Selecting a Rabbit Breed

There is no most suitable breed for any one purpose, exceptof course for Angora wool production. It is often recom-mended that the most suitable animals for meat productionare cross-bred stock, but this is not so. A cross-bred animaleats the same type and amount of food, is no easier nor moredifficult to rear or manage, and produces no better carcase when it is killed than a pure bred animal. It does howeverhave a pelt which is much less valuable. The interest to bederived from rabbit keeping is always increased when pure-bredstock is kept, and of course, the sale of surplus animals willalways yield more attractive prices than can ever be obtainedfor cross-breds.
The Rexes for example are undoubtedly the most suitable forprime pelt production, whilst for intermediate pelts, theChinchilla and Chinchilla Giganta must be used. Forchildren's pets, the smaller breeds, such as the NetherlandDwarf are the most suitable, but within each group, the choiceis open to the inclination of the individual.

There is a great deal to be said for the breeder keeping abreed to which he is personally attracted. There is littledoubt that many breeders are more consistently successfulwith a particular breed to which they are attracted, than theyare with others.
The ideal way for a newcomer to select his breed or breedsis to visit several shows after making a short list of the breedswhirls would, answer his purpose.

The novice rabbit breeder is often in some doubt as towhether he should purchase young animals or a mated doe,or stock nearing breeding age. There is usually dividedopinion on this matter. The purchase of young, newlyweaned animals is rarely to be recommended to the novice,for it is most important that future breeding stock should bewell reared. Young animals are more likely to suffer perma-nent injury from errors in management than are older rabbits.The care of a mated doe, and one with a young litter, is perhaps rather more difficult than the management of nearlyadult stock, and furthermore, it is often advisable to allow newanimals to settle in to their new surroundings and managementbefore breeding from them. Thus the purchase of stocknearly to breeding age is usually the best buy for the novicebreeder. He can usually buy his does on the understandingthat he can return them to the seller for mating when they areready.

It is always advisable to purchase a small number of animalsand to increase their number slowly as experience is gained.It is doubtful whether the novice purchasing only one or twodoes at the start should also purchase a buck. He will notbe used as frequently as would be desirable, and in general itwould be better, under these circumstances, to use the servicesof the original breeder's bucks until such time as the novicehas gained sufficient skill and knowledge, and has sufficientdoes to merit the acquisition of his own stud buck.