I got some meat rabbits!

[bwahk]

We have babies!! A litter of 8 was waiting for me when I went to feed the rabbits this morning.

Congrats! That's awesome.

As said before, Storey's Guide to Raising Rabbits. It's like a rabbit keeper's bible. The only thing that I feel that book is lacking is a discussion on pasture raising or natural foods/forage. He (the author) recommends pellets and hay only. I prefer to give my rabbits as much fresh food as possible, grass, leaves, flowers, veggie scraps, fruit, etc. I recommend starting with a trio (2 does, 1 buck). If you're raising for meat the New zealands and californians are your best bet as far as quick grow out and larger litters. Those two breeds are the standard. Of course, you really can't go wrong with any decently sized rabbit breed or mutt if you're only raising for yourself. We have Rex right now and used to have Creme d'Argents but I sold them to make room for more Rexes because I like them better. Not that the Cremes weren't any good, they actually dressed out really well, I just prefer the Rex pelts. Flemish Giants are nice for pets or show, but if you're mainly concerned with meat I'd stay away from them. They just put too much energy (read: food) into building bone and mass as opposed to meat. I'd say NZs, Calis, Rex, Creme or Champaign d'Argent, Cinnamons, Florida Whites, Palomino, Satins, and Silver Fox would all be breeds to consider.

I'm curious, have you owed Flemish? I did quite a bit of research before I purchased mine. From what I can tell they are excellent for both meat and pelts. Granted I haven't had any to butcher yet, but they come highly recommended, and I'm pleased with how large mine are. At 5 months one is near 25 pounds.

 

[cuppycake]

Congrats! That's awesome.

I'm curious, have you owed Flemish? I did quite a bit of research before I purchased mine. From what I can tell they are excellent for both meat and pelts. Granted I haven't had any to butcher yet, but they come highly recommended, and I'm pleased with how large mine are. At 5 months one is near 25 pounds.

I've had a few flemish crosses, but never tried to develop a meat line out of them because I don't like the way they dress out. I'm sure you could develop a decent line of meat rabbits with flemish blood. I'm sure your rabbits are very large, that's the breed. However, the mass is in bone instead of meat. To get the best dress out percentage you ideally would want a fine boned animal. That is what makes Florida Whites such great meat rabbits, they only get to be about 6 lbs but it's mostly meat.

Also, since the flemish giants are, well, giant that means that they require more food and more space. I guess it all comes down to the reason you are raising them (meat for your family, dog food, meat to sell) and how concerned you are with running a profitable venture. Each person has to evaluate if the amount of meat they are getting off of each rabbit was worth the time, energy, feed and cage space it took to raise him. Also, are you using other products from your rabbits such as manure and pelts. Putting good use to every aspect of your animals obviously makes them worth a whole lot more. That's why we have the rex rabbits, I love that fur and we tan pelts.

 

[Frank ZX]

Flemish Giants are a higher feed to weight ratio. They are big rabbits but their are other breeds that cost less to raise according to the experts. arb.net has lots of info on rabbits.
I'm not a expert, just passing on info I have read.
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]My NZW are very sweet rabbits. My American Chinchilla have a bland personality. [/FONT]

 

[Bitterroot]

I love my florida whites, but they're taking way too long to get some size on them. Small litters as well, averaging 4-6 kits. I'm making my own meat mutts, using FWs, rex, and champagnes. So far so good.

As far as books go, Storey's is great. I also recommend Rabbit Production.

 

[animalsRawesome]

Quote: Do you have a thread on how you tan pelts?

 

[animalsRawesome]

I'm curious, have you owed Flemish? I did quite a bit of research before I purchased mine. From what I can tell they are excellent for both meat and pelts. Granted I haven't had any to butcher yet, but they come highly recommended, and I'm pleased with how large mine are. At 5 months one is near 25 pounds.

WOW!! In my experience that is very large, even for a Flemish. Do you mind me asking where you got yours?

 

[bwahk]

WOW!! In my experience that is very large, even for a Flemish. Do you mind me asking where you got yours?

I purchased my largest from a private breeder in Moreno Valley (California ), I can find his number if you're interested. All of his Flemish were big and beautiful. My others were from a different breeder, they're still young (and mixed with 1/4 lop eared) so I'm not sure how big they'll get.

 

[animalsRawesome]

Quote: Oh, thanks for the offer. If I ever plan a trip to California, I might ask for it, but that's a bit far for me to drive just for rabbits...

 

[bwahk]

Haha true....

 

[cuppycake]

Do you have a thread on how you tan pelts? 

This is the method we use: http://www.motherearthnews.com/Mode...01/How-To-Tan-Rabbit-Hides.aspx#axzz2Mgaoky47

Hopefully that URL works, I'm on my phone right now. I'm saving up enough pelts to make a blanket for our queen sized bed. Hoping to get some blue otters for this project. It's slow going because I hold back bunnies for myself (more than I should really, lol), and I sell them as pets/show prospects/4H projects too. I try to give them every chance to make it off the farm before going to freezer camp.