Best Rabbit Breeds for Pelts
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 18 ธ.ค. 2019
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Many viewers have asked for a video on the breeds we'd recommend to raise for their pelts. In this video we cover the few breeds that are recommended for their fur, and will also double as a meat producer for your farm.
We are a small homestead in south central Oregon living the best sustainable life as possible. We raise goats, rabbits, and heritage birds. Follow along as we divulge our secrets to surviving off-grid on solar power and growing our own food.
Keep up with us between uploads on Instagram: @spragueriverhomestead
I appreciate your videos, and I agree with your philosophy that there's nothing wrong with using the pelts as long as you also make use of the meat. I understand advocates who are against the idea of raising animals just for their hides/pelts/fur, and wasting the rest of the animal, but as long as it's legal to eat meat, there will be hides as a byproduct, and it seems just as wrong to me to waste that part of the animal as it would be to throw the meat away.
Don’t let anyone shame you about the (incidental) fur industry! -Bellevue WA
Well said. I agree 100 percent with your opinion on fur. Better to utilize the entire animal. The funny thing is, some of these same people who don't want to see the pelts will wear cowhide gloves!
Agreed. Even worse to me are the environmental folks who don't want to use pelt and hide byproducts for clothes, but would rather wear synthetic fibers (petroleum based) or mono-cropped cotton. To each their own. 🤷
Thanks for watching
@@SpragueRiverHomestead they have now discovered that petroleum based fabrics shed micro fibers in the washing machine and those go into the water system. They’ve now found that those end up in the flesh of fish, I don’t want petroleum fibers in my halibut!
I agree with you. As long as you're using everything you can on the rabbit I don't see anything wrong with that. Also humanely raised and processed. Thank you, good video.
Thank you for the informational video! I loved it. Thanks for the tips. Silver fox is really beautifuly! :)
Wow all the different kinds of rabbits and fur types and color cool information... I have rabbits that were around at the time... We have times rabbits of any type are hard sometimes not...
So we ended up with 2 California bucks and 1 flemish giant doe and 1 new Zealand doe to start our breeding program...
Thanks so much for sharing this. I have 9 pelts that I planned on getting started with this next week from the first rabbits that went to freezer camp this fall along with a huge bag of skins that a friend gave me. Again, many thanks and may you both have a very Merry Christmas.
Love and blessings from Maine.
Good luck with it! I did some nice salted hides a few years ago just for craft projects, but otherwise haven't had time. I hope to get back to it one day. Harlie hides are so interesting 😊
Merry Christmas to you and yours! Wishing you many blessings in the New Year as well.
I’m subscribing because of how knowledgeable you are period… I’m looking at starting rabbits and now I know to not count on fur as a commercial trade, I was thinking of going heavy on NZ and CA all whites… now I may throw a little more into the mix 😂
Thank you for sharing. I raise standard rex for meat and show and will be looking into pelts. I will look into the fur line and get some visuals. Thanks again
You always give such great thorough information. Thank you very much!
My pleasure! Thank you for watching!
Thanks
for being so honest
Bless ya!
Still great opportunity
Great information (as always) Thank you!
I really learned a LOT from this video, thank you! I really want to raise some rabbits. For the experience, and to help a rare and beautiful breed like the Silver Fox rabbit. I can think of many cool uses for the fur, like throw pillows! Which you could sell online! I also see potential uses as therapy animals as Silver Fox are known to be gentle rabbits that like attention.
Thank you for the vast amount of information.. I'm looking to raise rabbits for meat and use the pelts personally.. like lining inside a jacket, gloves etc. Not to sell..ty again
So much good info! Thank you!!
You are so welcome!
Thank you so very much.
Another concern about breeding Chinchilla fur animals is that over time the color variant can bleed out or morph if you are linebreeding with the variant not staying a consistent chinchilla color, becoming more lilac or slate versus the very distinct dark to light colored banding. In order to produce consistent dark banding you will have to breed back to a dark colored self at some point. Either black, blues or slates but you have to make sure to avoid anything with an opal or otter in its genetics because it could completely skew the chin. color variant. Breeding Chinchilla fur is not a simple linebreeding matter, it takes careful manipulation over generations to produce consistent results. Also depends on what fur type animal you are using, standard rabbit genetic manipulation is not the same as Rex or even Angora, these specialized fur types come with their own genetic sequences and variants. Speaking from 20 plus years of rabbit breeding and monitoring genetics.
Very good information thanks
The best way to sell pelts is to make your own crafts and sell hats, mittens, etc. There's a lot more profit in value added goods than raw materials. The second best way is to partner directly with a crafter who uses pelts. The worst way is to sell pelts on Ebay.
Agreed. Thanks for watching!
Thank you for sharing this video helped me understand the types of fur and make an informed decision. I'm looking into raising rabbits for fur and meat. We also homestead and I make moccasins mitts and mucklucks. And I think the silver fox may be what I'm looking for.
For those purposes I would definitely look at the Silver Fox or the Chanpagne d'argent. Either one, when tanned in their prime, produce a nice pelt product. Silver Fox will have the best density, with Champagnes just behind them.
Silver Fox are pretty popular at the moment, with a lot of really subpar animals on the market. Make sure you hook up with a good breeder who understands the breed's Standard and the nuances of the fur.
Great information!
Glad it was helpful!
this is very good information
Fur was the FIRST clothing that humans wore, except for maybe, Fig Leaves ?
I just love your videos! Have you made a video on tanning a pelt? Or have I just missed it?
We haven't done one. I'm honestly not that experienced and have only salt cured pelts for crafting projects. I'd love to be able to do more tanning but just don't have the time right now.
The Tri is technology recognized it’s just shown in the broken group instead of as its own variety. Satins are a wonderful breed but they do take someone that can handle their attitude. Yep use all the animal if you’re going to butcher.
Let the people complain about Pelts - it won't stop me from using them or making things out of them and if, one day, our systems fail, then I will have the last laugh.
I plan on using my own pelts for pillows blankets gloves hats and crafts. So I'm not so worried about what sells but what would work best for these applications. But thank you for all the information
You're very welcome. Thanks for watching!
Excellent video, as always. Thank you.
If you don't tan the pelt, what is done with it? Compost?
Unfortunately, yes. With no market/outlet for it there's really nothing else to do with it. 😞
Thank you for the amount of details you cover in your vids! What about using the wooly breeds for pelts? Some one out there must have tried it. Could you get a sort of mock sheep skin out of English Angoras? Does the length and structure of the fur affect the process or end result? ie processing a pelt from Rex vs Silver Fox vs Angora?
I have always heard that tanning angora pelts turns out badly because the fur doesn't have the structure that sheep or llama wool does. Angora is pretty thin by comparison and lacks the crimp the others do.
Honestly I'm not sure how the fur structure impacts tanning overall. I would imagine some of that depends on the tanning method itself. I've seen well done Champagne, Silver Fox, Rex and Harlequin pelts - they actually seemed softer than the animals themselves. I've also felt horribly done pelts, a Rex in particular, which was like stroking a brillo pad. I've never seen a tanned angora pelt, though I'm sure folks have done it.
I would imagine if you played around with the technique you could make it work. Might be worth finding a master Tanner and asking for some advice there.
Thanks for watching!
I saw angorapelts already but they are more decorative, it tends to felt if you use ist as clothing or as blankets
How do you wash the pelts over the years if they get dirty?
I want to make a blanket but don't know how I will wash it
Do you have any idea about mixing pure breed American Chinchilla & pure breed Satin? I'm going to try it in a few months but curious. I purposely choose a black satin since the Amer Chin is more of a gray over all. Also does the breeder color pass to babies? Like dark black mom=dark black babies? Or could you get a dark mom (satin) with a grayish buck (amer chin) and end up with a light gray litter? Thanks!
Oh boy, a color genetics question, LOL 😂.
So the short answer, is no, the chin gene doesn't work like that. Chin is a tricky little bugger, and depending on what colors are behind the black you could end up with a whole host of colors. There are some great color genetics pages. It's been a long day though and I'm drawing a blank. Try googling rabbit color genetics and see what pages come up. There's two or three that are pretty in depth and explain how it works.
The one thing I do know is that unless the Chin carries satinized fur you are going to get a whole litter of standard fur, as satin is recessive.
Thanks for the question. That one is a little out of my realm of expertise, but have fun finding out the answer.
MERRY CHRISTMAS,, what cin ai expect ta pay fer the silver fox breeders? thank ya fer the tips, do the fox rabbits produce a quality carcass fer meat? thank ya fer the video
A good meat breeding quality Fox should run between $40-$60 an animal, depending on your location. They do make a very nice meat animal, with juniors hitting the 5# mark around 10 or so weeks.
We released a video about Silver Fox two weeks ago,so be sure to check that out.
Thanks for watching!
@@SpragueRiverHomestead ai,m jist lookin fer now as ai,m not ready with any buildings yet ta keep them seccure an safe,,they do sound like they woud fit me farm perfectly,, thank ya fer the tips an videos
What about pelts from angora? I have land in Alaska and winters are cold, I’d like a pelt with four plus inches of fur but can’t find anything about using angora pelts anywhere….
My understanding is that angora is fine enough that it is super prone to matting, unlike say sheep's pelts with wool on. I don't believe I have every seen anyone tan an angora pelt with wool on either.
I'm facing the same problem. I have many good pelts but only Chinese buyers and they don't pay as much. Granted, they're far less discerning (they'll buy salted meat rabbit skins), but that causes a necessary undervaluation of my good stock. Got some Otter rex pelts and no buyers. May as well get the girlfriend a nice coat made... Sigh...
Sorry to hear that. The pelt market is just awful, and as the war on meat heats up that seems to only be getting worse.
What’s the best method of stitching these pelts please?
That varies wildly on the application and the thickness of the pelts.
You said that there only breed that can produce a Rex fur was basically two types of Rex. However you never said what is special about it. What makes a Rex fur Rex? Is it long, short, does its fur grow the opposite direction in alternating rows?
We actually do talk about Rex fur in a number of other videos. Rex fur is short and dense, earning them the nickname of the Velveteen rabbit. There are actually three breeds with Rex fur in the US - Rex, Mini Rex and Velveteen Lops.
I’m in Missouri and looking for some breeding standard Rex. Having a hard time finding some. Know anyone? Also this is a great video. Thanks for your videos.
I don't personally know anyone in that area with Rex, but there are quite a few breeders with them there. There are 7 MO breeders listed on rabbitbreeders.us/rex-rabbit-breeders/ and I would check with the breed secretary of the National Rex Club.
Hope that helps!
Do they have to winter?
As a wild animal would for far a trade?
We did answer this on this week's Mailbag video, but in case you didn't see it -
No, rabbits don't need a winter coat to make good fur like you see in most other fur animals. What they do need is a primed coat, which comes about at around 9months and is when they have finished molting and all their fur has grown back in.
Sprague River Homestead Thank you guys I love the channel keep up the good work
Do you tan your own hides? Can you please do a video on that?
I initially started to do it a few years ago, but never had enough time to finish the job. And that's still the case. I plan to get back to trying when I get more time available (and space), but it probably won't be for another couple of years.
Are pelt rabbits also acceptable eating rabbits?
Absolutely. To get the best pelts you should let them hit prime (6-10 months old, depending on breed). They'll still make wonderful stewers, crock pot rabbits or good ground meat.
Hi, I would like to see a video with the process how to sterilize a rabbit.
Sterlizing as in neutering? I've never done one, so I won't be able to help there.
OMG!!!! I can't watch this one neighbor!!!! I feel like your saying my grankiddos skin!!!!! Trevor is a sweet soul that I am so HAPPY we saved from this sort of demise!!!!! Nothing against you!!! I understand you have to make a living!!!! Moving on.....
This video was a direct request from other viewers. We aren't tanning for pelts currently.
I am not angry or upset... Im a regular person... I just love bunnies now because of Trevor and my daughters love for them... Trevor got the flease from all the field mice my husband hates to kill... Its getting sad and i hope our bunny dosent get sick from this mess.. Thank you for the explanation sweetheart!!!!
Maria Aldrete I’m the same way with goats. Lol! Anything else I don’t have a problem with.
@@terriperry9434 Love your name!!!!
It's only in-human if the ONLY purpose is hides... if the animal serves as food AND you are able to make use of all parts of the animal... and it was done so in a very humane way... that's honoring the life that fed you
Do you give private info ?
You can email me it SRHomestead@yahoo.com
How many of you misread the title as "best pets" like I did?