Our Rabbits
New Zealand Rabbits
We have been raising pure bred New Zealand Rabbits for over 10 years now. At times, we raised them for our own consumption, other times for selling live or to other people who appreciate the taste and texture of rabbit, and sometimes just as Easter bunnies. We have years of experience with this amazing, utilitarian breed.
New Zealand rabbits are actually an American breed. Originally developed in 1916 in California, the first New Zealand rabbits were Red New Zealands. A year later the white variety came to be, and now, a century later, the White New Zealand is the #1 rabbit breed for meat, furs, and laboratory uses.
We love our New Zealands for many of the same reasons that breeders and processors for the last century have loved them. They are a medium breed by classification, with average sizes around 10-12 pounds at maturity. They have fine bone structure which means more meat per carcass, and the does make excellent mothers.
While first-time moms may not have the greatest success, most of our does will give birth to between 8 and 12 babies per litter, and many of them successfully raise the majority of those babies.
We even had one momma raise 13 of 13 babies that she birthed!
More babies in the nest box that make it to weaning, and more importantly, processing age (between 8-12 weeks), means more money in your pocket or meat in your freezer. That's why we love our New Zealands SO much!
Californian cross additions
Our most recent acquisition in our journey to expanding our rabbitry has included the addition of some New Zealand/Californian cross rabbits from a local breeder.
Californians are very similar in nature to New Zealands, with the absolute cutest Siamese cat markings on their ears, feet, tail and nose. Californians, or California Whites, were developed in the mid-1920s in the state of California. They are derived from mostly New Zealand bloodlines that were crossed with Standard Chinchilla (for their coat) and Himalayan (for the markings).
Pure Californians are slightly smaller than their New Zealand ancestry, but when crossed back into pure New Zealand lines, the resulting hybrid vigor causes the offspring to be vibrant, healthy and fast growing.
These hybrid cross rabbits are usually made as a "terminal cross," meaning they are not usually kept for breeding, but the breeder of my rabbits has been successfully crossing them back into pure New Zealand and Californian lines for years now and the results are astounding.
High litter sizes and survivability, quicker weight gain (some reaching the target 5 lbs in as little as 8 weeks), and a standard of overall health that puts many pure breeds to shame.
We are excited to introduce these beautiful animals into the rabbitry and we hope you are too!
*Please note, while we will be expanding rapidly to meat the commercial market demands for rabbit meat, we are still committed to providing opportunities for new breeders, including the opportunity for pure bred New Zealand rabbits for breeding stock.
We will continue to breed our pure breed New Zealand bucks to our pure breed New Zealand does.
Enjoy our Beautiful rabbits!
Here are pictures of some of our breeding stock and litters for you to view. (Please do not use any of our photos without our permission!)
Doe- "Crazy Daisy" NZ Senior Doe
Doe- "Naomi" NZ Senior Doe
Doe- "Hella" NZ Senior Doe