What Rabbits Do You Have? Show Off Your Rabbits Here!

[CyndiD]

I took more pics of the 14 rabbits and weighed and measured them... here are pics. hope anyone can tell me what breed they are.

Doe, age:3-4mo? W:6#8oz, 17"

Same as above

Doe, age:3-4mo? W:5#12oz, 16"

Doe, age:3-4mo? W:6#2oz, 16"
THESE 3 ABOVE ARE SIBLINGS, I BELIEVE. the Buck is one of the following 2, or both?

Buck, age:? at least 1yo, probably much older? W:9#5oz, 20"-21"

same buck as above

Buck, age:1-?yo, W: 9#3oz, 18"

same as above

Doe, age: ?, W:7#5oz, 16"

same as above

these are her kits, age:2-3mo? W:3#4oz, 12"

one of the kits close up..

I hope this helps anyone... thanks for any advice or input, i appreciate any help.

 

[Bunnylady]

Like most rabbits that are used for meat, most of them are most likely mutts. The "gray" female might be a standard chinchilla, she is chinchilla colored, at any rate

 

[CyndiD]

Like most rabbits that are used for meat, most of them are most likely mutts. The "gray" female might be a standard chinchilla, she is chinchilla colored, at any rate

thank you, i thought so.
anyone else have some input???

 

[ChocolateMouse]

The first two strike me as looking like New Zealand rabbits. There's a legitimate chance that any parent stock came from 4H or purebred lines because purebred NZWs are everywhere, but no way to know for sure without a pedigree from a reputable breeder... Which these obviously don't have. So it could just be some REW genes coming out in mixed rabbits. Absolutely no way of knowing one way or another, so might as well chalk them up to being mixed but probably some nzw lineage.

The rest appear to be various mixed breeds. The buck with the white stripe is probably a vienna carrier, which is the blue eye white gene... Which could mean Beveren which would explain the shaggier fur? The big ears and banded coloring on most of the rest remind me of possibly some Flemmish Giant mixed in...? But almost assuredly just some mixed meat rabbits. Probably a really great little private meat herd if that's what you're going for. Some interesting colors and big, heavy, well-rounded rabbits.

 

[Bunnylady]

OK, so you said you think these 3 rabbits are littermates, correct?


The one in the middle looks to be a somewhat lighter shade of chestnut than one usually sees, which hints at something other than New Zealand genetics. Possibility of some Flemish here, but since Flemish Giant adults weigh at least 13 lbs, as small as these are, any Flemish ancestors are quite a ways back.


This guy has a blaze and a blue eye - BEW isn't a color one sees on a lot of breeds, at least, not on a show table. Could be some Beveren mixed into the ancestry . . . or it could have been a BEW Lionhead, for all you can tell - the body type doesn't look Beveren, anyway. There are many breeds of rabbit that aren't included among those showable at ARBA shows - for example the Vienna, which gave its name to the gene that gives us the BEW color. The Vienna is a commercial-type rabbit that has existed as a breed for well over a hundred years, and which has been used to develop some of the modern breeds that are showable. Lots of people like to play around with non-showable colors, too; every once in a while, some folks get serious enough about a color that they will jump through all the hoops with the ARBA standards committee and a breed gets a new color. New Zealands have been showable in Broken for a few years now, though you will run into a lot of rabbit people who still aren't aware of that . . . . you'll probably see Blue NZ's on show tables, too, within a few years.



I know I said this could be a Standard Chin, but if she had a REW baby in her litter, clearly, she can't be a purebred, because Chins aren't supposed to come in that color. Of course, rabbit breeders do outcrosses all the time to try to "improve" something about their breed (I put that in quotes, because some Chin breeders feel that one fairly popular line of Chins were totally ruined by the outcrossing that the breeder did; obviously, not everyone feels that way).

From your posts, it's not really clear - how do you think these rabbits are related, if at all? Do you think the Chin doe is the mother of the three young does in the first few pictures? If you are taking guesses on the paternity of the Chin's current litter, of the two possible candidates, I'm thinking the black buck is more likely - it looks like you have a couple of Steels in the litter, and neither the Chin doe nor the Vienna-marked buck are Steel. The black buck could be hiding Steel, or even possibly be expressing it (Steel is a really weird gene). Lots of NZ's carry Steel, though with a minimum weight of 9 lbs, New Zealand may not be the only breed in him (is it just the lighting, or am I seeing a lot of white hairs in his coat?)

 

[ChocolateMouse]

I mean, like, there's some really cool possible genetics and mixes in there... But they're a meat mutt herd. I love meat mutts myself. Great rabbits. You get some neat stuff out of them.

 

[CyndiD]

@ChocolateMouse Hi, thanks so much for all your info. what is REW? does it mean red eyed white?
these rabbits came from my neighbors who got them from another neighbor who passed away last June. His name was Ken & he was about 80+ yo. he had his rabbits for many yrs. and i have no idea where he got them. you mentioned 4h and that sounds very possible. Ken may of bought his original stock from a fair, etc. and who knows if he played around w/breeding to get the best meat rabbit he wanted?
the first 3 pics of the 2-3mo (tan, white & blk) i believe had a different doe, (not the chin doe) who killed 5 of her 8 kits. she was sent to the freezer before she could kill the last 3. i didnt ask what color she was. i can ask the previous owners, if this will help any? I am totally fine w/mixed breeds, i just want to get the "best guess" i can get from rabbit eenthsiast. I really appreciate your thoughts and expertise.
what can i do w/these rabbits.. breeding thoughts? I do want meat rabbits, but i dont want to inbreed. is breeding the same as chickens, breed daughters to buck and son's to doe's? to stay away from deformities?
thanks

 

[CyndiD]

@Bunnylady Hi, thank you also for your reply and helping me identify these rabbits.
Yes, the first three doe's came from the same litter, but i do not know who their doe was, she killed 5 out of her own 8 kits, these 3 survived. and i have not asked the previous owners which buck was the sire, if it will help in any way, i will ask them?
I found out today that the 2 bucks and the chin doe are under 2yrs old. so that makes me think/believe that they may be litter mates??? i dont know, i could ask, cuz i dont want inbreeding. can rabbits breed w/sibs? without deformities?
ou asked if you were seeing white hairs, i think you are asking about the black buck? yes, he does have white/silver hairs and cinn/bronze coloring. i dont know my colors yet, i'm still reading and learning.
i am very interested in breeding these rabbits for the best quality meat and i would like to breed for color and keep a few as pets. i am ot interested in showing but i do want to improve my flock/stock/ litter??? what are they called?
thank you again for all your input and thoughts. i know there are so many breeds and mutts. there are so many beautiful rabbits.
do rabbits bit much? i am concerned they will bite me when i hold them. silly, huh?

 

[Bunnylady]

If the two bucks and the chin doe are littermates, they are a curious mix indeed, since the bucks are 9+ pounds, and the doe weighs less than 8. She may have lost some condition nursing that litter, but she doesn't look significantly underweight. With almost all rabbit breeds, does tend to be slightly larger than bucks; to get a doe that small and bucks that big, I'd say you'd need at least one rabbit that was in the 5 to 6-pound range (like a Havana or a Florida White) and something over 10 lbs (the inevitable New Zealand, for example), and probably more than just a two-breed cross (especially when you look at the colors involved) . . . . Which is a roundabout way of saying that, if they are indeed siblings, they come from a right well mixed gene pool and I wouldn't worry about inbreeding - not in this generation, anyway.

I enlarged the pic of the black buck on my computer, and the white in his coat looks more like ticking than white hairs - which could make him a very dark Steel. You could get that breeding to a New Zealand. In the pic of the litter, there is a reddish colored rabbit in the middle of the group, with what looks like a lot of white hairs scattered in the coat - that looks more like silvering, but that doesn't usually show up to that degree in rabbits that young. Curiouser and curiouser, as Alice would say . . . .

But as to biting - most rabbits don't bite; biting is generally an aggressive behavior, and most simply aren't that aggressive. That said, I have a scar on my wrist that was put there the day before my daughter was born by a Netherland Dwarf buck, and she turns 16 this year - clearly, that was a serious bite, from an seriously aggressive rabbit. Rabbits can be territorial, and may nip or box at you, to get you out of their cage space. I don't allow that sort of thing; any rabbit that doesn't get over that behavior quickly votes themselves out of the gene pool. A doe can get cranky when she's bred or caring for a litter - that's to be expected, and I don't fault her for it, but I must be able to get my hands in a cage under "normal" circumstances (Heaven forbid that some child gets attacked when all they did was open a cage door!).

Rabbits will scratch, even violently, when they are feeling frightened or insecure. Almost every rabbit person sports scratches on their arms and hands. After a while, you will learn how to pick up and carry a rabbit without it tearing you up, and your rabbits will get used to being handled like that and hopefully tolerate it, but even well-handled rabbits may occasionally "explode" on you (particularly when you are doing something like claw trimming). You have to be careful to support the rabbit, even when it is struggling, because rabbit bones are pretty fragile and they can seriously injure themselves even if they don't get dropped. I prefer to carry rabbits tucked into my arm, with their feet pointing upward; some people insist that rabbits are scared out of their minds when upside down, and that's why they don't usually struggle when on their backs . . . .

You will learn, as we all do, that nothing with rabbits is easy; least of all public opinion.

 

[ChocolateMouse]

I find that the best way to avoid inbreeding is to skip on generation so breed does to their grandsire and bucks to their granddam, but you'll find mixed opinions on this. I know one person who would breed brother to sister once every few generations to look for recessive deformities and then keep and breed the offspring to other rabbits if they were healthy. It's not hard to avoid inbreeding in rabbits... They are fairly resilient to it and similar to chickens in that regard.

As for biting, most rabbits don't bite. They do scratch, often, but you can learn to handle them in such a way to dodge that most of the time. I prefer the football hold myself, face tucked into the crook of my arm with my hand wrapped around the rear and their legs braced between my arm and body... Usually the other hand on their scruff just in case. Everyone finds the way to manage their rabbits that works best with their body type and natural motion patterns.

Occasionally I run into an extremely hormonal mom or young buck that bites. Like Bunnylady I have a huge scar from a rabbit bite on my wrist. I had a big broken black buck who was something like a NZW/Rhinelander/Flemish Giant mix, mom was sweet as a daisy, dad was a little grumpy but nothing out of the ordinary... Somehow this buck came out to some 13lbs, just under his dam's weight and was MASSIVE. Biggest buck I have ever owned. He was mad like a bat out of hell and would try to chase you down to bite you. One day I was reaching into the cage to get his food bowl and he tried to kill me. He bit my wrist right on top of the artery and started to try to literally rip my flesh off. I had to whack him on the head to get him off of me because he wouldn't let go. When I got back indoors I realized I could see my artery pumping blood and the muscles around it through the layers of silverskin. I nearly passed out from shock.

I culled that rabbit's whole line. They were delicious. A rabbit that bites is a rabbit that gets culled in any responsible rabbitry. It's one thing if they have a serious reason to bite (like they are giving birth or have just been attacked by a predator, have an injury, or maaaaayve a big, loud, screaming child lunges for them wildly?) that's different than biting just because they are picked up or someone reaches into the cage. Healthy, well cared for rabbits have no real reason to bite and a rabbit that bites under those conditions is a rabbit that belongs in your freezer.