Raising our New Zealand Meat Rabbits *Start to finish - Birth to processing* Possible Graphic pics*

[Angelicisi]

Thanks! Exactly what I was looking for. I'm very observant and handle them daily. They are all given fresh hay piles daily and a flake unfluffed stays in there to nest with. They're munching, hanging out. Mama can see them she's such a love puddle at the moment. All stretched out.

 

[Angelicisi]

Wrong order on the thread I suppose but I can't edit up there. Here's a successful breeding of the NZW's. Took a few breeding attempts when we started breeding rabbits, until we saw that kick and nap the buck does. So far that kick has meant success. Lol

 

[ChocolateMouse]

Then you should be fine. :3 I suspect you're going to be a great husband to these animals! Although you may not handle each kit daily when you start getting a few dozen at once like I do! XD

Also, I thought I'd share a few shots of my kits. X3

This litter was born just a couple weeks ago. They've just started coming out of their nest and they are late, late, late! Yes one of them is standing on top of the pile of the others. XD





This kit is one of the amazing looking sables my rex produces when I breed her to my NZWs! This kit is a doe and is just about ready to wean!

 

[GD91]

I couldn't get meat rabbits in the UK unless they are available (very rarely) bought at a pet shop for £60 each (yep, you read right). Can't find ANY meat chicken breeds either.
Your U.S.A Cornish game are not available readily here, nor are other meat breeds.

So I have Eater eggers & I managed to acquire a pair of does who, while not meat rabbits, certainly have a good weight & feel about them.

How much yeild will I get out of eating large pet rabbits?

Considering its to feed 2 people & 2 dogs, one large & one medium?

We also have Jumbo quail, the one meat animal we could obtain.

These does are not giants I don't think, but they are large mutts.

There are so few meat breeders in the UK, I think I only found 5 or so. I can't get to any of them.

Also the grow your own here is only promoted toward vegetables - people don't like you growing your own meat.
To me its no different, but whatever floats peoples boats

 

[ChocolateMouse]

So most rabbits regardless of breed have a decent FCR for the first few months. This ratio is pretty good as here where I live it costs the same amount to raise 1lb of meat rabbit as 1lb of very slow-growth (4 month) CX chicken. It helps that they eat a LOT of hay which is very cheap.

Here's another fun fact... Two popular breeds for raising for meat are Florida Whites and Mini Rex. The Florida Whites are known for EXTREMELY fast growth and the mini rex are known for an awesome meat to bone ratio. Both rabbits weigh 5lbs full grown. The only catch is the actual SIZE of the animal involved is smaller so you need to keep a lot more of them.

So here's what I'd do. A 10lb adult meat rabbit will regularly produce litters of 6-10 kits weighing 4-5lbs each at 3 months old. A 5lb pet rabbit will grow to less than half the size in the same time frame, so the kits will weigh around 2lbs. Dressage ratios in non meat breeds tend to be VERY average (55%ish depending on who you ask) or a bit worse so you're looking at about half when you take the head, paws, skin and guts out. Also smaller rabbits mean smaller litters.

So if you were raising 5lb rabbits, you could expect 1lb of meat per kit, or 4-6lbs of meat per litter. If you're raising 8lb rabbits you will be looking at something pretty reasonable, in the 1.5lb range at 5-7 kits, my NZWs produce around 2.5-3lbs of meat per kit, and litters of 7-10 kits.

You will have some real work ahead of you. Get as many as you can and keep DILIGENT records of pairings, growth, litter sizes, adult weight. It took a long time to get meat breed rabbits to where they are in size and production. Your biggest issues will be growth rate in the first three months and litter sizes. The ideal meat rabbit gains half it's adult weight after 12-14 weeks, and has litters of 7+ kits. Eat the smallest ones, breed the rest back.

If you can get your hands on a "pet" giant breed that may be your best option and breed DOWN from there. Another "non-meat" meat breed would be French angoras. Very expensive because of the wool but a good "meat type" body. Also you get wool. :3 Some other breeds that could be good;

Palominos, Silver Fox, Americans, D'Argentes (any), Giants (any), Rex (any), Satins and Chinchillas. Some of these are kept as "pet" breeds and could be easy to find. Your most likely find will be a rex. Rexes show up in pet stores sometimes because of their luxurious, short fur. They're unmistakable. And a mini rex can be a good producing meat rabbit despite it's size. I'd keep my eye out for some of these breeds.

Good luck!

 

[Bunnylady]

This kit is one of the amazing looking sables my rex produces when I breed her to my NZWs! This kit is a doe and is just about ready to wean!

It's a little hard to say for sure, but that looks like a gold-tipped steel. Apparently a lot of NZ's carry steel; I suspect (but haven't confirmed) that the black NZ is actually homozygous for steel, not self.

 

[ChocolateMouse]

Bunnylady, it is a NZW buck over an Otter doe. The colors are the exact colors of the otter doe, just without the proper patterning. The guard hairs have brown tips. If you note, it even has the brown patch behind it's head. However it's not gold or yellow-y and the individual hairs are banded. It's brown, the same color as the brown patch behind the head on my otter doe. The light reflects off of it funny making it look a lot different than in real life.

 

[Angelicisi]

Beautiful! How sweet are they? I love when they climb all over each other lol never fails to make me crack a smile

Then you should be fine. :3 I suspect you're going to be a great husband to these animals! Although you may not handle each kit daily when you start getting a few dozen at once like I do! XD Also, I thought I'd share a few shots of my kits. X3 This litter was born just a couple weeks ago. They've just started coming out of their nest and they are late, late, late! Yes one of them is standing on top of the pile of the others. XD This kit is one of the amazing looking sables my rex produces when I breed her to my NZWs! This kit is a doe and is just about ready to wean!

Thanks! Exactly what I was looking for. I'm very observant and handle them daily. They are all given fresh hay piles daily and a flake unfluffed stays in there to nest with. They're munching, hanging out. Mama can see them she's such a love puddle at the moment. All stretched out.

 

[Bunnylady]

Bunnylady, it is a NZW buck over an Otter doe. The colors are the exact colors of the otter doe, just without the proper patterning. The guard hairs have brown tips. If you note, it even has the brown patch behind it's head. However it's not gold or yellow-y and the individual hairs are banded. It's brown, the same color as the brown patch behind the head on my otter doe. The light reflects off of it funny making it look a lot different than in real life.

As you know, Otters do not have banded hairs (nor do Sables). Otter is a Tan-pattern color; Sable is a Self-pattern color. Banding comes from the Agouti allele in the A series. Agouti(A) is the most dominant allele in the series, Self(a) is the most recessive; between them is Tan(at). Tans have solid colored body hairs like a Self, but the light markings in the ears, around the eyes, under the jaw, on the belly, between the toes, and on the underside of the tail like an Agouti. Tans also have a light colored triangle at the base of the ears like an Agouti. Because Silver Martens have Chinchilla alleles in the C series (which take the pheomelanin out of the coat), the triangle of a Silver Marten is white/silver, but all other Tan-patterned rabbits have yellow/orange pigment in the triangle. It may look "brown" to you, but it is the color that it is because of the presence of pheomelanin in the hair. The darkness of the color of the triangle may be because of Rufous modifiers. Rufous modifiers allow more than the usual amount of pheomelanin to be produced in the hairs, ramping up the yellow/orange coloring. Rex/Mini Rex breeders need the Rufous modifiers to change an Orange (non-showable color) to a deep Red, and with them, a Chestnut becomes the rich, mahogany brown Castor which is only seen in the Rex breeds. [The Tan breed uses Rufous, but also the Wide-band gene to put the deep red color on the belly as well]

If this baby has banding on its body hairs, clearly, it's an Agouti patterned animal. The typical full-color Agouti would be a Chestnut or a Castor, which looks much lighter overall (and has a white belly). Steel(Es) is a very strange allele of the E series. It is dominant to the usual full color allele (which was assigned the capital E before Steel was worked out, which is why the E series has 2 alleles that are designated with capital letters). When Steel(Es) is paired with an E, the animal is a visual Steel. When paired with another Steel allele, or any other allele in the E series, the animal looks like a black Self, with solid black hairs from nose to tail. The Steel allele allows more black pigment into areas of the coat where it is usually absent in an Agouti-patterned animal, so only a small part of the usual banding on the body hairs is visible, and the belly is frequently black, as well. Animals that have no yellow/orange pigment because of the presence of one of the Chinchilla alleles are sometimes called "Silver Tipped Steels," and those that have pheomelanin present in their hair are called "Gold-Tipped Steels."

Rex don't come in Steel, and since your doe is an Otter, the Agouti allele that allows the ticking or banding in the coat also had to come from the NZW.

 

[Beekissed]

I need a translator.....wow!