[JulieWall]

Does anyone in Scotland or in the Midlands keep large breeds of rabbit such as New Zealands, Netherlands or Flemish? I'm looking for either bucks or does to cross with my NZWs for a bigger gene pool.

Thanks, Julie

[cloddopper]

Julie , see if fur and feather is on line or look for other online small holders don't tell that what your after is for breeding food stock as a lot of folk won't entertain you .

 You could do worse that wait till a few weeks after Christmas or Easter when people get bored of Crimbo &  Easter bunnies and cleaning them out . Perhaps  advertise locally in a paper for a male rabbit such as a Carolina boy rabbit  or a New Zealand white boy rabbit or big male rabbit even  , just don't let on that you know a bit about rabbits by using breeder terminology .

 When I wanted unrelated stock for my herd of rabbits I went to the PetSmart sort of places to pick up two big bucks ..one had big floppy ears and was ginger the other was NZ white with a couple of big black spots . As the rabbits were rather large I suggested to the shop managers that I was willing to take them off their hands to free up pen space for smaller rabbits  that i  should have them for a tenner each .. I got Arnie and Buster  two unrelated bucks

Arnie was my A line genetic strain  and Buster the B line we also had  c d e f & g lines eventually via the same system . Only one rabbit "  Eddie " was a poor buy and he ended up as the first rabbit stew I'd eaten in several years .

Once they successfully mated three or four times I took breeding stock to replace them at around the 18 month point .

[JulieWall]

I was once daft enough to ask about large breeds in a pet shop. The owner made it sound as if his partner was chilled about selling rabbits for meat breeding but when I went back to see her she nearly threw me out of the shop. Scary, crazy woman  you'd have thought I wanted to torture the poor things the way she reacted 

[sjacko]

are you still looking for meat rabbits I have just mated my NZ doe to my Californian buck if you want a buck or doe let me know 

[JulieWall]

Thanks sjacko but I really just want NZs. I quite like the prospect of NZ reds or blacks if I can find any. There seem to be plenty of crossbreeds around but the purebreds are proving harder to source. As soon as I think I've found one the advert turns out to be out of date or the breeder has given up.

Interesting development though, I've sourced another breeder in the black country who needs a trio from me and is off down to Devon soon to collect a litter from a breeder down there. We have a very complicated swap to organise in April, so she can provide stock from me to other customers further south. I can see us starting an informal network of breeders so we can help one another with replacements and transport and keep our gene pools diverse, it's quite exciting really 

[sjacko]

I had a black nz doe but she died last year 
I like the idea of a network of breeders ,I need more rabbits the young ones are snapped up when ready

[JulieWall]

What region are you in sjacko? I'm going to Coventry in a fortnight and I will have a spare doe kit if she is any use to you.

[sjacko]

Loughborough In Leicestershire , would really like that 

[cloddopper]

are you still looking for meat rabbits I have just mated my NZ doe to my Californian buck if you want a buck or doe let me know

 Julie that Californian NZ cross , could be just the thing to introduce to your stock .. The NZ is a big rabbit but with a poor feed to meat ( FTM ) conversion rate.

 The Californian is a good solid blocky rabbit with a good FTM rate.  Bringing that into your herd  once in a while should see you have a 50 /50 trait of each so you should get some decent amount of meat for your feed costs.

 Once you get the best of the new mating's  bring it back into your NZ's it should see you with a good strain for a long time .

It's often known as the cross breed vigour syndrome .

[JulieWall]

It's no use to me though, I'm breeding pure NZWs to supply as breeding stock, what people cross them with after that is up to them, it's all meat after all. It's a great idea but won't fit my needs.

The NZ has a fantastic meat to bone ratio, much thinner bones than chicken, you'll get a 3.5lb dressed carcase by 12 - 14 weeks and a superb pelt. One leg will feed 2 people, it's all meat!

Tbh though, the only kits that end up in the freezer these days are any I don't want to sell on, an aggressive biter and a few surplus bucks were the only ones I culled for the freezer last year, everything else was sold for either breeding stock or as house rabbits. I had the idea that I might raise a few trios to sell 'ready to breed' but the current kits are all spoken for and I've got four buyers waiting for the litters currently in-utero    It also means I can make pets of them all and just enjoy them.

[cloddopper]

Gotcha, understand , where your going, good luck .