breed two different breeds of rabbits..okay or no?

[dawnandjimmy]

I have a new Zealand male meat rabbit that breeded with my rabbit that I have had for about 9 months.unsure of her breed but she does not look like a meat rabbit..She will be having babies today hopefully..Am I gonna get weird looking rabbits out of her and will I've able to sell them or butcher since they are not going to be 100% meat rabbits....One thing I did do is went out and bought a female new Zealand for him, no more mix breeding! That way I know what I have...Any advice would be helpful.

 

[dawnandjimmy]

I have a new Zealand male meat rabbit that breeded with my rabbit that I have had for about 9 months.unsure of her breed but she does not look like a meat rabbit..She will be having babies today hopefully..Am I gonna get weird looking rabbits out of her and will I've able to sell them or butcher since they are not going to be 100% meat rabbits....One thing I did do is went out and bought a female new Zealand for him, no more mix breeding! That way I know what I have...Any advice would be helpful.

 

[dawnandjimmy]

This is her..She is not. New Zealand meat rabbit unsure of breed but is expecting anytime. Am worried about what icando with babies as the grow...Sell? Butcher? I'm unsure....

 

[Bunnylady]

Your doe is definitely Rex coated; looks like her breed is Mini Rex. They are solid little rabbits, while not usually raised for meat, there should be a decent meat-to-bone ratio on the carcass. However, they take so long to get to a size that makes processing worthwhile, nobody would bother with them if they were looking for a meat rabbit.

The babies from a cross between a Rex coated rabbit and one with a normal coat (like a New Zealand) will have normal coats. They probably will grow to be a size midway between the size of the two parents. As for what you do with them, that's up to you, but what you'll have is medium-sized, normal-coated mixed breed rabbits.

 

[BantamLover21]

I agree with Bunnylady: looks like your unknown doe is a blue Mini Rex (assuming she weighs around 3-5 pounds). Otherwise, she would be a very stocky-looking standard blue Rex. Any kits she delivers will be normal coated and probably medium-sized. Rex are occasionally used for meat, so if she is a standard-sized Rex, the offspring could be decent meat rabbits. Otherwise, if she is a Mini Rex, the kits may be too slow growing and small at maturity/butchering age to be worth much as meat.

If she is a Mini Rex, hopefully her kindling goes smoothly. Breeding a large buck (New Zealand) to a much smaller doe (Mini Rex) can be dangerous for the doe.

 

[dawnandjimmy]

Yes it wasn't intentional.. I bought the back and had to put him someplace real quick to get his cage ready and I turned around to get hay and put in cage and out of corner of my eye bam!!! He was going to town!!! I didn't want mixed breeds but oh well...I just hope it all turns out for the good.....

 

[FoodFreedomNow]

Yes it wasn't intentional.. I bought the back and had to put him someplace real quick to get his cage ready and I turned around to get hay and put in cage and out of corner of my eye bam!!! He was going to town!!! I didn't want mixed breeds but oh well...I just hope it all turns out for the good.....

You may be pleasantly surprised by what you get...I intentionally hybridize rabbits (usually NZ/Silver Fox and NZ/American Chinchilla) and have gotten some great results. Even if your litter doesn't show the meat traits you want, you may still be able to sell them - rabbit "cuteness" may work in your favor.
Best of luck! I hope you'll update us on how your surprise litter is doing.

 

[dawnandjimmy]

You may be pleasantly surprised by what you get...I intentionally hybridize rabbits (usually NZ/Silver Fox and NZ/American Chinchilla) and have gotten some great results. Even if your litter doesn't show the meat traits you want, you may still be able to sell them - rabbit "cuteness" may work in your favor. 
Best of luck! I hope you'll update us on how your surprise litter is doing.   

 

[dawnandjimmy]

Yes I know any kind of rabbit in my opinion is cute..they are an animal that nobody cannot say is cute...I love them!!!!!

 

[braehedge]

Selling mutts is a lot harder than selling purebreds, where I live, it's hard to sell any kind of rabbit, for a decent price. I'd try to avoid mr/nz crosses next time. But, you might be surprized. mini rexes can be fairly solid rabbits, so some decent mixed meat rabbits could be possible.