Sallygarden Smallholding - The Forum For Sustainable Living

There are a few breeds which have been developed with meat in mind. The most popular is the New Zealand (White or Red, generally the white) as it matures quickly and is a heavy animal. The next most popular is the Californian, a white rabbit with black ears, nose, tail and paws. Does anybody know of the Jersey Giant rabbit?

NZW x Californian is supposed to be the best cross. I haven't noticed a difference between that cross and any other cross. I noticed that French Lops are a bit more dense meat than other breeds, which are more the texture of chicken but with a less greasy taste. French Lop crossed with NZW gives a tasty, less dense, quick growing rabbit (2.4kg live weight at 12 weeks but in the States they seem to grown NZW's much bigger than I've ever managed to!). NZW's were developed not just because of their size and meatiness but also because of the quality of their fur. Not heard of the Jersey Giant.

what does everyone use the rabbit fur for? I know its a bit macabre but if we want to be self sufficient we should use everything... right?

We don't use the fur directly but have composted it. I looked into tanning but only found very harsh chemicals as an option. I think theres a bodhran maker in Ireland who'll take goat skin but not heard of any use for rabbit pelts.