# Curious about raising Rex and French Lops for meat production



## Guest (Jun 26, 2009)

To anyone who raises Rex and or French Lops how do their growth rates, size, and mothering abilities compare to a NZ? I'm trying to come up with the ultimate "mutt" for what I want out of a rabbit...large litters, good mothers, fast growers, and good meat AND something that has the cuteness factor to sell as pets and is pretty to look at. 

Currently I have mostly NZWs and a couple mutts. I KNOW and appreciate the NZWs, but they are not fun to look at, and hard pet sellers. Would still keep a doe or buck around to breed with, but I love lop ears, and have always wanted the FL. Also love the Rex fur....


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## JCWehking (Jun 2, 2009)

I am subscribing to this thread because I am curious of the answer. I love those floppy ears.


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## o&itw (Dec 19, 2008)

I raised French for years and loved them. The ones I had had great litters, and were probably the friendliest rabbits I ever had. Since I just sort of "lucked in" and got great breeding stock right from the first, I can't say that all FL are like this. The only out crosses I made were to stock I added from the breeder from whom I bought the first.

These rabbits usually had 8 or more kits, which grew quickly. I know they are larger boned than NZW, and supposedly don't convert meat as quickly. but that is true of most rabbits, except NZW and Cals. They make great pets, but need large cages, so if they are not kept as "house" rabbits, they are really a bit to big. Mine were about 14 to 18 lbs mature. I like large rabbits for meat, and I tended to keep mine for about 12 weeks before butchering. I would usually fry up the front legs and loins, and keep the rest for stews, etc.

With other breeds, I have usually had to start from scratch and it took a year or so to get sorted through selecting good mothers and easy going rabbits.
Like I said.. I think I was blessed with a great bunch of rabbits right from the start, so I can't say all French are this way.


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## JCWehking (Jun 2, 2009)

How big are they at 12 weeks?


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## SFM in KY (May 11, 2002)

I've got Rex. Had them some 30 years ago for several years and again now, the last 18 months or so. They probably don't reach butcher weight quite as quickly as the Cals or NZ but I generally butcher between 10 and 12 weeks and they run between 4 and 5 lbs live weight at that time.

I've never had any particular problems with them. They seem as hardy as any of the breeds I've heard about. Litters may be somewhat smaller that NZ or Cals but they do seem to average around 8 normally ... some seem stuck on 6 or 7 but I select my replacement does from the does that tend to have bigger litters. They have good mothering ability, kindling and nestbox losses have been rare, good weaning weights and they are easy to handle and manage. I've never had a Rex doe bite me for any reason. I've had some that would grumble and growl ... a few that would try to bump my hand away from the nestbox the first few days but I've never had a doe that would lunge or bite.

I love the fur ... and it's a selling point for pets as well, one reason for the popularity of the MiniRex as a pet.


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## Guest (Jun 26, 2009)

o&itw said:


> Mine were about 14 to 18 lbs mature. I like large rabbits for meat, and I tended to keep mine for about 12 weeks before butchering.QUOTE]
> 
> I didn't realize they got this big. I figured they may have a slower growth rate, but I wouldn't be breeding for purebreds. When combined with a NZ, I figure rates would be higher than the French but lower than the NZ.....


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## Guest (Jun 26, 2009)

What about French litter sizes?


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## Guest (Jun 26, 2009)

Was just thinking, maybe I could breed a French/Rex cross to a NZ...I'll call them New French Rex! LOL!


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## o&itw (Dec 19, 2008)

Lyndseyrk said:


> o&itw said:
> 
> 
> > Mine were about 14 to 18 lbs mature. I like large rabbits for meat, and I tended to keep mine for about 12 weeks before butchering.QUOTE]
> ...


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## o&itw (Dec 19, 2008)

JCWehking said:


> How big are they at 12 weeks?


I can't really answer that. First of all it was a number of years ago and 2ndly,
I don't remember ever weighing them. I chose 12 weeks for 2 purposes, (allthough I knew it wasn't the most efficient) at that age the front legs wwere still tender for frying, while the back legs had lots of meat for stews etc. Since I processed a numbr of rabbits at a time, I could have a whole mess of front legs at a time. Perhaps the most important reason, though, was that I could evaluate the yougsters for replacment much better at that age.


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## Oakshire_Farm (Dec 4, 2008)

I have a velveteen lop! He is a cross of a rex and a french lop, he is about 10lbs. He is a pet! I do not know anything about meat rabbits but he could look tasty, I guess  I have thought about getting into meat rabbits? B-Bok is just a pet, we had him neutered when he was young. 

He has good size and long floppy ears like a frenchy and the soft coat like a rex. 

Here is some info on them, http://www.geocities.com/SouthBeach/Jetty/5196/velveteenlop.html I just googled this site, not where we got B-Bok from. I think they have a great salablity as pets!


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## SFM in KY (May 11, 2002)

Oakshire_Farm said:


> I have a velveteen lop! He is a cross of a rex and a french lop, he is about 10lbs. He is a pet! I do not know anything about meat rabbits but he could look tasty, I guess  I have thought about getting into meat rabbits? B-Bok is just a pet, we had him neutered when he was young.
> 
> He has good size and long floppy ears like a frenchy and the soft coat like a rex.
> 
> Here is some info on them, http://www.geocities.com/SouthBeach/Jetty/5196/velveteenlop.html I just googled this site, not where we got B-Bok from. I think they have a great salablity as pets!


The Velveteen Lop that is in the process of being ARBA approved is a cross between the Rex and the English Lop (not the French Lop) and is a smaller rabbit. The standard calls for not more than 6 1/2 lbs. for mature rabbits.

This site is a little more current http://www.mvlba.net/standard.html but still not completely up to date as they do not show that the Velveteen Lops did pass the 2nd presentation, which was last year at Louisville, KY (at the ARBA convention). If they pass this year at the convention, they will then have full ARBA approval.

I have had several myself, still have a red doe and two youngsters that I just weaned. I've got photos of a couple of mine up on my blog about the rabbits here: http://kaleidoscoperabbits.blogspot.com/2009/06/velveteen-lops.html

They are a smaller rabbit than the Rex, with a different body type but I do particularly like them because of the dispositions, very mellow and people oriented.



They are


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## Pat Lamar (Jun 19, 2002)

Oakshire_Farm said:


> I have a velveteen lop! *He is a cross of a rex and a french lop, he is about 10lbs.* He is a pet! I do not know anything about meat rabbits but he could look tasty, I guess  I have thought about getting into meat rabbits? B-Bok is just a pet, we had him neutered when he was young.
> 
> He has good size and long floppy ears like a frenchy and the soft coat like a rex.
> 
> Here is some info on them, http://www.geocities.com/SouthBeach/Jetty/5196/velveteenlop.html I just googled this site, not where we got B-Bok from. I think they have a great salablity as pets!


Sorry to say, but you are mistaken. The Velveteen Lop is a cross of a Rex and an *English Lop,* not a French Lop. Some pretty big differences there.

Pat Lamar


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## Guest (Jun 27, 2009)

I recently looked at pics of the Velveteen Lops, and quite frankly I think they are ugly (sorry Velveteen lop owners!). A little too much ear and a funny shaped head...I like the thought of a French Lop/Rex for a Velveteen Lop though.


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## Oakshire_Farm (Dec 4, 2008)

Sorry, I am not a rabbit enthusiast.... I just have one....... as a pet, I am not up on all the breeds and got mixed up............. sorry


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## SFM in KY (May 11, 2002)

Lyndseyrk said:


> I recently looked at pics of the Velveteen Lops, and quite frankly I think they are ugly (sorry Velveteen lop owners!). A little too much ear and a funny shaped head...I like the thought of a French Lop/Rex for a Velveteen Lop though.


That's one of the issues I have had with the VLs myself ... and I have them! They've developed them more as a smaller English Lop with Rex fur ... I had envisioned them as a Rex with lop ears!

Since I don't show and can more or less breed what I choose to, I've ended up breeding back into the Rex with my VLs and like what I'm getting better. Haven't gotten the lop ears consistently yet, of course, but I'm getting a rabbit that is more what I had in mind from the first ... a Rex with lop ears.

When I get photos of some of the 2nd and 3rd generation youngsters, I'll get more info about them up on my blog. I'm having a good time with them anyway ... and still keeping that really super temperament, which I appreciate as well.


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