This is a topic I was asked to cover by a commenter on the MeatRabbits.org YouTube page. It’s a good question. Let’s take a look at why I raise the breeds of meat rabbits that I do.
Jump to:
- Which Meat Rabbit Breeds I Raise
- Crosses of the Two
- How and Why I Chose to Breed New Zealand and Californian Meat Rabbits
- 1. Availability
- 2. Size and body type/composition
- 3. Rate of growth and time to harvest
- 4. Temperament
- 5. Mothering and litter size
- 6. Hardiness and suitability for my climate
- Other Factors to Consider When Choosing Meat Rabbit Breeds
- Future Plans and Meat Rabbit Breeds I Plan to Keep Breeding
- New Zealands and Californians Have a Solid Home Here
Which Meat Rabbit Breeds I Raise
It seems most sensible to first address which breeds of meat rabbits I raise.
I raise Californian and New Zealand meat rabbits.
For New Zealands I have both a “broken” (black and white that looks sort of like a Holstein cow in markings) and a male/female set of white New Zealands (which are often referred to as REW or Red Eyed White—these are one of the most common colors of New Zealand (NZ) rabbits that you will find because they are what are also commonly used for research and in laboratories.
This is NOT to say that the REW New Zealands you find for sale are former lab rabbits—labs are usually rather good at making sure those don’t get out into the mainstream market. It’s just to say that there are a fair number of them because there has been a demand for them.
Colors are not a very important factor to me, and the colors I have are more reflective of availability than anything else. From my original stock, my criteria for keeping and selecting breeding stock has been based on factors related to temperament and performance.
Crosses of the Two
I also keep crosses of the two, and I frequently cross the New Zealand and Californians purposefully for meat grow outs.
The Californian/New Zealand cross for grow outs is a common one that many meat rabbit raisers use. You get the faster growth rate and some added size of the New Zealands with the good muscling and fine bone of the Californian. This makes a good, fast-growing meat rabbit with an excellent bone-to-meat ratio.
I do also have one breeding doe that is a cross, or what a lot of people will call “meat mutts”. Though some will say that you lose hybrid vigor after the first cross, this doe consistently throws large litters (usually 10 or 11), is an excellent mother, calm and easy to handle, and her kits grow out just as well as purebreds or first-generation filial crosses (F1).
Of course, there is nothing wrong with purebred rabbits of commercial meat types for growing out, either, and I do raise those as well, switching things up from time to time. Having some sets of purebreds gives me options for selecting new breeding stock and for having some to sell and recoup some of the cost of raising rabbits.
How and Why I Chose to Breed New Zealand and Californian Meat Rabbits
There are a handful of criteria that led me to choosing New Zealands and Californians as my breeds of choice when I first started raising meat rabbits. Following are what were my biggest deciding factors:
1. Availability
New Zealands and Californians are two of the most common meat rabbit breeds. They are arguably what you will be able to find the most of. New Zealands, in my experience, are a bit more available than Californians.
Of course, this varies depending on where you live, but as these are two of the most highly recommended breeds and also two of the breeds that are used commercially for meat, lab work, and research, they tend to be two that are bred the most.
With availability also comes choice. Sometimes, a large quantity of an animal or breed can result in a large range of animal qualities, including good, bad, and everything in between. But that also means that if you are selective, there is a lot to choose from and a larger pool of genetics.
There can be downsides to this, obviously, but the fact that you have more options can be a very good thing. Don't forget that you can (and should) also work on improving your stock through careful selection and by keeping the best stock to raise for your breeders (but you should still start with the best meat rabbit breeding stock you can find).
Having good availability of these breeds, especially when I was new to raising meat rabbits, was a bonus. As I go on, I like that there is a stock that is fairly readily available. This gives me a supply of animals to choose from when I want to improve a trait or inject new genetics into my breeding stock.
2. Size and body type/composition
I’m not one who focuses a lot on body composition in respect to what people who show rabbits would be looking for (though this does, in part, go hand in hand with what makes a good, well-muscled meat rabbit).
I do like to see some good composition in terms of size, though. Size in meat rabbits, especially in the first six months, translates directly into meat supply. Rabbits in the grow out phase don’t tend to pack on extra fat, so in many ways, you can look at the size and weight to determine their meat production capacity.
Primarily, I chose New Zealands and Californians because their body type has been developed for efficient meat growth. They are considered, in the rabbit world, a “medium” sized rabbit. They are also considered a “commercial” breed (even if you’re not breeding them to sell them).
Medium-sized rabbits are those with the best size and meat-to-bone ratio. Small breeds just don’t get big enough to be something worth focusing a meat rabbit breeding program on (though yes, they are edible—they just don’t match up to the time and inputs).
Giant breeds have too large a skeleton to grow as efficiently as the mediums for meat production. (And yes, people do breed giants for meat, too, and many like to cross them with mediums for grow outs.)
My focus is exclusively on growing good, efficient meat. These are two of the best breeds for doing that, and this was a huge consideration when I was choosing my breeds of meat rabbits.
3. Rate of growth and time to harvest
Part of what makes rabbits efficient is the speedy rate of growth and their ability to reach harvest age quickly. But your rabbits must hit that speedy, efficient growth rate for this to be true.
In my experience, the Californians may be slightly slower growing than the New Zealand, though part of this is the fact that some of my Californians come from show lines, and that is not an uncommon feature of rabbits from show lines. Still, it’s a negligible difference.
Crossing these two gives me a fast-growing, efficient rabbit, and all of my rabbits reach at least “good” harvest weights—often better—by 10 or 12 weeks (about 3 months). We choose to harvest at 16 weeks, and by that time, we are averaging a live weight of 7 to 8+ pounds, with animals dressing out at between four and five pounds (most between 4.5 and 5).
Both Californians and New Zealands are reliable, fast growers with good efficiency ratings.
4. Temperament
Personally, I have no time or patience for mean animals. I want animals that are manageable, can be handled, do not attack or bite, and do not scratch too much (all rabbits will scratch at some point, even if only by accident, but I don’t want attackers—a lot of this is handling and management, too!).
I personally have no interest in being bitten or scratched on a daily basis, and I also want to keep the rabbitry a place where friends, family, and kids can come, learn, play with the grow outs, and enjoy the rabbitry. Biters and bad attitudes don’t figure into that equation.
Both Californians and New Zealands are known for good temperaments. Of course, this is a generalization, and individual animals may show bad tempers, but in my rabbitry, those will be culled.
I find the Californians to be sweet and calmer but a little on the shy side. I’ve never had a mean one, though.
I find the New Zealands to be a little more energetic and enthusiastic, a little more apt to run around the cage when you come into the room to feed them, and probably a little more curious and prone to trying to jump when handled if they’re not used to it.
If I have rabbits that are more prone to startling or thumping and warning in a cage, it will be the New Zealands. A stomp of a foot is the extent of it, though. A reassuring hand usually shows them everything is okay.
With all of this said, I’ve never had a major issue with any of my rabbits or either of these breeds. Care and management can go a long way, too, and even though I’m not picking them up every day, I do reach into cages every day for feeding and watering, and they all randomly get a pat or two, which helps to keep them used to me and reduces skittishness.
5. Mothering and litter size
Both of these breeds of rabbits are known to be good mothers that produce large litters (though this, of course, will vary by individual animal, too). As productivity goes, New Zealand and Californian rabbits both have these traits.
Californians average between 8 and 12 kits per litter, while New Zealands are said to be slightly lower, on average, at 7 to 10. Either can be thought of as falling within this range. You can also select for performance and litter size as you select for your herd.
My experience has been that the New Zealand whites tend to be somewhat more nervous as mothers, and the young does are slower to catch on to mothering for the first litter or two, but there is not enough of a difference between the breeds that would prevent me from not raising either one.
And, that said, my best breeding doe is an experienced, broken New Zealand—so a lot of it lies in selection as you build your breeding program! Rabbits of either breed that have small litter sizes or prove to be neglectful mothers get culled and replaced—it costs the same to feed a good rabbit as a bad one!
6. Hardiness and suitability for my climate
This is a factor, but for me, it wasn’t a very big one. Part of that is probably due to the fact that both of these breeds, which I’d mostly already decided on, were fine for my climate. The other part is probably the fact that most rabbits breeds are, anyway.
Though we do have extremes in winter that range from occasional bouts of sub-zero weather and miserable wind chills down to –20 F and summer heat waves and humidity up to 100 F or higher, these are my extremes. Those waves are usually short-lived. Weather here is most often more moderate than that.
Still, I can’t think of a rabbit breed that I wouldn’t try to keep here. Rabbits will acclimate well to their environments if properly provided for relative to their living conditions.
If you do live in a place with more extreme or prolonged, extended extreme weather—mostly extended hot weather—you might want to research a little more to see what the recommended meat rabbit breeds are for your area. There’s nothing set in stone one way or another when it comes to breeds, but there are some examples, like the Tamuk breed, that was bred specifically with high-heat areas in mind.
Hardiness is the other part of this equation, and by that, for me, I considered a rabbit that was hardy enough to also endure the different seasons and erratic weather and temperature swings within them.
Again, Californians and New Zealands had a good hardiness rating. They’ve proven quite capable of acclimating to and managing all four of the Northeast U.S. seasons and the swings from one season to another and back again that can occur here within a single day!
Other Factors to Consider When Choosing Meat Rabbit Breeds
The six characteristics mentioned above are the major reasons why I settled on the two breeds of meat rabbits that I keep. My goals were almost exclusively meat production for the home when I started out, and this is the goal that guides my decisions.
There are other factors that come into play to lesser extents. These may be more or less important to you when you choose your own breeds of meat rabbits. A few other things to consider might include:
- Coat type
- Color
- Suitability for tanning or selling hides
- Demand for the breed or their product and byproduct
- Resale value
- Breed conservation
- Personal interest
- Interest in showing and recognition as a breed for showing, etc.
In terms of breed conservation, I am a person who has had a solid interest in finding efficient homestead types of animals while also helping to conserve a breed that has good value, but that has fallen out of popularity due to commercial goals.
A note on breed conservancy
Commercial producers and industries choose breeds of animals—including rabbits—depending on their own interests. Often, this is the breed or variety that becomes mainstream and popular, but that doesn’t mean that other breeds don’t have excellent qualities for backyard breeders and homesteaders.
If you want to learn more about quality meat rabbit breeds that may now be threatened or that have only recently become less threatened, you can find lists of breeds and their priority status maintained on the Livestock Conservancy site.
The site maintains lists of heritage breeds in an effort to support them as useful animal breeds worth preserving. Once they’re gone, we’re not likely to get them back, so this is something worth considering. There are several good breeds of rabbits that fall along the varying degrees of concern and conservation status, from critical to recovering and (hopefully) graduated.
Probably one of the factors that works against heritage rabbit breeds the most is that keeping meat rabbits is less popular in many countries than keeping chickens, pigs, or cows (though there are threatened breeds of all types of livestock, including chickens, pigs, and cows, too).
Future Plans and Meat Rabbit Breeds I Plan to Keep Breeding
I listed “interest” as a factor you might consider when choosing a meat rabbit breed because who says you shouldn’t have fun with the animals you raise to eat?
If there is something about a breed that piques your curiosity or something that matters to you, put it on your list and pursue it. No one can tell you what the “right” or “best” breed is for you. That’s for you to decide. I’m sharing my choices and the thought and selection process that got me here as food for thought.
I do also intend to add a new breed to my rabbitry this year, one that I have been watching and learning about since we delved deeper into keeping meat rabbits. That is the Champagne d’Argent breed.
This is the breed that Alyssa at Homestead Rabbits/BHA Rabbitry keeps. I think I’ve been hooked on this breed since spending so much time on her site and with her videos.
They’re a neat color-changing rabbit, one that is not as common as NZ’s and Cali’s, but one that is also not listed as threatened at this time. They are, however, a French heritage breed prized for fur and meat.
Why do I want to add this breed if the New Zealand and Californian rabbits are doing so well?
Well, because I want to. They look neat. They interest me.
I put a lot of time and effort, and a fair amount of money into my meat rabbit project, so why not also do something to keep things interesting?
If you’re looking for an interesting breed and also want to conserve a quality, productive meat rabbit breed, you might check out their close relative, the Creme d’Argent. It backslid on the conservancy list from “Recovering” to “Threatened” in 2020 and remains in a threatened status today.
New Zealands and Californians Have a Solid Home Here
I do fully intend to keep breeding my New Zealands and Californians for the foreseeable future. If I fall in love with a new breed, like the Champagnes, that may change. But that breed will also have to prove itself over time, and that will take time and several litters before I make that decision.
I do find that it can become too inefficient for a small breeder to keep too many breeds because you have to keep at least one breeding pair for every type of rabbit that you want to keep. At least, that’s true if you want to produce purebred offspring for any reason.
The New Zealand and Californians have lived up to their reputation as excellent backyard meat rabbits, and they continue to have a solid place in my rabbitry.
Leave a Reply