# InFo on the Brazilian rabbit



## KSALguy (Feb 14, 2006)

http://rabbitgeek.com/breed/brazilian.html

The Rabbits From Brazil 

(or âzilsâ to their friends!)
by Kathleen Blair, Ph.D

Hello, and thanks for your interest in the Brazilian rabbit breed!
Here is their story.

I was in the Peace Corps from 1978-1980 stationed in Pico da Bandiera National Park near the small town of Caparao in the Serra do Mar mountain range. Many of the families there are very poor. Most were tenant farmers with the entire family (including the small children) working for large landowners tending the trees and picking the coffee beans you probably had for breakfast. 

The diet is almost entirely rice, beans, sugar and coffee. Some fruit grows at that elevation and most had little garden plots and a couple of chickens. But there were not a dozen people in the whole valley that were rich enough to have a milk cow. A few lucky older children might have a goat they led around on a string and let graze on the roadside so they could get milk sometimes for themselves and their smaller brothers and sisters. Few even owned a change of clothes or a pair of shoes. Their coffee cups were often tin cans with the edges carefully smoothed. 

An American was a novelty that was straight from Disneyland as far as they were concerned and the kids would come to visit me in the park even if they had to walk 2-3 miles (one way) to do so. They also came to play soccer with a large grapefruit or a ball of rags in my yard as it was the only âterreiroâ in the valley not dedicated to drying and curing coffee beans. 

I had left a pet house rabbit back in the states and had picked up another (long story) while in Brazil. The kids were utterly fascinated by Pipoca (the house rabbit = yet another story).

One day I happened to notice that about half the kids had disappeared. When I asked where they were I was told they had gone home for lunch. I asked why everyone had not - was the game that good? They looked at me puzzled and said âit is not our day to eat lunch. We will find some fruit in the forest or wait until supper to eat.â 

My grandfather had owned a commercial rabbitry in southern Missouri that sold to Pel-freez, a commercial rabbit meat processor. I knew rabbits would fit into this terribly tight food web and put protein on the tables without competing with the kids (kids eat the beans, rabbits eat the pods; kids eat the corn, rabbits eat the shucks; kids eat the couve [kale], rabbits eat the weeds.) So I went to the local farmers and the weekly markets looking for meat-type rabbits. 

There were breeds such as New Zealands and Dutch but they were associated with the thriving commercial meat and pet markets around the large cities (besides, I donât do white rabbits with pink eyes â too spooky). Then, I came upon a breed common to the farmers and small markets in the mountains and backcountry they all called a âRusticoâ (pronounced âHusâticoâ. It means ârusticâ). Hardy, solid, calm, happily eating sugar cane with just a string tied around their middles. This was what I wanted. Back I went to the park and started raising rabbits in a old milking shed. The kids would come up and go to ârabbit schoolâ â learning how to house them without using wire or nails ( no money), feed them a balanced diet from garden scraps and the forest ( no money), treat their ailments with first aid and herbs and even charms as long as it worked! (no money.) 


The Peace Corps nurse sent a book on Brazilian herbal remedies, I found a book on rabbit diseases written in Portuguese, and I cheerfully drafted the local farmers, curandeiras and Candomble Pai-do-Santos. When the kids âgraduatedâ I would ride down the mountain on the horse and give them a breeding age trio in a gunnysack (uh, coffee sack). 

By the time I left a couple of years later, there were many functioning rabbitries in that valley putting at least a few more meals on the table and fewer kids who did not have to take turns eating. Oh, yeah â and when I came home â a pair of Brazilian Rusticos came with me â Pipoca and Poppy. They must have joined the Mile-High Club â 30 days after arrival there were 15. All the Brazilians in the USA have come down from that original pair in 1980.

Now, this Brazilian rabbit breed has several odd characteristics compared to what we are used to in the States. No one knows how long the breed has been in existence or which European breeds went into their origins. The Brazilian farmers insisted that they âhad always had themâ. They are generally the old European body type, not our new commercial types â but the bucks and does look very, very different from each other. 

The Brazilian rabbit bucks are thick and blocky as a brick, about 7 1/2 lbs while the does are more mandolin shaped, go 7-10 lbs (and many seem to grow slowly their whole lives long somehow â these guys have several odd traits as you will see). 

The Brazilian peopleâs love of bright, pastel colors is evident as the breed is fixed for dilution and for melanin (black) pigment but occurs in nearly all possible colors and coat pattern variations in the dilute black family â blue is the most common, along with opal, blue chin, blue frosted white, blue steel, smoked blue pearl, tortoise-shell, blue fawn and all these in self, broken and Californian patterns. A single litter often looks like a patchwork quilt. Other than in the Californian pattern they all have blue-grey to hazel colored eyes. They have heavy bones and thick, well furred ears that they often carry open and canted forward. 

The fur too, is odd and not what you might expect from a tropical breed â it has a guard hair that is rather long and coarse while the underfur is very thick resulting in fur that either stays erect when ruffled or rolls back slowly. The Brazilian rabbit youngsters look like dandelion puffs. This trait is sex linked, however, as it is most conspicuous in bucks and less so in does. 

Another interesting trait is their personalities â they are intensely friendly and gentle â toward people, other rabbits and even other animals. What they want most in life is to be piled in a heap with each other, you or any other warm body they can find. The bucks will even go in and brood the bunnies on cold nights (OK â maybe they just want belly warmers, but they are also attentive and protective of babies). 

I have never in all these year lost a baby that was the motherâs fault. PS â theyâve killed a few snakes, too. They seem to be able to eat anything and thrive on it. They are mostly very sociable and seldom fight, even as adults ( I frequently keep families or pairs together in cages with no problems â and I always have a bunch on the floor of the rabbitry. ( I run out of room for my snooty Rexes? Plunk, more floor âzils). 

They are however, shy breeders as the bucks are very gentle. No problem, they do so love to play house. There is a reason for several of these odd traits, however. They have been bred and raised for uncounted generations in the backcountry of Brazil in colonies, even free-ranging colonies, similar to the conditions under which the species evolved in Europe. They are often allowed to roam the farm during the day like chickens, eating weeds and grass and whatever they can find. At night they are called in by the farmer (yes, they come when called when trained with a little food for a reward) or herded in along with the chickens and penned up for the night in sheds or small corrals. 


The Brazilian rabbit does dug burrows in the corrals or under the house or chicken coop (I had one dig under my garden, under the paved ally and come out 50 feet out in the neighborâs yard.). Other colonies I saw were in small adobe or bamboo walled corrals. So this means that the natural environment had a lot to say in these rabbitâs traits as well as human selection. 

In a situation with no electricity, the rabbits were butchered as needed, and you know who got culled out first â the mean ones, the trouble makers, the unthrifty ones. Predators still took the dumb ones and those that did not do well on rough food did not make it either. Their coarse, thick fur shed the rain and mud of the tropics well. Another thing I wonder about with the thick fur, even on the ears, is the parasite loads that the tropics impose â especially mosquito borne diseases. I have seen a cloud of mosquitoes around these guys that were unable to get through the fur to bite.

SO that is the story of my âfunny looking South American rabbitsâ and thanks for asking about them! Here in the states they make great backyard , homestead type meat rabbits â or wonderful pets, Although I have worked up a breed standard I have not yet started the process to get them recognized by ARBA although several judges have seen them over the years and offered their suggestions. They are a rather whimsically variable lot â especially in color, but one day I will get it done.

Over 25 yrs of a closed gene pool does make them pretty unique.

Kathleen Blair, Ph.D 
The Bluehare Rabbitry 
Lake Havasu City, AZ 86404 
email: [email protected]


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## critterluv (Jan 17, 2008)

I have been tring to decide what kind of meat rabbit i want to raise and I think I like these. They sound really nice. Where can I buy some of these? is anyone selling trios?


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## KSALguy (Feb 14, 2006)

that i am aware of right now the lady in question is able to ship pairs or trios out, but she is in Arizona, i am sure she has send others so there should be more out there but i dont know who else has them right now, 

i would like to try them as well,


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## MaggieJ (Feb 6, 2006)

Thanks for posting that, KSALguy.... A fascinating read. They sound like the ideal colony rabbit. I wouldn't mind having some of those 'Zils myself! Love all the colours too!


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## KSALguy (Feb 14, 2006)

yeah the colors are great and i think its cool about the whole Partial sexlinkage thing as well, wold make telling the bucks from the does alot easyer i would think 

now we just need to find where to get them lol


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## MaggieJ (Feb 6, 2006)

Did you email Kathryn Blair, the author of the article?


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## turtlehead (Jul 22, 2005)

The link has some nice pics of the rabbits.


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## Terry W (Mar 10, 2006)

Franco Rios, Owner of two Yahoo groups -rare breed rabbits and Chinchilla rabbits-- also owns the rabbitgeek site-- I think he is getting some--

we have been discussing some genetic testing possibilities on these Brazilians in rarebreedrabbits

yep, I can just see MY rabbits coming in from the fields when I call them, especially Wild Child....


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## MariaAZ (Jun 5, 2007)

It's so funny this thread popped up today! I have 'zils from Kathleen, I've had them for about 6 months but just got around taking photos and was going to post them to this forum today 

They are awesome rabbits. Cast iron stomachs too! I feed mine palm fronds, oranges (peels and all, they like playing bunny soccer before finally eating them), weeds, bread, tortillas, hay, grain; just toss it in and no problems with scouring. In fact, my two does who live together will only eat pellets when I don't have anything else to feed them.

Here are a few photos of my crew (which I got from Kathleen):

This is Ophelia. She looks like a blue-eyed white but she's got grey-blue eyes. She is also ever-so-slightly frosted with grey, only visible on her head and ears and only in the right light:










These are my orange-eating, pellet-hating does, Blue and Lacy. Lacy is very similar to Opelia except she has more frosting. I rudely interrupted them from their meal of kitchen scraps:









And this is big daddy Thumper.










They are really neat rabbits. I'm especially excited to see how they do in our heat. Our rabbit area is in a very sheltered outdoor area. Although they are in cages now, we are going to build a "summer residence" pen under the orange tree for them.


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## MaggieJ (Feb 6, 2006)

Here's an idea... You know how they have been moving Elfie across the country to his new home... Well, wouldn't it be cool to do this with a pair of 'Zils! The first recipient would breed them and keep the adults and pass on the kits, preferably to a couple of interested forum members and they would raise them and pass on more and more of them... and in a couple of years we'd have 'Zils all the way from Arizona to the Canadian border. (And just maybe we could get a couple across the border to me! Pretty please?)


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## moonkitten (Mar 4, 2005)

MaggieJ said:


> Here's an idea... You know how they have been moving Elfie across the country to his new home... Well, wouldn't it be cool to do this with a pair of 'Zils! The first recipient would breed them and keep the adults and pass on the kits, preferably to a couple of interested forum members and they would raise them and pass on more and more of them... and in a couple of years we'd have 'Zils all the way from Arizona to the Canadian border. (And just maybe we could get a couple across the border to me! Pretty please?)


Oh, I'd jump on that map too. I could be the link from the border to MaggieJ :bouncy:


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## Otter (Jan 15, 2008)

That would be awesome! How would we start?


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## MaggieJ (Feb 6, 2006)

First we need to get MariaAZ to agree to sell some of her 'Zils. I think a trio would be best with the females already bred to a different buck. Perhaps the first person in the chain would pay for the buns and future links pay for the kits they take. We would need a co-ordinator to keep track of participants and line up a route. Probably the Elfie folks could give us some pointers. 

For starters, who would be interested in participating and where do you live? Count me in... 

Maggie, south east Ontario, Canada (100 miles east of Toronto)


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## Terry W (Mar 10, 2006)

Sounds like a neat idea-- an 'undergound genetics railroad'

And I would take part!!!!


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## SILEIGH (Jul 11, 2007)

i'm in! aaaannnndd i'll be in ontario in july!! near newport !!


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## MariaAZ (Jun 5, 2007)

I only have one buck... for now  Ophelia didn't take on the first breeding to Thumper (which was also HIS first breeding), although the Rex doe I bred him to later gave birth to seven kits. I bred her earlier this week, so I should have kits in a few months but no adults for awhile. One thing to keep in mind about 'zils; Kathleen brought a single pair back. Every 'zil is a direct descendent of those two rabbits, so they are incredibly inbred and technically there really aren't any unrelated animals.

Another thing about 'zils; they mature a bit slower and so need to be a bit older before first breeding. That being said, I'd be happy to help out.


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## MaggieJ (Feb 6, 2006)

Thanks, Maria! I really don't have much problem with inbreeding... my own mutts are pretty much that inbred as well. Who knows if this idea will take off or not... but if it does, it's nice to know that down the road you might have some 'zils for sale.


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## KSALguy (Feb 14, 2006)

COUNT ME IN< i think its a great idea, and should work nicely but i dont think i am on the way from AZ to Canada lol as i am all the way over in South East ALabama 

but deffinatly i think thats a great idea. 

as to the inbreeding as everyone knows on here by now i think as long as only the best are kept for breeding it will be ok, and you can put some space in the blood lines by spreading out the stock like we are talking then traiding back and forth when needed.


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## MaggieJ (Feb 6, 2006)

Well, no reason it has to be a straight line between two points. We could fan it out in all directions from Arizona... as long as we had enough interested people to form links in the chains.


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## KSALguy (Feb 14, 2006)

well then come on people link up link up lol, we got Arizona on one end, Canada on another and Alabama makeing a triangle lets fill in the gaps


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## Otter (Jan 15, 2008)

I'm in PA


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## MariaAZ (Jun 5, 2007)

Sounds like you might need more than one trio!


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## lonelyfarmgirl (Feb 6, 2005)

Im in. as an Indiana person, Im right dead in the middle.


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## silver_penny (Feb 22, 2008)

Hey, count me in, too... Maria, I live in Tucson, wink wink.


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## lonelyfarmgirl (Feb 6, 2005)

seems you should start a waiting list, in order of closest to you, for the ease of passing on the offspring with the least amount of travel distance. has there been a price figured, or is this still all in the speculation stage?

I am getting into meat rabbits pretty heavily. I have at this time, a cinnamon doe, 2 creme d'argent does and one buck, and an american chinchilla doe. I wonder if cross breeding would help these more 'food fragile' breeds harden up their stomach tolerances.


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## Bernadette (Jan 17, 2004)

Edited: Wait a minute - what I said first made no sense really, too early in the morning before my first cup of tea. It's not one elf we're talking about here, it's rabbits. Creatures that multiply. Quickly. And no reason why the route couldn't be repeated over and over either, right?

Leigh - Camp Newport, near Huntsville? Why, that's closer to me than to moonkitten! Rabbits or no - you'd be welcome for a visit - I'm probably 2 hours from there. Actually, moonkitten is perhaps about the same distance?


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## SILEIGH (Jul 11, 2007)

bernadette - bowers camp on bob's lake in mayberly, ontario
63 miles northest of Gananoque
the closest town we go to for supplies is Newport

we go for the big family vacation -- fish swim eat fish swim eat!!


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## Otter (Jan 15, 2008)

I'd be happy to help organize. Seems like we'd need to set up a map with a network of people about 2 hours drive from each other. MariaZ said they take a while to mature. How about getting 2 pair, each rabbit a different color, passing on the adults and keeping the kits? That way every one would have 2 distinct litters to work with + as many cross breeds as you wanted to breed the bucks to. Every one would breed each doe a different buck at 5 or 6 weeks and keep the rabbits till the babies weaned, then pass on the parents. Everyone would get 2 expecting does and 2 bucks to play with. That would be faster then passing on babies and waiting 7 or 8 months for them to litter. MariaZ might not have that many rabbits to sell, could we go right to the source? Everyone who signed up would pay a percentage for the two pair, gas to pick them up and drop them off. Try for an hours drive each way (everyone meets halfway) It would actually be pretty cheap. So any one have a map and some thumbtacks?


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## KSALguy (Feb 14, 2006)

Otter i think you have a pretty good grasp on how to put this thing togather, and i do like your idea on moveing the adult breeding pairs instead of waiting on the babies to mature, that would take for ever to get them passed around to everyone, 

if we can get it worked out to an couple hours between everyone and then meet half way i think it wont be near as hard as one might think, 

now its just a matter of getting enough people between all the consecutive points to partisipate, anyone else on any of the other Meat Rabbit boards? 

oh and to Lonelyfarmgirl i dont see why crossbreeding your rabbits wouldnt do something to help them toughin up, also if you start slowly feeding them natural food stuffs that will help as well,


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## JLusk (Mar 1, 2006)

I want a pair. Im in Lima, Ohio


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## SILEIGH (Jul 11, 2007)

i'm in and i'm 2 hours from jlusk and one hour? from terryw


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## SILEIGH (Jul 11, 2007)

SILEIGH said:


> i'm in! aaaannnndd i'll be in ontario in july!! near newport !!



i swear sometimes i have no brain at all --Westport ontario!


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## Otter (Jan 15, 2008)

I'll write up a plan and if everyone will agree, lets try to get this started!


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## SILEIGH (Jul 11, 2007)

i second that plan:clap:


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## a4patch (Mar 21, 2008)

I am interested.

:banana02:
Richmond Virginia.

23231

Peggy Sue


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## YuccaFlatsRanch (May 3, 2004)

Can someone in Texas Join too?? We have red and white NZ. We are in kerrville, TX.


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## nutsburg (Dec 7, 2007)

Monroe, WA

Please let me join!!


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## pookshollow (Aug 22, 2005)

> i swear sometimes i have no brain at all --Westport ontario!


OK, that's about a couple of hours away from MaggieJ, about 5 or 6 from me and MoonKitten.

How did I miss all this stuff? I'd be interested too!


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## red_lynn (Oct 9, 2003)

My mother just told me about these and it was really funny to find this thread.

I'm in Maple Valley, Washington. My mother would probably want to be in on it too even though she's not on the board. She's in Chico, CA. 

Right now we're trying to get started with American Chinchillas.


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## rabbitgeek (Mar 22, 2008)

You can get American Chinchillas in Stockton, CA, which is south of Chico, CA

Have a good day!
Franco Rios


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## Pony (Jan 6, 2003)

Now, darn it! I thought I'd already tossed my name in here, and don't see any posts by me at all (in this thread, I mean...)

I want some! I want some!

Please. And thank you. 

Pony!


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## SILEIGH (Jul 11, 2007)

pony i've got you on both maps!! by chicago? is that right?

red_lynn i'll add you to the 'Zil map and do you want added to the breeders map?
you don't nessasarily have to have some thing to sell right now 
i don't ...it will help people find you and you can take it from there

if your mom can join the board and get a username i'll get her added to:happy:


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## SILEIGH (Jul 11, 2007)

pooks your on both now also :clap:


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## moonkitten (Mar 4, 2005)

Wow, look at all the people who are interested in Brazilians!! And me, way up on the far north corner... 

Even if someone ever does get in touch with Kathleen and we get this started, at an average of 5-6 litters a year, it's going to take YEARS and YEARS for that quartet to get all the way up to me :Bawling:


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## red_lynn (Oct 9, 2003)

rabbitgeek said:


> You can get American Chinchillas in Stockton, CA, which is south of Chico, CA
> 
> Have a good day!
> Franco Rios


Thanks for the info. I actually picked up the buck that I have right now from a nice lady in Biggs. If you have any specific info on the breeder in Stockton I'd love the info. If the pedigree looks good I am planning on getting two does from a breeder in Buckley. I'm really hoping that her does are totally unrelated to my buck. 



SILEIGH said:


> red_lynn i'll add you to the 'Zil map and do you want added to the breeders map?
> you don't nessasarily have to have some thing to sell right now
> i don't ...it will help people find you and you can take it from there
> 
> if your mom can join the board and get a username i'll get her added to:happy:


Sure, why not. I'll eventually have stock to sell.:happy:


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## lonelyfarmgirl (Feb 6, 2005)

has anyone actually gotten ahold of this woman? does she know her rabbits seem to be highly desired by so many? or is this all just a homesteaders wonderful fantasy?


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## Otter (Jan 15, 2008)

As of now, it is a work in progress, she is pretty hard to get a hold of. But I will be calling her again tomorrow and trying to make fantasy a reality.


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## lonelyfarmgirl (Feb 6, 2005)

thats cool, I just hadn't heard of any further progress, and had no idea what was going on. maybe someone could write her a letter? surely she would get that.


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## Honeyoak (Apr 12, 2008)

Hi , I'm red_lynn's mom in Chico, CA. She hooked me on Am Chins and now it looks like we're hunting zils together... wow. I definately want to be included in the rabbit train. Sounds super. Seems awful slow tho to my impatient old soul. Two months (min) for every two hrs from AZ to Canada...

I know NOTHING abt importing animals from Brazil, but maybe somebody knows, or knows somebody who knows more... Pooling resorces can sometimes work wonders. The world is getting so small. I'm having fantasies of 40 or 50 pairs or trios landing at SF airport :bouncy:

Anyhow I'm pleased to meet you all and look forward to many blurry hours looking at my screen.


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## lonelyfarmgirl (Feb 6, 2005)

welcome to the wagon!


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## Freeholder (Jun 19, 2004)

Resurrecting an old thread here -- I'd never heard of these until today, but if you are still taking names for the 'Zil chain, I'd like to put mine on. I'm just outside of Klamath Falls, Or (97601) so according to the map so far, would be the next person north of Honeyoaks.

Kathleen


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## Cyngbaeld (May 20, 2004)

Bump this up and put me on the list, please? 76578


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## Bluehare (Mar 16, 2008)

Hi guys! Maybe I can get on this on a friends computer. I delivered 2 does ( hopefully bred) to Amarillo (Three Okas Academy) over Christmas. I have a couple of 3 week old litters coming along as well and These could be ready to move on in early March. Hope this is good news to you all! Have a couple of more does to bred as well. Cheers. Kathleen


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## trinityoaks (Sep 17, 2008)

Bluehare said:


> I delivered 2 does ( hopefully bred) to Amarillo (Three Okas Academy) over Christmas.


Branwyn kindled a couple of weeks ago, litter of seven (one born dead), but she kindled on the wire (didn't build a nest) and we lost all of them. Dot apparently didn't take. As soon as Smokey heals from this latest bout with abcess, I will rebreed them.

Here are pics of the two does:

This is Dot:












And Branwyn:


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## jadejackal (Jan 16, 2010)

Is there any way I could get on this list?

South west Idaho area.


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## mom23840 (Mar 4, 2010)

I would like to be added to the "Zillie map" for wanting to start raising them.
I know this has been going on for quite some time, as a dear friend joined a couple of years ago. I was just wondering how the bunnies have traveled...IF they've traveled.
We definitely need some Eastern breeders.


~Beth 
www.cotondogs.net
http://www.dogchannel.com/dog-magazines/dogworld/dog-world-march-2010-coton.aspx


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## currycomb (Feb 19, 2010)

why can't we just get some new 'zils brought in from brazil? i have a friend who married a girl from brazil and he is down there now. what kind of quaranteen or rules???


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## GoslingFever (Jan 31, 2006)

MaggieJ said:


> Here's an idea... You know how they have been moving Elfie across the country to his new home... Well, wouldn't it be cool to do this with a pair of 'Zils! The first recipient would breed them and keep the adults and pass on the kits, preferably to a couple of interested forum members and they would raise them and pass on more and more of them... and in a couple of years we'd have 'Zils all the way from Arizona to the Canadian border. (And just maybe we could get a couple across the border to me! Pretty please?)


Ha! Maggie, this is a fantastic idea!!!!

=)

East TN.


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## Tracy Sayre (Mar 28, 2008)

Hey currycomb, Here is a link to the basics of importing rabbits http://www.rabbitgeek.com/whitman_import.html Can your friend tell the difference between rabbit breeds? Kathleen mentioned that there were new zealands and dutch around the cities. It has been thirty years since she brought the originals to the states and it is hard to know what has happened to the brazilian breed in brazil. It may be cross bred out of existance or only hanging on in really remote areas or maybe they are hopping all over the country! Kathleen mentioned she got hers from the market in the city of Belo Horizonte . I hope this info is helpful and good luck. Tracy Sayre


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## currycomb (Feb 19, 2010)

when eunice came and saw our rabbits here in illinois, she commented on how different our rabbits were from the ones in her home town, which is quite a distance from any main cities, so probably the true zil's. will e-mail them, and see what they think.


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## Tracy Sayre (Mar 28, 2008)

Has your friend gotten back to you about the zils?


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## trinityoaks (Sep 17, 2008)

GoslingFever said:


> MaggieJ said:
> 
> 
> > Here's an idea... You know how they have been moving Elfie across the country to his new home... Well, wouldn't it be cool to do this with a pair of 'Zils!
> ...


GF, this is essentially what the Brazilian Rabbit Project is all about. As far as I know, there are about six or seven people in the U.S. that have Zils descended from the first pair brought back by Dr. Blair. I currently have three Zil does, but lost my Zil buck a couple of months ago. I hope to be getting a couple more bucks from someone in south Texas in the next month.


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## TedH71 (Jan 19, 2003)

They sound interesting. I'm in Wichita, KS.


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## chigarden (Jul 14, 2005)

I also am looking for Zils  We are in Southeast Texas

thanks,
Margaret
HiNote in Winnie, TX


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## brandkelz (Apr 15, 2011)

I think that we would be interested. I am in NW Missouri. I am always looking for the "perfect" cross for meat purposes and this is VERY interesting. Especially the iron stomach....in case times get hard and pellets isnt always an option. I agree with talking to the source too. She knows alot about these rabbits and might have more to work with. This looks like a great idea....


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## lonelyfarmgirl (Feb 6, 2005)

I posted interest when the whole zil adventure on here first started. Do we have any that have made their way towards wisconsin yet?


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## Tracy Sayre (Mar 28, 2008)

There are two breeders that I know of in Tx. Trinity Oaks didn't breed this spring but will be latter on in the year and she is part of the rabbit talk forum. I think you could also contact her through the Brazilian rabbit yahoo group. I think the other Tx breeder is on this forum. On the Brazilian yahoo group a litter has been advertised in Tucson and adults and juniors in Arkansas. Kathleen should be having litters soon or maybe just had some so they won't be ready for awhile but I think she has a waiting list. That's all of the ones that I know about. (-: Tracy


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## Treewhisper (Nov 24, 2010)

This sounds great! Count me in. I have giant chins and silver fox

Carver, MA
02330


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## Aimee (Nov 8, 2010)

If this project has continued, I am interested in joining. Please let me know what I can do to help


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## Tracy Sayre (Mar 28, 2008)

The Project fell apart. The main problem was that only a few people (like six) joined so they couldn't get passed from one person to another which was the original idea. There was too much space in between people. I think Arkansas is as far east and north as they got. The rest are in Tx and Arizona as far as I know. We are on our own when it comes to getting them. Of course there is nothing to stop individuals from sharing costs. I recommend joining the rabbit relay yahoo group. That's were I found the lady who is moving mine. All of the zils I've seen are $25 each because that is what Kathleen asks for them so the price is pretty standard. 
Tracy


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## Aimee (Nov 8, 2010)

Thanks for the update Tracy


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## GoslingFever (Jan 31, 2006)

Tracy, did you get your Zils? What do you think of them? Have they had a litter yet?

Anyone else further east than Arkansas get them yet?


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## Tracy Sayre (Mar 28, 2008)

Yes, they arrived this spring thanks to a lady I contacted through the rabbit relay group. She went beyond the call of duty arranging the whole trip for them. I only had to drive two hours to get them! I got four young rabbits but the sex change fairy visited so I ended up with three bucks and one doe. I have a litter of three, one week old kits but i did lose one of the bucks this fall. I am hoping to post some pics and give a more complete account on the brazilian rabbit yahoo group. my pics got moved to my husband's computer so I have to figure out his picture program. 
I haven't had them long enough to really be able to critique them. I do like them. They didn't bred till they were seven months old and her first litter didn't survive. That is what I'm used to with the angoras that I have but they might not be what people are looking for if they want fast meat production. I think they have potential to be a more sustainable breed but I'm not doing any experimenting with unfamiliar production practices until I have more of them.  Tracy


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## GoslingFever (Jan 31, 2006)

Thank you for the update Tracy!!

This is interesting information on their maturity. Hope her next litter survives, and if you have a waiting list - be sure to add me to it when you get to the point you feel you have some kits to sell.

And yes, when you get the program to work, I'd love pics!


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