are the rabbits i have good for meat?

88Haywood88

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I have two black havana does and a reddish brown buck. I think he's a new Zealand. I know the ideal meat rabbits are Californians or new Zealands. I got the Havanas for free, and i thought i'd get a buck. I heard that havanas grow fast. is this true? Let me know what you think.
 
I never met a domestic rabbit that was not good for meat. Havannas do not get as big as New Zealands or Californians, but will still give a nice fryer. Free rabbits? Not a bad deal at all.
 
NZ and Calis are the industry standard because they are white and grow fast on pellets (minimal input). But sometimes they will have small litter sizes as the industry standard is 6 kits.

Your rabbits won't grow quite as fast, but they'll grow just as fast as they would otherwise if you supplement their diet with good quality hay, weeds from the garden and kitchen scraps - which means less pellet$, and may give you larger litters. So it balances out well.
 
pretty much all but the smaller breeds make good meat rabbits, and most in the meaty rabbit industry actually prefer mixed breeds...
using a nz buck on the havana does should give you some very nice fryers, and possibly even some nice pelts for tanning for crafts.

when i do my own meaties im planning NZ or Cal crossed with rex under a standard rex male to try and get some nice rexy pelts for crafting with while still having some nice meaties, i know not all the babies will have good rex like pelts, but its still a good mix for meat and if i can get the bonus of skins...why not?!
 
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