Best meat rabbit crosses?

[Lorelai]

I'm wondering what crosses (for meat rabbits) you all have had the most success with? Regarding time to butcher weight, temperament, all of those "hybrid vigor" traits. Just for my own curiosity.

Specifically, BF and I are breeding for meat, with the potential of selling some of the better purebred offspring to prospective backyard breeders in our area. (*Note: We don't show and don't intend to sell our rabbits as show rabbits). We have two NZ Black does, one Cali doe, and one NZW doe. We also have one Cali buck and one NZW buck.

I suppose the real question is (for our situation) whether a NZ doe should be bred with a Cali buck, or a Cali doe bred with a NZ buck, to produce the best hybrid offspring. I know that some of it will depend on the individual genetic traits of our rabbits, so I'm looking for some general guidelines and rules of thumb specific to the NZ and Cali breeds. I am, however, completely addicted to reading about everyone's individual experiences, so feel free to chime in with specifics too!

Thanks for reading and/or replying!

 

[Hooligan Farm]

I'm wondering what crosses (for meat rabbits) you all have had the most success with? Regarding time to butcher weight, temperament, all of those "hybrid vigor" traits. Just for my own curiosity.

Specifically, BF and I are breeding for meat, with the potential of selling some of the better purebred offspring to prospective backyard breeders in our area. (*Note: We don't show and don't intend to sell our rabbits as show rabbits). We have two NZ Black does, one Cali doe, and one NZW doe. We also have one Cali buck and one NZW buck.

I suppose the real question is (for our situation) whether a NZ doe should be bred with a Cali buck, or a Cali doe bred with a NZ buck, to produce the best hybrid offspring. I know that some of it will depend on the individual genetic traits of our rabbits, so I'm looking for some general guidelines and rules of thumb specific to the NZ and Cali breeds. I am, however, completely addicted to reading about everyone's individual experiences, so feel free to chime in with specifics too!

Thanks for reading and/or replying!

I'm new to this to. I'm doing NZW/Rex crosses. From what I've read NZ/rex and NZ/Cali are both good combos. I've read some doing Flemish crosses but it doesn't always workout well cause the Flemish Giant are more bone than meat

 

[txcarl1258]

I am crossing a NZW doe with a Cali buck and am waiting for the kits to be born. Will post an update on their progress.

 

[dbunni]

Simple answer ... NZ ... Calif ... or any combination of the two. But a good meat line. A poor qulaity/small structure pet line will not produce the meat you are looking for. I have some awsome show does that are in standard and produce beautiful structure babies. But one heffer does better than the rest when it comes to producing dinner! (sorry about typos, working with a cast on hand! )

 

[Lorelai]

Simple answer ... NZ ... Calif ... or any combination of the two. But a good meat line. A poor qulaity/small structure pet line will not produce the meat you are looking for. I have some awsome show does that are in standard and produce beautiful structure babies. But one heffer does better than the rest when it comes to producing dinner! (sorry about typos, working with a cast on hand! )

So do you find that Cali or NZ does are better mothers, have larger litters, or anything like that? Just curious. It's important for the buck to do his job well, but the doe's role is much more involved, and I've heard more horror stories bad does than bad bucks. (Also, no worries about the typos... I broke both of my wrists when I was 15 and typing was like something out of a horror flick).

Thanks to all of you for your input! Keep it coming! I love having an excuse to lurk around the forum... I learn a lot.