Sorry for the long reply, but I have a lack of individuals in my area to "talk rabbits" with so I thought that I would give a detailed accounting.
I recently moved to Indianapolis from Louisiana, and started a small rabbitry here. My family has raised rabbits for five generations down in the bayou, almost exclusively for meat, and I decided to start as well to put a little food on the table while I am in Law School.
I have been reading as much literature as I can find lately regarding the genetic traits of each breed of rabbit and will be experimenting a bit rather than going with the tried and true NZW/Cali mix. For each litter, I am keeping detailed records of the Date of Breeding, Number of days between the Doe setting her nest and giving birth, # of kits born/ surviving, their coloration, their size at 8 weeks and the doe's maternal tendencies. My hope is to end up with litters that in order of importance: 1) reach 3.25+ lbs at 8 weeks, have 7 or so surviving kits, have smaller bones, and have nice fur for me to tan and use for leather working. I tend to give leeway with the first litter for does, and try to get one of the more experienced does pregnant at the same time so that I can save a couple of kits from the rookie if it goes south. My only strict rule is that a doe can be mean as the devil to me, but every doe will take care of her kits, I will take out a bad momma in a heartbeat and eat her that day without a second thought.
Although my grandfather prefers to raise NZW's (which I agree with previous posts concerning their superiority in meat production). Currently my flock has quite a bit of diversity, but I will be narrowing down over the next few months. Currently I have 1 Californian buck that is just reaching breeding age and will probably replace my current buck, which is a 1 year old Broken NZ/Californian mix named General Lee. Although he has a great temperament and has consistently thrown kits of 8+ (last was 11) I am finding that they are a little smaller than I prefer at 8 weeks. 2 lb 10 oz. this could be due to the large number of kits per litter, but I feel that a pure Californian buck might have a better chance of giving me that extra lb or so by 8 weeks. I also have a 14 week old rex buck and doe that I may raise to fruition.
As far as breeding does go I have one grey colored NZ mix (not sure of her sire's breed) one Japanese Harlequin and one large white lop. I do have a beautiful dutch doe but I am not breeding smaller rabbits so I will probably sell her. Good luck with your flock!
