like a full size proper meat rabbit is too much for even a single person to eat, with some leftovers of course, but we're not talking about huge amounts of extra meat to store and use. It just seems to me that the Florida White is caught between being a proper meat rabbit and a small pet breed, and it doesn't perform either duty very well. If you're looking for a smaller animal for a research subject, then they do fit the bill, without the higher feed and maintenance costs of the New Zealand, nor the inherent problems associated with the dwarf breeds, which laboratory breeders are not going to be bothered dealing with. Still, it hasn't caught on for that purpose, and most lab rabbits are still the larger New Zealand type.

 

[JoieDeViveRabbitry]

I feel this way somewhat about Jersey Wooly rabbits...

I feel that they are caught in the middle of being a wool producing breed and a cute pet. They are too small to actually be used for wool, you would need 10-12 of them to produce the wool that my good French Angora buck produces in a year.


I think these breeds are around simply because someone "could" and did develop them. Someone fancied them for something and alot of work went into it and thus we have the FW.

What is the history, were they by any chance developed for research purposes? Makes sense.

 

[no nonsense]

I feel this way somewhat about Jersey Wooly rabbits...

I feel that they are caught in the middle of being a wool producing breed and a cute pet. They are too small to actually be used for wool, you would need 10-12 of them to produce the wool that my good French Angora buck produces in a year.


I think these breeds are around simply because someone "could" and did develop them. Someone fancied them for something and alot of work went into it and thus we have the FW.

What is the history, were they by any chance developed for research purposes? Makes sense.

I see your point about the Jersey Wooly, and I do agree that it is similar to my feeling about the Florida White, however, at the time that the Jersey Wooly was created, there was no other angora haired small or dwarf breed, and it seems there was a need (desire) for one. Unlike the fanciful claims of the Florida White breeders who think that it would have made a good meat rabbit, I don't think any of the Jersey Wooly originators had any thought that it would become a breed which was used to produce fiber. They simply wanted a small fuzzy rabbit, and they were at least honest enough with themselves to say so.

In addition to the Florida White being proposed as a meat rabbit, the originator also hoped that it would become a new common research breed. The poor man did not do much research himself, for if he did, he would have realized that the lab rabbit strains are all very specialized, and have been kept free from contamination of as many pathogens as possible. With rare exceptions, researchers do not want anything to do with our exhibition breeds or backyard rabbits. Even the heathiest among them has been exposed to too many pathogens, even if they never become sick in their lives, and this exposure alone can affect the outcome of a lot of research.

 

[waynesgarden]

I don't understand your comments. Rabbits destined for laboratories are not coming out of backyard rabbitries. They are coming from licensed facilities that are as sanitary as as the labs they are producing for. They are raised in extremely clean conditions regardless of the breed.

Florida Whites are used in research, often involving the effects of products on the eyes.

Wayne

 

[RabbitMage]

What's the point of a Britannia Petite? Or a Checkered Giant? Or A Thrianta? Or likely 40 of the 47 breeds we have that aren't common in the the pet, fur/wool, or meat trade?

Different people enjoy different things about different breeds.

 

[no nonsense]

I don't understand your comments. Apparently. Rabbits destined for laboratories are not coming out of backyard rabbitries. They are coming from licensed facilities that are as sanitary as as the labs they are producing for. They are raised in extremely clean conditions regardless of the breed. That is what I said, in not so many words, hence the desire for researchers to keep using the lab rabbit strains which they already had, rather than switching to this new breed, back in the 60's, and have to start all over producing sanitary rabbits once again, after eliminating everything that they had come in contact with at these backyard rabbitries which developed the breed.
Florida Whites are used in research, often involving the effects of products on the eyes. Maybe, but my point, again, is that they have not taken over and become the breed of choice for most lab work. Lab researchers have kept their old, larger strains, and just haven't embraced the Florida White, as the original breeder had hoped.Wayne

While we're at it, lab rabbits technically are not any one breed which we would recognize, as purebred fanciers. They are more properly called strains, and there are many types, each with their own particular characteristics. These are usually traits which are physiological rather than visible to the naked eye, so it's much more complicated than simply discussing which "breeds" per se are used in research.

 

[no nonsense]

What's the point of a Britannia Petite? Unusual size and type, the combination which is found on no other breed. Or a Checkered Giant? Same as the Britannia, but add an unusual pattern found in no other breed. Or A Thrianta? Good example. Same as the Florida White. We already have nice red color in other breeds. I don't see the point on just putting it on a medium sized, average type rabbit and calling it a different breed. Or likely 40 of the 47 breeds we have that aren't common in the the pet, fur/wool, or meat trade? Most of the other ARBA recognized breeds have some sort of distinction that sets them apart from all other breeds. The Florida White and the Thrianta do not. They are simply small sized rabbits of a particular color. If one were presented with examples of these rabbits, without any history, one could not tell for sure if they were purebred animals or just crosses. With most of the other breeds, one can easily identify them as seperate and distinct from all other breeds.
Different people enjoy different things about different breeds. Exactly. I never said people can't enjoy whatever they want. I stated my case about this particular breed, and provided a convincing argument for my opinion. I don't care who breeds whatever they like to.

 

[JoieDeViveRabbitry]

Perhaps one needs to refresh themselves with the old saying:

If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all.

You are coming off kind of snotty and snarky no nonsense and to be blunt I think it's rubbing people the wrong way.

For all you know, some single person might have started developing the FW simply because they felt the portion size of the NZW was too large! Maybe they didn't need such a large meat rabbit.
Who knows, but it probably filled their need and I think to come out "swinging" so to speak about this guys chosen breed in the first reply of the thread isn't all that nice.
This guy happens to raise some outstanding NZW's as well as so if he wants FW's and if he's excited about it and it tickles his fancy, then so be it!

Let's face it, most times these days people are NOT using rabbit breeds for what they were intended for!
They are being used primarily for pets and showing/breeding. I see this in Angoras ALOT. And while I find it disappointing that alot of angora fanciers are not using the wool themselves and are only in it for the show, it's just what it is. I have had to turn many people away for my kits who wanted them just for pets and had no plans to use the wool, as I feel that a angora in a pet home with no plans for it's wool is much more likely to fall into coat neglect.

And those lab "strains" had to start with some breeds that were already around