# Meat Rabbits



## farmerjane (Jan 4, 2009)

What is a good breed of meat rabbit to start with and why ? 

I have alot of mini rabbits, are they eatable ? LOL or even worth it, more out of curiosity then anything. I don't think i would be able to eat my pets, but what would be a good breed for meat .


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## Willowynd (Mar 27, 2005)

Any rabbit can be eaten. Now your not going to get near as much meat off a mini as would off a meat breed but you can get enough to feed a couple of people for a meal or use it in a stew. The most common meat breeds are californians and New Zealand whites...they were bred for commercial purposes (fast, efficent growth)...so they get to butcher weight sooner. There are larger rabbits than the meat breeds, but they take longer to reach weight and are not as efficient in converting feed to weight....which means more money spent to get them there. If you pick up the ARBA standard of perfection, it will tell you what each breed is classed as, and thier junior and senior weights. My advice if you are prone to making pets out of your meat animals, is to choose a breed that does not really appeal that much to you. You can always have the ones that you love the looks of as a second breed and sell those as pets to help pay for you feed. That is what I did. Even though French lops were bred for meat, there is no way I could butcher one of them. Now the Cal's, I could do it as they do not have as much appeal to me.


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## Pat Lamar (Jun 19, 2002)

If using the ARBA Standard of Perfection, please note the fact that the "commercial" body type breeds are not always "meat" breeds, although they will still have the same meat-bearing structure and adequate size as the meat breeds. 3 of the Angora breeds are included in this group and although they can be used for home table fare, their commercial value is in the wool and no rabbit meat processor will accept them. Even with the Rex breed, most processors will not accept Rex. 

Indeed, any rabbit can be eaten... it all depends on how much meat you want (size) and how much bone (giant breeds), along with the economics of raising them for meat purposes. Small breeds we jokingly call "Cornish Rabbits."

New Zealand Whites are the number one breed if planning to sell to a processor since they satisfy the needs of both the processors and the breeders (meat quality, white pelts, fast growth, good feed conversion, large litters, good mothering instincts and skills, and milking abilities). Californians come in second, as they are a tad bit smaller and would take an extra week or two of feeding to reach marketable weights, so they're just not as economical. Processors prefer NZW's and Cals due to the lack of pigmentation (for biological markets), easier to peel the skins than with the colored pelts (carpal tunnel is a major concern when processing hundreds of rabbits), the white hairs don't show up as obviously as colored hairs on the meat, and the carcass of colored rabbits will be darker than the carcass of white rabbits... often not noticeable until you place them side-by-side, but I have seen very grey unappetizing carcasses from black rabbits. Not very appealing for a meat that is touted as "all white meat," eh? This would be a marketing concern.

I hope this answers your questions.

Pat Lamar


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## garnetmoth (Oct 16, 2008)

http://www.mybunnyfarm.com/ this has descriptions, and you can click on each breed and pictures!

http://www.albc-usa.org/cpl/wtchlist.html


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## farmerjane (Jan 4, 2009)

Thanks guys, this is very helpful.


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## Jesse L (Nov 6, 2008)

Harlaquins are nice. They are nice and big but not as big as your commercial breeds like the NZ. They are EXTREMELY gentle and you always have a surprise in the nest box with colours! I really like them but they do take a bit longer to grow, im in no rush though. They are also very easy to show, mostly if the markings are correct then it is a show quality animal!

Most people go with the New Zelands and Calis because they grow fast.

Meat mutts always work to....you can breed whatever you want 

And yup, you CAN eat the dwarfs but they sell for less as they are smaller and you dont get near as much meat...but they are nice for the pet crowd!


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## denaliguide (Aug 30, 2008)

REX's, not mini rex, and I find they are very feed efficient and easy keepers, so they are eating candidates for us, other than that we have NZ & Flemish Crosses, that are providing nice fryers and additional breeding stock.
We are extra on a couple of REX's but havent decided as to whether to eat or sell them, rather than breed them, but that is up in the air yet.

DG




farmerjane said:


> What is a good breed of meat rabbit to start with and why ?
> 
> I have alot of mini rabbits, are they eatable ? LOL or even worth it, more out of curiosity then anything. I don't think i would be able to eat my pets, but what would be a good breed for meat .


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## MariaAZ (Jun 5, 2007)

We raised mini rex about 15 years ago. They tasted just fine, had pretty decent meat-to-bone ratio and gave more than enough meat for a meal for two.


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## katduck (Jul 10, 2008)

Pat Lamar said:


> 3 of the Angora breeds are included in this group and although they can be used for home table fare, their commercial value is in the wool and no rabbit meat processor will accept them. Even with the Rex breed, most processors will not accept Rex.


I can understand why a processor would not want an Angora, but why not Rex? I can't figure that one out.

Katrina


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## Pat Lamar (Jun 19, 2002)

During the development of the Mini Rex which utilized smaller sized standard Rex, too many of the smaller Rex were being passed off as "fryers" which can't be over 12 weeks of age. Since it was practically impossible to tell the difference between a standard Rex fryer and a small Rex until they were butchered, the processors decided to play it safe by not accepting Rex at all. Also remember... processors are more knowledgeable on meat, not on differentiating the finer details of the numerous breeds.

Pat Lamar


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## Pat Lamar (Jun 19, 2002)

Oh, yes... of lesser importance is the fact that some lines of Rex rabbits tend to have yellow fat, not the whiter fat we normally see on a rabbit carcass. Yellow fat is not appealing on an "all-white" meat. Yellow is associated with "rancid." 

Pat Lamar


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## katduck (Jul 10, 2008)

Pat Lamar said:


> During the development of the Mini Rex which utilized smaller sized standard Rex, too many of the smaller Rex were being passed off as "fryers" which can't be over 12 weeks of age. Since it was practically impossible to tell the difference between a standard Rex fryer and a small Rex until they were butchered, the processors decided to play it safe by not accepting Rex at all. Also remember... processors are more knowledgeable on meat, not on differentiating the finer details of the numerous breeds.


That makes total sense.



Pat Lamar said:


> Oh, yes... of lesser importance is the fact that some lines of Rex rabbits tend to have yellow fat, not the whiter fat we normally see on a rabbit carcass. Yellow fat is not appealing on an "all-white" meat. Yellow is associated with "rancid."


hmmm.....Very interesting. I wonder what color fat mine will have? It will be quite a while, first batch isn't due until 2/8. Of course, I really don't care what color the fat is. If I butchered my first rabbit and it had yellow fat, like a chicken, I would figure it was normal.

Kat


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## o&itw (Dec 19, 2008)

I am not a big fan of NewZealand White (bred for meat production) style rabbits,... they are just not very pretty, like the show type NZW with nice "powerful " heads.

If one looks at a commercial rabbit producer though, that (and Californians) is what you almost always will see. The reason: lowest feed amount to marketable carcass weight ratio. If you are a comercial raiser, this rabbit gives the most profit. Saving a few percent on feed costs is not all that important to me, but when ones income depends on commercial rabbit production, and his feed bills are huge, a few percent means a great deal. 

A meat type rabbit, on the other hand, is a medium to large rabbit, that is compact and bred for "power" These rabbits take more feed to produce a pound of meat, but have physical conformation standards towards specific (ARBA) rules. If of high quality, they have sales potential as "show stock" or "cute pets", at considerably higher prices than "commercial" rabbits.

I like big rabbits, especially French Lops, the next person may like the feel of the fur of a Satin, and the next may think Champagnes are just "too cute".
My daughter raised mini-lops for show....all of these breeds are delicious


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## Jcran (Jan 4, 2006)

My Silver Fox litter just went to market yesterday. They averaged 2 1/2 to 2 3/4 lbs dressed out at 11 weeks. I was very happy with them.


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## rabbitgeek (Mar 22, 2008)

o&itw said:


> I am not a big fan of NewZealand White (bred for meat production) style rabbits,... they are just not very pretty, like the show type NZW with nice "powerful " heads.
> 
> [edit]
> 
> A meat type rabbit, on the other hand, is a medium to large rabbit, that is compact and bred for "power" These rabbits take more feed to produce a pound of meat, but have physical conformation standards towards specific (ARBA) rules. If of high quality, they have sales potential as "show stock" or "cute pets", at considerably higher prices than "commercial" rabbits.


There is a rabbit judge in Calif who keeps separate herds of NZ. 

One is the "show" herd that is bred for conformation. The other is the "meat" herd that is raised for production. 

The "meat" rabbits that I saw are big, muscular animals that are not "standard" in body profile, the ears don't set right, the heads are not the right shape, etc. They throw large litters and the does will raise them to weaning. Great production qualities.

You would think that the two goals would meet in the same animals, but it doesn't usually happen in every herd.

Have a good day!
Franco Rios


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## MaggieJ (Feb 6, 2006)

Pat Lamar said:


> Oh, yes... of lesser importance is the fact that some lines of Rex rabbits tend to have yellow fat, not the whiter fat we normally see on a rabbit carcass. Yellow fat is not appealing on an "all-white" meat. Yellow is associated with "rancid."
> 
> Pat Lamar


I find this interesting, Pat. I agree that yellow fat is unappetizing and for that reason prefer to raise chickens with white fat such as Speckled Sussex, a heavy, English dual purpose breed. I always understood (perhaps wrongly) that most American chicken breeds have the yellow fat and that this is preferred in the United States. It does give a richer coloured broth, but that is about the only advantage I can think of. Most chicken marketed here is the white fat type, but occasionally we see the yellow fat birds. I guess it's all what one is accustomed to.


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## trinityoaks (Sep 17, 2008)

MaggieJ said:


> I find this interesting, Pat. I agree that yellow fat is unappetizing and for that reason prefer to raise chickens with white fat


 I didn't know there was such a thing. I've never seen chicken fat that WASN'T yellow. If I saw white chicken fat, I would think it's abnormal. I guess you learn something new every day. :shrug:


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## rabbitgeek (Mar 22, 2008)

farmerjane said:


> What is a good breed of meat rabbit to start with and why ?
> 
> I have alot of mini rabbits, are they eatable ? LOL or even worth it, more out of curiosity then anything. I don't think i would be able to eat my pets, but what would be a good breed for meat .


I have an article on my website about raising meat pen rabbits
http://www.rabbitgeek.com/meatpennotes.html

It includes a chart of "meat sized" rabbit breeds suitable for meat raising.

Maybe that will help.

Have a good day!
Franco Rios


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## Willowynd (Mar 27, 2005)

rabbitgeek said:


> There is a rabbit judge in Calif who keeps separate herds of NZ.
> 
> One is the "show" herd that is bred for conformation. The other is the "meat" herd that is raised for production.
> 
> ...


Yes, the guy I got my Cals off of also has 2 separate herds for them- one show and one commercial.


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## Pat Lamar (Jun 19, 2002)

I also kept two separate herds of NZW's... one for meat production and the other for show. However... the commercial strain I had purchased were really long and lanky looking things and were producing 14+ per litter. So, I decided to improve the meat quality and cut down on the litter sizes by breeding the does to my show bucks. It made a big difference in the meat quality and it cut the litter sizes down to 8 to 10 per litter after a few generations. When the litter sizes decreased beyond what I wanted, I began using a commercial buck, again, in order to reverse the process.

Out of curiosity, I would occasionally show one of my commercial does, just to see how it stacked up to the show NZW's. Middle of the class was as good as I could get and still maintain the litter sizes I needed for meat production. Even so, I wound up with a good looking herd of commercial rabbits with improved meat qualities.

Pat Lamar


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## rabbitgeek (Mar 22, 2008)

Pat Lamar said:


> Out of curiosity, I would occasionally show one of my commercial does, just to see how it stacked up to the show NZW's. Middle of the class was as good as I could get and still maintain the litter sizes I needed for meat production. Even so, I wound up with a good looking herd of commercial rabbits with improved meat qualities.
> 
> Pat Lamar


Pat,

The guy in Calif with two separate herds tells me that when he cross breeds from the show herd - meat herd he often experiences the "hybrid vigor" in the first generation litters, as if he had cross bred two different breeds.

Are you experiencing that when you cross your NZ meat/show herds?

Have a good day!


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## Skip (Mar 13, 2008)

Regarding "hybrid vigor," in one of the threads here I believe it was, I read you will get this when crossing the different various colours of New Zealand. What happens with the second generation?


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## cnvh (Jun 11, 2008)

We just processed our first litter-- Flemish doe crossed with a "meat mutt" buck. The litter was just under 12 weeks old, live weights were all over 5 lbs., and the dressed weights were between 2 lbs. 7 oz. and 3 lbs., most averaged around 2 3/4 lbs. 

We ate some last night-- was delicious.


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## Pat Lamar (Jun 19, 2002)

rabbitgeek said:


> Pat,
> 
> The guy in Calif with two separate herds tells me that when he cross breeds from the show herd - meat herd he often experiences the "hybrid vigor" in the first generation litters, as if he had cross bred two different breeds.
> 
> ...


Yup! I sure did!

Pat Lamar


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## SquashNut (Sep 25, 2005)

I cross my NZW and Cals for meat stock and made the mistake of saving one for breeding. Her milk production and mothering skills were poor, as well as I had a heck of a time getting her to breed.
She was a huge doe and she few me and DH for a whole week.


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## rabbitgeek (Mar 22, 2008)

Skip said:


> Regarding "hybrid vigor," in one of the threads here I believe it was, I read you will get this when crossing the different various colours of New Zealand. What happens with the second generation?


With the second generation the production output starts appearing more consistent with what the normal genetic background would lead you to expect.

In other words, production goes to "normal" levels, not "hybrid" levels.

Have a good day!
Franco Rios


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## Pat Lamar (Jun 19, 2002)

rabbitgeek said:


> With the second generation the production output starts appearing more consistent with what the normal genetic background would lead you to expect.
> 
> In other words, production goes to "normal" levels, not "hybrid" levels.
> 
> ...


Yes, that's right, Franco. Sorry I didn't mention that myself. It was only with the first crossing. During that time, I was culling very hard in order to develop a hardy herd, too, so I didn't see that much difference between the first and second generations on hybrid vigor.

Pat Lamar


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## SquashNut (Sep 25, 2005)

The F1 doe I saved for breed stock's mother was not much of a milker, good mother just not much milk, so I have thought of trying again, but since every one says F! hybryds arent worth having, it has put me off doing it again.


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