How to Choose A Good Meat Rabbit
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 21 มี.ค. 2018
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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.
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One thing that can really make or break a meat breeding program is to have good rabbts that have the genetics and disposition good for it. In this video Nikki shows you what to look for in both males and females to make sure they are in good health (fur condition, eyes, teeth, feet, etc.) and also how to handle them.
If you have questions on rabbits not covered, drop them in the comments and we'll answer or make another video covering the subject.
Q: How do you keep your bunny’s fur neat?
A: With a hare brush 🐰
Ol' Max sits there pretty doggoned well! Good mellow buns - wow!
Thanks! We spend quite a bit of time handling them. 😊
I find your information on rabbits, very impressive... You ARE the "Queen of rabbits" ...
Wow, thank you! I do my absolute best.
Outstanding video to help you choose your breeding does and bucks. I learned so much more here than other videos out there. Great job!!!
Thank you for the kind words, and for watching!
You’re videos are so helpful and informative. Thank you.
lolol 7:30 shes looking at the poor rabbits nethers, and the dog strolls up to see whats goin on...poor rabbit
And he was trembling 😢 poor violated bun
He's so calm
Extremely helpful information. I am interested in purchasing a breeding pair of Champagne D’ Argents.
Those are some awesome Champagne D'Argent buns. They grow out so fast. I just got a trio of New Zealands for my meat breed. Great tips!
Thank you!
That was a very helpful video. Thanks.
I'm not a breeder or even interested in eating rabbit meat but this video was so educational that I was mesmerized throughout. Thanks for sharing your knowledge.
Thanks for the kind words and for watching!
Super informative! Great video 👍
Great Information! Thank You
very informative...thank you for sharing
Please tell mee this bread nam??
Thanks for making this. Ive learned a lot from it.
Glad it was helpful!
Very well explained!
I'm very grateful for your thorough demonstration and instruction. Though I'm generally very savvy in matters of animal husbandry, I have no experience with rabbits of any kind. Your video goes a long way, I think, toward minimizing problems for both aspiring keepers and their stock. Thank you.
How in the world do you get your rabbits to stay so calm? I raise New Zealands and they just freak out when I try to pick them up
That's just them being New Zealands. Seriously. I've raised quite a few breeds now and even my sweetest NZ were just horrible to handle.
Thanks for the video! Very useful info!
Glad it was helpful!
This is such a great video especially for someone like me whos a little apprehensive because of lack of experience. Your D' Argents are beautiful.
Thank you! They are lovely rabbits for sure. Best way to gain experience is to jump right in! 😊
Loving our meat rabbits here. 😀😀😀
Thanks for the information
New subscriber. Great information. Thank you.
Welcome! 😊
Man I'm hoping to have some chill rabbits like yours in the future
Good breeding and consistent handling definitely go a long way!
Wow, goals...
Your rabbits were so calm and cooperative! I hope mine will be.
I’d live to see a claw trimming video. Not looking forward to doing that.
It takes some time and handling, but you'll get there.
I did a nail trimming video back a year or so ago. Here's a link th-cam.com/video/LSIwwAEkwK8/w-d-xo.html
Hope that helps! Thanks for watching 😊
Super good video 😊
Very informative
As a kid growing up in the 50's the Sunday comics had a character named Little Abner. Within that comic strip there was a creature named a shmoo. The following is the Wikipedia description of the shmoo. I liken them to rabbits.
Description
A shmoo is shaped like a plump bowling pin with stubby legs. It has smooth skin, eyebrows and sparse whiskers-but no arms, nose or ears. Its feet are short and round but dextrous, as the shmoo's comic book adventures make clear. It has a rich gamut of facial expressions and often expresses love by exuding hearts over its head. Cartoonist Al Capp ascribed to the shmoo the following curious characteristics:
They reproduce asexually and are incredibly prolific, multiplying exponentially faster than rabbits. They require no sustenance other than air.
Shmoos are delicious to eat, and are eager to be eaten. If a human looks at one hungrily, it will happily immolate itself-either by jumping into a frying pan, after which they taste like chicken, or into a broiling pan, after which they taste like steak. When roasted they taste like pork, and when baked they taste like catfish. (Raw, they taste like oysters on the half-shell.)
They also produce eggs (neatly packaged), milk (bottled, grade-A), and butter-no churning required. Their pelts make perfect bootleather or house timbers, depending on how thick one slices them.
They have no bones, so there's absolutely no waste. Their eyes make the best suspender buttons, and their whiskers make perfect toothpicks. In short, they are simply the perfect ideal of a subsistence agricultural herd animal.
Naturally gentle, they require minimal care, and are ideal playmates for young children. The frolicking of shmoon is so entertaining (such as their staged "shmoosical comedies") that people no longer feel the need to watch television or go to the movies.
Some of the more tasty varieties of shmoo are more difficult to catch. Usually shmoo hunters, now a sport in some parts of the country, utilize a paper bag, flashlight and stick to capture their shmoos. At night the light stuns them, then they can be whacked in the head with the stick and put in the bag for frying up later on.
How do I obtain a few shmoos? Could you supply a list of breeders?
Nice .watching herein the philippines
Thank you for the video.
I just love your channel, I'm from the uk and keep new Zealands for meat, i am hoping in moving to the US and living with my girlfriend who's from North carolina, so will be keeping rabbits again there.
However I have always looked at crossing the creme de argent too the new Zealand as meat breed
I'm not sure what the benefits of crossing a Creme to a NZ would be. There's a good size difference, and most Cremes are as high strung as NZ. The Cremes also suffer from a lot of type (conformation) issues, as there aren't a lot of breeders working with them.
Thanks for watching, and for the comment!
Thanks for sharing your knowledge with us. I am seriously thinking of starting a couple does and a buck here in Maine.
Many blessings,
Jim
Immediately subscribed, you re a professionist
Welcome!
Very good jnformation
Hello. My wife and I have watched several of you guys videos and enjoy them. We have Californians but wild like to get some Silver Fox and Rex, perhaps some Champagne. The problem is we don't know and have had a difficult time finding breeders of any other meat breed other than new zealand and California... Any suggestions or help?
Contact the National Breed Club. They all have websites. Some have online breeder directories, but for those that don't, usually an email to the club secretary will get you some contact info for nearby breeders. You can also go to the ARBA website and look for shows nearby.
Thank you
Do rabbits typically remain so docile when you handle them? I would be afraid of them scratching or biting.
There are several factors there. Some breeds never are docile to begin with, and all the work in the world doesn't seem to help (Satins and NZ for example). We choose easy going breeds, handle them a lot as juniors, and interact with them daily - even if it's just talking to them.
I've only ever been bitten by NZs, one Satin and a very hormonal harlie junior (which was more nip than bite).
Scratches happen on occasion, mostly when nails need trimming and you are turning them over for nail trimmings. I don't tolerate rabbits that slap and s ratch intentionally.
oh god now Im having second thoughts about buying meat rabbits when you did a close up on maxs lil nose, my heart melted they are just so cute..
It takes a while to work through the emotional attachment. They are cute though. Thanks for watching!
Caffeine Fuelled Cat little cows and chickens are cute to
Would love to get a meat rabbit that has that nice coloring that wild rabbit mostly has just so it's a uniformed Pelt. White pelts are okay but I don't want to have to stay in them natural look. And then I would love a good recipe 4 rabbit summer sausage or preferably a hard salami type sausage please and thank you.
Getting worried about an economic depression due to the coronavirus. I’ve been thinking about raising rabbits to keep my family fed... Thank you for your time and valuable information.
We have a lot of people across the country rushing into meat rabbits. Even with a downturn I think a good amount of these will be available in 5-6 months as people find themselves unwilling to actually butcher them. Right now the price of good meat quality breeders is $30-$60 each. The good breeders have waiting lists. Right now anything under $30 is pretty much junk.
Good luck and stay safe & healthy.
Thanks for watching
Yeah I wasn't going to have any more animals and just buy my food but this pandemic made me realize laziness is not the way. Once one of my old hens gets broody I'm going to look for some fertilized eggs to put under her and revive my flock. Also researching rabbits. I think I'll finally do something with all my compost too, start gardening with it. I also got a can of mealworms to restart my mealworm farm. I used to raise them as treats for my chickens now I think I'll eat them myself.
@@wolfy1 My son and i are looking into Rabbits. We too have recently needed to revive our meal worm farm. but we have accidentally been a bit lazy about our garden.
Wonderful
Thank you! Cheers!
Beatiful rabits
Wow. You are really know rabbits! What breed are good meat rabbits? Do all meat rabbits do well in a rabbit tractor?
Cassity ART - Thank you! For the best breeds I would recommend our other video about choosing the best breeds for meat rabbits. I don't recommend rabbit tractors - the risks far outweigh the reward for most people. However, if that is something you are set on doing any of the meat breeds we discuss will work. Just keep in mind that tractored rabbits grow quite a bit slower than their cooped counterparts, so you'll be looking at a butcher age of 12-16 weeks instead of 8-10.
Sprague River Homestead THANKS. Your information is exactly what I was looking for! Do you offer a processing video?
Cassity ART - We actually don't have a processing video, and because we feel that it's been well done by others we are opting not to make one. We recommend the videos from Rabbit Wringer. They are a small company that makes the Rabbit Wringer dislocater that we use, and we learned from their videos ourselves. ☺
Good info.
Silver Fox here.
Loved the way you could tip them over.
Thank you for your video. I am in Canada. I am looking to buy rabbits and start raising some. What is the desease I need to look for? I am buying from a Canadian breaker of New Zealand rabbits who has won awards in California for his rabbits, something hard to do for Candians to compete with Americans.??? Apparently a very good source. But then I know very little. Can you me in this regard, it would be appreciated. Thank you.
The big things to be looking for are mites, wet/snotty noses that can mean Pasturella and vent disease (sores on genitals). Most show breeders are hyper vigilant about avoiding all of these things, but there are exceptions to every rule.
I would also ask about their BioSecurity protocols in the wake of RHDV2 having been in parts of Canada last year and moving through the American southwest now. It would just be good to know how vigilant they are about cleanliness and keeping a closed rabbit barn.
NO FAT RABBIT OVARIES!!! ... lol 🤣
Good evening my name is Larry Patterson from the state of Washington I don't know where you live or really what your name is I apologize for that But I would like to tell you that I much appreciate all the very good information that you put forward on your videos so far one of the clearest speakers that I have listened to I'm starting meat rabbits in 1 week with champagne D Argent's thank you very much
What do you consider the champion breed for meat? I usually see New Zealands as the answer on Google, but wanted someone who actually has rabbits to answer.
I'm assuming you mean Champagne D'Argents. They were developed for meat and have the same body type (conformation). When bred correctly they'll grow nearly as fast, have a similar meat to bone ratio, and have nearly the same personalities. When allowed to mature they make a superior fur animal in comparison to the NZ.
NZ gained popularity in the meat world because so many other breeds were considered show animals and underutilized as the meat animals they were developed to be.
Hi, I’m am gonna join the ffa for my school and I was wondering if you had any tips that I can do.
Tips such as? I would advise you to go through our Ultimate Rabbit Playlist. I am working on a 4H/FFA series now, but that playlist will give you a starting point.
@@SpragueRiverHomestead hello, sorry I am extremely late. TH-cam didn’t send me a notification of your reply and I totally forgot to check back at this video. I was going to ask if you had any tips on how I would be able to make my rabbits calm and docile when handling, as shown in the video. How did you train them so well to be calm like this,how long did it take to train them, or what are the steps for this?
@@Destiny-eg5xp first, start with good natured stock. We cull aggressive and overly flighty animals as that can't be "trained" out.
Next, just make sure that every time you engage with that animal you are firm but gentle and matter of fact. If you are nervous they read that and react with fight or flight.
After that, learn to read the animal's body language. There's no rule that all nails must be clipped on the same day for example. Maybe they aren't comfortable turned over for more than a few minutes. Better to end early than fight them and condition them to the idea that something like nail trimming equates to stress.
I don't actually handle my rabbits very often. I don't need to. We have an understanding of my expectations when they are out and I watch them for signs of stress.
I never saw rabbits this big.
Champagnes are a large breed, but there are many breeds which are much, much larger.
Hope I have that kind of rabbit mam
Plz advice me what kind for rabbit breed is good for meat business???
Depends entirely on where you live and what's available.
If I need a worker in the farm or factory, I am from Egypt, you can visit me while I pay the right for the ticket
Is trimmer the nails a two person job? I think it would be for me. Good job!
Ron Gray - I do them by myself, but it does take awhile to learn the best way to hold them. The rabbits learn it's not so bad after awhile and get easier. When I first learned though, I did have a friend help me, and occasionally I go help her with her bigger English lops. If there's interest I don't mind doing a video to show how to do it.
@@SpragueRiverHomestead yes, video on how to trim would be great! Thanks!
the pet shop in somerset sold me a sick bunnie, it died in 10 days. the vet said coccidia!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It's not at all unusual, though I've found that vets almost always diagnose rabbit illness as coccidia or pasturella. More likely if you'd only had it for 10 days was stress induced enteritis. Very common from the stress of going into a pet shop and then moving to a new home. Sorry to hear you lost your rabbit.
Somerset in Texas?
Subbed... Thanks :-)
Thanks for the sub!
Thanks, so much info. Do you have a video going over commercial body type? Max is gorgeous.
Jazkabor - I don't yet. It'll be a few more weeks, but I'm planning to do a Champagne breed video and we'll talk more about the commercial type there. I'm also planning an American video where we tall about the breed, the standard and posing in the semi-arch/mandolin type.
how to choose rabbit to breed from rabbit babies?
I'm planning a video on that! In the meantime, basically you are looking for the same things that you look at in adults. The trick is finding the ideal time to evaluate. I find that 8-10 weeks is the best time for first evals. I hold over what I like and then check them out again at 14-16. By 4 months old you should have a pretty good idea of how they'll finish. You are looking for the same things - well developed hind legs, wide shoulders, wide rear and full loin.
I am from Egypt.
I want to know the best breeds in rabbits for meat production ... Thank you
I'm not exactly sure what breeds you have available there, but we do have a video on breeds.
th-cam.com/video/3qLArLKDNas/w-d-xo.html
Thank you very much. Most of the brands you mentioned are already available in Egypt ... I have benefited greatly from you.
And I have another question .. Is breeding in batteries better or breeding on regular surfaces ..
Either way is fine. I typically cage breed, but have friends who breed on tables. Whatever works best for you.
I am probably gonna stop people coming to see my rabbits not just because of biosecurity but because of theft.
Unfortunately theft is becoming a real problem in the rabbit communities. I've heard of rabbits being stolen for breeding, resale, or just "do-gooders" turning them out to the "wild". Quite a few breeders I know that live in town have gone to padlocked cages and security cameras. It's sad.
Best of luck to you, and thanks for watching.
We've heard of theft being an issue with plenty of homesteads, for both animals and other items. Be safe out there!
I am looking for a good meat rabbit with good color variety for pelts. Suggestions?
For the most variety in color (and pattern) I would get Harlequins. They are not as meaty as some of the other meat breeds but do produce a nice carcass. It's our primary breed for showing and eating here. There are two color groupings - Japanese which is Orange based, and Magpies which are white based. The marking color over the base can be black, blue, chocolate or lilac. They are really interestingly marked rabbits and produce neat looking pelts. Satins are another option, and while they tend to be pricier they do make a nicer carcass. They come in quite a few colors, including tris, otters and brokens. Hope that helps, and thanks for watching!
I can never get my rabbits to calm down like this. I pet them all the time and they still run away when I try to handle them
It can depend on the breed and the age you start handling them. Ours get handled as juniors quite a bit for evaluations and showing. As they get older they don't get handled as much, but that groundwork has already been laid.
I don't think petting them does much, as rabbits don't really think like some other animals that enjoy petting. The biggest thing you can do is be firm but gentle in your handling, and very consistent. They do best when they know what to expect from their interactions with you.
@@SpragueRiverHomestead I practically raised them from when they were weaned. I handled them often from then on but they still try to avoid it. If I'm just petting them they're okay but the moment I try to pick them up for inspection they're outta there
@@davs.ketchup what breed are you working with? Some breeds like the NZ and Californian just never really take to handling.
@@SpragueRiverHomestead hit the nail on the head. They are NZs.
Yes I got comments,would be nice if you do your presentation in place where wouldn't be such bad acoustic,it was very bad to understand you,presentation fantastic but many words hardly understand,(at least I missed them).
This video is 3 years old. A lot of how we do things has changed. Thanks for watching.
Please tell mee this bread nam??????
They are Champagne D'Argents.
@@SpragueRiverHomestead thnx
I'm gonna go and see some breeders here in my country... unlucky me, I live in Hungary and people here know jacksh*t about animals, most of them lives among horrible conditions, so I expect the worst, but this video is a huge help when it comes to examination. :)
p.s.: if I do these maneuvers with my free roaming and trained rabbits, they probably cut my throat or just disembowel me :D Not a chance in life that I can turn my 1 year old buck and investigate it's penis while he just shakes his feet there :DDDD
Are some rabbits aggressive?
Yes. Some breeds are worse than others. I cull out aggressive behaviors. I'll tolerate does with babies being slappy and charging, but biting is a no-no. Bucks who attack you when you try to remove a breeding doe, attack does after breeding or show any form of cage aggression get removed.
Sprague River Homestead I heard you mention “satans” as one of those breeds. Those aren’t the Flemish giants are they?
@@davehunter6019 no, "satans" are a nickname for the satin rabbits, which can have less than stellar personalities. Flemish Giants are usually pretty laid back temperament-wise, but due to their heavy bone and slow growth they don't make good meat rabbits.
How u kill a rabbit and a goat?
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐!
Ummm what is going on in Canada right now ????
Not sure what you are referring to exactly. Lots of locales are banning rabbits or changing laws to make them pets rather than livestock.
From my experience most people who sell unregistered/unpapered/no pedigree rabbits....are the ones that dont want you over...not because of disease, but because their yards look like puppy mills or bunny mill lol....if I cant see the bunnies living conditions I dont want it.
That used to be the case. Unfortunately these days where we have multiple rabbit diseases spreading through the country (check out RHDV2) and animal rights folks blasting addresses to breeders in social media and stealing/setting free rabbits this is just no longer the case.
We do always suggest you research your breeder thoroughly or get references, even for unpedigreed meat animals.
I noticed that they both had tremors. They were well behaved, but must have had some fear going, from being handled.
Neither of those rabbits were afraid. Adult rabbits fight when afraid. I think you are confusing the normal leg tremors that a lot of quadruped species exhibit when turned onto their back. It's not a fear response, it's muscle confusion. You see it in goats, sheep and other animals that don't commonly spend time on their backs.
Thanks for watching.
Cage too small
Thank you for your concern, but the "cage" in the video is a carrier. We use carriers to transport rabbits. They don't live in them. The size is more than adequate as they can full turn around and lay comfortably, without it being so large that they could run and injure themselves if spooked. Thanks for watching.
Thank you for your concern, but the "cage" in the video is a carrier. We use carriers to transport rabbits. They don't live in them. The size is more than adequate as they can full turn around and lay comfortably, without it being so large that they could run and injure themselves if spooked. Thanks for watching.
he is shaking =(
Who is shaking? Both of those Champagnes LOVE to be handled and nearly fall out of their pens at night to get attention.
Why rabbit meat? I don’t see why people want to eat meat from a rabbit. All animals are sentient but rabbits are more pets than food.
Sarah Tonin they always been food and pets...but I think rabbits we’re food first
You should not put rabbits on there backs! It's not good!
I'm not sure where you got that information, but that is completely false. I was actually shown how initially by a veterinarian. It's the only way suggested to safely trim nails, check teeth and administer oral medications.
Disgusting
moist mackenzie you think rabbits are disgusting?
If you mean the "cage", it's a carrier not a cage
That’s horrible. This is no way for a rabbit to live.
the cages they are in are a carrier, just like a cat carrier. if you just mean that living in a cage and being meat animals is terrible then I wonder why you are watching this video.
@wolfie soul gameing the cages they are in the video are quite small. As the other dude said, those ase travel/transport cages. The smallest you can go on a daily use cage is 1m lenght x 1m wide x 60cm tall. And thats going on the tiny size.
these are transport cages lol. Better cages than I use for transport. I use card board boxes to transport them.
The cage IS WAY TO SMALL!! thats just wrong... They cant even move..
Umm.. that's a carrier, not a cage. They were literally in that for maybe half an hour.
@@SpragueRiverHomestead yes but that's still to small that can cause stress and they can get into a fight. I don't really care it's yours but I mean hey.
@@unlimitedcreations5928 they can't fight. There is a divider between them. Rabbits actually feel more secure in a small pen during transport. A large area can cause them to spook, resulting in injury or even death.
@@SpragueRiverHomestead oh I see thanks for the information
Very informative