choosing a breed... Help?

[Holachicka]

I want to get meat rabbits (as soon as I can convince dh!) I was wondering what breed choices everyone has and why? I really would like a large rabbit so that I can get more meat per butchering, but worry about the food conversions and if that is worth it. Any thoughts? Thanks!

 

[Legacy]

You really need to figure out what your needs are. Do you want just meat, or pelts too? Are you doing for just food or food, fun, & make a little money?

We started out with meat rabbits just for our family. (Californians and NZ) but the more I do it, the more fun I am having with experimenting with mixed breeds. They are all still rather large rabbits but I like them for the pelts too and want to sell a few pets to help with the cost of the meat for us.

I am really, really, wanting to add standard rex to our herd but am having the hardest time finding some local. I have even put an add on craigslist looking for them.

I want them because 1)they are rather large(not the largest but big enough) 2)beautiful pelts 3) they are obviously hard to find so there might be more of a market for them 4) I just really, really, like them and I want, I want, I want!

 

[dewey]

There's really quite a few very nice meat breeds!

No matter the meat breed, a lot will depend on the stock you get. Inferior stock from a great breed will produce needlessly expensive and undesirable yields.

NZ's & cali or their crosses are a couple of the most useful meat breeds because of their superb feed to meat ratio.

There's many other nice meat breeds, too. Links to some info...

All breeds: http://www.raising-rabbits.com/all-rabbit-breeds.html
http://www.arba.net/faq4.htm#Q1
http://www.raising-rabbits.com/meat-rabbits.html

Breeds larger than the commercial NZ or cali breeds will get very large but they have an undesirably high bone to meat ratio. Though very large, they produce less meat than the more standard meat breeds...their feed to meat ratio is lower so they will co$t much more to produce each pound of meat, plus will have more bone than desirable for most of those interested in meat.

There's a few giant or non typical meat breed breeders around here that tell unsuspecting buyers that because their breed gets so big they'll get more meat. Best thing is to research each meat breed thorougly from reputable sources and make the best choice for your situation and availability.

All the best!

 

[hoodat]

I just raise,"Meat mutts"; mixed breeds that originally came from pet shop returns of rabbits that outgrew their cages and desirability as pets. Rabbits half grown are hard for them to sell so I get them at a good price. Starting with mixed breeds you can improve your own line till you end up with very good meat rabbits and it's kind of fun to have your own line.

 

[rickerra]

I just got my breeding trio.

They are a {Creme d'Argent x Black New Zealand} buck and two sister {American Chinchilla x Creme d'Argent} does. Not the usual meat breeders but plenty good size and very soft blackish-brown fur.

I'll let you know how it goes. Expecting litters in 4 weeks.

I'm told they all taste the same! (except the wild ones!) haha.

Cheers!

 

[Holachicka]

I hope they all taste the same! I think I'll end up getting californian and new zealands, and experimenting with some crosses from those. I'm not looking for purebred. BUT I do want the kits to pretty much look alike so that way I won't get attached to any! I'm a bit of a sucker for furries.

 

[animalsRawsome]

I agree thatCals and New Z are good meat rabbits. Also, if you have litters at the right time, those breeds are what all the 4-H kids are looking for, so you should not have a problem selling some to help pay for feed! Just a thought.

 

[hoodat]

I hope they all taste the same! I think I'll end up getting californian and new zealands, and experimenting with some crosses from those. I'm not looking for purebred. BUT I do want the kits to pretty much look alike so that way I won't get attached to any! I'm a bit of a sucker for furries.

You're wise to steer clear of purebreds, especially those breeds popular for shows. Some of those lines are too inbred. Inbreeding effects rabbits less than most other animals but it still has a weakening effect if carried too far.

 

[Holachicka]

I hope they all taste the same! I think I'll end up getting californian and new zealands, and experimenting with some crosses from those. I'm not looking for purebred. BUT I do want the kits to pretty much look alike so that way I won't get attached to any! I'm a bit of a sucker for furries.

You're wise to steer clear of purebreds, especially those breeds popular for shows. Some of those lines are too inbred. Inbreeding effects rabbits less than most other animals but it still has a weakening effect if carried too far.

I really dislike the idea of inbreeding, even if it's not apparent, it really gives me the heebie-jeebies! I'm sure that whatever I get will probably have some inbreeding along the lines, but for me, I'll be breeding stock as unrelated as possible!

 

[Bossroo]

I have worked at UCD Veterinary Pathology Dept.. For reseach purposes, I had personally bred ( into the thausands) an allready inbred line of mice for 29 generations ( father x daughter, son x mother, brother x sister) with no ill effects. So probably over 100 generations. The resulting offspring were virtual genetic clones of each other. This was in the days before actual cloning was even possible. I inbred ( into the high hundreds) a line of guinea pigs for 20 generations, again no ill effects. I have inbred ( into the thausands) a line of rabbits for 15 generations with no ill effects. Yes, we necropsied them and examined their cell tissues under microscopes. The only time one will run into a difficulty is only if there is a genetic fault in the original parent stock, failure to ruthlessly cull any obveous deformed or unthrifty offspring and their parents, or a new faulty mutation that spontaniously may pop up. A large animal example in inbreeding is the Morgan horse breed. All of them descend from ONE original stallion... Justin Morgan. How do you think new species are formed? A new mutation in a single individual that when it's offspring then has an competative advantage to survival in their environment over their original counterparts. Or an environmental change in an isolated area that kills off any individual or group that can't adjust to the new change, then the survivors will breed on. Or an isolated group invades a new territory and interbreeds with a closely related group, which then has a genetic advantage for survival for that environment.