Changing of the breeds

[Citylife]

I started into my meat production about 3 1/2 - 4 yrs ago. I started with very good quality Florida White meat rabbits. They truely fit wonderfully for a first time rabbit breeder. I have a bad back injury, so the size was also right. Like so many, we learned many things about raising rabbits the hard way. Even though Storeys Guide was always right there ready to be looked at again!
As our herd grew and we were eating more rabbits and had more friends interested in our sustainable living venture. We decided it was time to take bigger steps and produce more rabbits. A big litter of FW's from my does was 8 kits. Raising an average of 5 or 6 would be my guess. We never lost a rabbit in the summer, but boy would we loose kits in the winter time. So, back to larger litter sizes. I have now choosen NZ's with a CA buck. I would also like an Altex buck for my program.
So far, I am very happy with the stock I have. I am looking forward to the winter breedings. I live in KC and pretty much breed year round. In the hottest and humidist time of the year is about the only time I back off on breeding. My new set-up is turning out to be very usefull and will allow for it much easier then having them outside.
I have some very nice kits that were just weened and have been put out to pasture to butcher size. Or till someone wants a nice breeder. The big litter I have right now came from a heavy milking attentive CA doe. I couldnt be more pleased from her.
The only other rabbit I am adding to the lot is American Blues. And I have my first Jr. Does and am looking for a buck. I feel like a little kid when it comes do raising the Blues. si
Why am I writing this? To show that sometimes starting out small and getting things figured out, is best. As you find out what your needs are, its easy enough to change. As many state on here. Once your serious about rabbits, you do tend to go the age old breeds who were raised for productive, efficient, production. So, now I have my big girl pants on!
Hope this didnt bore anyone. And I hope its ok to post this in this area.

 

[shan777]

great post. Thanks .
I started with NZW's and Cali's and am very happy with them . How hot does it get there for you? I would love to continue to breed over summer here in Oz but doubt I will be able to. Good luck with your new breeds and bigger venture!

 

[that's*satyrical]

We have American Chinchillas & our set-up is similar to yours. We are newbies too. In fact, we are newbies with a few different farm animals. Just started collecting them last September but we are having fun & the animals are all thriving. We have 11 Nigerian Dwarfs, 5 American Chinchillas (3 are our breeders & 2 are reserved for someone), 2 Tamworth pigs & an assortment of about 25 chickens including 3 roosters (plus 6 baby chicks we recently hatched from our hen's eggs in the incubator) Yeah, things are busy around here.... LOL

 

[Citylife]

great post. Thanks .
I started with NZW's and Cali's and am very happy with them . How hot does it get there for you? I would love to continue to breed over summer here in Oz but doubt I will be able to. Good luck with your new breeds and bigger venture!

Shan777- We had 3 or so weeks this summer of 100-107. Note in the pictures there is a floor air conditioner. If you look at my page you will see my old outdoor set-up. It was great! But not in the heat. There were days I had to take frozen bottles out every hour-two. It was almost a full time job on those hot days just keepng them alive. My new place had a 13x25 shed and that is now my rabbit, chicken and goat barn. So far it's working well. I think in the extreme heat and cold it's best if you have some kind of indoor facility to house them in. So far, its seems go be much easier to care for them.

 

[Daywahyn]

I am in Iowa and have a friend who raises American Blue rabbits. I can send you her info privately if you'd like.
Rachael.

 

[lexibot]

I hear ya i started with junker breeders now i have full blooded new zealand whites. I personally love colors but i am raising meat not pets. These work Well for me.

 

[mickey328]

Thanks for sharing! I hope we can follow right along in your footsteps We're planning to start with rabbits in the spring. We don't have any indoor space, so they'll be outside with a solid lean-to sort of roof over the cages. We plan on 2 does and a buck and 4 cages to start with. We are planning to just supplement our meat ration for the 2 of us, so at this point don't plan on any expansion, but I learned a long time ago never to say "never" LOL

Were you able to find your breeding stock locally? Seems around here nearly all rabbits are for pets or show. The few ads I see for meaties are for Flemish, which to my mind is just way too much bone. I'd really like to start with something like a Cali and FW for does and maybe a Rex or AmChin buck. I'm hoping for some of that hybrid vigor. I'm not really worried about the cold, since it's hardly subarctic here in the winter, but we do get some hot, hot days in the summer, so we'll definitely not breed during July and August.

 

[lexibot]

Try Craigslist? I had to travel 40 miles to get good stock. Make sure you get a look at the sellers breeders. My new breeders weigh 2x the amount in less time compared to my junkers. But these come from good stock.

 

[mickey328]

I wouldn't mind travelling to get good breeding stock; in fact I rather suspect we'll have to. I'll post on CL when we're ready, but in looking at the ads on there, they're pretty much all for pets. Oh well, we still have time. We're hoping to bring them home in Jan or Feb and breed in Feb or March, after giving them a month or so to settle in. I guess it wouldn't be a bad idea to contact someone earlier and maybe "reserve" some for that time, would it? I'd rather get mature stock to begin with so we don't have to feed them for 6 months first, but that may be the way it'll have to be.

 

[Citylife]

Where are you located Mickey 328?