Choosing the right breed of rabbit for you!!!

Pick Your Breed

I suppose the most difficult decision in raising rabbits is selecting the breed you want to raise.

Breeds are characterized by size, shape, ears, fur texture, sheen, and color. In some breeds, the individual fur characteristics are combined. The main fur types are:

• Angora - The fur grows very long and is shaved or plucked and woven into yarn to be used in making Angora sweaters, hats, and mittens. The long haired rabbits can become a real problem for the casual rabbit breeder. Their fur has a tendency to matt and shed. It's a real bear trying to clean the cages that have long hair everywhere. The hair also floats out and settles on anything in your rabbitry, or house.
  

• Satin - The fur has a special shine to it. It is used to make fine fur coats and hats.

• Rex - The fur has a velvety touch and is short. It is used also to make fine fur coats and hats.

Dwarf Breeds

The smallest breeds, the Dwarfs, vary in size from 1-3/4 to 3-1/2 lbs. They include:

• Britannia Petite (White, black, black otter, or chestnut agouti) 1-1/2 - 2-1/2 lbs

• Dwarf Hotot (White with black around its eyes) 2 - 3 lbs

• Jersey Wooley (Many colors - Angora wool) 2 - 3-1/2 lbs

• Netherland Dwarf (Many colors) 1-3/4 - 2-1/2 lbs

• Polish (Black, blue, chocolate, blue eyed white, ruby eyed white, and broken) 2 - 3-1/2 lbs

These rabbits, as a group, are less than 3-1/2 pounds mature. These are the rabbits you will want to raise if you want small pets that don't consume much feed (about 1/3 to 1/2 cup per day) and take up the least amount of cage space (about 2-1/2 sq ft). Many times, these are the only rabbits that pet stores will buy. You can expect to fetch about $7.00 from pet stores without having to supply a pedigree. The pet store will turn around and sell them for about $30.00. When you sell to other breeders and provide a pedigree, you can expect from $15.00 to $40.00 or even $100.00 or more for a grand champion. Price depends on the rabbit's show background, quality, and heritage, including the production characteristics of its parents.

The Netherland Dwarf is the breed in greatest demand. The Netherland Dwarf has the most ARBA(American Rabbit Breeders Association) -recognized colors and patterns of all the breeds. If you're into variety, you can't go wrong with Netherland Dwarfs.

The problems you will run into with any of the dwarf breeds mentioned are the following:

• The average litter size is 2 - 4 bunnies, as opposed to the larger breeds which have 6 - 12 bunnies.
• The genes responsible for making a dwarf rabbit, in certain combinations is lethal. This combination occurs in 25% of the rabbits. The one having this gene usually dies within 4 days after birth.
• Dwarf rabbits are more susceptible to coccidiosis, an intestinal parasite that many times proves lethal to the young rabbits between three and ten weeks of age.

The above factors don't tend to discourage people from raising dwarfs. They consider these problems as challenges. Dwarf rabbits are in great demand because of their popularity with young people. This, coupled with the lower litter rate, explain why they command a higher price than other rabbits.

Small Breeds

The next group of rabbits make up the small size breeds. They vary from about 2-1/2 to 5 pounds. These rabbits consume between 1/3 and 2/3 cup of feed per day and take up 3-1/2 sq ft of cage space. The small breeds have characteristics between the dwarfs and the medium size breeds. They usually have 1 - 3 more babies in their litters than the dwarfs and do not carry the possibly lethal dwarf gene. However, they are still more susceptible to death from coccidiosis than the larger breeds. The small breeds consist of:

• American Fuzzy Lop (Many colors - Angora fur - Lop Ears) 3 - 4 lbs

• Dutch (The feet, front half of torso and face are white, the other parts can be black, blue, chocolate, tortoise, steel, or brown-gray) 3-1/2 - 5-1/2 lbs

• Himalayan (White with colored ears, nose, feet, and tail of black, blue, lilac, or chocolate) 2-1/2 - 4-1/2 lbs

• Holland Lop (Lop ears - Many colors) 2-1/2 - 4 lbs

• Mini Rex (Rex coat - Many colors) 3 - 4-1/2 lbs

Medium Size Breeds

The next group of rabbits make up the medium size breeds. This group is characterized by weights ranging from 4-1/2 to 7 pounds mature. These rabbits consume between 1/2 and 1 cup of feed per day and take up 5 sq ft of cage space.

Rabbits that make up this group of medium breeds include the following:

• American Sable (Also good for meat) 7-10 lbs

• English Angora (Many colors) 5 - 7-1/2 lbs

• French Angora (Many colors - good also for meat) 7-1/2 - 10-1/2 lbs

• Satin Angora (Many colors) 6-1/2 - 9 lbs

• Belgian Hare (Not seen much - different body style) 6 - 9-1/2 lbs

• Standard Chinchilla 5 - 7-1/2 lbs

• English Spot (White with spots of black, blue, chocolate, gold, gray, lilac, or tortoise) 5 - 8 lbs

• Florida White 4 - 6 lbs

• Harlequin (Has alternate bands of color) 6-1/2 - 9-1/2 lbs

• Havana (Black, blue, or chocolate) 4-1/2 - 6-1/2 lbs

• Lilac 5-1/2 - 8 lbs

• Mini Lop (Lop ears - Many colors) 4-1/2 - 6-1/2 lbs

• Rhinelander (White with spots of black and orange) 6-1/2 - 10 lbs

• Silver (Black, brown, or fawn with white ticking) 4 - 7 lbs

• Silver Marten (Black, blue, chocolate, or sable with white on belly, flanks, jaw lines, and eye circles) 6 - 9-1/2 lbs

• Tan (Black, blue, chocolate, or lilac with tan on belly, flanks, jaw lines, and eye circles) 4 - 6 lbs

Meat Rabbits

Meat Rabbits make up the next group. They are characterized by weights between 8 and 12 pounds. These rabbits are raised for both meat and fur. Some of these may also be considered fancy rabbits because they have unusual fur, color, or ear characteristics. Most of these rabbits are shown a great deal. Rabbits in the meat group consume about 1-1/4 cup of feed per day and take up 7-1/2 sq ft of cage space. They will command a price comparable to the medium size rabbits, about $20.00 for mature ones. The rabbits that make up the meat group include:

• American (Blue or White) 9 - 12 lbs

• Beveren (Black, Blue, or White) 8 - 12 lbs

• Californian (White with black ears, nose, feet, and tail) 8 - 10-1/2 lbs

• Champagne D'Argent (Starts as black, mature is silver) 9 - 12 lbs

• American Chinchilla 9 - 12 lbs

• Cinnamon 8-1/2 - 11 lbs

• Creme D'Argent 8 - 11 lbs

• Hotot (White with black around its eyes) 8 - 11 lbs

• English Lop (Many colors - giant lop ears) 9 - 14 lbs

• French Lop (Many colors - regular lop ears) 10 - 15 lbs

• New Zealand (Black, Red, or White) The standard meat rabbit 9 - 12 lbs

• Palomino 8 - 11 lbs

• Satin (Shiny coat - many colors) 8-1/2 - 11 lbs

• Silver Fox (fur resembles fox) 9 - 12 lbs

The Giants

The next group of rabbits are the Giants. These are raised because some breeders just like giant rabbits. They can sometimes weigh up to 25 pounds. The giants require 1-3/4 - 2 cups of feed per day and 11 - 12 sq ft of cage space. The giant breeds also require stronger cages. Because few people raise these rabbits, they are more rare than the other breeds. It takes a strong person to lift these rabbits, so their demand is not great and thus harder to sell. They may command up to $50.00 for a mature rabbit and about $15.00 - $20.00 for a 2 month old one. Most of the giants are shown (their presence is always appreciated). They are mainly used for meat and fur. The feed-to-meat conversion ratio is less than the meat group. The giants include:

• Checkered Giant (White with spots of black or blue) weight over 11 lbs

• Giant Chinchilla 12 - 16 lbs

• Flemish Giant (Black, blue, fawn, light gray, sandy, steel gray, or white) weight over 13 lbs